Tools of the Mind Tidbit: Mystery Question
Description:
“In Mystery Literacy Games, children build literacy concepts by answering a question of the day. All of the Mystery Games are based on a common format in which children are presented with a “mystery” they have to solve. In Mystery Question, children “read” a question about what they are wearing and answer “Yes” or “No”.”
Purpose:
For children to:
-Practice phonemic awareness (isolation of initial sound, ending sounds, and rhyme) and sound-to-symbol correspondence
-Become familiar with the conventions of print and recognize that print conveys meaning
-Act like a reader, attending to symbolic representation and icons to identify the day’s question
In action in the classroom:
-Together as a group, we ‘read’ the question, remembering sight words we have seen repeatedly and sentence starters we have learned such as “Do you like…”, “Are you voting for…”, “Are you wearing…”, etc. while discussing beginning and ending letters and their corresponding sounds to see if our guesses about what words are make sense based on the pictures shown and our previous knowledge.
-Children listen for their name or their clue (if your name starts with Z, if you have long, curly, brown hair, if you have blue and yellow shoes, if your shirt has a bear on it, etc.) to know when it is their turn to answer the question.
-Children “read” the question while touching the words and pictures.
-Children decide on their response and place their name card under their choice.
-Once everyone has answered the question, we count how many children answered ‘yes’, how many children answered ‘no’, and how many children answered all together, while writing the numbers so children can visually see what that number looks like. We also have discussions about which answer had more, which answer had less, and how many people answered the question all together, as well as how we could figure out those answers.
At home:
-Your daily mystery question could be:
-Weather based: “Is today sunny?” “Is today rainy?”
-Snack based: “Do you want crackers or apples?”
-Activity based: “Do you want to ride your bike?” “Do you want to go to the park?”
-Feeling based: “Are you feeling happy?” “Are you feeling angry?”
-Clothes based: “Are you wearing blue sneakers?” “Are you wearing a raincoat?”
*Include a basic drawing to represent words in your mystery question- if the question is “Do you want apples for snack? draw an apple to put next to the word apple.
*Clothespins make a great easy and quick way to visually show your child’s answer (and great fine motor practice too!)
*Get the whole family involved!
*Include commonly seen words:
-Are you wearing blue and orange sneakers?
-Are you wearing green or black pants?
*Be creative and have fun!
Tools of the Mind: Share the News
How can you replicate at home?
Sit face to face with your child
Pick a topic (anything! the weather, how you feel about a certain color, a visit to a grandparent)
Take turns thinking and then sharing your thoughts on the topic. If the sharing moves to a new topic, point that out (Oh look, we started out talking about pink flowers and that let us to thinking about how much nana likes yellow flowers).
What’s the benefit?
What Can I Do To Help My Child Grow As A Learner?
The Power of Parent Talk
Your chid's brain is actively developing
*Talk, talk, talk and talk some more to your young child.
*Use vocabulary associated with whatever your are doing/playing even if you think your child does not yet know the word
*Read aloud to your child: stories, picture books, the weather report, the grocery list, a text from a grandparent
*Speak aloud what you notice your child doing whether to compliment them on a new skill or their effort at something they cannot do YET.
Looking for an Interesting Read?
*The Incredible Years: A Trouble-Shooting Guide for Parents of Children
Aged 2-8 by Carolyn Webster Stratton
*How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber
*Yardsticks by Chip Wood (an easy to read chart of developmental milestones by age 4 - 14)
*Early Childhood Experiences Can Influence Later Success
Reminder for Parents Who Want to Volunteer--CORI Checks
Reminder If you want to volunteer in schools, you must have a CORI check conducted and you must go into the building with identification (drivers license or passport) to do this. Click here for description of what a CORI check is and does. Without a CORI check, you cannot volunteer in the school. Here is the form to fill out for a CORI. Preschool volunteer opportunities include being a Mystery Reader for the class, presenting a family tradition and supporting special projects.
