Oral language
Letter knowledge
Children will strengthen their comprehension of information presented in a book read aloud and increase the number of novel words they understand. Children will also identify and name the letter U.
New:
Review:
Be Prepared: This is the second of three repeated readings of a book with children. Today’s session focuses on children’s comprehension of information presented in the book, especially connections to children’s experiences. The session also helps children understand more novel words. From the list of novel words you identified prior to your first reading of the book, select 4–6 words to define for children today. Remember, it is okay to select words that a few children may know if you anticipate most children do not understand the word’s meaning. See the Language/Literacy section of the ELM User Guide: 3–5 Years for additional information on how to select and define novel words.
[Display letter U card.]
What is the name of this letter?
[Point to the uppercase letter U on the letter card.]
Am I pointing to the uppercase or to the lowercase letter U?
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:
Number knowledge
Children will strengthen their understanding of subtract and add.
Review:
Offer the Week 33, Day 1 activity to review subtracting and adding.
Engage pairs of children in moving a counter on a number list in response to results of spinning a two-option number spinner (1, 2).
Display the number list. Point to each numeral as you lead children in saying each numeral aloud. Then display and describe the spinner. Demonstrate how the spinner lands on number 1 or 2.
Demonstrate and describe today’s activity by placing a counter above number five on the number list. Spin the spinner and move your counter the number of spaces the spinner lands on (1 or 2). Explain the following:
Form pairs of children. Give each pair a number list, a counter, and a spinner. Invite children to put their counter on number five on their number list. Then encourage children to take turns with their partner, spinning the spinner. Remind children that we add with the first spin and we subtract with the second spin.
If children readily move their counters in appropriate ways, encourage pairs to continue beyond the second spin. The next (third) time we spin the spinner, we add the number the spinner lands on. The following (fourth) time we spin the spinner, we subtract the number our spinner lands on. Alternate add and subtract with each spin.
Knowledge of earth and space
Children will understand basic characteristics of the fall and winter seasons.
New:
Review:
The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons
Be Prepared: Wear fall clothing, such as a jacket, and carry a leaf rake (if possible) for today’s activity.
Yesterday we talked about the season of summer and made a class book of things we like to do in the summer.
Today I am wearing something that we might wear during the season that comes after summer. I also have something for raking leaves. What season do you think we will talk about today? (fall)
At the end of the summer, in some places, the weather begins to get cooler and a different season begins. The season that comes after summer is called fall. Another word for fall is autumn.
Why would we wear a jacket in the fall? (to keep warm because the air gets cooler)
In some places, leaves on trees and other plants turn to different colors in the fall. The leaves fall off of the trees and other plants.
[Display pictures of same tree in summer and in fall. Point out which picture is summer and which picture is fall.]
Let’s look at pictures of the same tree in the summer and in the fall.
How does our tree look different in the fall compared to the summer? (leaves are green in summer, leaves are darker in color in fall, fewer leaves in fall)
Let’s look at some pictures of leaves in the fall.
[Display picture of fall leaves.]
What are some of the colors we see in the leaves in this picture? (orange, yellow, brown, red)
We know that trees and other plants need sunlight to make their own food. Trees and other plants cannot make their own food in the fall because the air is cool and there is less sunlight during the daytime.
Now let’s talk about the coldest season of the year. Winter is the coldest season of the year. All places have a winter season. Winter does not feel the same everywhere. Winter is colder in some places than in other places. Some places have snow in the winter, and other places do not have snow.
What is winter like where we live?
[Help children describe your winter season.
Display pictures of the same tree in fall and winter seasons. Point out which picture is fall and which picture is winter.]
How does our tree look different in the winter compared to the fall? (no leaves)
In the winter, water can freeze into ice. Many other things can also freeze. In some places there can also be a lot of snow in the winter. Remember, snow happens when water that falls from heavy clouds goes through very cold air. The water freezes into small snowflakes.
Let’s look at our four pictures of our tree in each season and compare them.
[Display four pictures of the same tree in each season.]
How is each picture different?
[Encourage children to discuss differences in each tree and why they occur. Example: “Our tree in the spring has flowers. In some places, new leaves and flowers begin to grow.]
Today we learned about the seasons of fall and winter. Leaves begin to change colors in the fall. Winter is the coldest season of the year. Some places are colder than other places in the winter. Each picture of our tree is different in each season. Which season is your favorite?
Extra support
Enrichment
Supply finger paints in fall colors (brown, red, yellow, orange). Invite children to create their own fall picture. You may also wish to supply shaving cream in a tub. Invite children to use the shaving cream to pretend it is wintertime and they are playing in snow.
Collect items of clothing that can be worn in each season. Hold up each clothing item, one at a time, and ask children to name the season most appropriate for the clothing item. Some clothing items, such as a jacket, might be worn in more than one season.
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Exploring Where We Live
Social Studies
Skill and Goal
Knowledge of social and physical environments
Children will understand basic characteristics of automobiles.
Materials
Needed
*Printables provided
Key
Concepts
New:
Today we will learn about a kind of transportation called an automobile. An automobile usually has four wheels and can carry a small number of people. The words car and automobile mean the same thing. Let’s together say automobile: au-to-mo-bile.
Most of us have been in an automobile. Automobiles travel on land. Remember, yesterday we put our picture of a car under the picture of a road.
There are different kinds of automobiles. Let’s look at some pictures of automobiles.
Some automobiles can hold four or five people. Here is a picture of a car with its doors open. Two people can sit in the front seats. Two or three more people can sit in the back seat.
Some automobiles hold more people. The automobile shown in this picture is called a minivan. It can hold seven or eight people. There is a third row of seats in this automobile.
[Display picture of second and third rows of minivan.]
Most automobiles have a trunk. A trunk is a place to carry things like bags of groceries. Here is a picture of the trunk of a car.
Have you ever helped put things in the trunk of a car?
The back seats in minivans can be folded or taken out. This gives more space for carrying things.
What kinds of things could a family put in the space shown in this picture?
All automobiles have an engine or a motor. An engine or motor is a machine that moves things. The engine or motor in an automobile moves the wheels. The wheels make the automobile go places.
The engine in most automobiles uses gas to move things. People go to a gas station to get gas for their automobile. Some cars use electricity for their motors. People go to a place called an electric power station to charge a car that uses an electric motor.
Some cars use both gas and electricity.
Automobiles come in different shapes and different sizes. They also come in different colors.
What does your family’s automobile (or an automobile you know) look like?
[Encourage children to describe the family auto’s size, shape, and/or color. If the family vehicle is a truck, explain that we will talk about trucks tomorrow.]
Today we talked about automobiles. What is another name for an automobile? (car) There are different kinds of automobiles. Some hold more people than others. The space for holding things in an automobile can be different. Some automobiles use gas. Other automobiles use electricity, or both gas and electricity.
Scaffolding Tips
Extra support
Enrichment
Center Activity
Fill the water table or a tub with soil or sand. Supply cars for children to “drive” in the soil or sand. Encourage children to play with the cars and draw their attention to tracks made in the soil or sand. You may also wish to provide a car mat and traffic signs in the block center. Encourage children to take the cars on a trip or drive them on the mat. Encourage the use of traffic signs and discuss what the signs mean.
Family Child Care
Ask family members during drop-off or pickup time if the children can explore the family’s automobile. Encourage children to look for things that are the same and different in each automobile (number of doors, seats, what can it hold, what fuel it uses). If exploration of the automobile is not practical, invite the family member to describe their automobile.