Shadows and Reflections-Week 4

Shadows and Reflections-Week 4

Theme – This is our first week of our new unit, Shadows and Reflections. During this unit students will explore shadows and reflections, using observations, experiments and books to learn what makes a shadow and a reflection. Through Story Time books, children hear about a girl playing by a still pond, a puppy who thinks he is a kitten, a crocodile collecting reflections in a pail, a sleepy boy who sees a shadow save a cat, and a raccoon who has an adventure with only his reflection for company.

Theme Concepts:
Reflections are images thrown back from a shiny surface.
There must be light or there is no reflection.
Mirrors and still water reflect light well; dull surfaces do not.
If water is moving, its reflections are blurry or crooked.
Objects are opaque, translucent, or transparent.
Shadows are the dark areas made when an object blocks light.

Special Event:  On Tuesday, the Burlington Science Center will come to our school for a special presentation about animals we have been talking about in our classroom.  Ask your child on Tuesday what animals they saw.

Stories:
Kitten for A Day by Ezra Jack Keats
Dreams by Ezra Jack Keats

Small Groups:
-Math- comparing our books (Play with Me by Marie Hall and Raccoon on His Own by Jim Arnosky) to create a chart to show which animals are different or the same in both stories.
-Science-Exploring Shadows-we will discuss what we need to make shadows. Then we will use classroom objects to try to cast our own shadows
Language- matching animals with the first sound/letter of each animal (snake, lizard, grasshopper, raccoon, alligator...)

Choice: -
-Easel – sticky paper to attach blocks onto
-Sensory– sand
-Dramatic Play-Playing with pets
– Reflection Station-playing with our child made kaleidoscopes
-Math-create patterns for puddle pails
-Writing Center – Drawing and writing about animals
-Puzzles – Photographs of Animal Puzzles (Raccoons and crocodiles)
-Blocks – "shadow blocks"- building with blocks and using flashlights to cast shadows
Songs, Word Plays and Letters
-Change, Change, Rearrange (using the word cao, we change the beginning
sound to make new words clap, snap, map, lap)
-Whose Reflection is in the Pool?
-Five Green Speckled Frogs (using child created props)
-Bingo – with the word Snake
-Old Macdonald had a "swamp"

**look for our frogs on a log to come home soon. Ask your child to show you how we sing the songs using these props at home.

Let's Find Out About It/ Let's Talk About It
-We will shut the lights off in our room and use flashlights to try to guess the "mystery letter"
-Looking at photos of shadow and guess what made the shadows