Let’s say the “Humpty Dumpty” nursery rhyme together. We can raise a hand when we say a rhyming word.

[Lead children in reciting “Humpty Dumpty” in unison as you display the poster. Lead children in raising a hand when they say a rhyming word.]

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.”]

[Hold up four fingers.]

I am holding up a group of fingers. Please hold up a group of fingers just like mine.

[Practice this with different-sized groups of fingers on one hand.]

We can count our groups to make sure we are correct. Remember, when we count we find out how many.

• Where is a group of three in our classroom? (three chairs, three art projects, etc.)
• How about a group of four?
• Where is a group of five in our classroom?

Today we will work on counting while we read a book about counting! We will say numbers to find out how many. Our book is called Big Fat Hen.

[Point to the title as you read.]

The author of this book is Keith Baker. Keith Baker is also the illustrator.

[Point to the text as you read. Pause on each page to discuss the picture and lead children in counting the number of items in the picture. After you count the items, say aloud the final number of items. Example: After reading the first page, count the eggs and say, “There are two eggs on this page.”]

Today we read a counting book called Big Fat Hen. We practiced counting by counting items on each page. What were some of the things we counted? (dragonfly, eggs, chicks, worms, sticks, snails, bees, hens) Let’s count several of them again! What would you like to count?

We are learning how to think about solutions to problems we may have in our classroom. What is a solution? (something we do to solve a problem)

[Display poster. Point to second and third pictures and text as you discuss each.]

We know it is important to think of more than one solution to a problem. Our poster says “think, think, think of some solutions.”

We also know it is important to think about what might happen if we used a solution we are thinking about. We want to decide whether our solution will be safe and fair.

Yesterday we looked at some cards that show different types of solutions.

[Briefly describe the solution shown on each card discussed yesterday. Invite children to help you describe each card.]

There are several more cards we can look at today.

[Display and discuss cards not discussed yesterday. Use the following guide to discuss each card:]

• The words on our card say ______. What is happening in this picture?
  [If discussion of what is happening does not include attention to the problem, ask: “What do you think was the problem?”]
• When is another time we could use this solution?

Let’s talk about some problems we might have in our classroom and different solutions we could use for the problems. Some puppets will help us think about different problems.

[Use puppets to enact a problem pertinent to your classroom. See suggestions below. After the situation is enacted, facilitate a discussion as suggested below:

• Ask: “What solutions could we think about for this problem?” Encourage children to generate at least two solutions. Display and describe solutions shown on the picture cards, if appropriate.
• Ask: “Why would this solution be good to use?” Emphasize how a solution is safe and fair.
• Ask: “Can you think of a solution that might not be safe or fair? How about a solution that might make people feel bad?” Offer an example if children do not generate their own. Example: Davianna wants to play with a toy another child is playing with so she grabs the toy away from the other child. Ask: “Why would this solution be a poor choice?”]

Problem Scenarios:

• One child bothering another child.
• One child wants to play with a train another child is already playing with.
• One child wants to sit on the big pillow in the library center but another child is already using it.

Today we talked about some problems and solutions. We also talked about why a solution would be good to use and thought of some solutions that would not be good to use.

[Display a smock.]

What is this called? When do we wear a smock? (when we create art that might get paint or something else on our clothes)

A smock is a loose shirt or piece of clothing we wear to keep from getting messy when we create art.

[Pass out smocks for several volunteer children, or all children to practice wearing, if appropriate.]

[Display easel.]

This is another item we use to create some types of art. It’s an easel. An easel holds our paper when we paint or work on art.

[Demonstrate putting paper on easel, if appropriate. Describe the ledge of an easel for holding paint.]

Where is another place we could put our paper when we create art? (on a table, on the floor)

[Display a stencil.]

A stencil is a tool for creating art that has a shape cut out of it. Look at the open part of this stencil.

[Point to the opening in the stencil. Engage children in a discussion of the stencil image. Pass around the stencil or several stencils and encourage children to feel the stencil openings.]

We can use a paintbrush or a sponge to put paint in the area that has been cut out of the stencil. The open part will make a picture or shape on our paper.

[Demonstrate how to use a stencil as you describe the process:]

• First we put the stencil on a piece of paper.
• Then we use our paintbrush or a sponge to put paint in the open part of the stencil.
• When we are finished with the paint, we take the stencil off of the paper. Now we can see the shape we painted!

• Would it be easier to use a stencil when our paper is on an easel or on a table? (table)
• Why? (easier to put stencil on paper that is flat)

Today we talked about a smock and easel. We watched how to use a stencil and decided it may be easier to use a stencil on paper that is flat on a table. We talked about shapes we could make with a stencil.