Shadows and Reflections March11-15

Shadows and Reflections Week 1

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.

Stories:

Play with Me by Marie Hall Ets

Raccoon on His Own by: Jim Arnosky

Small Groups:

-Technology-Interactive Shadow Activity on Touch It Board

-Language – Book Browsing and Letter chart of beginning sounds of animals for the book Play with Me

-Math–Number Go Fish Game and/or Uppercase to Lowercase Letter Go Fish Game

-Manipulatives- Creating 2 different types of patterns. Then we will use 1:1 correspondence to count how many red, how many yellow, and how many in all.

Choice: -

-Easel – Painting meadow, pond, and stream animals
-Sensory–Bubbles and mirrors (looking for reflections in bubbles)
-Dramatic Play – Picture studio ( getting ready for picture day)
-Art – Reflective-Paper Collages
-Writing Center – Drawing and writing about animals
-Puzzles – Animal Puzzles (Raccoons, crocodiles, grasshoppers, and fawns).
-Blocks – Construction Zone (Building a trap for Sean McFlarety who happens to be a Leprechaun that visits Pat on St. Patrick's Day.  He has been playing tricks on us and we are trying to catch him)
-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
-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.