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 and sound of the letter Z.
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 Z card.]
The word “zigzag” begins with this letter. What is the name of this letter?
Letter Z says /z/, just like in the word “zigzag.” /z/, /z/, zigzag. Let’s together say /z/, /z/, zigzag.
Who would like to tell us another word that begins with the letter Z?
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:
Engage children in a brief discussion of novel words emphasized today. Display and discuss book pictures that pertain to each word.
Number knowledge
Children will strengthen their understanding that when a group of items has been split into two parts, the two parts together will equal the number of items in the original group. Children also will strengthen their understanding of how to make two parts equal.
Review:
Offer the Week 27, Day 2 activity to review the concepts of whole, split, part, and equal.
Engage children in splitting a group of items into two parts. This option includes determining how many more are needed to make the parts equal.
Arrange children in a circle. Invite two girls and four boys to stand together in front of the circle. Lead children in counting aloud the children (boys/girls) as you lightly tap each child on the shoulder. State the number of children when you finish counting. Explain that the six children are a whole group.
Split the group by inviting the boys to stand together and the girls to stand together. Remind children that when we split something, we divide it into smaller parts. Invite a volunteer child (who is not in one of the two groups) to lead children in counting the four boys who are standing. Invite a different volunteer child (who is not in one of the two groups) to lead children in counting the two girls who are standing. Remind children that (a) each small group is a part of the whole group, and (b) a part is a piece of something, but not all of it.
Ask whether the number of children in the two groups equals the number of children in the original whole group. If children seem uncertain in their response to this question, lead children in counting all children who are standing (the original group). Invite children to say which group (boys or girls who are standing) has more children and how they know. Then invite children to determine how many more girls are needed to make the groups of boys and girls equal. Remind children that equal means groups have the same amount. Add the suggested number of girls to the girl group, and lead children in counting each group separately to ensure the groups are equal.
Continue to invite a group of children to the front of the circle and use the procedures described above. Use different attributes to divide the invited group into two parts. Examples: children wearing shoes with straps and children wearing shoes without straps, children wearing short sleeves and children wearing long sleeves, children who like to eat apples and children who do not like to eat apples. Make sure children know how many children make up the whole before splitting the whole into parts. Continue as time and interest allow.
Knowledge of earth and space
Children will understand basic differences between daytime and nighttime.
New:
Review:
Day and Night by Robin Nelson
Be Prepared: Prepare a two-section chart similar to the one shown in the activity plan. If you are unable to turn off the lights during today’s activity, use the flashlight and globe in a darker area of the room or close the blinds.
Today we will begin learning about daytime and nighttime. Let’s talk about what we know about daytime and nighttime.
I will write our ideas on our chart. Our chart has a section for daytime and a section for nighttime.
[Display prepared chart. Say the words as you record them.]
What is it like during the daytime? (light outside, people out doing things)[Display picture of a daytime scene with the sun.]
Daytime is when the sun provides light around us. This picture was taken during the daytime when the sun was shining. Sometimes we can’t see the sun because there are clouds in the sky. But it is still light outside.
The sun is a very big star in the sky. The sun gives us light during the daytime. A star is a bright object in the sky.
Where is the sun in this picture?
[Display picture of a scene during the nighttime.]
Nighttime is when it is dark outside and the sun does not shine. This picture was taken during the nighttime. Sometimes we can see stars in the sky during the nighttime when there are no clouds in the sky.
[Display globe and flashlight.]
Let’s see what happens to the sun during the daytime and the nighttime, while using a globe. Remember, a globe is a round map of the earth. We live in this part of the earth.
[Point to your general location on the globe.]
We will pretend this flashlight is the sun. We will pretend it is daytime when I shine the flashlight on the place where we live.
[Dim or turn off lights in the room and shine a flashlight on your location on the globe.]
Now watch what happens when I turn the globe. The earth turns all of the time, but we cannot feel it turning. The sun does not move.
[Continue to shine the flashlight in a fixed position as you slowly turn the globe.]
The place where we live is on the other side now. It is dark where we live now.
The sun (our flashlight) is shining on the other side of the earth. The earth continues to turn. Soon the sun will shine on the side of the earth where we live. It will be daytime again where we live.
[Slowly turn the globe several times with the flashlight shining in a fixed position to demonstrate daytime and nighttime.]
Today we talked about daytime and nighttime. We recorded on our chart some things we know about daytime and nighttime. We looked at a globe to compare where the sun is during the daytime and where the sun is during the nighttime.
Extra support
Enrichment
Supply *pictures of things done during the daytime and things done during the nighttime. Invite children to sort the pictures into daytime and nighttime categories.
*Printables provided
If children are present at your setting when the sun rises or sets, point out the sun and encourage children to talk about how this is similar to what they observed about daytime and nighttime in the demonstration using the flashlight and the globe.
© 2024 The Trustees of Purdue University | All Rights Reserved
Exploring Where We Live
Social Studies
Skill and Goal
Knowledge of social and physical environments
Children will understand who might help a family move to a different home.
Materials
Needed
*2 pictures as shown
*Printables provided
Key
Concepts
New:
Optional
Reading
Moving to a different home is a big job. Many things need to be packed carefully and then moved to the new home.
Usually adults pack things for a move. Some things are heavy. Some things are high up on shelves. Adults can lift heavier things and reach higher shelves than children. Adults can carry heavier things. But sometimes children in a family pack and carry things, too.
Let’s pretend we want to move one of the tables in our classroom to a different part of the classroom. The table is heavy and big. It needs to be lifted off the floor when it is moved.
Family members usually help one another pack and carry things to a different home. Some heavy things, like tables and refrigerators, need to be picked up by several adults and then transported to a new home. Transport means people or things go from one place to another place. Usually a truck is used to transport things to a new home.
People may ask their friends or relatives to help them pack and transport things to a different home. Sometimes friends and relatives cannot help a family move. They may not live near the family or they may be too busy.
Professional movers can help a family move to a different home. Professional movers can pack all of a family’s things and transport them to the new home.
[Display two pictures of professional movers.]
What are the professional movers doing in these pictures?
Scaffolding Tips
Extra support
If children have difficulty thinking of things in a home that children might be able to pack and carry, focus on classroom items. Examples: Would children be able to pack up the books in the library center? Would children be able to carry the art table?
Enrichment
Encourage children to think about the weight of things in a box. Children can pack books into a box. They may put 1, 2, or 3 books in a box at a time. But when the box is full, will it be easy for a child to carry the books to a different place?
Center Activity
Provide boxes of different sizes and packing items in the dramatic play area. Encourage children to pretend they are packing up their belongings for a move to a new home.
Family Child Care
Invite children to pretend that your FCC is moving. Be sure to let parents know a day or two ahead that this is part of a learning activity and you are not moving.
Encourage children to look at items and identify things they might be able to pack and transport themselves and things they would need help with. (You might use different colored sticky notes; one color for things children could pack and transport themselves and a different color for things they would need help with.)