[Display letter I card.]

What is the name of this letter?

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

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

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 32, Day 2 activity to review adding and counting on.

Engage children in adding together the items in two bags. This option includes counting on.

Be Prepared: Place 2–7 small items in each of five paper bags. Vary the number of items in each bag.

Display the five bags of items. Explain that each bag has a different number of items in it and we will take turns selecting two of the five bags. We will look at and count the number of items in each bag. Then we will add together the number of items in both bags. Ask children what happens to a group of items when we add to it. (it gets larger)

Demonstrate the activity by choosing two bags. Invite a volunteer child to empty the first bag, keeping the items together in a group on the floor or table. Lead children in counting the number of items as you point to each. Say again the total number of items. Invite a second volunteer child to empty the second bag, again keeping the items together in a group. Repeat the counting process.

Remind children that we want to know how many items are in both of the bags. Invite children to point to the larger group of items. Remind children that we begin with the larger group when we count on. Then use the total number of items in the first bag to count on to items in the second bag. Example: If the first group has five items, say “five” and then continue counting each item in the second group; 5…6, 7, 8.

Invite a child to choose a bag and empty it. Encourage the child to count the items. Invite a second child to choose a bag and empty it. Encourage the child to count the items. Invite children to determine which group of items is larger. Encourage all children to use counting on to find out how many items we have all together. Ensure the counting begins with the larger group of items. At the conclusion of counting the contents of both bags, invite the two children to return items to their respective bags. Collect both bags and their contents, and continue playing until all children have a turn to choose a bag and count its contents.

Yesterday we talked about becoming familiar with a different home. Remember, familiar means to know about a place or thing.

Today we will talk about becoming familiar with a new neighborhood. A different home is usually in a different neighborhood.

People who move to a new neighborhood want to know where to find stores and restaurants, and where it is safe to walk or ride a bike without getting into car traffic.

[Display picture of Jason.]

Two weeks ago we learned about Jason and his mom. They moved to a new apartment in a different neighborhood. I want to tell you how Jason and his mom became familiar with their new neighborhood.

Jason’s mom wanted to learn about restaurants in their new neighborhood. Jason’s mom learned about a taco restaurant and a new bakery on a nearby corner.

Jason’s mom took Jason on a walk around the new neighborhood to find the taco restaurant and the bakery. They found the bakery first.

[Display picture of bakery.]

Jason’s mom talked to the owner of the bakery while Jason looked at things made at the bakery. The owner of the bakery gave Jason a slice of bread that was fresh from the oven. The bakery owner told what day of the week the bakery makes Jason’s favorite bread.

Jason and his mom walked further down the street. They came to the school that Jason will go to for kindergarten next year when he turns five. Jason and his mom stopped to talk to the school crossing guard.

[Display picture of crossing guard.]

A crossing guard is a person who helps children walk across the street to get to the school safely. The crossing guard told Jason about a special day for children to visit the school before they start kindergarten.

Jason and his mom walked a little more and found the taco restaurant at the end of the street. They looked at the menu and saw food that they had never eaten before. They decided it could be fun to try some new foods.

Jason and his mom walked a different way home. Jason’s mom pointed out the location of the bus stop on the way home.

[Display picture of bus stop.]

This is where Jason can get on a bus to go to the library for his story time. Jason’s mom also pointed to places where they could safely cross the streets.

• Who did Jason and his mom meet on their walk around their new neighborhood? (owner of bakery, crossing guard)
• What places did Jason and his mom find during their walk? (place to get Jason’s favorite bread, where Jason will go to school for kindergarten, place to eat tacos, where to get on the bus to the library)

Jason and his mom learned about their new neighborhood by taking a walk. They also learned about their new neighborhood by talking to some people.

A family can learn about new places by talking with people and by walking or driving around.

We are learning about different kinds of weather. Rain and snow are kinds of weather.

Today we will learn about something that can be white or gray. We may see them in the sky on rainy days, snowy days, or sunny days.

• What do you think we will talk about today? (clouds)
• Do you think we could touch a cloud in the sky?
• What do you think clouds are made of?

Clouds are white or gray shapes we can see floating in the sky. Clouds are made out of small drops of water and ice.

Let’s go to the window and see if there are any clouds in the sky today.

[If there are clouds, talk with children about how they look. Invite children to gather into a group again.]

There are many different kinds of clouds. Let’s look at some pictures of different kinds of clouds.

[Display three pictures of different kinds of clouds.]

Let’s compare these three different kinds of clouds. Remember, when we compare things, we figure out how they are similar and different.

• 

  How are the three types of clouds similar? (they are all in the sky, they are white)

• How are the three types of clouds different? (some look fluffy, some are harder to see)
• Do any of the clouds in our pictures look like the clouds we see outside today?

Clouds can look fluffy and soft, but we can’t feel them. Clouds feel like air. Clouds can get heavy. Remember, they are made of small drops of water and ice.

Have you ever seen clouds moving in the sky?

Clouds move in the sky because of wind. Wind is air that moves.

Wind can blow gently, or it can be so strong that it knocks down trees and buildings.

Sometimes wind can be so strong that it is dangerous. One of the times that wind can be dangerous is when there is a tornado.

A tornado is very strong wind that spins around in a funnel shape. A funnel is bigger on top and smaller at the bottom. Tornados move across the land. Let’s look at a picture of a tornado.

[Display picture of a tornado.]

Tornadoes can blow down buildings like houses. People need to go to a safe place when there is a tornado. A basement can be a safe place to go. A basement is a part of a building that is underground. Tornadoes usually don’t last very long.

Only certain parts of the world can get tornadoes.

[If your center has a tornado drill procedure, review it briefly with children and emphasize how it keeps everyone safe.]

Have you ever gone to a safe place because a tornado might move into your area? Tell us about it.

Today we learned there are different kinds of clouds. Clouds are made of small drops of water and ice. Water falls from clouds when the cloud gets heavy with water. We also talked about wind and how it can blow gently or blow very strongly. Wind can be dangerous when it blows strongly. We learned that tornadoes are made up of very strong winds that can blow houses and trees. People go to special places to keep safe when there is a tornado.