[Display letter S card.]

• What is the name of this letter?
• Pop up if you have the letter S in your name!

Now let’s spend some time with our book.

[See Week 3, Day 3 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 say book title. Engage children in describing what they remember about the book:
  • What is our book about?
  • Who were the main characters in our book?
  • What happened first? What happened next?
• Remind children that reading a book is a good way to learn new words. Point to and say words introduced on Day 1 that are listed on the Words We Understand chart. Invite children to talk about what they recall about each of the words. Remind children of the meaning of each novel word.
• Point to where to begin to read on the first text page of the book. Pause during reading to briefly define words identified for today’s session. Use the following approach:
  • Read the sentence with the novel word. Repeat the novel word.
  • Repeat the sentence in which the word is used.
  • Define the novel word and connect the definition to the book.
• After the book reading, engage children in a discussion of each novel word targeted for today with one or more of the following strategies (plus writing the word on the chart):
  • Ask children to describe a picture related to the word.
  • Define a word without naming it and ask children to identify the word.
  • Encourage children to think about a novel word in another context.
• Encourage children to connect the book information to their own experiences. Below are some examples:
  • “Our book today was about worms. Have you ever seen or touched a worm? What was it like?”
  • “Our book today talked about roots. Roots are part of a plant that grow into the dirt. Have you ever seen the root of a plant? What was it like?”
  • “Today we talked about the word squeeze. We squeeze something by pressing things very close together. What kinds of things have you squeezed? How about a tube of toothpaste? How about a package or bottle of ketchup? Show us how you squeeze something.”]

We practice counting each day. Let’s try to count to 20! Let’s clap once each time we say a number.

[Lead children in slowly counting to 20 while clapping once each time a number is said.]

[Display numeral cards 1–6 in random order, one at a time. Invite children to name each numeral and to also hold up the corresponding number of fingers.]

I am going to lay our number cards on the floor in front of us. We can take turns finding a number.

[Invite six volunteer children, one at a time, to find a specified numeral and then hold up the numeral card for all children to see. (See Extra support tip for responding to an incorrect numeral identification.) Restate the name of the numeral for all children to hear. Then ask all children to show how many by holding up the number of fingers that corresponds to the numeral on the card. Then encourage the child to return the card to the floor.]

Now we are going to use our number cards again to make and compare groups of blocks.

[Place numeral cards 1–6 in a stack on the floor in random order. Invite two volunteer children who were not called on previously to each choose a card. After each child has chosen a card, invite him/her to make a group of blocks that corresponds to the numeral on the card they chose. Encourage all children to say which group has more (or fewer).

Call on different pairs of volunteer children to each choose a card as time permits.

Hold up seven fingers.]

How many fingers am I holding up?

I am holding up seven fingers. Let’s count them together.

[Point to each finger as you encourage children to count with you.]

Number seven looks like this.

[Hold up a large numeral seven.]

The number seven means there are seven of something. Let’s count the dots on the number card.

[Point to each dot on the numeral card as you count the dots. Encourage children to count with you.]

The number seven means there are seven things! Please hold up seven fingers. Let’s count them together.

[Display a large numeral seven next to the numeral four.]

Let’s compare the number seven to the number four.

• How are these two numbers similar? (both have straight lines)
• How are they different? (number four has more straight lines, number seven has only two straight lines)

Today we practiced finding numbers we know. We also compared numbers and made groups of blocks that matched the amount on a number card we chose. We determined which group had more blocks and which group had fewer blocks. We also learned what the number seven looks like.

We are learning a lot about emotions. Today we will talk about an emotion we all feel sometimes.

One time when I put my plate down on a table I accidentally spilled my milk all over the table. I felt so bad! I just wanted to sink into my chair and not be seen. I felt embarrassed. When we feel embarrassed, we feel foolish in front of other people.

There are many things that might make us feel embarrassed. Getting sick or falling down in front of others might make us feel embarrassed. It’s okay to feel embarrassed.

Have you ever felt embarrassed? Tell us about it.

Today we are going to use puppets to help us learn some things we might do when we feel embarrassed.

[Display a puppet and a cup.]

Scenario 1:

First I am going to pretend the puppet has accidentally spilled its drink in a restaurant.

[Pretend the puppet is eating at a table and accidentally spills its drink.]

Oh no! I spilled my drink all over everything. I am so embarrassed. I feel like I want to cry and run away. If I make a big deal out of it, everyone will stare at me and I will feel even more embarrassed. I know—I’ll just say I am sorry and help clean up the mess.

[Make the puppet say it is sorry and help clean up the mess.]

Sometimes we feel like crying or even running away when we feel embarrassed. Everyone feels this way sometimes. It is not helpful to get more upset when we feel embarrassed. We could use our self-control to keep calm and to not make a big deal out of what happened. Remember, self-control helps us to do the right things. When we have self-control, we think about things before we do anything.

How did the puppet use self-control when it felt embarrassed about spilling its drink? (didn’t make a big deal about it, did not cry or run away)

Scenario 2:

Now we will practice what to do when we see someone else who is embarrassed.

[Pretend Puppet One accidentally burps loudly.]

Puppet 1:
Excuse me. I am so embarrassed! I just accidentally burped and everyone heard me. Now people are looking at me.

Puppet 2:
It’s okay. You said “excuse me.” Everyone burps sometimes. Let’s go play!

[Pretend Puppet Two takes Puppet One’s hand and they go off to play together.]

How did the second puppet help the first puppet when it was embarrassed? (said it was okay, reminded first puppet it said “excuse me,” asked it to play)

The second puppet thought about why the first puppet felt embarrassed and tried to help it feel better. The second puppet did not laugh or make fun of the puppet who burped. We can help others who may be embarrassed by thinking about how they feel and saying or doing things to help them feel better.

Everyone feels embarrassed sometimes. What can we do if we feel embarrassed? (don’t make a big deal out of it, use our self-control to stay calm) What can we do to help someone who is feeling embarrassed? (ask person to play, say it’s okay)

Yesterday we sang along to some music on a CD. The music became a song when we used our voices as musical instruments. Today we will learn more about musical instruments.

There are many kinds of musical instruments. Let’s look at pictures of two different kinds of musical instruments.

[Display pictures of a flute and trombone. Point to and name each instrument. Children are not expected to remember the name of each instrument or the sound it makes.]

Let’s compare these two instruments.

What is different about these two instruments? (color, shape, size, etc.)

Both of these instruments make a different sound. Let’s listen to the sound each instrument can make.

First we will listen to the sound of a flute.

[Display the photo of the flute as you play Track 16 on the CD of My First Orchestra Book.]

Now let’s listen to the sound of a trombone.

[Display the photo of the trombone as you play Track 29 on the CD of My First Orchestra Book. Point out the loud trombones in the piece.]

How were the sounds of the flute and trombone different? (the trombone is much louder than the flute, flute has a higher sound, trombone has a lower sound)

Let’s listen to some musicians playing instruments. A musician is an artist who plays music. Listen carefully to the different sounds in the music.

[Play Track three on the CD of My First Orchestra Book.]

There are many different kinds of musical instruments. Each instrument makes a different kind of sound. We listened to the sound of a flute and a trombone. The sounds were different. What is an artist called who plays music? (musician)