[Display letter D card.]

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

Letter D says /d/, just like in the word “dance.” /d/, /d/, dance. Let’s together say /d/, /d/, dance.

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

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.
• 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?]
• 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?]

Last week we split a group of items into two parts. When we split something, we divide it into smaller parts. We practiced splitting groups of items in different ways.

Today we will use magnets with our special mat.

[Display a part-part-whole mat. Point to each section of the mat as you describe it.]

Our mat has a place for the whole group and sections for two parts.

We are going to practice splitting a group of items. We will use a number magnet to show how many are in the whole group.

Let’s put a group of five magnets in the section of our mat for the whole group.

[Invite a volunteer child to place five magnets in the whole section of the mat. Lead children in counting the number of magnets as you or the volunteer child point to each one. Say again the number of magnets in the whole group.]

Now let’s find the number five in our basket of number magnets and place it in the section of our mat for the whole group. It will go next to our group of five magnets.

[Invite a different volunteer child to find the numeral five magnet and place it next to the group of five magnets.]

[Point to the numeral five magnet and smaller magnets as you describe the following:]

We know that this is the number five. It is in the same section as our five smaller magnets. Let’s count our smaller magnets together. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Now let’s decide how we can split our group of five magnets into two parts. There are different ways we can do this.

How can we split the whole group of five?

[Ask children to give suggestions for the part sections of the mat. For each suggestion, invite a different volunteer child to split the magnets in the whole group into each part of the mat.]

Our number magnet is still in the whole group section of our mat.

Where are the five smaller magnets?

[Point to smaller magnets as you describe them.]

There are ___ smaller magnets in one part section of our mat and ___ smaller magnets in the other part section of our mat.

Do we still have five magnets on our mat?

Let’s count together our smaller magnets to make sure we have all five on our mat.

[Count on as you count the two parts together to ensure they equal the number of magnets in the whole group. Invite children to join you in counting. Then clear the part sections.]

Let’s try it again with another group of magnets. Let’s try it with a group of eight magnets.

[Invite a volunteer child to place the group of eight magnets in the section of the mat for the whole group. Encourage children or the volunteer child to count aloud as you point to and count eight magnets.

Invite a different volunteer child to find numeral eight in the basket of magnetic numerals and to place numeral eight next to the eight magnets.]

How can we split the whole group of eight?

[Ask children to give suggestions for the part sections of the mat. For each suggestion, invite a different volunteer child to split the magnets in the whole group into each part of the mat. Follow the procedure used for the group of five. Continue with different groups of magnets and different volunteer children as time allows.]

Today we practiced splitting a group of magnets into two smaller parts. Did our total number of magnets change when we moved magnets to the two parts of our mat? (no) We also used number magnets to show the number of magnets in the whole group.

We are going to play a game we have played before called Music Marks. When we play the game, we will draw marks on a piece of paper while we listen to music.

Today will play Music Marks in a different way. When the music moves slowly, we will draw bubbles on our paper. When the music moves quickly, we will draw squares on our paper. Remember, quickly means fast.

Let me show you first.

[Play a small excerpt from the music that demonstrates both a slow and a fast tempo. Point out to children which music segment is slow and which is fast. Then draw bubbles (circles) or squares on chart paper depending on the tempo of the music. When the tempo is slow, draw bubbles. When the tempo is fast, draw squares.]

Now we will try it together. As we draw, we will listen carefully to the music. When the music moves slowly, we will draw bubbles on our paper. When the music moves quickly, we will draw squares on our paper. Let’s try to keep our marker/crayon on the paper the entire time we draw.

[Play the music. Observe as children draw marks. Children are not expected to draw perfect circles or squares. Discuss the tempo of the music and how it gets fast in different parts. Encourage children to continue for about one minute, and then discuss their marks by asking the following questions:]

• Where on your paper did the music begin to move slowly?
• Where on your paper did the music begin to move quickly?
• How can you tell? (circles compared to squares)

[If time permits, play the game again.]

Today we played a game with music. What did we do when the music played during the Music Marks game?

We are learning about places where animals and plants live. We know these are called habitats.

[Display picture of a water habitat.]

• What is this habitat called? (water)
  [Display picture of a desert habitat.]
• What is this habitat called? (desert)

[Display shoebox.]

Today we will begin learning about another habitat.

This box has some clues about the habitat we will talk about today. We know a clue is something that helps us find an answer to a question.

[Remove items from box, one at a time. Invite children to touch, describe, and maybe identify each item.]

• What type of habitat would have the things we just talked about? (forest, woods)
• Have you ever been in a forest or woods? What was it like?

A forest is a habitat covered with trees and other plants. A forest is similar to a woods, but bigger. A forest is very different from a water habitat or a desert habitat.

Here is a picture of a forest habitat.

[Display picture of a forest habitat.]

• What do we see in this picture?
• What colors do we see in this forest?

A forest is full of things that are green and brown. There are other colors too, but green and brown are found in the forest more than any other colors. The floor of the forest has grass and other plants. Many kinds of animals live in a forest.

What green and brown things do you see in our picture of a forest? (grass, trees, other plants, the ground, etc.)

A forest is full of animals, trees, and other plants. Do you think fish live in a forest? (only if there is a pond or lake in the forest; fish need water to survive) This week we will learn more about a forest habitat.