[Display letter G card.]

The word “graph” begins with this letter. What is the name of this letter?

Letter G says /g/, just like in the word “graph” /g/, /g/, graph. Let’s together say /g/, /g/, graph.

Who would like to tell us another word that begins with the letter G?

Now let’s read a book!

[See Week 3, Day 1 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 encourage children to discuss what the book might be about.
• Explain that reading a book is a good way to learn new words. We will talk about some words each time we read the book this week. Remind children of the Words We Understand chart. 
• Read title of book as you point to each word. Point to and say the names of the author and illustrator.
• Introduce and provide child-friendly descriptions of two novel words included in today’s book. Write words on the chart as you point to and say each again.
• Point to the first text word and explain this is where we begin reading the book. Read the book verbatim. Pause to discuss words, events, or characters that seem confusing to children. Point to and describe illustrations directly related to book text.
• After reading the book, engage children in recalling main parts of the book and novel words emphasized today: 
  • What is our book about? 
  • Who were the main characters? 
  • What happened first? What happened next? 
• Engage children in a brief discussion of novel words emphasized today. Display and discuss book pictures that pertain to each word. 
  • What does each word mean? 
  • How was each word used in today’s book?]

Last week we practiced adding together groups of items. We know that something gets larger when we add items to it. We also practiced taking away items from a group. What is it called when we take away items from a group? (subtract)

Today we will act out a story. In the story, we will add and subtract.

[Invite three volunteer children to stand near you to help with the story. Give the first child one stuffed animal, the second child two stuffed animals, and the third child three stuffed animals. Explain to children that the stuffed animals are pretend pets. Then line up three chairs.]

Our story is about some pets that went to the veterinarian. A veterinarian is a doctor for animals. Sometimes a veterinarian is called a vet.

Have you ever taken a pet to the vet?

Let’s listen carefully to our story.

One day a child went to a veterinarian’s office with a puppy that was sick. The child sat in a chair with the puppy and waited for a turn to see the veterinarian.

[Guide the child with one stuffed animal to a chair.]

Next another child arrived with two kittens that needed a checkup. The child with the two kittens sat in a chair next to the first child with the sick puppy.

[Guide the child with two stuffed animals to a chair next to the first child.]

Let’s figure out how many animals are waiting to see the veterinarian. To see how many animals there are all together, count on to add the number of animals in both groups. We will start with the number of animals in our largest group, and then count on to the animal in our other group.

[Point to each animal as you lead children in counting on. Example: “There is a group of two animals and a group of one animal. Two animals is a larger group than one animal. We will begin counting with the number two.” Continue counting the animal in the second group. Encourage children to count out loud with you: “2, 3.”]

There are three animals all together.

As the children and animals were waiting for their turn, another child arrived with two bunnies. The two bunnies needed to get shots. The child with the bunnies sat next to the child with the kittens.

[Guide the child with two stuffed animals to a chair next to the second child.]

Let’s count on to see how many animals there are all together. We will start with the number of animals in our largest group, and then count on to the animals in our other group.

[Point to each animal as you lead children in counting on. Example: “We know there are three animals already here and now a group of two animals just arrived. Three animals is a larger group than two animals. We will begin counting with the number three.” Continue counting the animals in the second group. Encourage children to count out loud with you: ”3, 4, 5.”]

Now there are five animals in the veterinarian’s office.

Finally it was the sick puppy’s turn to see the veterinarian. The child with the puppy left his/her chair.

[Guide the child with one stuffed animal back to his/her seat on the floor.]

We will begin to subtract the animals in our group. We know that subtract means to take away something from a group of things.

We started with five animals and one went away. We subtracted one animal from our group of five animals.

How many animals are waiting now? Let’s count them.

[Lead children in counting the number of animals left waiting while pointing to animals as you count each.]

Now there are four animals waiting.

Next it was time for the two kittens to see the veterinarian. The child with the two kittens left his/her chair.

[Guide the child with two stuffed animals back to his/her seat on the floor.]

There were four animals waiting and two went away. We subtracted two animals from our group of four animals.

How many animals are waiting now? Let’s count them.

[Lead children in counting the number of animals left waiting while pointing to animals as you count each.]

Now there are two animals waiting.

It was time for the two bunnies to see the veterinarian. The child with the two bunnies left his/her chair.

[Guide the child with two stuffed animals back to his/her seat on the floor.]

We had two animals and they left to see the veterinarian.

How many animals are left waiting now? (zero) We know that zero means none. There are no more animals waiting to see the veterinarian.

[If time permits:

Create and tell your own addition and subtraction stories that children can enact.]

Today we listened to a story about three children who took their animals to the vet. We added and subtracted animals as we listened to the story. How many animals were left at the end of our story? (zero)

Today we will play a game we’ve played before. We will play Orange Circle, Purple Circle. This game helps us learn how to focus our attention on what we are expected to do. We know that when we focus on something, we concentrate on it.

Today, we are going to play our game with colored shapes and change the rules of the game. I have a yellow triangle and a yellow square.

[Hold up both shapes.]

Let’s try wiggling our hips when we see the yellow triangle, and stopping when we see the yellow square.

[Hold up the yellow triangle for a few seconds and encourage children to wiggle their hips. Then hold up the yellow square and encourage children to stop. Do this several times. If children readily follow the changes, vary the timing of holding up the action shape. Example: Hold up yellow triangle for 10 seconds, then hold it up for five seconds, etc.]

We just wiggled our hips when we saw the yellow triangle, and stopped when we saw the yellow square.

Now let’s change the rules of our game. This time we will wiggle our hips when we see the yellow square, and stop when we see the yellow triangle.

[Hold up the yellow square for a few seconds and encourage children to wiggle their hips. Then hold up the yellow triangle and encourage children to stop. Do this several times. If children readily follow the changes, vary the timing of holding up the action shape. Example: Hold up yellow square for 10 seconds, then hold it up for five seconds, etc.]

Let’s play our game again. This time we will use two different shapes and change the rules of the game.

[Hold up each shape as you demonstrate the body movement that corresponds with each.]

• We will run in place when we see the blue circle.
• We will clap when we see a blue rectangle.
• We will stop when I put both shapes behind my back.

Let’s see if we remember what we need to do for each new shape.

• What do we do when we see the blue circle? (run in place)
• What do we do when we see the blue rectangle? (clap)
• What do we do when I put the shapes behind my back? (stop)

Let’s practice!

[Continue playing the game as you hold up each shape. Be sure to clearly say “Blue Circle!” and “Blue Rectangle!” when you hold up the shapes for all to see. Hold up each shape for several seconds. Then put the shapes behind your back.

If children follow the prompts without much difficulty, then do the opposite motions for each shape. Be sure to review the game changes before you begin a new version.]

Today we played Orange Circle, Purple Circle again. We paid close attention to what we were expected to do and remembered new rules.

• How did we know what to do during the games? (look at shapes)
• Why did we need to pay close attention? (because the shapes changed)
• Was it difficult to focus on the changing shapes?

We are learning about different types of habitats. What is a habitat? (a place where certain types of plants and animals usually live)

Several weeks ago we learned about a forest habitat.

What do you remember about a forest? (covered with trees and other plants, brown and green, many plants and animals live there)

This week we will learn about a habitat called a rainforest. A rainforest is a forest that gets a lot of rain and has very tall trees. Sometimes a rainforest is called a jungle.

The word rainforest is a compound word. We know that a compound word is the new word we make by putting two words together.

What two words do you hear in the word rainforest? (rain, forest)

Let’s look at a picture of a rainforest.

[Display picture of a rainforest.]

• Have you ever been to a rainforest or seen a rainforest in a movie?
• What was it like?

[Encourage children to discuss what they know about a rainforest.]

It rains in a rainforest almost every day. A rainforest has more kinds of plants and animals than any other habitat in the world because it rains so much.

Today we are going to talk about some things that live on the ground of a rainforest. The ground is soil. We call this part of a rainforest the rainforest floor.

[Point to the floor in the rainforest picture.]

Many kinds of plants, insects, and other large animals live on a rainforest floor. Let’s look at some pictures of some animals and plants that live on a rainforest floor.

[Display the following pictures of plants and animals that live on a rainforest floor: tiger, gorilla, ferns, and flowers. Children are not expected to remember the specific names. Name each animal and plant and encourage discussion of its characteristics with questions, such as the following:]

• Tiger—A tiger’s stripes help it to blend in with the plants on the rainforest floor. This helps a tiger to hide from animals it is hunting.
• Gorilla—Animals that live in a rainforest need a way to keep dry because it rains a lot in a rainforest. What covers a gorilla’s body that keeps it dry? (fur) A gorilla uses its legs and long arms to move through the rainforest. Let’s pretend we are a gorilla moving through the rainforest.
  [Encourage children to move their bodies like a gorilla in the rainforest.]
• Ferns—How are ferns different from trees? (smaller)
• Flowers—What color is this flower growing on the rainforest floor? (purple)

[Point to the tall trees in the rainforest picture as you describe how they provide shade for the rainforest floor. Point also to a leafy and green plant on the rainforest floor.]

The plants on a rainforest floor are very leafy and green because a rainforest gets lots of rain. These plants do not need a lot of sunlight to grow. The rainforest floor gets a small amount of sunshine. Tall trees and other tall plants grow above the rainforest floor and provide shade for the plants below.

[Display together the pictures of a rainforest and a desert.]

Let’s compare a rainforest habitat to a desert habitat. Remember, there is a lot of sun and very little rain in a desert.

Desert plants get a lot of sun but not a lot of rain. Rainforest plants get a lot of rain but not a lot of sun. A rainforest and a desert are very different places for plants and animals.

• How are rainforest plants and desert plants different? (rainforest plants are very green, most desert plants do not have leaves)
• Would a plant that lives on the floor of a rainforest be able to live in a desert? (no) Why not? (too much sun; needs shade)
• Would a tiger or gorilla be able to live in a desert? (no) Why not? (too hot)

Many plants and animals live in a rainforest because it rains almost every day. There are more plants and animals in a rainforest than in any other habitat. The rainforest floor gets very little sunlight because the tall trees and other plants that grow above it provide shade for the plants below.