We are going to practice finding a letter we know by looking for it in a sentence. When we find the letter, we will also say the sound the letter makes.

[Write the following sentence on a chart or whiteboard. Read each word as you write the sentence:

Sometimes I feel frustrated when I can’t go out to play.]

We want to find the lowercase letter f in our sentence.

[Display letter card F. Point to the lowercase f on the card.

Encourage a volunteer child to look for and point to the two lowercase letter f’s in the sentence as you display the F letter card.]

What sound does the letter F make?

Yes! Letter F says /f/. Let’s together say the sound of the letter F: /f/.

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 are learning how to measure what something weighs. Yesterday we compared the weight of two items by using a balance scale.

What happens to a balance scale when we put a heavier item on one side and a lighter item on the other side? (the side with the heavier item goes down, the side with the lighter item goes up)

Today we will use a different kind of scale to measure things. People sometimes want to know the exact weight of something. We can find out the exact weight of something by measuring it with a scale that tells us how heavy it is.

Have you ever been weighed with a scale? Tell us about it.

There are different kinds of scales. Today we are going to use a kitchen scale. A kitchen scale tells us the exact weight of something.

[Display a kitchen scale. Point to parts of the scale as you describe each.]

We put the item we want to measure on the top part of a kitchen scale. Then we look at the dial on the scale to find out how much our item weighs. The dial is the round part of the scale. The dial on our scale has a pointer, numbers, and marks.

The pointer will move when we put something on the top part of the scale. The pointer will move close to one of the larger numbers on the dial. The larger numbers tell us how many pounds our item weighs. The word pound describes how much something weighs.

We count pounds when we weigh something. Something could weigh one pound or two pounds or three pounds or more pounds. Please watch my finger point to the pound numbers on our scale. One pound, two pounds, three pounds, four pounds, five pounds.

Many of us have stood on a scale that tells how many pounds we weigh.

[Display container of apples. Draw attention to how the pointer moves when you put apples on the scale.]

Let’s find out how much our group of apples weighs. Watch the pointer move when I put the container of apples on the top of our kitchen scale.

Our pointer stopped moving near the number ___. That means our container of apples weighs about ___ pounds. Remember, we count pounds when we weigh something.

Many times the pointer does not stop right on a number. The pointer may stop after a number or before a number on the dial. When this happens, we also count the smaller marks on the dial. The smaller marks show ounces. We can also use ounce to describe how much something weighs. An ounce is smaller than a pound. Each smaller mark on our scale is one ounce.

We count the number of smaller marks that come after the larger number. Remember, the larger number tells how many pounds something weighs. The smaller marks tell us the number of ounces. We count both pounds and ounces to find the exact weight of something.

Our container of apples caused the pointer to move beyond the number ___. The number ___ means pounds. Now we count the number of small marks that are between the number ___ and the pointer. Remember, the small marks are ounces. Please count with me. One ounce, two ounces, three ounces, etc. We counted ___ ounces.

Our container of apples weighs exactly ___ pounds and ___ ounces.

Many things weigh less than one pound. We count only ounces when something weighs less than a pound. Remember, an ounce is smaller than a pound.

What are some things in our classroom that you think might weigh less than a pound? (pencil, crayon, paintbrush, small manipulative)

[Weigh several of the items suggested by children, one at a time. Invite children to help you count the ounces – smaller marks on the dial – as you point to each. Repeat the last ounce counted. Example: “We counted five ounces. Our paintbrush weighs five ounces.” If an item suggested by a child weighs more than a pound, draw children’s attention to the location of the pointer on the dial when the item is on the scale. Example: “The pointer moved past the number one. Our block weighs more than one pound.”]

Today we learned how to find the exact weight of something by using a kitchen scale. The words pound and ounce tell us how much something weighs. An ounce is smaller than a pound. We count the number of ounces or pounds when we weigh something. We found out how much our container of apples weighs by watching the pointer on the dial move when the apples were put on the top of the scale. We counted the number of ounces when we weighed different things in our classroom.

[Display cover of book read on Day 2.]

Yesterday we read a book about emotions. The boy in the book had many different feelings during the week.

Let’s try to remember the emotions we talked about yesterday and sing a song about each one. The song we will sing is like the song “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” Each time we sing about an emotion, we can use our face to show what an emotion might look like.

[Use the following approach for each emotion children discussed as part of yesterday’s book reading:

• Offer a brief description of a situation described in the book. Example: “One day the boy in our book wanted to ride his new red bike to his friend’s house. But it rained and his mother said he could not play outside.”
• Ask children, “How did the boy feel when this happened?”
• Show the pertinent picture of the boy’s face in the book.
• Lead children in singing the song, using the emotion word associated with the situation you summarized. Remind children to show what their face looks like when they feel (emotion).]

Today we remembered the different emotions that they boy in our book yesterday felt during the week. We sang about each emotion and used our face to show what the feeling might look like. Now let’s make a big happy face!

Yesterday we learned how fish live in a water habitat. We know that a habitat is a place where certain types of animals and plants live.

Today we will learn a way that some animals protect themselves in a water habitat.

[Display a shell.]

Have you ever held a shell or looked for shells on a beach?

Some animals in water habitats live in a shell. A shell is a hard covering that covers and protects the animal that lives inside.

A shell also hides an animal so it cannot be seen.

How might a shell protect an animal from other animals that may want to eat it. (animal in shell cannot be seen, shell is hard)

[Display picture of hermit crab.]

The hermit crab is an animal that uses its shell as a place to stay safe. It lives in its shell. When a hermit crab gets too big for its shell, it finds a larger shell to live in.

Most animals that live in shells have a shell that is part of their body. A turtle, snail, and scallop have a shell that is part of their body.

[Display pictures of turtles, a snail, and a scallop.]

These animals cannot leave their shell. Their shell grows as they grow.

Let’s look at some shells that do not have animals living in them any longer.

[Display and then pass out different types of shells for children to see and touch. Encourage children to feel and describe different parts of the shells.]

• What does a shell feel like? (soft or smooth, bumpy, etc.)
• How are the shells different from one another?

Let’s pretend we are an animal hiding in a shell like the snail.

[Invite children to curl up as if in a shell.]

How does our shell keep us safe? (protects us from other animals)

Some animals that live in a water habitat use a shell as their home. A shell covers and protects the animal that lives inside.