We are learning about letters. We know that a letter is a special mark used to make words. In the past few weeks we have learned about letters Z, Q, I, U, and V.

[Display letter cards Z, Q, I, U, and V. Point to and name each uppercase and lowercase letter. Example: “Remember, this is an uppercase I, and this is a lowercase i.” After you name a letter, invite children to pop up if the letter is in their name.]

Today we will use a letter mat to help us remember the letters we are learning.

[Display letter mat.]

Our letter mat contains the uppercase and lowercase letters we have learned so far. We will each use our own letter mat for this activity.

[Pass out a letter mat to each child.]

I am going to mix up the letter cards and then show them to you one at a time. When we see a letter card, we will point to the same letter on our letter mat.

[Hold up letter Z card.]

Let’s find this letter on our letter mat.

[Lead children in looking for, pointing to, and saying letter Z on their letter mat. Explain how you found the letter Z. Example: “This letter has a straight line across, a slanted line down, and then another line across. It looks just like the uppercase letter on our letter card.”]

The letter Z says /z/. Let’s together say the letter sound: /z/.

Now let’s find another letter!

[Hold up remaining letter cards, one at a time. Invite children to first point to the matching letter on their letter mat. Then ask children to repeat the letter name and the letter sound.]

Today we learned more about letters Z, Q, I, U, and V. We used our letter mats to find the letter that matched our letter card. Then we said the name and sound of the letter.

Offer the Week 6, Day 2 activity to review identifying and briefly remembering quantities.

Engage children in identifying the total number of items in two groups without counting.

In advance of the session, place two separate groups of 1–3 small toys on a table, and cover each with a blanket. Open the session by reminding children that we are learning how to look at a group of items and know how many there are without counting. Today we will look at two groups of items and tell how many items there are in both groups without counting.

Briefly remove the blankets and encourage children to look at each group. Then cover both groups of items and ask children how many items there were altogether (both groups). Do not comment on the accuracy of their responses. Then uncover both groups of items and support children in counting the total number of items (both groups together). Demonstrate counting on. If combining items in both groups is too challenging initially, encourage children to count the number of items in each group and then count all items together. Emphasize we are adding items in the two groups. Repeat this procedure with different numbers of items in each group. Do not exceed eight items all together.

[Arrange children in an area where they can see the block arrangement.]

Let’s pretend our blocks are a forest full of trees. I am going to tell you a story about what happened one day in our pretend forest.

[Move people figures, if available, within the forest as you tell the story.]

One day Alexander and his family went on a hike in a forest. They saw and heard different kinds of birds that live in the forest. They also saw deer behind some trees.

The family was walking down a steep hill in the middle of the forest. Suddenly Alexander slipped and fell down part of the hill. Alexander did not hit his head when he fell, but he hurt his leg and could not walk. It was too far for the family to carry Alexander out of the forest. The family needed help getting Alexander to a hospital where his leg could be fixed.

Alexander’s mom called the police for help. The police officer said they would come to get Alexander out of the forest.

Let’s think about what type of transportation could get into the forest to pick up Alexander.

[Display toy train.]

• Do you think a train could move in the forest to get Alexander?
• Why not? (no railroad tracks)

[Display a toy car.]

• Do you think a car could move in the forest to get Alexander?
• Why not? (no roads)

[Display a toy airplane.]

• Do you think an airplane could get into the forest to get Alexander?
• Why not? (no runway; no clear, long space for airplane to land)

[Display a toy helicopter.]

• Do you think a helicopter could move in the forest to pick up Alexander?
• Why?

[Display picture of medical helicopter. Point to blades when you describe them.]

A helicopter is a machine with blades on top. A helicopter moves in the air when the blades spin fast. An engine inside the helicopter turns the blades. A pilot controls how the helicopter moves.

When a helicopter takes off, it lifts straight up in the air. A helicopter moves people or things from one place to another place.

[Move the toy helicopter over the pretend forest and land it (moving straight down) in one of the clearings in the forest. Then show how the helicopter can move straight up from this spot in the pretend forest. Explain this is how they can get Alexander and take him to a hospital.]

Have you ever seen a helicopter? Tell us about it.

[Display again the picture of medical helicopter in air.]

There are different kinds of helicopters. The helicopter in our picture is called a medical helicopter. This is the kind of helicopter that would move Alexander from the forest to a hospital. A medical helicopter is used to help people who are sick or hurt.

A medical helicopter goes to a place where an accident happened and takes someone who is hurt to a hospital. A medical helicopter has a special bed and equipment to help care for a person who is hurt or sick. There are people on the helicopter who know how to take care of someone who is sick or hurt.

[Display picture of workers putting a hurt person on a medical helicopter.]

This picture shows people at a place where an accident has happened. They are putting a person who is hurt on the helicopter.

[Display picture of cargo helicopter.]

This picture shows another kind of helicopter. The helicopter in our picture carries items from one place to another place. It is called a cargo helicopter. Cargo helicopters can carry small things or large, heavy things. Items can be carried inside the helicopter or below the helicopter.

[Point to items being carried below the helicopter.]

Let’s imagine our pretend forest has a big fire. Firefighters are working hard to stop the fire. They need special tools to help them fight the fire.

How could a cargo helicopter get special tools to the firefighters? (carry tools in a box outside of the helicopter to place on the ground)

Helicopters can go where other kinds of transportation cannot go. Remember, many forms of transportation cannot get into a forest to pick up someone when they are hurt. Each kind of helicopter does a special job. A medical helicopter takes people like Alexander, who are hurt or sick, to a hospital. A cargo helicopter carries items from one place to another place.

Yesterday we read the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and used finger puppets to pretend to be the characters in the story.

Today we will use a different kind of puppet to tell the same story. We will use stick puppets. A stick puppet is a puppet that is on a small stick. We will use our hands to move the puppets. Let me show you.

[Display a stick puppet. Read a small section of the story while using the stick puppet and the voice for the character.]

I moved my stick puppet of (character name) and used my voice to sound like (character name) when I read the story.

Now we will try it together.

[Invite children to choose one stick puppet character.]

When I read the story, we can move our stick puppets and change our voices to pretend like the characters are talking.

[Encourage each child to use his/her stick puppet character as you tell the story. As you come to a part of the story where a character speaks, encourage children with a stick puppet for that character to hold up their stick puppet and say the line while changing their voice to sound like the character.]

Today we used stick puppets to tell the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Yesterday we used finger puppets to tell the same story. Which type of puppet did you like the best? Why?