[Display letter S card.]

What is the name of this letter?

[Point to the uppercase letter S on the letter card.]

Am I pointing to the uppercase or to the lowercase letter S?

Now let’s spend some time with our book.

[See Week 3, Day 3 of Language/Literacy for a description and examples of how to approach today’s book reading. Key aspects are summarized below:

• Display book cover and say book title. Engage children in describing what they remember about the book:
  • What is our book about?
  • Who were the main characters in our book?
  • What happened first? What happened next?
• Remind children that reading a book is a good way to learn new words. Point to and say words introduced on Day 1 that are listed on the Words We Understand chart. Invite children to talk about what they recall about each of the words. Remind children of the meaning of each novel word.
• Point to where to begin to read on the first text page of the book. Pause during reading to briefly define words identified for today’s session. Use the following approach:
  • Read the sentence with the novel word. Repeat the novel word.
  • Repeat the sentence in which the word is used.
  • Define the novel word and connect the definition to the book.
• After the book reading, engage children in a discussion of each novel word targeted for today with one or more of the following strategies (plus writing the word on the chart):
  • Ask children to describe a picture related to the word.
  • Define a word without naming it and ask children to identify the word.
  • Encourage children to think about a novel word in another context.
• Encourage children to connect the book information to their own experiences. Below are some examples:
  • “Our book today was about worms. Have you ever seen or touched a worm? What was it like?”
  • “Our book today talked about roots. Roots are part of a plant that grow into the dirt. Have you ever seen the root of a plant? What was it like?”
  • “Today we talked about the word squeeze. We squeeze something by pressing things very close together. What kinds of things have you squeezed? How about a tube of toothpaste? How about a package or bottle of ketchup? Show us how you squeeze something.”]

Let’s say the rhyme we learned a couple of weeks ago called “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe.”

[Lead children in saying the rhyme and doing the motions (Week 12, Day 1).]

Now let’s talk more about patterns. We know that we can find and make different kinds of patterns.

Patterns can be found in things all around us, inside and outside. Today we are going to look at some pictures of patterns found in things we might see around us.

[Display provided pictures, one at a time, and use the questions below to facilitate a discussion of patterns in each item. Invite a different volunteer child to point to the pattern in each picture as children together say the pattern.]

• Cat: What is this a picture of? This cat has a pattern on its striped tail. The pattern is black, brown, black, brown. Let’s together say the pattern as we point to the stripes on the cat’s tail.
• Plant leaf: What is this a picture of? There is a pattern on this leaf of a plant. The pattern is dark green, light green, dark green, light green. Let’s together say the pattern as we point to the dark green and light green on the leaf.
• Bee: What is this a picture of? Where is the pattern on this animal? It has a striped pattern on its stomach. Remember, an insect’s stomach is on the back of its body. The pattern is orange, black, orange, black. Let’s together say the pattern as we point to the orange and black stripes on the insect’s stomach.
• Caterpillar: What is this a picture of? This caterpillar has a striped pattern on its body. The pattern is green, black and yellow, green, black and yellow. Let’s together say the pattern as we point to the caterpillar’s body.

We looked at patterns on some living things. We can find patterns in many different places.

Yesterday we talked about feeling disappointed. Remember, we usually feel disappointed when we cannot do something we really want to do. Let’s show each other what we look like when we feel disappointed.

[Briefly comment on different facial expressions and body postures.]

Today we will learn about an emotion that is very different from feeling disappointed. It is called excited.

• What do you think it means to feel excited?
• What might make you excited?

[Encourage children to discuss times they may have been excited.]

We can feel excited when we are looking forward to something that will happen soon. Sometimes when we are excited our mind goes very fast and it’s hard to calm down.

Happy and excited are similar emotions. They both make us feel good inside. We might feel happy about something that is happening right now and excited about something that is going to happen soon. We might feel happy when we are playing with our favorite toy. We might feel excited if our parent says we will go to our favorite park tomorrow. We feel excited because it is something that will happen soon.

I am going to read the page in our book, The Way I Feel, that tells us about feeling excited.

[Display book illustration of feeling excited.]

How do the boy’s face and body show us he is excited? (arms spread out, eyebrows and eyes big, mouth open, jumping, etc.)

Show us what your body and face look like when you are feeling excited.

[Describe some of the facial expressions and body postures/actions shown by children. Invite children to notice how other children’s faces and bodies show excitement.]

Let’s look at our poster and see if we can find the child who is feeling excited.

[Invite children to point out on the poster which children look excited. Discuss facial expressions that children associate with being excited.]

I am going to say some things that might happen to us. When you hear something that might make you feel excited, quietly wave your arms and hands in the air and make an excited face like this.

[Demonstrate quietly waving your arms and hands in the air and making an excited face while sitting.]

If what I say does not make you feel excited, please stay super still. We may not all be excited about the same things. This is okay.

[Read each item with an even tone of voice and neutral facial expression.]

• My grandparents are coming to visit tomorrow.
• A child knocked down my block tower.
• It is raining and I can’t go outside to play.
• My mom has been away for a while and is coming home in two days.

Today we learned about feeling excited. When we are excited we may be very happy about something that will happen soon. Not all of us are excited about the same things. It is okay to have different emotions.

[Arrange children in a large circle.]

We are learning many things about insects. Yesterday we learned about some different parts of an insect’s body. What are the long thin body parts that are attached to an insect’s head? (antennae)

There are many different kinds of insects. Today we are going to play a game to help us learn more about characteristics of different insects. We know that a characteristic is something special about a living thing or a thing that is not living.

We will play an I Spy game. I will say a person’s name and then describe some characteristics of an insect I see in one of the pictures on the floor. The person I call on will try to find the insect picture that matches the characteristics I describe.

We will take turns playing the game. Remember, each person does something one at a time when we take turns. Please do not point to the insect I describe unless it is your turn.

(Adult helper) and I will show you how to play.

[Spread out insect pictures in the middle of the circle. Pictures should include: grasshopper, stink bug, fly, praying mantis, moth, walking stick, bee, aphid, ladybug, beetle, dragonfly, and butterfly.]

I am going to describe some characteristics and (adult helper) is going to try to find the insect with the characteristics I describe.

I spy a green insect with wings on its back. Can you (adult helper) find it?

[Invite the adult helper to find and hold up the picture of the insect (grasshopper). Invite the adult helper to point to characteristics you described (green, wings on back) so all children can see them, and then return picture to the collection of insect pictures on the floor. Play the game until each child has had a turn. After a child finds a picture, invite the child to point to the characteristics you described so all children can see them.]

The insect game, we played today, helped us learn more about different insect characteristics.