[Display letter W card.]

The word “weight” begins with this letter. What is the name of this letter?

Letter W says /w/, just like in the word “weight.” /w/, /w/, weight. Let’s together say /w/, /w/, weight.

Who would like to tell us another word that begins with the letter W?

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 the word.
  • What does each word mean?
  • How was the word used in today’s book?]

We are going to look at number cards. I will show you a number and I would like you to tell me the number that comes after it.

I will show you first.

[Place numeral card 1 in front of the child.]

Here is the number one. Let’s think about which number is one more than the number one. The number two is one more than the number one.

Now it is your turn. I will show you a card. Please tell me the number that is one more than the number on the card.

[Place numeral card 5 in front of the child.]

What number is one more than five?

[Record the response on the provided form and remove the numeral card. Do not comment on accuracy of responses. Place numeral card 2 in front of the child.]

What number is one more than two?

[Record the response on the provided form and remove the numeral card. Place numeral card 8 in front of the child.]

What number is one more than eight?

[Record the response on the provided form.]

We looked at some numbers and you told me the number that was one more. You worked so hard!

Child correctly identifies the number that is one more than each of the three numbers that are shown separately.

Child correctly identifies the number that is one more than one or two of the three numbers that are shown separately.

Child does not correctly identify the number that is one more than any of the three numbers that are shown separately.

Children in our classroom are learning that a number on the number line is one more than the number before it. This important skill helps children begin to develop early addition skills. I recently assessed Calvin’s understanding of this concept. Calvin correctly identified the numbers that are one more than 2, 5, and 8. We are offering Calvin learning opportunities to reinforce his knowledge of the “one more” concept.

Children in our classroom are learning that a number on the number line is one more than the number before it. This important skill helps children begin to develop early addition skills. We recently assessed Antonio’s understanding of the concept of “one more.” Antonio correctly identified that three is one more than two, and six is one more than five. Antonio did not seem ready to identify that nine is one more than eight. We are offering follow-up learning experiences to strengthen Antonio’s understanding of “one more.”

Children in our classroom are learning that a number on the number line is one more than the number before it. This important skill helps children develop early addition skills. We recently assessed Sarah’s understanding of this concept. Sarah did not seem ready to identify numbers that are one more than the numbers I showed her. We are offering follow-up opportunities to reintroduce Sarah to the concept of “one more” and will assess her progress after she has more time to learn about “one more.”

Raise your hand if you are four years old. Let’s all of us clap four times! Today we are going to look closely at the number four. Let’s hold up four fingers.

There is another way we can hold up four fingers. Watch how we can hold up four fingers using two hands.

[Hold up two fingers on one hand and two fingers on another hand.]

How many fingers am I holding up all together?

Let’s count them.

[Encourage children to count with you as you count the total number of fingers.]

I am holding up four fingers all together!

I am holding up two fingers on one hand and two fingers on the other hand. Each hand is holding up the same number of fingers. They are equal.

Let’s all hold up four fingers in the same way.

[Show your fingers as a model. Wait supportively for children to put up fingers as requested. Help if appropriate.]

We can make a group of four with two hands.

Now I am going to make a group of four in another way. I am going to hold up three fingers on one hand and one finger on the other hand.

How many fingers do I have all together? (four)

Let’s all hold up four fingers in the same way.

[Show you fingers as a model. Wait supportively for children to put up fingers as requested. Help if appropriate.]

Now I am going to put four blocks in front of me. I want to split the group of four blocks into two equal parts. When we split something, we divide it into smaller parts. A part is a piece of something, but not all of it. Watch as I split the blocks by putting two blocks on one side and two blocks on the other side.

[Count aloud as you move blocks to each smaller part.]

Now we have two smaller equal parts. Remember, equal means each side has the same amount.

• Do we still have four blocks all together?
• What is another way we can split up four blocks into two parts?

[Try children’s suggestions by moving the blocks so all children can see your actions. Describe your movement of blocks. After each arrangement, ask if there are still four blocks all together.]

Now let’s work with a group of six blocks.

[Place six identical blocks in front of you.]

• How can we split up the group of six blocks into two equal parts?
  [Try children’s suggestions by moving the blocks so all children can see your actions. If a child’s suggestion does not involve two groups of three blocks each, remind children of the meaning of equal and ask how the blocks could be moved so there are two equal parts. Form two parts of three blocks each.]
• How do we know both parts are equal? (they both have the same number of blocks)
• Are there still six blocks all together?
  [Confirm there are six blocks total by pointing to and counting each block.]

Today we learned that a group of items can be split into two parts. When we count all of the items in the two parts the amount is the same number as the first group.

Today we will play a game we’ve played before. The game will help us practice how to focus and to take turns. What does it mean to focus? (to concentrate on something)

Our game is called Mystery Bag. Remember, a mystery is something that is unknown. The game is called Mystery Bag because we do not know what is in the bag.

[Display bag with item secretly placed inside.]

I put something in this bag. We will ask questions that will help us figure out what is in the bag. We might ask whether the mystery item is something we would find inside our home or something we would find outside.

We will take turns asking a question about the mystery item until someone figures out what it is.

Who would like to go first in thinking of a question to ask about the item in the bag?

[Encourage children to take turns thinking of questions that will help them figure out what is in the bag. Help them think of questions, if appropriate. Examples: “What shape is it?” “Is it heavy?”

As children learn some information about the item in the bag, write or draw pictures of what they’ve learned on a large piece of paper. Example: If they’ve learned it is an animal, write the word “animal” or draw a picture of a kind of animal. This will help remind children of what they already know about the item. After children have guessed the first item, continue with 1–2 more items secretly placed one at a time in the bag. Make sure children who did not take a turn asking a question about a previous mystery item have an opportunity to ask a question.]

Today we played a game called Mystery Bag. The game helped us practice how to focus and how to take turns. We asked questions to help us figure out what was in the bag.

We know that a habitat is a place where certain types of animals and plants live. Last week we learned about water habitats.

The habitat we are going to talk about today is covered with rocks and sand and can be very hot during the day.

Who has an idea about which habitat this might be? (desert)

It is a desert habitat! The desert is a very dry place where many plants cannot grow. There is very little rain in the desert. The animals and plants that live in the desert can survive with very little water. Survive means something can live. Let’s look at some pictures of a desert habitat.

[Display two pictures of a desert habitat.]

• What do we see in these pictures of a desert habitat? (sand, cacti, etc.)
• Do we live in a desert habitat?
• Have you ever been to a desert? What was it like?

A desert is mostly covered in sand and rocks. Sand is made up of very small rocks or shells. Wind and water blow onto the rocks and shells and turn them into sand. It takes a very long time for rocks and shells to become sand.

Many animals and plants in a desert habitat live in the sand. We’ve played with sand. Today we are going to look closely at some sand so we can learn more about it.

• What kind of tool should we use to look at something very closely? (magnifying glass)
• Do you remember when we used a magnifying glass to observe ice cubes?
• How did the magnifying glass help us to see the ice cubes better? (made them look bigger, could see small holes and cracks)

[Give each child a magnifying glass and a small white bowl containing a small amount of sand.

Encourage children to observe the sand in their bowl with the magnifying glass.]

• What does the sand look like? (small, like rocks, etc.)
• Let’s feel the sand. What does the sand feel like? (hard, smooth, etc.)

Today we learned that the desert is a habitat that can be very dry. A desert is mostly covered with sand and rocks. We felt sand and looked closely at sand with our magnifying glasses to learn more about it.