Today we are going to learn a different letter of the alphabet.

[Display letter Z card.]

Does anyone know the name of this letter?

This is the letter Z. We can write the letter Z in two ways. We can write the letter Z like this.

[Demonstrate writing an uppercase Z at the top of a chart paper.]

This is an uppercase Z.

We can also write the letter Z like this.

[Demonstrate writing a lowercase z at the top of a chart paper.]

This is a lowercase z.

We are learning about how artists use lines to create art. We know that a zigzag line is a line with short, sharp turns or corners. Let’s make a zigzag line with our finger!

The word “zigzag” begins with the letter z. I will write the word “zigzag” on our chart. I am going to write “zigzag”with a lowercase (small letter) z.

[Say each letter as you write the word. Emphasize z.]

Let’s all say the word “zigzag.”

[Invite a volunteer child to point to both letter zs in the word “zigzag.”]

Let’s look at the very first letter of our name. Pop up if you have the letter Z at the beginning of your name. Remember, names begin with an uppercase (big) letter.

[Encourage children to look at their name cards. Say the first names of children who have a Z at the beginning of their name. If there are children whose name begins with the letter Z who do not stand, point to the letter Z on their name card. Compare the letter Z in their name as you hold the letter Z card next to their name card.

If no one in the group has a first name beginning with the letter Z, say “No one popped up because no one has a name that starts with the letter Z.” Encourage children to look at the list of children’s first names. Point to some first letters of names. Explain that no one’s name begins with the letter Z.

If a child indicates there is a letter Z in his/her name, but not at the beginning of the name, fully recognize the name and invite the child to pop up. Day 4 gives attention to the letter z that appears somewhere else in a child’s name.]

Today we learned about the letter Z. What word begins with the letter z? (zigzag)

Offer the Week 21, Day 3 activity to review the concept of one more.

Engage children in rolling two dice and naming the numeral that is one more than the number of dots shown on the top of the dice. This option includes making a group of counters that is one more than the amount of dots shown on top of the dice.

Remind children that the number that comes after another number is one more. Invite children to make groups of counters that are one more than the number of dots shown on the dice.

Show two dice. Invite one child to roll the die. Invite another child to count the number of dots on the tops of both die. Invite all children to say the number that is one more than the number of dots shown on the two dice. Demonstrate making a group of counters equal to one more than the number of dots on top of the dice.

Give each child 13 counters. Invite children to place the counters in front of them. Remind children that each of us will make a group of counters that is one more than the number of dots on top of the dice.

Give the first child two dice. Encourage the child to roll both dice and say aloud the number of dots all together. Then invite all children to say the number that is one more than the total number of dots. Encourage all children to count out from their group of counters the number of counters that is one more than the total number of dots all together. Then encourage children to put all of their counters together for another round. Continue until all children have had a turn to roll the dice.

We are learning about moving. One type of move happens when we move from one home to a different home.

• Who has moved to a new home?
• What happened?

[Encourage children to describe their experiences with moving to a new home.]

Families move from one home to a different home for different reasons.

• A family member might get a new job that is too far away to stay in the same home. Sometimes a family member gets a job far away in a different country.
• A family might move because the family gets bigger. A family might have a new baby or a relative might come to live with them. The family may need more space to live in.
• A family might move because some family members don’t live together anymore. Sometimes a mom/dad moves to a new home and the other parent still lives in the same home with the children. Children may spend time at both homes.
• A family might move to a new home if they want to be in a different place. The family might want to live closer to a different school in the same community. A family may decide to live in a place that has warmer weather or is near a favorite place, like the ocean.

Who can tell us a reason why your family moved or why someone you know moved to a new home?

Today we talked about why people move from one home to a different home. There are many different reasons why people move from one home to another home.

[Display cover of Move!]

We read and talked about this book yesterday. The book described some different ways that animals move. The book used letters, pictures, and words in creative ways to help us learn how animals move.

[Point to book features, or invite a child to point to book features, as you recall each.]

Remember, the cover of our book yesterday shows a rabbit jumping from the letter M. The words on the pages that tell how animals move are written in big letters. Some of the sentences in this book follow the outline of a picture.

The book we read yesterday was written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. Today we are going to read and talk about another book by Mr. Jenkins and Ms. Page. Our book for today also uses some creative ways to help us learn about animals.

[Display cover of What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?]

• What do we see on the cover of our book? (words, a curly thing that some children may identify as a tail, names of author and illustrator)
• The curly thing is a tail. Can we tell from the cover of our book what animal has a tail like this? (no)
• What did Mr. Jenkins and Ms. Page do with the words on our cover? (put them around the tail)
• The title of our book is What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? Does the book cover help us get interested in the book?

Mr. Jenkins and Ms. Page want us to be interested in this book. They want us to open the book to learn more. The cover of the book shows a tail but does not show the animal that has this tail. The title of the book asks a question about a tail. We need to open the book the find out what animal has a tail like this and how the animal uses the tail.

[The following questions are intended to promote children’s interest in the book topic, not guess correct responses. Support children in generating as many different ideas as they wish.]

• What animal might have a tail like this?
• How would an animal use a tail like this?

Several weeks ago we talked about some parts of our own bodies. This book tells us how some animals use parts of their bodies.

We learn information in a book by looking at pictures or illustrations and by listening to (or reading) words and sentences. Mr. Jenkins and Ms. Page organized information about the parts of animals’ bodies in a creative way. We know that information is put in a specific place or order when it is organized. In our book today, information about animals’ bodies is organized by different body parts.

Let’s look at how information on noses is organized in our book.

The noses of five different animals are shown on this page. Let’s count the number of noses together.

[Display and describe page that shows five different animal noses. Point to each pictured nose as you lead children in counting.]

We do not know what animals have the noses shown on this page. The page asks a question: “What do you do with a nose like this?” We can make guesses about the answer to this question. The answer to this question is not included on this page.

We can learn which noses belongs to which animal and how an animal uses its nose by turning to the next page in our book.

[Display page that shows and describes five animals and their noses.]

We can match animals to their noses on this page. The noses shown on the other (prior) page are parts of the animals shown on this page.

[Point to one nose on the page with five noses and then show on the next page which animal the nose belongs to.]

[As part of asking the following question, show again the page with five noses and then the next page with five animals to which the noses belong. The intent is for children to compare size of illustrations.]

Which page shows a larger picture of an animal’s nose? (page with five noses)

Putting together the illustrations of five noses helps us see each nose better than when a nose is shown as part of its animal. A nose is bigger when it is the only thing in an illustration.

[Turn to page that shows five tails. Point to long tail when you describe it.]

Some parts of animals are so big that only some of the body part can be shown in our book. Please look at this illustration of a tail. We can see only part of the tail in this illustration because it is so long.

[Turn to the page that shows five sets of eyes. Point to particularly large eyes when you discuss them.]

Here are illustrations of animals’ eyes. Five sets of eyes are shown here. Some of the eyes are large. The illustrations help us focus on the eyes of some animals. We can see things in these illustrations that we cannot see in smaller illustrations of animals’ eyes.

[Turn to page that shows five animals to which the eyes belong. Again, the intent is for children to compare the size of the illustrations.]

The eyes belong to animals shown on this page. There are five animals for the five sets of eyes shown on the other (prior) page. Mr. Jenkins and Ms. Page organized the eyes the same way they organized the noses and other body parts described in our book. First we see different types of the same body part. We do not know which type belongs to which animal or how the animal uses the body part. Then we turn the page and see which animals have the body part.

[As part of asking the following question, show again the page with five sets of eyes and then the next page with five animals to which the eyes belong. The intent is for children to compare size of illustrations.]

Which page tells us more about what different animals’ eyes look like: the page that shows us five sets of eyes or the page that shows us which animals belong to the eyes? (the page with illustrations of five eyes)

Some of the words and sentences in our book are organized like some of the words and sentences in the book we read yesterday.

[Turn to page that shows five animals and their tails. Point to features described below.]

This is a picture of a skunk. A skunk can make a stinky spray. Please look at how the words near the skunk’s tail are organized to look like spray coming out of the skunk.

Please also look at how a sentence follows the outline of a lizard. We saw sentences used like this in our book called Move!

Now let’s read parts of our book. There are many animals in our book. We can learn about animals that are of interest to us. Our book helps us learn about six different parts of animals: nose, ears, tail, eyes, feet, and mouth.

[Read the book as suggested in Be Prepared. Define the following words as appropriate:

• Scoop means to pick up something.
• Capture means to catch something.]

Today we talked about a creative way to organize information in a book. Our book was about parts of animals’ bodies. Steve Jenkins and Robin Page wrote and illustrated our book. They organized the book to first show different types of the same body part. Then there was a page that showed what animals belonged to which body part. The page that showed only body parts helped us look more closely at the body parts. This page also made us guess which animal belonged to which body part. Why? (because the page that showed body parts only did not show the animal)