[Display letter M card.]

• What is the name of this letter?
• Pop up if you have the letter M 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.”]

Today we will pretend to go grocery shopping again. Our bag has many of the items we used yesterday. Each item has a price on it. Remember, the price tells us how much an item costs.

This time we will shop a little differently. Each of us will pull an item out of the bag and look at the price sticker. Then we will figure out the price when it costs one more penny.

[Pull out one item from the bag. Point to the price sticker on the item.]

What number is on this price sticker?

The number on the price sticker is ___. This item will cost one more penny than the number on the price sticker.

What number is one more than the price on this sticker?

I am going to pretend to buy this (item). Please count my pennies with me.

[Count out the number of pennies that is one more than the numeral on the price sticker. Encourage children to count with you as you point to each penny counted and put it in a separate group as it is counted. Emphasize the “one more” penny as you count it.]

Now we have the correct number of toy pennies to buy the item!

[Give each child 10 toy pennies. Ask children to count the pennies to be sure they have 10. Observe as they count.]

Now we are going to take turns pretending to buy the items in the bag. We each have 10 pennies. We will each have a turn to reach in the bag and pull out a grocery item. After we’ve pulled out the item, we will look at the price sticker on the item and then determine the price with one more penny. Then we will count out that many pennies to pay for it.

Remember, when we are done with the activity, we will need to return the items and the toy pennies.

[Invite each child to pull out and “pay” for an item. Provide verbal guidance as appropriate. Make sure each child has a turn. Repeat if time and child interest permit.]

Today we pretended to go grocery shopping again. Each item cost one more penny than the number on the price tag.

We are learning about feeling guilty. Yesterday we listened to a story about two friends named Stella and Brigette.

[Display pictures of Stella and Brigette.]

• What happened in the story?
• What does it mean to feel guilty? (when we did something that we knew was wrong, when we did something that made someone else upset and feel bad about it)

In the story, Stella felt guilty about yelling at her friend. Stella felt bad because she did something that she wished she had not done.

One thing we can do when we feel guilty is to say we are sorry. Saying we are sorry is called an apology. When we apologize, we let someone know we feel bad about something we’ve done or for causing a problem.

We might tell someone we will act differently next time. We could say something like “I’m sorry, I will try to share my paint next time.” Or, if we’ve done something that was an accident we could say “I’m sorry, it was an accident” or “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to step on your toe.”

• Has anyone ever told you he/she was sorry?
• Do you think it was hard for the other person to say “sorry”?
• Have you ever said “I’m sorry”?

[Display book cover.]

We are going to read a book called I’m Sorry. The author of the book is Sam McBratney. The book is about two friends who like to play together just like Stella and Brigette.

[After you have finished reading the book, use questions, such as the following, to promote children’s understanding of feeling guilty and apologizing:]

• What happened right after the two friends in our book shouted at each other? (wouldn’t speak to each other; wouldn’t play together anymore; pretended friend was not there; pretended to not care about friend)
• Why did the two friends decide to say “I’m sorry” to each other? (because they were friends who cared about each other)
  [Point to children’s faces on the two pages where each says “I’m sorry.”]
• Let’s look at the faces of the two friends. What do you think the two friends might be feeling? (happy)
  [Point to children’s faces on the two prior pages.]
• The two friends were feeling sad in these pictures. Why were the two friends feeling sad? (because they weren’t playing together; they felt guilty about shouting at each other)

We usually feel guilty when we do something that hurts or upsets someone else. We feel bad inside when we feel guilty. When we apologize for something we have done, it can help people feel better. We can also feel better if we apologize. What can we say when we apologize? (“I’m sorry”)

This week we are learning about the life cycle of a bean plant. We know that the life cycle of a bean plant has four stages.

Today we will plant our own bean seeds, so we can learn more about the life cycle of a bean plant by watching our plant grow!

[Invite children to sit at a table. Give each child a clear plastic cup. Make sure each child’s name is on his/her own cup.]

We know that the seed is the first stage in the life cycle of a bean plant. Remember, a seed is a small part of a plant that can grow into a new plant.

What does a seed need in order to grow? (soil, water, sunlight, nutrients)

The first thing we need to do is put soil in our cups. Soil will help our seeds to grow.

[Invite children to add soil to their cups with a spoon or scoop.]

Now we can place our seeds in the soil.

[Demonstrate how to gently put bean seeds on top of the soil. Give each child 2–3 bean seeds, and invite children to put their bean seeds on top of the soil in their cup.]

Now we need to cover the bean seeds by putting a little more soil on top of them.

[Invite children to add a little more soil to their cups with a spoon or scoop.]

What should we put on our bean seeds to help them grow? (water)

We know that living things need water in order to grow. We will put a little water on the soil to help our bean seeds grow.

[Demonstrate how to carefully sprinkle water. Help children with this step to ensure they don’t add too much water.]

There is one more thing we need to do to help our bean seeds grow.

What is another thing our bean seeds need? (sunlight)

We will put our bean seeds on the windowsill (or under a lamp) to make sure they get enough sunlight.

Today we planted our own bean seeds, so we can watch them change and grow. It will take several days for our bean seeds to begin to grow. What should we do to help them grow? (water them each day, keep them in the sunlight)