Oral language, Print knowledge
Children will strengthen their understanding of how an author gets ideas for a book.
Review:
Be Prepared: The purpose of today’s activity is for children to get ideas for a classroom book that is prepared on Days 4 and 5. Options for today include: taking a walk outdoors or in your center or in your classroom. Here is a preview of how an observation today could be used for preparing a classroom book: The simple observation of a squirrel in your neighborhood or playground could be developed into a fiction story of a squirrel looking for a place to live, finding different things on your playground/neighborhood (list what they are), deciding this is a good place to live, and being happy to find a home (conclusion of story).
Beginning tomorrow we are going to write and illustrate a big classroom book.
First we need to get some ideas about what to include in our book.
We know that Eric Carle got ideas for his books by taking walks and looking at nature. Ideas for our book can come from things we see around us and from our own thinking.
Let’s take a walk (place you determine). Let’s look closely at what we see and listen carefully to what we hear. What we see and hear might give us some ideas for our book. Our ideas for a book can be made up (fiction) or things that are true (facts).
[During the walk, help children focus on things they see and hear that might be included in the book as fiction and/or as fact.
Return to large group and encourage children to help you make a list of things they saw or heard that might be included in the book.
Write children’s suggestions on a chart. You might organize related items together. Example: list together all ideas related to plants and trees.]
We thought of some good ideas for our book.
[Review the list by pointing to and reading each item.]
Tomorrow we will begin using some of our ideas to write a book. We also will make illustrations for our book.
Extra support
Enrichment
Provide paper and drawing tools for children to use in creating a picture of some aspect of today’s walk. (The picture may or may not become part of the book.) Another option is to encourage children to look closely at illustrations in Eric Carle books. Example: “How did Mr. Carle use tissue paper to make the picture of the ladybug?” Books could include The Grouchy Ladybug, The Mixed-Up Chameleon, and 1, 2, 3 To the Zoo.
School-age children might wish to participate in center activities by asking preschool-age children about their drawings or talking with preschool-age children about details of illustrations in the Carle books.
Geometric and spatial knowledge
Children will strengthen their understanding of how a new shape can be made by taking apart another shape.
For Option 2:
For Option 2:
New:
Review:
Offer the second segment of Week 9, Day 2 to review how to take apart shapes.
Engage children in taking apart shapes to make new shapes. This option involves a semicircle, which may not be familiar to some children.
Display a square cutout. Ask children what shape will be made if we cut the square down its middle. (two rectangles) Demonstrate by (1) folding the square down the middle, (2) pointing out the line made by the fold, and (3) cutting along the line. Ask what we made. (two rectangles) Ask children how we know they are rectangles. (four straight sides and four corners)
Display a triangle cutout. Ask children what shape will be made when we cut the triangle down the middle. (two triangles) Demonstrate by (1) folding the triangle down the middle, (2) pointing out the line made by the fold, and (3) cutting along the line. Ask what we made. (two triangles) Ask children how we know they are triangles. (three straight sides)
Display a circle cutout. Explain that we want to make a semicircle. Explain that a semicircle is half (part) of a circle. Ask children how we could make two semicircles from our circle. Demonstrate by (1) folding the circle down the middle, (2) pointing out the line made by the fold, and (3) cutting along the line. Name and describe the new shape. Trace the semicircle with your fingers as you describe it.
Give each child cutouts of three shapes (square, triangle, circle) and a pair of scissors. Encourage children to use scissors to make new shapes. Children may wish to take their shapes home or use them during center time to make a picture.
Knowledge of earth and space
Children will understand that some animals make their homes in soil.
*4 pictures as shown (1 shown in Extra Support tip)
*Printables provided
New:
Review:
We are learning about soil. We know that soil helps us grow plants that provide food for people and other animals.
Today we will learn another way soil is important. Animals sometimes use soil as a home. We know that the place where someone lives is called home.
Some animals live under the ground to keep cool when it is hot outside. Other animals go under the ground to stay warm when it is cold outside.
Many animals sleep under the soil. An animal is safe when it lives in a burrow deep under the soil. Remember, a burrow is a hole or tunnel made by an animal in the ground.
[Display two pictures of animal burrows.]
An animal that wants to go under the soil uses its claws, legs, and sometimes its teeth to dig a hole in the soil. It digs deep into the soil where it is dark to make a burrow.
Let’s pretend we are animals digging a burrow under the soil.
[Encourage children to pretend to dig a burrow in the soil.]
Animals that sleep under the soil curl into a ball to stay warm. Let’s curl into a ball and pretend we are an animal sleeping in our burrow.
[Encourage children to curl into a ball and pretend to sleep.]
Some animals live under the soil all of the time! Worms make their home in the soil. Worms find food and water in the soil.
[Display picture of an anthill.]
Some ants live under the soil to stay safe from predators. A predator is an animal that eats other animals.
Ants dig lots of tunnels in the soil. This is where they live. They find their food above the soil and then take it below the soil to eat.
Today we learned how soil is a home for some animals. An animal’s home in the soil keeps the animal safe. Some animals go under the ground to stay cool or warm, and some animals live under the soil to stay safe from predators.
Extra support
Display the provided picture of an ant farm to help children better understand an animal home under the soil. Explain that an ant farm is similar to the part of an anthill that is under the ground.Enrichment
Supply paper and drawing tools. Encourage children to draw pictures of animals living under the soil. Provide *pictures used in today’s activity for children to use as a reference.
*Printables provided
Consider building and maintaining an ant farm if this is of interest to children in your setting. Search the Internet for resources on how to make an ant farm.
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Getting Along With Others
Social-Emotional
Skill and Goal
Relationship skills
Children will strengthen their understanding of different types of play.
Materials
Needed
Play items (see Be Prepared)
Key
Concepts
Review:
Pretend
Offer the Week 1, Day 2 activity to review what it means to engage in pretend play, play alone, and play with others.
Support pairs of children in determining and describing how an item could be used in pretend play.
Explain that today we will use our imaginations to think of ways to pretend an item in our classroom is something else—or that we are someone else. Remind children that when we pretend, we make believe we are a different person, or we make believe a toy we are playing with is something different. Sometimes we do both: the toy is something different and we are someone else! Show an item that could be used in pretend play. Invite children to describe how we could pretend this item is something else.
Arrange children in groups of two. Give each pair a toy item and invite the two children to talk together about how they could make believe the toy is something else and/or that they are someone else. Provide suggestions, if appropriate. Encourage children to think of something they have not done before with the item.
Invite children, one pair at a time, to describe how they could pretend with the item. If time permits, switch items and repeat the process described above.