Let’s practice finding letters we know by looking for them in a sentence. Remember, a sentence is a group of words that gives us information or tells us what to do. A sentence can also ask a question.

[Write the following sentence on a chart or whiteboard. Read each word as you write the sentence:

Community helpers use many kinds of tools.]

We want to find lowercase letters m and t in our sentence. Let’s begin with the letter m.

[Display letter card M. Point to the lowercase m on the card.

Encourage a volunteer child to look for and point to the three lowercase letter m’s in the sentence as you display the M letter card.]

What sound does the letter M make?

Yes! Letter M says /m/. Let’s together say the sound of the letter M: /m/.

[Repeat the above procedure with the letter t.]

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?]

We are learning how to measure the size of things. We measured the length of our table and the length of some smaller things in our classroom. Remember, length means how long something is. We also measured the height of a child. We know that height means how tall something is.

What did we use to measure the length and height of things? (our hands, feet, ruler)

Sometimes people want to measure the weight of something. Remember, weight means how heavy something is. Weight is an important part of something’s size. Some things are heavy. Some things are light. Today we will use a tool that compares the weight of two different things.

[Display a balance scale.]

Do you remember the name of this tool? (balance scale)

A while ago we used a balance scale to compare the weight of two toys, a piece of paper and a block, a button and a rock, and a straw and a toy car.

• How do we use a balance scale?
  [Use children’s comments to compare the weight of two things by placing one toy on each side of the balance scale. Point out that one side of the balance scale is lower than the other.]
• Could we use a ruler to compare the weight of two things? (no) Why not? (a ruler measures how long or how tall something is; it cannot tell how heavy something is)

Let’s use our balance scale to compare the weight of two different items in our room.

[Invite children to suggest two items to compare.]

Before we compare the weight of the items, let’s predict which item will be the heaviest. Remember, when we make a prediction we think about what might happen.

[Ask children to predict which item will be heavier. Then compare the weight of the two items by placing them on the balance scale. Place the lighter item on one side first, so children can see how the balance scale moves after the heavier item is placed on the other side.]

• Which item was heavier?
• How do we know? (the side that is lower holds the heavier item)

[Continue to compare the weight of two items with the balance scale. Encourage children to make a prediction before putting items on the balance scale. Invite volunteer children to place items on the balance scale and report which one is heaviest. Compare as many items as time and child interest permit.]

Today we used a balance scale to compare the weight of two things. Sometimes people want to find out if something is heavier or lighter than something else. A balance scale is a way to compare the weight of two different things.

[Arrange children sitting in a circle.]

Let’s play a game called What’s Behind My Back? We will use our sense of touch to play the game.

What do we use to find out what something feels like? (hands, skin)

Each of you will have a small item to hold. You will hold your item behind your back. Putting your item behind your back means you cannot see it. You can only feel your item. When I place the item in your hands, do not look at it. Please do not look at your neighbor’s item.

We will concentrate on what the item in our hands feels like. We know that when we concentrate we pay close attention to something. We will each have a turn to describe our item. We can say whether our item is smooth, rough, hard, soft, small, large, round, short, or long. We can use whatever words will help us figure out what is in our hands. If we know what is in our hands, we need to work hard to not tell others. We want to describe what the item feels like and let others guess what it is!

After each of us describes our item, we will find out if anyone can guess what it is. I will go first.

[Secretly put an item behind your back and describe how it feels. Use simple descriptors. After you have described your item, encourage children to guess what it is. After children have guessed, display the item. If children were correct, ask how they knew. What words were helpful in figuring out what was behind your back? If children did not accurately guess the item, ask what was hard about figuring out what was behind your back.

After brief discussion of experiences in identifying the item in your hand, ask all children to close their eyes and put their hands behind their backs. Walk around the outer circle of children (who are facing inward) and carefully place an item behind the back of each child. Place the item in a child’s hands, if possible (some children may use their hands to cover their eyes).

Give each child a turn, going in the order of circle placement. Remind children to not look at their item. Remind children to describe their item and try hard to not say what it is if they know!]

Today we played a game called What’s Behind My Back? We used our sense of touch to concentrate on an item behind our back. What was the hardest part of our game? (telling about our item without saying what it was, finding words to describe our item, waiting for our turn, not peeking)

We have learned about how plants and animals are living things. This week we will begin learning about some of the places where plants and animals live.

All living things live in some sort of habitat. A habitat is a place where certain types of animals and plants live. Let’s together say the word habitat: hab-i-tat.

There are many different kinds of habitats.

We live in habitats. What are some places where people live? (homes, apartments, cities, military installations)

Water is a habitat for many kinds of living things. A water habitat can be very large like an ocean or lake. A water habitat can also be smaller like a river or pond.

Many kinds of animals and plants live in a water habitat. Let’s look at some pictures of animals and plants in their water habitats. Some of the animals and plants live in the ocean, some live in lakes, and some live in ponds or rivers.

[Display pictures described below, one at a time. Children are not expected to remember the name of each living thing.

Share the following information to promote children’s discussion of each:]

• Shark: A shark is an animal that lives in the ocean. Sharks eat other animals that live in the ocean. A shark is a type of fish.
• Fish: Many other types of fish live in water habitats. Fish can live in oceans and smaller water habitats.
• Turtles: Turtles can be found in smaller water habitats. Larger turtles called sea turtles can be found in the ocean.
• Lily pads: A lily pad is a plant that grows in smaller water habitats. Frogs, turtles, and insects sometimes use lily pads to hide from other animals. Do you see the frog sitting on the lily pad? Other animals in the water cannot easily find the frog when it is sitting on top of the lily pad.
• Kelp: Kelp is a plant that grows in the ocean. Many fish use kelp as a place to hide from other animals. Do you see the fish in our picture of kelp? Other animals in the water cannot easily see the fish when it is near the kelp.
• Cattails: Cattails are plants that can be found along the edges of smaller water habitats. Some birds build their nests in cattails. The cattails help birds hide from other animals.

Habitats are filled with many living things. This week we will learn more about water habitats and the things that live in them.