Shadows and Reflections March 18-22

**Picture Day Thursday, March 21**

Please put your order form in your child's backpack for Thursday.  

If you need an extra form please let me know. 

Theme – 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.

Stories:

Play with Me by Marie Hall Ets

Raccoon on His Own by: Jim Arnosky
Moonbear's Shadow

Small Groups:

-Technology-Beginning Sound Game on Touch It Board- Each child will have a turn to roll the dice on the touch it board which will reveal a letter.  They will then say the letter sound.  Then they will use a colored chip to put on the picture of the image that begins with that letter sound. 

-Science- Mirror Play- We will discuss the what a refection is.  Then we will use mirrors to try to reflect objects in flat mirrors, concave mirrors, and triangle shaped mirrors.  These mirrors will be at the science table during the week to explore independently.
-Fine Motor- We will be sequencing pictures of shadows from shortest to longest.  We will reinforce the concept of where the light needs to be to cast a shadow.

Choice: -

-Easel – Cloud Painting with blue paper, white paint, and cotton balls
-Sensory–Floating boats with foil bottoms (looking for reflections in water)
-Dramatic Play – Mirror Play- Doll Hair salon- reinforcing mirror reflection
-Art/Language-We will be creating a pet we would like to have out of clay. We will wait for it to dry then paint our pet.  The last step will be to draw a picture of our pet and describe our pet.
-Writing Center – Drawing and writing about animals
-Puzzles – Animal Puzzles (Raccoons, crocodiles, grasshoppers, and fawns).
-Blocks – Blocks
-Science Center- Mirrors and Reflection Exploring

Songs, Word Plays and Letters
Five Green Frogs
Bingo – with the word Snake
Whose Reflection is in the Pool?  (Smart board Activity)
Little Letter/Big Letter Chant
The Turtle
Five Little Fishies

Handwriting
-Magic C Letters Books
-Using small chalk boards to practice C
-Shaving cream to practice C on trays
-Theraputty Activities to strengthen our fingers.
-We will be moving onto our "Magic C" letters.  I will have a "magic" black hat and a special rabbit to help me write our magic C letters.   They are magic C letters because they can change. If you make a C it can change to a G, O, and Q.  We also have a fun song to sing about Magic C letters.

Preschool Life Skills
We are continuing to review our previous skills 1-7.
1-When a teacher calls your name, stop, look and say, "Yes".
2-When a teacher tells you to do something, do it "Right Away".
3-When a teacher tells you to do 2 things, do it "Right Away".
4-When something is too hard, first try then say,"Can you help me please?"
5-When you something from a teacher or a friend and they are doing something, say, "Excuse me" to get them to look at you.
(6and 7 are join together)
7-When someone is in your way or has something that you want, say "Excuse me" to get their attention, and then say"May I_____?" to get what you want.
8-When an adult tells you to wait say, "Okay", and your waiting words. (Waiting Words= "When I wait quietly, I get what I want")
 New Skill:
When a friend tells you to wait say, "Okay", and your waiting words. (Waiting Words= "When I wait quietly, I get what I want")

We also have been learning:
"Checking our Body" - This is to remind us how to sit during large group activities. We will talk about how to "check" our bodies to get ready to listen. This is a important skill as we transition into kindergarten.