[Display letter V card.]

What is the name of this letter?

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

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

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 1, Day 4 activity to review how to link number words to groups of items without counting.

Engage children in identifying and briefly remembering two groups of different quantities.

In advance of the session, place two separate groups of 2–5 small toys on a table and cover each group with a blanket. Open the session by reminding children that we are learning how to look at a group of items and know how many there are without counting. Briefly remove the blankets and encourage children to look at each group. Then cover both groups of items and ask children how many items were in each group. Do not comment on the accuracy of their responses. Then uncover both groups of items and support children in counting the number of items in each group. Repeat this procedure with a change in the number of items (up to five) in one or both of the two groups.

We are learning about transportation. Today we will talk about trains.

• Have you ever ridden on a train or seen a train?
• What was it like?

[Display picture of passenger train. Point out separate cars when you describe railroad cars.]

We know that a train carries things like food, cars, and wood. Some trains carry people from place to place. Trains move on land.

Railroad cars are separate sections of a train. Railroad cars can carry people or things. Some trains are long because they have many railroad cars.

The train shown in this picture is called a passenger train. A passenger train moves people and their things. People who use forms of transportation like trains and buses are called passengers. People sit in seats in a railroad car while the train moves from one place to another place.

[Display picture of interior of railroad car with seats.]

This picture shows the inside of a railroad car that carries people. Some seats are next to a window.

Why might we want to sit next to a window? (so you could see outside)

On some passenger trains there is a special railroad car where people can have a snack or a meal. There are tables for people to use. Some passenger trains have railroad cars with beds so people can sleep on a long trip.

[Display picture of train engine. Point to windows at the front of the engine car when you describe the people who run the engine.]

The railroad cars are pulled or pushed by an engine. This picture shows the train’s engine. Remember, an engine is a motor that moves things. Train engines are very big. The engine in this picture is at the front of the train. The people who run the engine sit behind the windows so they can see what is going on around the train.

[Display picture of train wheels.]

Trains have wheels. The wheels shown in this picture look different than the wheels on an automobile and other kinds of transportation we have talked about. The wheels are round, just like other wheels.

[Display picture of train tracks.]

The train wheels move on railroad tracks. Remember, trains use railroad tracks to travel from one place to another place. Trains cannot move on land without tracks.

Now let’s talk about another kind of train. This train carries items from one place to another place.

[Display picture of freight train.]

This train is called a freight train. A freight train moves items. The items on a train might be things like logs cut from trees or grain grown on farms. There are no seats for people on a freight train.

Today we learned about trains. Trains carry people from one place to another. A train that carries people is called a passenger train. A train that carries things like logs or grain is called a freight train. Trains have wheels that sit on top of railroad tracks.

[Invite children to sit in a circle.]

We are learning that a plot is the order of events that happen in a story. This week we listened to the story of The Three Little Pigs and we used body movements to act out the story without using our voices.

[Display and briefly describe cutouts of wolf and each of the three houses.]

• What did we learn about first in our story: the wolf or the houses built by the three pigs? (houses)
• The wolf tried to blow down each of the three houses. What was the last house he tried to blow down? (the house made of brick)
• Was the wolf able to blow down the house made of brick? (no!)

Today we are going to make up a different plot for a story about three little pigs and a wolf.

[Display timer.]

We are going to use this timer to help us take turns making up a new plot. Let me show you how.

I am going to start the timer. I will use my own ideas to tell a story about three little pigs and a wolf while the timer is going. When the timer beeps, I will stop telling my part of the new story.

[Start the timer and tell a different beginning to The Three Little Pigs. Example: “Once upon a time there were three little pigs who lived in a big barn. Each little pig wanted his own place to live so the pigs decided to each build their own house. The first little pig built a house out of mud.”]

What did I change in the first part of the story? (the little pigs lived in a barn, the first little pig built a house made of mud)

Now we will each take turns adding more to the story. When I start the timer again, someone else will tell the next part of the story. Remember, each of us uses our own ideas. When it is your turn to tell part of the new story, you can make up whatever you want as long as it is about the three little pigs and the wolf.

[Offer examples of how children may change the plot. Examples:

• What will the pigs use to build their houses?
• Will the wolf be alone or will he have a friend with him?
• Will the pigs live alone or have pets that live with them in their houses?]

You may skip your turn if you want to.

[Set the timer for approximately 10–20 seconds. Begin the new story by retelling what you said earlier. Stop when the timer beeps. Invite the child to your left to make up the next part of the story. If the child does not wish to participate, simply move to the next child. Start the timer again for the next child and continue to move around the circle until each child who wishes to participate, has a turn.

When the story seems close to an end, take a few moments to end the story. If there are children remaining who have not had a turn to tell part of a story, begin another story in a different way. There may be 2–3 versions of a story.]

Today we worked as a group to make up our own stories about three little pigs and a wolf. Each of our stories had a new plot.