Today we are going to play another listening game. We will use our listening ears so we know what to do. Our game is called Simon Says.

• Have you ever played Simon Says before?
• How does it work?

We will do what Simon asks us to do. We need to listen carefully so we can remember what Simon asks us to do.

(Adult helper) and I will show you how to play the game. I will be Simon. (Adult helper) will do what Simon says.

[Invite (adult helper) to stand next to you in front of children. Direct your requests to the adult helper.]

Simon says please touch your head and then clap your hands in front of your body.

[Ask children to watch as the adult helper does the two sets of actions in the correct order.]

Great job listening! You touched your head and then clapped your hands in front of your body. Let’s all do that together!

[Lead children in touching their head and then clapping their hands in front of their body.]

(Adult helper) will try it again. Simon says please touch your head and then clap your hands behind your body.

[Ask children to watch as the adult helper does the two sets of actions but instead of clapping his/her hands behind his/her body, he/she incorrectly claps hands in front of his/her body.]

• Did (adult helper) do what Simon said?
• What did he/she do instead? (clapped hands in front of body instead of behind)

Simon said to touch your head and then clap your hands behind your body. Let’s try it together.

[Lead children in touching their head and then clapping their hands behind their body.

Continue to provide two-action requests and lead children in acting out each request:]

Simon says please stand up and clap your hands in front of your body. Simon says please stand up, clap your hands in back of your body, and then sit down.

Simon says please put your hands over your head and then put your hands under your chin.

Simon says please put one hand under your chin and then put the same hand over your head.

Simon says please put one hand under your chin and then put a different hand over your head.

Today we played Simon Says. We used our listening ears to find out what Simon wanted us to do. We listened, remembered, and then did what Simon asked us to do. Simon used the words up, down, in front of, behind, over, under, same, and different.

We are learning how to make groups of 1–4 items. We also are learning what it means for a group to have more of something. Remember, when something has more, it has a larger or bigger number of something.

[Hold up two fingers on one hand and four fingers on your other hand.]

Which of my hands has more fingers in the air?

Today we will make groups of 1–4 with a monster head! Each of us will make our own monster. Each of our monsters will be different. We can make our own monster look any way we want it to look.

Let’s begin by practicing how to make a monster head. I will draw a monster head shape on a chart paper. Together, we will give the monster a face.

[Draw a simple “monster head” shape on a chart paper.]

I have pieces of paper for four eyes, four noses, and four mouths.

[Glue the eyes, noses, and mouths to the monster after asking how many of each the monster should have. Children may suggest using 1–4 of each facial feature. Use the number of each facial feature chosen by the majority of children. It isn’t necessary to use all four of each feature. Ask the following questions when choosing the number of facial features:]

• I have four eyes that we could put on our monster if we want to.
  [Hold up each eye as you count each.]
• How many eyes do you think we should put on our monster head? Remember, a group of ___ has ___ things. I will glue that number of eyes on the monster.
  [Glue the number of eyes chosen by the class to the monster head.]
• How many eyes does our monster have?
• How do you know?
• Let’s count them together.
• I have four noses that we could put on our monster if we want to.

[Repeat above process for noses and mouths. Remind children that groups of 2, 3, or 4 items have 2, 3, or 4 things.]

Now, each of you can make your own monster! You will get a paper with a monster head shape on it. You will also get four eyes, four noses, and four mouths. You need to decide how many of each your monster will have. We will have lots of different looking monsters!

[As children glue the features on their monster’s face, observe and ask how many of each feature they have.]

Today each of us made a monster face. We practiced making groups of 1, 2, 3, or 4 while making the face. Many of our monsters are different. Some have four eyes, noses, and mouths, and some have one, two, or three!

[Invite children to describe their monster. As each child shares, ask how many of each feature their monster has. Encourage children to point to and count each type of feature.]

We are learning how we are the same and different. This week we will talk about more ways that people are unique. Remember, unique means that there is no other person just like you.

Today we will read a book called When Charley Met Emma. This book was written by Amy Webb. The drawings in our book were done by Merrilee Liddiard.

[Display book cover. Point to images of Emma and Charley when you mention each.]

Here is Emma. Here is Charley. What do you notice about this picture of Emma and Charley?

[Confirm or point out that Emma is in a wheelchair. Confirm that Emma does not have hands if a child(ren) mentions this.]

Emma gets around in a wheelchair. A wheelchair helps people move from place to place. Wheelchairs help people who cannot use their legs to get around.

[Read the book text and use your own words to describe pictures and expand on the book text, such as the following:

Charley likes to draw. He likes to be quiet when he draws. Charley thinks this makes him different than other children.

The word rude means someone has said or done something that can make someone else feel bad. Charley’s mom said it was rude for Charley to say that Emma looked weird. Look at Emma’s face. She felt sad when Charley said she looked weird.

Emma said she has “limb differences.” Our arms and legs are limbs. Emma’s limbs are different. How are Emma’s legs different? (cannot walk) How are Emma’s arms different? (no hands)

Charley’s stomach hurt after he realized he made Emma feel sad by saying she looked weird.

Emma said she feels bad when other people point or stare or laugh at her or whisper about her.

Charley and Emma like to do some of the same things on the playground: swing, play tag.]

[Use the following types of questions to help children talk about the story:]

• Charley and Emma are unique children. What makes Charley different than some other children? (likes to draw quietly) What makes Emma different than some other children? (uses a wheelchair, has no hands)
• Charley and Emma like to do some of the same things. How does Emma draw things? (with her foot) How does Emma play tag? (makes her wheelchair move by herself )

[Show illustrations of Charley saying “Why does she look so weird, mommy?” and Charley leaving the park with his mom at the end of the book when you describe each.]

• Charley thought Emma looked weird the first time he saw her. Here is a picture of Charley leaving the park with his mom. Charley no longer thinks Emma is weird. He says Emma is different and being different is great! What happened at the park that helped Charley become friends with Emma? (they talked, Emma told what makes her feel bad, they had fun doing things they both like to do)

We are learning that each person is unique. There are ways we are the same and there are ways we are different. In our story today, Charley learned that it is okay to be different.

We do many things in our classroom and at home that help us to be safe. Who would like to remind us what it means to stay safe?

[Encourage children to describe their ideas.]

Staying safe means we do not get hurt or sick or get into danger.

Let’s talk about some of our rules that help us to stay safe. Remember, a rule tells us how to behave.

Some rules are like a routine. We know that a routine is the order in which we do things. Washing our hands before we eat is a routine.

Some routines have several steps that need to go in the right order.

• Should we cover our mouth and nose with tissue before or after we sneeze? (before!)
• Why? (to prevent germs from spreading in the air)

Putting tissue to our mouth and nose before we sneeze is part of a routine. Putting our used tissue in the trash is another part of the routine. Washing our hands after we throw away our used tissue is the last part of the routine.

Let’s think about a girl named Trisha. She feels like she is going to sneeze.

• What should Trisha do first? (get a tissue and hold it to her mouth and nose)
• What should Trisha do if she cannot find a tissue? (sneeze into her arm)
• What should Trisha do with the tissue after she sneezes? (put in trash)
• What should Trisha do next? (wash her hands)

We described a routine to follow for sneezing. This routine can help us stay healthy and help people around us to stay healthy.

Let’s talk about a rule we are expected to follow in many places. The rule is to use our walking feet. We should use our walking feet in our classroom and center, in stores, in restaurants, and at a friend’s house.

Who would like to remind us why we should use walking feet? (so we do not run into people and hurt them)

[Add questions about reasons for other safety rules or routines you wish to review. Examples: “If we spill water on the floor, why should we wipe it up?” “Why do we wear a helmet when we ride a tricycle on the playground?”]

Sometimes it is hard to do what we are expected to do. We should use our walking feet. But we may want to get somewhere fast. We may want to be the first child who gets to the block center or to the art center. We want to run, not walk.

• Did you ever run somewhere when you were supposed to walk?
• Why did you run instead of walk?

It can be hard to do what we are supposed to do when we really want to do something else. But it may be dangerous to do what we want to do. If we run when we are supposed to walk, we could knock someone over or bump into someone. We could get hurt. Other people could get hurt.

There are rules and routines that help us stay safe. Staying safe means we do not get hurt or sick or get into danger. Sometimes it is hard to follow a rule or routine. We may want to run when we are supposed to use our walking feet. Doing what we are supposed to do can keep us from getting hurt or from hurting others.