[Display letter Q card.]

What is the name of this letter?

[Point to the uppercase letter Q on the letter card.]

Am I pointing to the uppercase or to the lowercase letter Q?

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.”]

Offer the Week 28, Day 2 activity to review the concepts of whole, split, and part.

Engage children in splitting a whole group into three parts and determining how many counters are in a missing (hidden) part.

Display five counters and lead children in counting each counter aloud as you point to each one. Explain that you are going to split the whole group of counters into three parts. Place three of the counters in a volunteer child’s open hand. Place one counter in your open hand. Hide the remaining counter under the cloth (or piece of paper).

Remind children that there were five counters in the whole group. Lead children in counting aloud each of the counters in the child’s open hand. Count aloud the counter in your open hand. Lead children in counting the counters in both parts all together by counting on. Example: There are three counters in Anna’s open hand, there is one counter in my hand. Let’s count them all together. Three, four. Then invite children to figure out how many counters are in the missing part.

You may wish to place counters on a table or floor instead of in open hands. It is important for all children to be able to see all counters except the counter(s) that is hidden.

Increase challenge by using a larger number of counters and placing more than one counter in each of three parts (including the missing part).

We are learning what it is like to move from one house to another house. Today let’s talk about what people might feel when they leave a house and move to a different house.

[Display Our Feelings poster and point to pictured feelings you name.]

We know about different feelings. We talked about what the children shown in these pictures might be feeling. This child looks happy. This child looks sad.

[Point to picture of child who looks angry.]

What do you think this child might be feeling?

We are going to read a book about some of the feelings people might have when they move to a different home.

[Display book cover.]

The book is called A Kiss Goodbye. The author is Audrey Penn. The illustrator is Barbara Leonard Gibson. You might recognize Chester the Raccoon, who is a character in this book. In our book for today, Chester moves to a new tree.

[Read the book without inviting talk until you have finished reading. Point to and describe illustrations directly related to the text.]

Let’s look at some illustrations in the book and talk about what Chester might have been feeling.

[Point to book illustrations described below.]

In this illustration, Chester has a frown on his face and his arms are crossed. Here is a different illustration. Chester is leaving his house. He has tears in his eyes.

What do you think Chester might have been feeling? (sad, angry)

Chester liked his house. He did not want to leave his house.

Chester hugged his tree house when he left. Chester also took a piece of bark from inside the tree.

• Do you think Chester felt a little better about leaving his house when he hugged his house and took a piece of bark with him?
• Why? (he said goodbye by hugging the house; the bark may remind him of his house)

[Display Things That Make Us Feel Better poster.]

We know some things we can do to feel better when we are sad. The pictures on this poster remind us of things we have talked about. There are pictures of moving our body, doing quiet things, and being with others.

[Point to and briefly describe several strategies you believe would be of interest to children in your classroom.]

A new friend, Cassy, came to visit Chester in his new tree. Chester ducked back down into the hollow of his new tree when he heard Cassy outside. He was feeling shy. Remember, when we feel shy, we may feel a little worried about new places or being with people we do not know. Chester didn’t know Cassy and felt shy about meeting her. After meeting Cassy, Chester climbed out of his tree to talk to Cassy and to play with her.

What do you think Chester might have felt when he found a friend to play with? (excited, happy)

Chester had different types of feelings about moving to a different house. He felt sad (and/or angry) when he learned he would be moving. Chester also felt shy when he first met Cassy. After talking to Cassy, Chester felt happy about making a new friend to play with at his new house.

We can have different types of feelings when we move. We might feel one way before we move and then have different feelings after we move. We remembered some things we can do to feel better when we feel sad.

[Dim or turn off lights in the classroom. Invite a volunteer child to stand in front of the other children. Shine a flashlight on the child to create a shadow on the floor.]

• When I shine this flashlight, what do we see on the floor? (a shadow)
• Have you ever seen your own shadow? Tell us about it.

[Turn on lights in the room. Encourage children to discuss their experiences with shadows.]

When something blocks the light from shining somewhere, it can make a shadow. A shadow is a dark shape that is made by something getting in the way of light. My hand blocks the light from shining on part of the wall if I put it in front of the flashlight. My hand makes a shadow.

[Demonstrate your description of creating a shadow with your hand.]

Today we are going to go outside and look for our own shadows.

[Take children outside to an area where they are able to see their own shadows. Encourage children to move and watch their shadow change as they move. Ask questions while they are exploring their own and others’ shadows. Examples: “What happens to our shadow when we move?” “Can you make your shadow smaller or larger?” After several minutes, gather children to discuss how they made shadows and what happened when they tried different things with their shadows. Invite children to demonstrate. Use the following questions to facilitate discussion:]

• What did you learn about your shadow today?
• What made your shadow? (body blocking the light)
• What happened to your shadow when you moved? (the shadow moved)
• Did you see anything else that made a shadow? (buildings, trees, etc.)

A shadow is made when light shines on an item that blocks the light. We need light to make shadows. We can make shadows during the daytime with bright sunshine or during the nighttime with a light.