On Day 2 we matched letters on letter cards to letters on our letter mats. Today we are going to match letters again.

What is a letter? (a special mark used to make words)

[Display letter manipulatives.]

Each of us will use uppercase letters K, J, and Y and a letter mat to do our activity.

[Pass out a letter mat and a cup of letter manipulatives to each child.]

I will say the name of the first letter on our letter mat, and then we will say the letter name together. Next I will say the sound the letter makes, and we will say the sound together. Finally, we will find the letter from our cup that matches the letter on our letter mat and place the letter on top of the letter on our letter mat.

Let’s look at the first letter on our letter mat.

[Point to the letter K on the letter mat.]

This is the letter K. Let’s together say its name.

The letter K makes the sound /k/, like at the beginning and end of the word “kick.” Let’s together say the sound of letter K: /k/.

Now we want to find the letter K in our cup.

[Help children find the letter K manipulative, if necessary.]

Now let’s place the letter K on our letter mat.

[Place the letter K manipulative on top of the letter K on the letter mat.]

Let’s try another letter!

[Point to letter J on the letter mat. Say its name and ask children to together repeat its name. Next, say its sound, a word that begins with the same sound, and then ask children to together repeat its sound. Finally, encourage children to find the letter J manipulative and place it on the letter J on the letter mat. Continue until you have said the name, sound, and matched each letter on the letter mat in order.]

Today we learned more about letters K, J, and Y. We matched letters from our cup to the same letter on our letter mat. We also said each letter name and sound.

Yesterday we played I Have, Who Has? with numbers 1–20. Today we will play the game again. This time we will use shapes instead of numbers!

Let’s look at four kinds of shapes we know.

[Display each of the four basic shapes, one at a time. Say the name of each shape when you display it. Ask children to describe each shape.]

Remember, shapes come in many different sizes. Let’s look at some different sizes of triangles.

[Display two different sizes of triangles side by side.]

• Are both of these shapes triangles?
• How do we know? (three straight sides, three corners)

Triangles come in many different sizes. We know a shape is a triangle if it has three straight sides and three corners. Remember, a corner is where two sides come together.

Let’s trace a triangle in the air with our finger.

[Display two different sizes of rectangles side by side.]

• Are both of these shapes rectangles?
• How do we know? (four straight sides, four corners)

Rectangles also come in many different sizes. We know a shape is a rectangle if it has four straight sides and four corners.

Let’s trace a rectangle in the air with our finger.

[Display two different sizes of squares side by side.]

• Are both of these shapes squares?
• How do we know? (four straight equal sides, four corners)

There are many different sizes of squares. We know a shape is a square if it has four straight equal sides and four corners. Remember, equal means they are the same.

Let’s trace a square in the air with our finger.

[Display two different sizes of circles side by side.]

• Are both of these shapes circles?
• How do we know? (round, have a curved line)

There are many different sizes of circles. We know a shape is a circle if it is round and has a curved line.

Let’s trace a circle in the air with our finger.

Each of us will get a different shape for our game.

[Give one shape to each child.]

What is the name of your shape?

Ask your neighbor for help if you do not know the name of your shape.

I will hold up one shape at a time and tell you what it is. Then I will ask the people who have the same shape to pop up and hold up their shape. Remember, there are many different sizes of each kind of shape. Let’s try it.

• [Mix up your set of basic shapes and lay them in a stack in front of you face down.
• Display for children the shape at the top of your stack and say “I have __; who else has __? Example: “I have a circle; who else has a circle?”
• Continue until each child has had a turn.
• Collect shape cutouts, shuffle them, and pass them out to play again, if time permits.]

Today we played I Have, Who Has? again. This time we used shapes for our game!

Last week we went to a pretend ice cream shop. Some of the pretend ice cream cost more pennies than other ice cream. A scoop of white ice cream cost one penny. A scoop of a different color of ice cream cost two pennies.

Sometimes we cannot have everything we want.

What is a reason we might not be able to have something we want? (not enough money)

We are going to read a book today about a boy named Jeremy who really wants a new pair of shoes. We need shoes to keep our feet warm and to keep from getting hurt. But the shoes Jeremy wants are very expensive. Something that is expensive costs a lot of money. Our book is called Those Shoes.

[Display book cover.]

Our book was written by Maribeth Boelts and illustrated by Noah Z. Jones.

[Read the book without interruption unless children ask questions or seem confused. Describe illustrations that directly pertain to the story. At the end of the book reading, use questions, such as the following, to engage children in discussion of needs and wants:

• Why does Jeremy want the shoes? (because all of the other boys have them)
• What does Jeremy need? (boots for winter)
• When Jeremy’s shoes begin to fall apart, his grandma takes him to get a new pair. Why doesn’t she want to buy the shoes Jeremy wants? (they are too expensive)
• What do Jeremy and his grandma find at the thrift shop? (the shoes he wants)
• When Jeremy gets the shoes, he finds out that it isn’t much fun to have them. Why? (they hurt his feet)
• What nice thing does Jeremy do for his friend at the end of the story? (gives his friend his new shoes) Why? (his friend needs new shoes and Jeremy’s new shoes are the right size for his friend)]

In our book today, Jeremy needed a new pair of shoes because his shoes were falling apart. Jeremy wanted an expensive pair of shoes that his grandmother could not afford to buy. Did Jeremy really need the expensive pair of shoes? (no) Jeremy needed a new pair of shoes, but he did not need an expensive pair of shoes.

We are learning about different body parts that are on the outside and inside of our body.

• What is one body part that is on the outside of our body? (toes, knees, hands)
• What is one body part that is on the inside of our body? (stomach, heart, lungs)

Today we are going to learn about bones by reading a book. Bones are the hard pieces inside our body that make up our skeleton. A skeleton gives a body its shape. This is a picture of a boy’s skeleton on the front cover of our book.

[Display book cover.]

Our book is called Bones. The author is Stephen Krensky, and the illustrator is Davy Jones. Our book will tell us about different kinds of bones and what they do.

Let’s talk about some words that are in our book.

[Discuss and define the words below:

• Perfectly—with no mistakes
• Armor—special metal clothing that soldiers used to wear to protect their bodies
• Poison—something that can hurt or kill things
• Blob—something that has no shape]

[Read the book without inviting talk until you have finished. Elaborate on words, events, or characters that seem confusing to children. Point to and describe illustrations directly related to the text. You may wish to omit the section of the book about dinosaur fossils as this topic will be discussed in Science Week 46.]

Our book tells us we have 206 bones in our body. 206 is a very big number! The number 206 is so big it has three numbers in it.

[Display and point to number 206 in book.]

• What numbers do we see in 206? (2, 0, 6)
• Last week we talked about our lungs and heart. How do bones help protect our lungs and heart? (there is a flat bone in front of our heart, there are ribs in front of our lungs) We know that protect means to keep something safe from harm.
• We know it is important to wear a helmet when we ride a bike or tricycle. A helmet protects our brain. How do bones provide a helmet for our head? (there are bones around our brain)

Today we read a book about bones. We learned that our bones are inside our body. Our bones grow as we grow and help us move. We have 206 bones in our body. That is a lot of bones!