[Display letter I card.]

What is the name of this letter? What sound does the letter I make?

Letter I says /i/, just like in “inch.” /i/, /i/, inch. Let’s together say /i/, /i/, inch.

Now let’s spend some time with our book.

[See Week 3, Day 5 of Language/Literacy for a description and examples of how to approach today’s book reading. Key aspects are summarized below:

• Display book cover. Explain that we have read our book two times this week. Each time we read the book we learn something new. Point to and say title of book. 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?
• Point to and say the names of author and illustrator. Point to where to begin reading.
• During the reading, pause on pages that include a word defined in the prior two readings of the book. Ask or remind children what the word means. Also pause during the reading to define the 2–3 words identified for today’s session, using the following approach:
  • Read the sentence with the novel word. Identify 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, write the 2–3 words targeted for today on the chart and engage children in a discussion of each word, using one or more of the following strategies:
  • 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 or phrase in another context.
• Explain that different types of things happened in our book. Facilitate a discussion of children’s interpretations of events and/or characters in the book, especially events or characters related to one or more words defined this week. See Week 3, Day 5 for examples.]

Offer the Week 31, Day 2 activity to review adding and counting on.

Engage children in adding together the number of buttons on two shirts.

Invite children to pretend two friends have asked them to sew buttons on their shirts. Each friend has one shirt, and each shirt may have a different number of buttons. We have 12 buttons available. We want to make sure we have enough buttons to sew on both of the shirts.

Give each child two shirt templates and 12 buttons. Spin the spinner and encourage children to place on the first shirt template the corresponding number of buttons. Spin the spinner again and encourage children to place on the second shirt template the corresponding number of buttons. Encourage children to add the groups of buttons by counting on. Ask children to say how many buttons they have all together. Remind children that each of them has 12 buttons. Do they have enough buttons for the two shirts?

Invite children to remove the buttons from the two shirt templates. Encourage children to pretend that two other friends have asked them to sew buttons on their shirts. Invite a child to spin the spinner. Encourage children to repeat the process described above. Continue as time and child interest permit.

We are learning about things that happen when we move to a new place. We know about packing and unpacking, putting our things where they belong, and becoming familiar with a new neighborhood and making friends. Remember, familiar means to know about a place or thing.

[Display picture from Day 1: kitchen with furnishings.]

What did this picture help us learn?

[Follow-up prompt, if needed: “Will the rooms in a new home look exactly the same as the rooms in the home a family used to live in?” (probably not)]

A new home probably will have rooms that are similar to the rooms in the home we are leaving. There will be a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom, and some bedrooms.

• How might the rooms in a new home be different from the rooms in the home a family moved from? (larger, smaller, windows and doors in different places)
• What are some things we need to become familiar with in a new home? (light switches, doors to outside, etc.)

Unpacking things from boxes is a big part of moving. We practiced unpacking some things in our classroom.

• What does a family need to do with its things after they are unpacked? (put them where they belong)
• Boxes and packing items (bubble wrap, paper) will be left after things are unpacked. What can be done with boxes when we are done using them? (recycle)
  [Display pictures from the Day 3 story of how Jason and his mom walked around their new neighborhood: bakery, crossing guard, bus stop.]

• What did these pictures help us learn?
  [Follow-up prompt, if needed: “How did Jason and his mom become familiar with new places in their new neighborhood?”]

We learned that a family can learn about a new neighborhood by walking through the neighborhood and talking with people in the neighborhood. This is what Jason and his mom did after they moved to a new home.

What are some things that Jason and his mom learned about? (bakery, bus stop, taco restaurant, school)

Meeting new children is another big part of moving. Yesterday we talked about ways to make friends in a new place. Let’s look at our chart to remember some of our ideas.

[Display the chart from Day 4. Point to and read the entries. Elaborate on ideas that appear to be of special interest to children.]

There are many things to learn and do when we move to a new home. We know what to do if we move. Let’s have fun where we live right now.

Offer the Week 17, Day 4 activity to support children’s practice of catching a ball that he/she throws.

Engage children in catching a ball thrown by an adult.

Be Prepared: Secure the assistance of another adult. Develop a plan for safely managing children’s experiences in catching a ball thrown by an adult, including the location of children who are not engaged in catching a ball.

Open the session by reminding children that when we catch something, we use both of our hands to stop and then hold something that is moving in the air. Emphasize the importance of keeping an eye on the ball. Describe and demonstrate. Today we will practice catching a ball thrown by an adult.

Each adult should gently throw a large ball to a child. Encourage the child to catch the ball with both hands. Encourage the child to roll or throw the ball back to the adult. Continue until the child catches the ball or comes close to catching the ball.