[Display book cover.]

We have read our book two times this week. Each time we read the book we learn new things. The title of our book is _____. Let’s talk about what we remember about the book.

• What is our book about?
• Who were the main characters in our book? Remember, a character is a person or animal (or creature) in the book.
• What happened first? What happened next?

We are going to read our book again. We will stop during our reading to talk about what some of the words mean. We know that reading a book is a good way to learn new words. Our chart reminds us of the words we are learning to understand.

[Point to the chart.]

The author of our book is _____. The illustrator of our book is _____.

[Point to each name as you identify the author and illustrator. Point to where to begin to read on the first text page of the book.]

We are going to begin reading here. This is the first word inside our book.

[Read the book from the beginning. Pause on pages that include a word defined in the prior two readings of the book. Ask or remind children what the word means.

Pause to briefly define 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.
• Then define the novel word and connect the definition to the book. Example: “I just read the word ‘useful.’ Did everyone hear it? The inchworm says, ‘I am useful.’ The word ‘useful’ means to be helpful or to help others. The inchworm was useful (or helpful) to others by measuring them.”

If there is a text pattern in the book, invite children to fill in phrases or repeat a refrain or chant as part of the book reading.]

We learned ___ new words while reading our book today. I am going to write each word on our chart. Let’s talk about what we understand or know about each word.

[Promote understanding of each word by engaging children in one or more of the following ways as you write novel words on the chart:

• Ask children to describe a picture related to the word. Example: “Look at this picture of Corduroy looking at the floor. What is he doing?“ (searching for a button—searching is the novel word)
• Define a word without naming it and ask children to identify the word. Example: “The inchworm did a smart thing to save itself from being eaten. What’s another word for smart?” (clever)
• Encourage children to think about a novel word or phrase in another context. Example: “In our book today, the clouds moved out of sight. We cannot see something that moves out of sight. Have you ever watched something move out of your sight?”]
• Different kinds of things happened in our book. Let’s talk about why some things may have happened.

[Facilitate 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. Sometimes it is helpful to introduce topics by first describing (or asking) what happened and then asking “why” questions about what happened. Examples:

• “What happened to the mitten that Nicki lost? Why did the animals want to get inside it? How do you think they all managed to get in?”
• “What do you think the animals did after the bear sneezed and they were all blown out of the mitten? How do you think Nicki felt when he saw his lost mitten floating through the air?”
• “At the end of our book there is a picture of Nicki’s grandmother looking at the mittens she had made for him. One mitten is much larger than the other. What do you think Nicki’s grandmother is thinking?”]

We learned more about our book today by talking about why some things happened in our book. We also learned more words today when we read _____. Let’s look at our chart to remember all of the words we are learning to understand. Each of these words helps us understand the information in our book.

[Say and point to each word on the chart. Invite children to recall how the word was used in the book. Provide a brief description of the word’s use in the book if children cannot recall.]

[Hold up two fingers on one hand and four fingers on your other hand.]

Which one of my hands is holding up two fingers?

[After children respond, point to and count out loud the two fingers you held up.]

Let’s all of us hold up two fingers on each of our hands.

[Demonstrate your request and encourage children to say “1, 2” as they hold up two fingers.]

We are learning about a group of two. We just made a group of two with our fingers. Two is a number. We use numbers when we count. A number tells us how many.

• I have three ears. Am I correct?
• How many ears do I have? Let’s count them.
• I have two knees. Am I correct?

Let’s count to five while we stomp our feet five times. Remember, we count and stomp at the same time.

Let’s try it again while marching five times!

[Lead children around the room as you march and count to five together. Repeat the 1–5 counting sequence as you march. Say a number with each step in unison.]

Now, let’s find groups of two circles. I will give each of you five circles. Let’s count them together to be sure each of us has five circles.

[After each child has received five counters, invite children to point to each counter and count their counters out loud together.

Encourage children to make one group of two with their counters.]

Now let’s make another group of two with our counters.

[Encourage children to make another group of two with their counters.]

Yesterday we looked for groups of two outside. We also made groups of two.

• Who can tell us a group of two you found or made with your partner?
• How did you know it was a group of two?

This week we learned more about numbers and counting. We also learned more about groups of two. We can find groups of two and make groups of two.

[Display picture of identical twin children.]

How do the two girls in our picture look the same? (face, color of hair and eyes, etc.)

The two children in our picture are called identical twins. Identical means something is the same. Identical twins are born at the same time and have the same parents. The two children in our picture are sisters. Maybe each girl is holding up two fingers because there are two of them.

Do you think the two children in our picture like to wear the same clothes and do the same things? (probably not; sisters in picture are wearing different colors)

We know that no one is exactly the same as someone else. Two people may look the same but they may like different things. They can be both the same and different. The sisters in our picture look the same but they may like to eat different kinds of food or play with different friends or toys.

Yesterday we talked about things that were the same and things that were different than the person sitting next to us.

• Who remembers something that was the same about the person sitting next to you?
• Who remembers something that was different about the person sitting next to you?
• Yesterday we also talked about our favorite foods. Do you think it is okay for people to like different kinds of food and to play with different kinds of toys?

[If a photo of children’s hands taken yesterday is not available for the following discussion, invite three or four children to place their hands in a small circle.]

Yesterday we talked about how our hands are the same and different. Let’s talk about what we see today.

• How are our hands the same?
• How are our hands different?

We can be both the same and different. Even two brothers or sisters who look the same can be different. No one is exactly like someone else. It is okay to be different.

Yesterday we pretended glitter was a germ. Let’s recall what we did and what we learned.

• What did we do with the glitter? (put on one hand that then touched another hand)
• What did the glitter show us? (germs can spread when our hand touches another hand)
• What did we do to get rid of the glitter on our hands? (washed them)

Today we will talk about how germs can spread when we sneeze or cough. Remember, when something spreads, it moves to (or covers) a larger area.

A sneeze is a strong burst of air coming out of our nose and mouth. Sometimes we make a noise when we sneeze.

• Do you (or someone you know) make a noise when you sneeze?
• What does the sneeze sound like?

Different things can make us sneeze. We may sneeze when dust gets in our nose. Sneezing is the way our body tries to get the dust out of our nose. We may sneeze when we have a cold or the flu. Some people sneeze when they get near a furry animal like a cat or dog.

Germs in our nose and mouth come out of our body when we sneeze.

[Display a small amount of feathers in your hand.]

Let’s pretend the feathers in my hand are germs that are in my nose and mouth. I will pretend to sneeze. We can watch what happens to our pretend germs (the feathers).

[Hold the feathers in your hand in front of your face. Pretend to sneeze with enough force to send the feathers into the air.]

• What happened to the feathers when I sneezed? (flew into the air)
• Remember, we are pretending the feathers are germs. Do you think the germs that came out of my nose and mouth could get on someone else who is around me?

[Collect the feathers. Display picture of adult sneezing.]

A special camera was used to take this picture of someone sneezing.

What is happening in this picture? (white stuff is coming out of nose and mouth)

This picture shows what comes out of a person’s mouth and nose when he/she sneezes. Germs are part of what comes out of our mouth and nose when we sneeze. The germs leave our body and go into the air around us. The germs can move to other people and things. The germs can spread by traveling through the air.

What can we do to stop germs from spreading when we sneeze? (use a tissue)

[Invite a volunteer child to demonstrate using a tissue in a pretend sneeze.]

The tissue stops germs from going into the air around us. The germs end up in the tissue, not in the air. That’s why we should always put a used tissue in the trash.

Let’s imagine that we sneezed into a tissue and then put our used tissue on the floor or a table near us.

What might happen with our used tissue? (someone else could touch the tissue and get the germs from our sneeze)

The tissue we use has germs in it. We are touching germs when we touch the tissue. We should always wash our hands after we sneeze into a tissue and throw it away.

What can we do to stop the spread of our germs if we don’t have a tissue when we sneeze? (sneeze into arm)

[Invite a volunteer child to demonstrate a pretend sneeze into his/her arm. Then encourage all children to practice a pretend sneeze into their arms.]

Germs also come out of our body when we cough. We can stop germs from spreading by covering our mouth with a tissue or with our arm when we cough.

[Demonstrate covering your mouth with your hand when you ask the following:]

• If we cover our mouth with our hand instead of with a tissue or our arm, what should we do with our hand after we sneeze or cough? (wash our hand)
• Why? (because germs moved from our mouth to our hand when we sneezed or coughed; the germs can spread to other people or things we touch)

Germs can travel in the air when we sneeze or cough. We watched feathers move in the air when I sneezed. The feathers were pretend germs. Sneezing or coughing into a tissue or into our arm is a good way to stop germs from spreading.