Oral language, Letter knowledge
Children will understand basic information, including the meaning of several novel words, presented in a book read aloud. Children will also identify the name of the letter X.
New:
Be Prepared: This is the first of three repeated readings of a book with children. Today’s reading focuses on children’s understanding of basic information presented in the book. In advance of the session, identify all novel words in the book you intend to define for children across three days of reading the book. Select one or two important words to define for children today, especially words that are essential to understanding the book. See the Language/Literacy section of the ELM User Guide: 3–5 Years for additional information. Write the following at the top of the chart paper: Words We Understand.
[Display letter X card.]
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:
Number knowledge
Children will compare groups of five or fewer items. Children will also recognize the numeral five.
New:
Review:
We are learning what numbers one, two, three, and four look like.
[Display large numeral cards 1–4 in random order. Invite children to name each number. Then invite volunteer children to point to and count the number of dots on each card.]
Today we will practice comparing groups that have different numbers of items. We will think about which group has more and which group has fewer.
Let’s look at two groups of blocks.
[Display two groups of identical blocks: one group with five blocks and one group with two blocks.]
We can count the number of blocks in each group to find out which one has more. Or we may know how many are in each group by just looking at the groups.
[Display two groups of two identical blocks.]
Here are two groups that have equal amounts.
How many blocks are in each group? (two)
Both groups have two blocks. The groups are equal. The amount of blocks in each group is the same.
Let’s compare some more groups of blocks.
Hold up five fingers.]
How many fingers am I holding up?
I am holding up five fingers. Let’s count them together.
[Point to each finger as you encourage children to count with you.]
Number five looks like this.
[Hold up a large numeral five card.]
The number five means there are five of something. Let’s count together the dots on the number card.
[Point to each dot on the numeral card as you count. Encourage children to count with you.]
The number five means there are five things! Please hold up five fingers. Let’s count them together.
[Display a large numeral two card next to the numeral five card.]
Let’s compare the number two to the number five.
Today we practiced comparing groups of different numbers of blocks. We also learned what the number five looks like.
Extra support
Enrichment
Provide two sets of *small numeral cards 1–5. Turn the cards face down so children cannot see the numerals on each card. Invite children to play a memory game and look for matching cards.
*Printables provided
As an extension of today’s activity plan, school-age children may wish to compare larger groups of items. Place small manipulatives in a bowl. Invite two school-age children to each take a handful of the manipulatives and count the number of items. Who has more? Who has fewer? Are the groups equal?
Executive function
Children will regulate their behaviors in response to different oral and visual prompts.
Review:
Be Prepared: If time permits, offer Sleeping, Sleeping, All the Children Are Sleeping from Week 15, Day 2 as a second game. If the game described below is too challenging for a majority of children, stop at an appropriate place and offer Sleeping, Sleeping, All the Children Are Sleeping from Week 15, Day 2. The game for today may be less challenging when offered again at a later point.
Today we will play Conducting an Orchestra. This game helps us to concentrate on what we need to do.
How do we play Conducting an Orchestra?
Remember, an orchestra is a group of people who play certain kinds of musical instruments together.
What does someone do when they conduct an orchestra? (lead it)
So when someone conducts an orchestra, they lead a group of people playing certain kinds of musical instruments.
[Give each child a musical instrument. Instruments may include drums, bells, triangles, rhythm sticks, etc. Provide children with a few moments to play their instruments.]
For this game, I will be the conductor and you will be the orchestra. When I wave the baton slowly, we will play our instruments slowly. Then when I wave the baton quickly, we will play our instruments quickly.
What should we do when I stop waving the baton? (stop playing instrument)
Let’s try it.
[Wave the baton slowly as children play the instruments slowly. After a few seconds, wave the baton quickly. Wait for children to begin playing quickly before you begin waving the baton slowly again. Continue for several minutes as children practice playing quickly, slowly, and stopping while watching the baton.]
Now we are going to change the game a little. This time when I wave the baton slowly, we will play our instruments quickly. Then when I wave the baton quickly, we will play our instruments slowly.
Let’s try it.
[Wave your baton slowly as children begin to play the instruments quickly. After a few seconds, wave the baton quickly. Wait for children to begin playing slowly before you begin waving the baton slowly again. Continue as children practice the new rules. Encourage children to stop playing their instruments when you stop waving the baton.]
Today we again played Conducting an Orchestra. We changed the rules of the game.
Extra support
Enrichment
Invite children to continue playing Conducting an Orchestra. Encourage children to take turns waving the baton fast or slow. Ensure the baton does not have a pointed or sharp tip. A soft stick-like item may be used as a baton.
Send the new game rules home with children and encourage them to explain the new rules to family members at pickup time. Invite families to play at home.
Skills that support creative expression
Children will understand that their voices can be used as musical instruments.
New:
Review:
We know that a musical instrument makes music when it is played. Let’s look at some pictures of musical instruments we may know.
[Display three pictures of musical instruments.]
What instruments are shown in these pictures?
[After children offer ideas, point to and say the name of each instrument.]
Our voice can also be used as a musical instrument.
Our voice makes music when we sing a song. Remember, a song puts words and music together. We sing words to music when we sing a song.
Today we are going to practice using our voice to make music.
[Choose a short song, such as “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” that is familiar to children.]
Let’s together sing (name of song)!
[Encourage children to join you in singing the song.]
We used our voices as musical instruments when we sang (name of song).
We can sing loudly or quietly when we sing a song. This is called volume. Volume means how loud or how quiet a sound is.
We know that an inside voice is quieter than an outside voice. Inside voices and outside voices have different volumes.
Let’s sing our song again. This time let’s sing our song with a louder volume. We don’t want to sing so loud that we are shouting. Shouting a song is not singing. We can sing louder without shouting.
[Encourage children to join you in singing the song with a louder volume.]
Now we will sing our song with a quieter volume. When might we use a quiet volume in our classroom? (at rest time)
[Encourage children to join you in singing the song with a quieter volume.]
What was different about singing our song with a louder volume and with a quieter volume? (loud volume was noisy, quiet volume was harder to hear)
[If time permits, choose another favorite song to try singing with loud and quiet volumes.]
Today we learned that our voice can be used as a musical instrument. We also learned that volume means how loud or how quiet a sound is. We practiced singing a song with a loud volume and a quiet volume.
Extra support
Enrichment
Encourage children to practice using different voice volumes when playing with puppets or toy people figures.
Discuss with children the volume of their voices throughout the day. Examples: When children are outside playing, do they use their voice in a loud volume or a quiet volume? When children are getting ready for rest time do they use their voice in a loud volume or a quiet volume?
© 2024 The Trustees of Purdue University | All Rights Reserved