[Display book cover.]

This is the book we read on Day 1. The title of our book is _____. Let’s talk about what we remember about the book.

• What is our book about?
• Who were the main characters in our book?
• What happened first? What happened next?

We are going to read our book again. We will stop to talk about what some of the words mean. We know that reading a book is a good way to learn new words. On Day 1 we talked about some words in our book. The words are written on our chart. Remember, the title of our chart is Words We Understand.

[Point to chart and to each of the novel words defined on Day 1.]

Does anyone remember one of the words we talked about on Day 1?

[Remind children of the meaning of each novel word defined on Day 1.]

[Point to where to begin to read on the first text page of the book.]

We are going to begin reading here. This is the first word inside our book.

[Pause during reading to briefly define words identified for today’s session using the following approach:

• Read the sentence with the novel word. Identify the novel word.
• Repeat the sentence in which the word is used.
• Then define the novel word and connect the definition to the book. Example: “We just heard the word ‘wiggly.’ Did everyone hear it? ‘Earthworms are fat and wiggly like my fingers and toes.’ The worms in our book wiggle. Wiggle means to move around a lot.”
• If there is a text pattern in the book, invite children to fill in phrases or repeat a refrain or chant as part of the book reading.]

We learned ___ new words while reading our book today. I am going to write each word on our chart. Let’s talk about what we understand or know about each word. When we understand something, we know what it means or how it works.

[Promote understanding of each word by engaging children in one or more of the following ways as you write novel words on the chart:

• Ask children to describe a picture related to the word. Example: “We are learning what it means to be curious. Hedgie was curious. What is Hedgie doing in this picture that shows he is curious?” (poking nose inside stocking to look inside)
• Define a word without naming it and ask children to identify the word. Example: “What is the name of a worker who takes care of plants in a garden?” (gardener)
• Encourage children to think about a novel word in another context. Example: “In our book, the mitten stretched. It got a lot bigger. What other things might stretch? Can you stretch? Show us!”]

Our book was about _____. Are there other ways you know about _____?

[Facilitate discussion of book connections to children’s experiences. 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 learned more words today when we read _____. Let’s look at our chart to remember the words we are learning to understand.

[Say and point to each word on the chart. Invite children to say one thing they know about the word.]

Today we will practice looking at groups of 1, 2, 3, and 4 and telling how many circles (counters) are in each group. A group of four has four things.

[Place two identical counters in front of you.]

• How many circles are in this group? (two)
• Did you count them, or did you just know when you looked at them?

[Repeat this activity using 1–4 counters in each group. Do this several times as children tell how many are in each group. After children have identified the number of items in each group, remind children that a group of ___ has ___ things.]

Now we are going to try something new with groups of 1, 2, 3, and 4.

[Give each child four identical counters.]

I will make a group of 1, 2, 3, or 4 again. This time, let’s imagine our circles are a child’s cookies. Let’s pretend that once upon a time there was a child who had two cookies.

I will make a group of two cookies.

• How many cookies are in my group?
• How do you know? (counted them, knew when I looked at them)

Pretend you are the child with two cookies and you make a group of two cookies.

How many cookies are in our groups? (two)

Now let’s pretend there once was a child who had three cookies. I am going to make a group of three cookies.

Pretend you are the child with three cookies and you make a group of three cookies.

Let’s pretend one more time about our cookies. There once was a child who had four cookies. I am going to make a group of four cookies.

Now you pretend you are the child with four cookies and you make a group of four cookies.

How many cookies are in our groups? (four)

[Form two groups of counters in front of you. Put one counter in the first group and put four counters in the second group. Point to each group as you reference it.]

Here is a group of one pretend cookie.

Here is a group of four pretend cookies.

Which group has more cookies?

When something has more, it has a larger or bigger number of something. The group of four has more cookies than the group of one.

[Form another two groups of counters in front of you. Put two counters in the first group and put three counters in the second group. Point to each group as you reference it.]

Here is a group of two pretend cookies.

Here is a group of three pretend cookies.

Which group has more cookies?

Our group of three pretend cookies is larger (or bigger) than the group of two pretend cookies. The group of three has more pretend cookies than the group of two.

Today we practiced making groups of 1, 2, 3, and 4. You made groups of cookies like the groups of cookies I made.

[Hold up four fingers.]

How many fingers are in our group? (four)

What does it mean to share? (use or enjoy something with others)

[Follow-up prompts if needed: Have you ever shared something? How did it work?]

Last week we talked about asking others to play. Sometimes we share something when we play with others, like a toy or a book.

There are different ways to share something. We might split up the item we want to share. We might also play with it together. Another way we can share is to take turns with something. Each person does something one at a time when we take turns.

Let’s pretend we are playing with a big ball of play dough and someone asks to play with the play dough too.

How could we share the play dough with someone else? (split it up, play with it together, take turns with it)

Let’s practice different ways of sharing something with someone.

[Invite a volunteer to help you illustrate how to share by splitting an item. Pretend you are sitting next to a friend (volunteer child) and you would like to use some of the friend’s play dough. Demonstrate an appropriate way to ask to play with some of the item. Example: “Can I use some of your play dough? If we split it in half, we can share the play dough.”]

• When we split up an item, we can play with part of it while someone plays with another part of it.

[Demonstrate how to split the play dough in half. Play with half as the volunteer plays with the other half. Continue for several seconds and then invite a different volunteer to help you illustrate another way to share.

Ask the volunteer to pretend to play with a puzzle. Approach the volunteer playing with the puzzle and ask to share the puzzle. Example: “May I play with your puzzle, too? I really like this puzzle. We can play with it together.”]

• When we play with something together, we both play with it at the same time.

[Demonstrate how to play with the puzzle together. Continue for several seconds and then invite a different volunteer to help you illustrate playing together with a different item.]

• We can take turns when we play with something together. We could take turns putting pieces in a puzzle. We can take turns making something like a block tower.

[With the volunteer child, demonstrate how to build a block tower by taking turns putting blocks on top of each stack. Describe the process for children. Example: “First (volunteer child) add a block. Then I add a block. Then (volunteer child) takes another turn adding a block. We are building a block tower by taking turns.”

Display doll.]

We each play with something one at a time when we take turns. We can share by taking turns with this doll. When we want to share something by taking turns, we can say to someone, “Can we take turns with the doll? We can share by each playing with it for a little bit. You could play with the doll for five minutes, then I could play with the doll for five minutes.”

Who can think of ways we can share things in our classroom?

[Encourage children to think of ways to share in the classroom. Discuss different ideas or situations children mention, and how they might share.]

Today we talked about different ways to share something. Who remembers some ways we can share something with someone else? (split the item, play with it together, take turns with it) How could we share a game? (play with it together, take turns) How could we share a group of toy animals? (split them up, play with them together, take turns)

On Day 2 we learned about ice by trying to change our ice cubes.

• How did we try to change our ice cubes? (poured water on one bowl of ice)
• We compared the ice cubes in our two bowls after we poured water in one of our bowls. What does it mean to compare things? (figure out what is the same and what is different)
• Did the ice cubes in our two bowls do the same thing after we poured water in only one bowl? (no, the ice cubes in water melted faster than the ice cubes that were not in water)

We did an experiment when we poured water in one bowl of ice but did not pour water in our other bowl of ice. When we do an experiment, we try to change something so we can better understand it. Remember, scientists sometimes try to change something.

Today we are going to observe what happens when we put some ice cubes in the sun and some other ice cubes in the shade. We will do a different experiment with ice!

Who remembers what it means to observe something? (to look carefully at it)

Shade is a place that is covered from the sun or light. The sun does not shine directly on us when we are in the shade.

We will compare what happens to our ice cubes in the sun and our ice cubes in the shade. This is an experiment.

Let’s think about what might happen to the ice cubes. When we think about what might happen we are making a prediction.

• What do you think might happen to the ice cubes in the sun? (melt quickly, get warm)
• What do you think might happen to the ice cubes in the shade? (stay frozen longer)

[Take children to an outdoor area that provides both sun and shade.]

We are going to put one bowl of ice cubes in the sun, and put another bowl of ice cubes in the shade. Let’s be scientists by observing what happens to the ice!

[Set a bowl with two ice cubes in a sunny area. Use a lamp if this activity is done indoors. Set another bowl with two ice cubes in a shaded area.

Invite children to stand in the sunny area and describe what it feels like. If a lamp is used indoors, invite children to place a hand under the lamp but only if this can be done safely. Adapt the following questions for an indoor activity.]

• What does it feel like in the sun? (warm, hot)
• Now, let’s move to the shaded area. What does it feel like in this shaded area?

Now we will observe and describe what is happening to our ice cubes. I will record what we describe on a chart. Remember, when we record something we write it down.

[Display chart and point to its key parts as you describe each.]

Please look closely at our chart. One side of our chart has a picture of the sun (or a lamp). The other side of our chart has a picture of (item that provides shade). The (item that provides shade) stops the sun from shining on the ice.

[After several minutes, ask children to observe and describe the ice cubes in the sun and then move to the shade. Use one- or two-word entries as you record their descriptions on the chart. Point to and read each word as you write it. If necessary, draw children’s attention to the water in the bowl placed in the sun. Add the word “water” to the chart.]

Let’s describe what is happening to the ice cubes. Remember, when we describe we tell about something.

• What is happening to the ice cubes in the sun? Why?
• What is happening to the ice cubes in the shade? Why?
• Let’s put both bowls side by side so we can compare the ice cubes in each bowl. Do the ice cubes in our two bowls look the same or different? Why?

Our ice cubes melted faster in the sun than in the shade because it is warmer in the sun. The shade stopped the sun from shining on the ice cubes.

What happened to the ice cubes in the sun when they started to melt? (turned to water)

Today we did another experiment with ice cubes. We learned about ice by trying to change it. We put some ice in the sun (or under a lamp) and some ice in the shade. Our ice cubes in the sun melted faster than our ice cubes in the shade because ice is made of frozen water that melts when it is warm. The shade stopped the sun from shining on the ice.

[If time permits, teach the following song sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb:]