[Display letter A card.]

What is the name of this letter? What sound does the letter A make?

Letter A says /a/, just like in the word “alphabet.” /a/, /a/, alphabet. Let’s together say /a/, /a/, alphabet.

Now let’s spend some time with our book.

[See Week 3, Day 5 of Language/Literacy for a description and examples of how to approach today’s book reading. Key aspects are summarized below:

• Display book cover. Explain that we have read our book two times this week. Each time we read the book we learn something new. Point to and say title of book. 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?
• Point to and say the names of author and illustrator. Point to where to begin reading.
• During the reading, pause on pages that include a word defined in the prior two readings of the book. Ask or remind children what the word means. Also pause during the reading to define the 2–3 words identified for today’s session, using the following approach:
  • Read the sentence with the novel word. Identify 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, write the 2–3 words targeted for today on the chart and engage children in a discussion of each word, using one or more of the following strategies:
  • 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 or phrase in another context.
• Explain that different types of things happened in our book. Facilitate a discussion of children’s interpretations of events and/or characters in the book, especially events or characters related to one or more words defined this week. See Week 3, Day 5 for examples.]

This week we learned more about shapes.

[Hold up a rectangle.]

Why is this shape not a square?

The shape I am holding has four straight sides and four corners like a square, but the sides are different sizes. A square has four straight sides that are the same size.

• What is the name of the shape I am holding? (rectangle)
• I am thinking of a shape that has three sides and three corners. What shape am I thinking of? (triangle)
• I am thinking of a shape with a curved line that is completely round. What shape am I thinking of? (circle)

This week we looked at shapes of different sizes. Remember, the size of something is how big it is. All shapes can come in different sizes. Let’s look at two shapes.

[Display two squares of different sizes.]

• What are these shapes?
• How do we know? (they both have four straight sides that are the same size and four corners)

A square is a square no matter what size it is!

This week we also played a shape game. I laid out two shapes and then covered them up. Then we tried to remember the shapes under the cover, and lay out those same shapes.

[Hold up a circle and a square.]

I am holding up two shapes. Now I am going to put these two shapes behind my back.

What two shapes did I hold up?

[Hold up a triangle and a rectangle.]

Now I am holding up two different shapes. I am going to put the shapes behind my back and then show you one shape.

[Place both shapes behind your back and then display only one of the shapes.]

• Which shape is still behind my back?
  [Display two rectangles.]
• What shapes am I holding now? How do we know?
• I am going to put one of the rectangles on its side. Is it still a rectangle? (Yes, it is!)
• Let’s see what happens when I flip both rectangles the other way. Are they still rectangles? (Yes, they are!)

All rectangles have four straight sides and four corners. A rectangle is a rectangle if it is on its side or standing up tall!

We are learning that all shapes can come in different sizes. We know that triangles can be different sizes, but they always have three straight sides and three corners. A triangle is a triangle no matter what size it is! We also learned that a rectangle is a rectangle whether it is laying on its side or standing up tall.

We are learning that there are many different kinds of homes. Remember, a home is the place where someone lives.

Today we are going to talk about the inside of a home.

• Where do you eat in your home?
• What is your favorite place in your home? Why?

Let’s talk about some of the things we may find in a home.

If you have a refrigerator in your home, please pop up.

[Ask children to sit down after you have commented on the number of children with a refrigerator in their home.]

If you have a bathtub in your home, please pop up.

[Ask children to sit down after you have commented on the number of children with a bathtub in their home.]

If you have a pet in your home, please pop up.

[Ask children to sit down after you have commented on the number of children with a pet in their home.]

We are going to take a look at our housekeeping center. It has things we find on the inside of a home. It doesn’t have all of the things a home would have, but some of the things may be like what you have in your home.

[Invite children to look at and discuss the housekeeping center.]

• What things in our housekeeping center are like some things in your own home? (table, kitchen items, rugs, chairs, etc.)
• What things in your own home are not in our housekeeping center? (bed, bathroom, etc.)

I have pictures of some things we might find inside a home. Let’s look at each picture and talk about where we might find the item inside a home.

[Display six pictures, one at a time, and encourage children to discuss where the item might be found in a home.

Invite children to discuss whether they have a similar item in their own homes. Some items might be found in more than one room in a home.]

Today we talked about things we can find inside a home. We looked at our housekeeping area and talked about how it may be the same or different than our own homes.

Today we are going to practice keeping our balance when we stop doing some movements with our body.

We will move our bodies to some music. We will walk, march, gallop, or hop.

We will stop doing the movement when the music stops.

We will stand in our place when the music stops. We will try to keep our balance when we stop. We know that when we balance something we keep it steady.

I will say a movement and start the music. You can move around our activity space while doing the movement. When the music stops, try to stop your body right away and keep your balance.

Let’s try an easy movement to make sure we know what to do. We will start with walking. When the music starts, please start walking and then listen for when the music stops. Stop walking when the music stops.

[Play a selection of music that is of medium speed and encourage children to walk around the activity space. Stop the music after a brief period of walking and offer a verbal reminder if necessary. Repeat the walking with a faster pace of music and encourage children to walk faster to the music. Stop after a brief period.]

Was it harder to stop walking when you walked faster?

This time, let’s _____ instead of walk.

[Repeat the above activity with one or more of the following (one at a time): march, gallop, or hop. Play both medium and faster speed music for children to practice stopping. Remind children to try to keep their balance when stopping.]

Was it harder to keep your balance when you stopped _____or when you stopped walking?

Today we practiced keeping our balance when we stopped walking and when we stopped _____.