Today we are going to play a new game with words. Our game is called What is the Word? We need to use our listening ears to figure out a word I am saying.

[Place picture cards in a pile face down on a table.]

I am going to slowly say the word on each of these picture cards. Then we will figure out the word I am saying. I will say two parts of each word. We can figure out the word by putting the two parts together. Each of us will have a turn to try to figure out a word. Let’s try our first word together.

[Secretly look at the first picture (hat). Place the picture face down in front of children. Blend the two initial sounds (body) and ending sounds (coda: everything after the vowel) of the word while enunciating each part clearly. Pause briefly between the two parts.]

The first word is “ha-t.” I will say it again: “ha-t.”

What is the word?

We have the word “hat” when we put “ha” and “t” together.

[Turn over the card to reveal the picture.]

Now we will each have a turn to figure out a word. I will place a card upside-down in front of you and say the two parts of the word. Then you try to figure out the word I am saying. The rest of us need to be quiet so the person figuring out the word can concentrate.

[One at a time, say the two parts of a word—body and coda—and encourage each child to figure out the word.]

Now we are going to learn a different letter of the alphabet.

[Display letter T card.]

Does anyone know the name of this letter?

This is the letter T. We can write the letter T in two ways. We can write the letter T like this.

[Demonstrate writing an uppercase T at the top of a chart paper.]

This is an uppercase T.

We can also write the letter T like this.

[Demonstrate writing a lowercase t at the top of a chart paper.]

This is a lowercase t.

We are learning how to take turns. We know that we do things one at a time when we take turns. We take turns at center time, outside time, and when we use the bathroom.

“Take turns” is two words. Both words begin with the letter t. I will write the words “take turns” on our chart. I am going to write “take turns”with a lowercase (small letter) t.

[Say each letter as you write the words. Emphasize t.]

Let’s all say the words “take turns.”

[Invite a volunteer child to point to the letter t in the words “take turns.”]

Let’s look at the very first letter of our name. Pop up if you have the letter T at the beginning of your name. Remember, names begin with an uppercase (big) letter.

[Encourage children to look at their name cards. Say the first names of children who have a T at the beginning of their name. If there are children whose name begins with the letter T who do not stand, point to the letter T on their name card. Compare the letter T in their name as you hold the letter T card next to their name card.

If no one in the group has a first name beginning with the letter T, say “No one popped up because no one has a name that starts with the letter T.” Encourage children to look at the list of children’s first names. Point to some first letters of names. Explain that no one’s name begins with the letter T.

If a child indicates there is a letter T in his/her name, but not at the beginning of the name, fully recognize the name and invite the child to pop up. Day 4 gives attention to the letter t that appears somewhere else in a child’s name.]

Today we played a game called What is the Word? We listened to two parts of a word and figured out the word.

We also learned about the letter T. What words begin with the letter t? (take turns)

We are learning different ways to look at the size of things. We know that size means how big something is.

[Lead children in moving parts of their bodies as described below.]

Yesterday we stood on our toes to make ourselves a little taller. We know that the word height means how tall or short something is. Let’s bend our knees to make ourselves shorter!

Yesterday we stretched out our arms as wide as we could. We know the word width means how wide or narrow something is. Let’s make ourselves narrower by putting our arms close to the sides of our body.

Today we are going to talk about length. The length of something is how long it is. Length is a way to look at the size of something.

Please look at the two items on our table.

Which item is longer than the other? (paper is longer than crayon)

[Demonstrate the comparison described below.]

We can also compare each of the items on our table to one of my hands. I am going to lay my hand flat on the table to find out if the piece of paper is longer than my hand.

• Which is longer, my hand or the piece of paper?
• If I compare my hand to the crayon, which one will be longer? (hand)

[Demonstrate the comparison described below.]

I am putting my hand flat on the table next to the crayon. My hand is longer than the crayon.

[Display basket of all items.]

Let’s play a game to see which of two things is longer. We will form two groups to play our game. A person from each group will take a turn choosing something from our basket. There are many things of different sizes in the basket.

After a person from each group chooses an item, our two players will compare their items to see which item is longer.

[Invite children to form two groups of equal or nearly equal numbers. Invite a child from each group to choose an item from the basket. Then invite both children to compare chosen items and determine which item is longer. Return the items to the basket. Continue until all children have had a turn.]

Today we learned another way to talk about the size of something. We learned the length of something is how long it is. We compared two different things at a time to find out which item was longer. What things did we compare?

[Encourage children to identify items in the pairs used for comparing lengths. Examples: piece of paper and crayon; your hand and crayon; your hand and piece of paper.]

Today we will play a new game called Listening Bingo. The game will help us practice how to focus and how to take turns. What does it means to focus? (to concentrate on something)

What part of our body do you think we will use for this game? (ears)

I have recorded some sounds. We play this game by listening very carefully to each of the sounds I’ve recorded. We will try to figure out what each sound is.

[Play the audio recording, pausing after each sound while children take turns trying to figure out the source of the sound. Be sure to remind children to sit quietly and raise their hand if they think they know the sound. Each child gets one chance to try to figure out a sound. Ask questions that include cues to help children think carefully about each sound. Examples: 

• In what room of a house might you hear this sound? 
• Have you ever heard this sound when you were outside? 
• Is this a sound you might hear at our center?

Continue until each child has had a chance to guess a sound.]

Today we played a new game called Listening Bingo. The game helped us practice how to focus and how to take turns. We focused on each sound in order to figure out what it was. Were any of the sounds hard to figure out?

Yesterday we moved our bodies to music. One song was written to help us think about a lion. Another song was written to help us think about an elephant.

Today let’s listen to two different songs. The composer of the first song wants us to think about fish. Remember, a composer is a person who writes music.

[Display picture of fish.]

Look at the fish swimming in the water. I wonder what kind of music a composer would write to help us think about a fish swimming.

• Do you think music about a fish will be quiet or loud? Why?
• Do you think music about a fish will be fast or slow? Why?

[Play part of Track eight on the Carnival of the Animals CD.]

• Did the music help you think about a fish swimming in the water?
• How might we swim if we were a fish?
  [Invite several volunteer children to show how they might swim like a fish.]
• How might we move our tail if we were a fish?
  [Encourage children to move their hand(s) like a fish tail behind their backs.]

Let’s listen to our music again and move our bodies like fish swimming in the water.

If the music sounds like a fish is swimming fast, we can pretend to swim fast. If the music sounds like a fish swimming slowly, we can pretend to swim slowly. We can pretend we are the fish the music helps us imagine. We will dance like fish!

We need to use the personal space around our bodies so we do not bump into each other.

[Play part of Track eight again on the Carnival of the Animals CD. Encourage children to move like a fish swimming to the music.

If time and child interest permit, offer the following opportunity to move to music:]

[Display picture of birds flying. Point to the birds’ wings when described.]

The composer of the music we are listening to today also wrote a song to help us think about birds flying.

Maybe you have seen birds flying outside. Birds have wings that help them fly. We can see the moving wings of the birds in our picture. Some birds move their wings fast when they fly, and some birds move their wings slowly when they fly.

What parts of our own bodies could we use to pretend we have wings like a bird? (arms)

[Invite children to stand and pretend they have wings like a bird.]

Let’s listen to music that was written to help us think about flying birds.

[Play part of Track 12 on the Carnival of the Animals CD.]

• Did the music help you think about birds flying?
• How might we fly if we were a bird?
  [Invite several volunteer children to show how they fly like a bird.]

Let’s listen to our music again and move our bodies like a bird flying. Maybe the music will help us move our pretend wings. We can dance like a bird!

[Play part of Track 12 again on the Carnival of the Animals CD. Encourage children to move like a bird to the music.]

Today we listened to two songs. One song sounded like a fish swimming, and the other song sounded like birds flying. We moved like each animal to the music. We danced to music!

[Encourage children to describe how the music helped them move like a fish or bird. Offer an observation to prompt children to reflect on their movements. Example: “I saw Shriyya swim quickly like a fish when the music suddenly moved fast. I saw Abel move his pretend wings high above his head when the music hit a high note. How did the music give you ideas of how to move your body?”]