Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Community Helpers Day 1: Dentists!

This week in preschool is Community Helpers Week. I love this week because there is SO much great vocabulary to be learned between all the community helpers and their tools of the trade!

One of the community helpers/occupations we've talked about is dentists, which ties in perfectly with February being Dental Health Month, too!  We read a cute Dora story called "Show Me Your Smile! A Visit To the Dentist" that was perfect for targeting basic dentist-related vocabulary and simple WH questions.
I picked up this book at a thrift store for 50 cents!


After reading the book, I did a cute tooth craft with my articulation kids.  I drew an outline of a tooth on white paper (cardstock is great, but just heavier construction paper works well, too!), grabbed some liquid glue, and asked the school nurses for a couple of toothbrushes!

The kids got to "brush" the teeth by squeezing glue (the "toothpaste") all over the paper, and used a toothbrush to spread out the glue, "brushing" and "scrubbing" the toothpaste onto the whole tooth.  After the glue was on, the kids stuck pictures of their speech words onto the tooth as they practiced.
We were working on final /k/ words for that tooth!

I initially started out with shaving cream instead of glue, but the shaving cream didn't spread very easily with the toothbrushes... I saw one of the prek teachers doing something similar at art with glue and glitter, and had the idea to glue their target words onto the teeth instead! (I decided to give the glitter a little break after If You Give A Mouse A Cookie week!)

For some cute dental-themed vocabulary cards, check these out from 2TeachingMommies.  I also have a free tooth/tooth fairy-themed associations card set in my TpT store!

Check back for more posts this week on other community helper-themed activities we're doing in the speech room!

7 comments:

  1. As a person who hates dentists-- this whole office makes you feel like part of the family! Making you comfortable and explaining everything.affordable dental braces

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  2. Who would've thought learning about the dentist Omaha could be so much fun! It's also good to teach children early that dentists aren't something you need to be afraid of. They're there to help you!

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  3. Thank you again for all the knowledge u distribute,Good post. I was very interested in the article, it's quite inspiring I should admit. I like visiting you site since I always come across interesting articles like this one.Great Job, I greatly appreciate that.Do Keep sharing!
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  4. This is a Dora book based on the TV show. In this episode Dora goes to the dentist for a teeth cleaning. A nice fun book and good to read before taking your child to the dentist so they know what to expect.

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  5. Thanks for the feedback. I read this to my kids before they went to the dentist. Dental books can be so helpful

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  6. A Visit To the Dentist" that was perfect for targeting basic dentist-related vocabulary and simple WH questions.dental seo

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  7. Good story, perfect to help kids and even adults ease the fear of going to the dentist!

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