[Display letter L card.]

What is the name of this letter?

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

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

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.”]

We are learning how to split a whole group of items into two parts. We know that when we split something, we divide it into smaller parts.

Today we are going to use our part-part-whole mat to play a hiding game. Remember, our mat has a place for the whole group and sections for two parts.

Let’s first put a group of six magnets in the section of our mat for the whole group.

[Invite a volunteer child to place six magnets in the whole-section of the mat. Lead children in counting the number of magnets as you or the volunteer child point to each one. Say again the number six when you finish counting.]

Now let’s find the number six in our basket of number magnets and place it in the section of our mat for the whole group. It will go next to our group of six magnets.

[Invite a different volunteer child to find the numeral six magnet and place it next to the group of six magnets in the section of the mat for the whole group.

Point to the numeral magnet and smaller magnets as you describe the following:]

We know that this is the number six. It is in the same section as our six small magnets. Let’s count our small magnets together. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Let’s think about our group of six magnets.

[Place the six magnets from the whole group in the palm of your hand. Leave the numeral six magnet in the whole-section of the mat.]

I am going to put some of the magnets in a part-section of our mat. I am going to hide the rest of our magnets in my hand.

[Place four magnets in a part-section of the mat and keep the remaining two magnets in your hand hidden from view.]

I put some of the magnets in a part-section of our mat. The rest of the magnets are hiding in my hand. Let’s count the number of magnets I put in the part-section of our mat.

[Lead children in counting the number of magnets in the part-section of the mat as you point to each one. Say again the number four when you finish counting.]

We have four magnets in the part-section of our mat. The whole group section of our mat has the number six.

How many more magnets do we need in the other part-section of our mat to equal six magnets all together? (two)

[Show the two magnets in your hand that remain from the original group. Place the remaining magnets in the second part-section of the mat.]

Let’s count all of our magnets to make sure they equal six. We need six magnets all together to equal the same number in our whole group.

[Count on as you count magnets in the two part-sections together.]

We started with six magnets. I put four magnets in one part-section of our mat. We figured out that we needed two more magnets in the second part-section to equal six in our whole group.

Let’s try it again.

[Repeat the game with seven magnets and then with eight magnets in the whole group. Continue to use the terms “whole” and “parts” during discussion.]

Today we played a hiding game. We started with a whole group of magnets. Then we split the magnets into two parts. I placed some of the magnets in a part-section of our mat and kept the other part hiding in my hand. We counted the number of magnets in the part-section of our mat and figured out how many magnets I was hiding in my hand.

Yesterday we read a book called Peter’s Chair. Our book was about Peter’s feelings and thoughts about having a new baby sister Susie. We know that the way we feel is called an emotion.

Our book helped us talk about what Peter thought or felt about having a new baby.

I have some pictures of different children working with things in their classroom. Let’s talk about what each child may be thinking or feeling.

[Display picture of two children working with puzzles.]

The two children in this picture are working with puzzles.

[Point to child who is moving a puzzle part.]

• What do you think the boy might be thinking?
• What do you think he might be feeling? (happy, excited)
  [Point to child who is looking up from the puzzle work.]
• What do you think the girl might be thinking?
• What do you think she might be feeling? (sad, frustrated, disappointed, angry)

[Display picture of children working with Mega Bloks™ and plastic toy animals.]

The two children in this picture are working with Mega Bloks™ and plastic toy animals.

[Point to child holding an item.]

• What are your ideas about what this child is thinking?
  [Point to child looking at items on the floor.]
• What are your ideas about what this child is thinking?

Let’s look at one more picture of different children. The children in this picture are working with Waffle Blocks™.

[Display picture of children working with Waffle Blocks™.]

[Point to child who appears upset.]

• What do you think the child holding the block might be feeling?
  [Point to other child in picture.]
• What do you think this child might be feeling?
  [Display the three pictures in a row. Point to the pertinent picture as you describe each.]

We looked at three pictures of different children working with things in their classroom.

In the first picture, the children were doing puzzles. In the second picture, the children were working with Mega Bloks™ and plastic toy animals. In the third picture, the children were playing with Waffle Blocks™.

Do you think the children in our pictures were all having the same thoughts or feelings? (no)

Let’s talk about what the children in one of our pictures might be thinking or feeling.

[Invite a volunteer child to choose a picture to talk about. Draw children’s attention to the picture selected by the volunteer child so all children can focus on the pictured children as the volunteer child describes differences.

If necessary, prompt the volunteer child to describe what each pictured child may be thinking or feeling.

If children seem unclear about differences in the experiences of children in the same picture, repeat this procedure with one or both remaining pictures, with a different volunteer child.]

[Display picture of children working with Mega Bloks™ and plastic toy animals.]

• Let’s pretend you would like to join the two children in this picture in working with Mega Bloks™ and plastic toy animals. What would you say or do? (Do you need any help? Can I join?)
  [Display picture of children working with Waffle Blocks™.]
• Here is a pair of children working with Waffle Blocks™. Let’s pretend you would like to work with Waffle Blocks™. Would you want to join the children in this picture in working with Waffle Blocks™? Why (or why not)? What would you do? (ask to play with the child who seems happy; ask the child who seems upset if he needs help)

We know there are many things we can do to get along well with others. Paying attention to what someone may be thinking or feeling can help us make good choices in playing with others.

Today we talked again about what someone may be feeling or thinking. We remembered that Peter changed his mind about painting his little chair pink for his baby sister. We learned that different children can have different thoughts or feelings when they play with the same kinds of toys together. Paying attention to what someone may be feeling or thinking can help us get along well with others.

Yesterday we learned about some of the animals that live in a forest. Today we will learn about some different types of homes forest animals live in.

Animals in all habitats have homes. We learned that some animals that live in water use a shell as their home. We also learned that some animals that live in a desert make their home underground to keep cool in the heat. Remember, a desert can be a very hot place.

What do we do in our own home? (eat, sleep, play games, etc.)

A home gives shelter. Shelter protects living things from something that may hurt them. Our homes have a roof and walls that protect us from storms and really cold or hot weather. Our homes also provide shelter for animals or plants that live in our homes. The homes that forest animals live in also provide shelter.

Forest animals make their homes in many different places.

Let’s look at three pictures of animal homes in a forest.

[Display and discuss, one at a time, three pictures of forest animal homes as described below.]

• Forest floor: This is a forest floor. It has many plants and trees.
• Hole in tree: Here is a picture of a hole in a tree. This is a home for some animals in a forest.
• Burrow: This hole is called a burrow. A burrow is a hole or tunnel in the ground, made by an animal. A burrow is the animal’s home under the ground.

[Display the six Day 2 pictures of forest animals. Invite children to say the name of each pictured animal. Repeat or say the correct name after children offer a name.]

Let’s figure out what kinds of animals would live in each of the homes shown in our pictures.

• Forest floor: What animals might live on the floor of a forest? (deer) How could a forest floor provide shelter for an animal? (animal can hide behind trees and other plants)
• Hole in tree: What animals might live in a hole in a tree? (raccoon, squirrel) Why? (they can climb)
• Burrow: We know a burrow is a hole or tunnel in the ground. What forest animal might make and live in a burrow? (chipmunk, fox, rabbit) Why? (they can dig) How would a burrow provide shelter for an animal? (cannot be seen, out of bad weather)

Every habitat has different kinds of animal homes for animals. Animals in a forest might make their homes in trees, in burrows in the ground, and on the forest floor. Each home provides shelter for the animal.