[Display letter X card.]

The word “fox” ends with this letter. What is the name of this letter?

Letter X says /ks/, just like in the word “fox.” /ks/, / ks/, fox. Let’s together say /ks/, /ks/, fox.

Who would like to tell us another word that ends with the letter X?

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?]

Today we are going to talk about patterns. A pattern is something that repeats itself. Sometimes our clothes have patterns.

Let’s look at this striped shirt (item). The stripes are the lines on the shirt. These stripes are in a pattern.

[Point out how the stripes on the shirt (or other item) are in alternating colors. Example: “This shirt has stripes in a pattern. Please look at the pattern. Blue, white, blue, white, blue, white. This shirt has a blue, white, blue, white pattern.”]

Let’s together say the pattern as I point to the stripes.

I wonder if any of us have a pattern on our clothes today.

[Point out different types of patterns on children’s clothing, if possible. Patterns may be in stripes, dots, etc.]

We can make a pattern with children in our classroom. We can make a pattern with boys and girls.

[Encourage children to line up in a boy-girl pattern in two separate lines so children can see the line they are not part of. When children have finished lining up in a pattern, point to each child as you lead children in saying “Boy, girl, boy, girl,” etc. If you have more boys or more girls, invite children who are not part of a pattern to point with you.]

Today we learned that a pattern is something that repeats itself. Let’s say the pattern on this shirt (item) again.

[Lead children in saying the shirt pattern as you point to each stripe.]

Let’s have some quiet time together so we can concentrate on our breathing and body. This will help our mind to calm down and help us with our self-control.

What does it mean to concentrate? (to pay close attention to something)

Today each of us will use a squeeze ball to concentrate on our breathing and body. We will pretend the ball is an orange in our hand.

[Give each child a squeeze ball. Encourage children to feel and squeeze it.

Spread out children so each child has personal space. Ask children to sit and place their squeeze ball between their legs. When all children are arranged, turn out the lights in the classroom.]

Let’s begin by concentrating on our breathing. As you breathe in and out, put your hand on your stomach to feel how it moves as you breathe. Let’s practice breathing while feeling our stomach move in and out.

Let’s take a deep breath.

In, 1, 2, 3, out, 1, 2, 3.

If you want you can close your eyes to help you relax.

Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.

In, 1, 2, 3, out, 1, 2, 3.

In, 1, 2, 3, out, 1, 2, 3.

When you breathe in, bring the air all the way down into your stomach.

In, 1, 2, 3, out, 1, 2, 3.

Your hand on your stomach should move up and down as you breathe.

In, 1, 2, 3, out, 1, 2, 3.

Keep breathing in slowly and breathing out slowly.

Feel your body starting to relax. Your eyes are feeling heavier and heavier as you keep breathing all the way into your stomach.

In, 1, 2, 3, out, 1, 2, 3.

Now we are going to focus on our hands and arms. Pick up your squeeze ball and hold it in your hand. Let’s pretend the squeeze ball is an orange. Pretend you are going to squeeze the orange to make orange juice. Tighten your fist as much as possible. Pretend you are squeezing the orange as hard as you can. Okay, there’s no more juice left in the orange. Relax your hands and place your squeeze ball between your legs.

Wow! Here comes a beautiful butterfly. He’s coming over to you. He’s flying around your head. Oh! He landed on your nose. Don’t touch our imaginary butterfly with your hands, because we might hurt him. Instead, try to get the butterfly to move off of your nose by scrunching up your nose and face.

Squeeze your face up and move your nose around. Wrinkle your face up really hard. Now relax. Our imaginary butterfly flew away. Feel the muscles in your face relax.

Now just relax and focus on how your body feels. Your face was tight but now it’s relaxed. Your fists were tight but now your hands feel open and free. Your stomach is now relaxed. Your whole body feels relaxed.

Now we will let go of our thoughts about how our body feels. Let’s pretend we are putting our thoughts on a big cloud in the sky. Let’s imagine we are watching our thoughts float away on a big cloud so our mind is quiet. Now we can think about our breathing again. Let’s breathe together again while we feel our stomachs go in and out.

[Gather children’s squeeze balls and place them to the side.]

Let’s use some of our quiet time to practice some yoga. Remember, when people do yoga they concentrate on their breathing while stretching their bodies into different poses.

Let’s do the yoga poses we learned several weeks ago. We know that a pose is a way of holding our body. Here are the two yoga poses we have done.

[Display photos in the book of yoga poses done in Week 11, Day 1. Invite children to try each pose. Demonstrate each. Encourage children to take three deep breaths as they hold each pose.]

Now let’s look at the pictures of other poses in our book about yoga. We will try some different yoga poses in the book and concentrate on our breathing while we do them.

[Choose two poses from the book to demonstrate to children. Read sections of the book that focus on the two poses. Discuss how the child’s body is posed in each picture. Example: “This is called the lion pose. How does the boy’s body look like a lion?”

Show children the picture of the first chosen pose from the book. Demonstrate the pose and then invite children to try it. Remind children to take three deep breaths as they hold the pose. Repeat the pose with three deep breaths. Then show children the picture from the book of the second chosen pose and use the same approach. Repeat the pose with three deep breaths.]

We are learning to calm our minds and use good self-control by concentrating on our breathing and our bodies. We did some yoga poses. Yoga helps us concentrate on our breathing while stretching our bodies. Which yoga pose helped you the most in calming your mind?

We are learning a lot about how animals are living things. Today we will learn about another kind of animal called an insect.

An insect is an animal that has six legs. Insects are sometimes called bugs.

Pop up if you like insects.

We can tell if something is an insect by counting its legs.

Last week we learned about some other animals with legs.

• How many legs does a bear have? (four)
• How many legs does a bird have? (two)

Insects are much smaller than a bear or a bird but they have more legs!

Insects are all around us. Let’s look at some pictures of insects.

[Display pictures of an ant, cockroach, mosquito, and praying mantis. State the name of each insect when you display its picture. Encourage children to count the legs on each picture.]

How many legs does each insect have?

They each have six legs. Let’s together count to six on our fingers.

Insects use their legs to move around. There are other ways some insects can use their legs. Some insects can make sounds with their legs when they rub them together. Other insects use sticky parts of their legs to walk on walls or ceilings!

Can we walk on walls or ceilings with our legs? (No!)

An insect’s legs are attached to the middle part of its body. Some insects also have wings attached to the middle part of their body.

Let’s look at another picture of an insect. We can see how the legs and wings are attached to the middle part of the insect’s body.

[Display picture of a wasp. Point out the legs and wings and how they are attached to the middle part of the insect’s body.]

An insect uses the middle part of its body to help it move. Some insects can fly. Some can walk. Some can jump. And some insects can swim. Insects can move in many ways.

Let’s move like an insect!

[Invite children to move like an insect in an open area of your classroom. Remind children that there are many different ways to move like an insect: fly, walk, jump, swim.]

Today we learned about an animal that has six legs. What is the animal called? Insects use parts of their bodies in many ways. How do insects use their legs? (move, make noise, climb on walls) An insect’s legs and wings are attached to the middle part of its body.