Shadows and Refelctions April 6-10 and April 13-17

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:
April 6-10

Kitten For A Day by Ezra Jack Keats 

Raccoon on His Own by: Jim Arnosky
April 13-17
The Puddle Pail by Elisa Kleven
Dreams by Ezra Jack Keats
Night Shift Daddy

Small Groups:

April 6-10
-Motor Monday--Math- Alligator Greater Comparison Books- We will discuss concepts of greater than and less than with numbers compared up to 5.

-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.

-Letter Labeling and Writing–We will be rolling a cube with the letter SNAKE on it.  We will write the letter that is rolled to create a chart.  We will discuss vocabulary such as most, least, and equal

-Measuring- We will use cubes to measure how long logs are.  We will use vocabulary such as longest and shortest during activity
-Book Browsing- We will compare 2 unit books and create a chart to show animals from the stories. Then discuss the animals that were in both stories.
April 13-17
-Motor Monday-Animal Movement Comparison Charts- We will cut and sort to show how different animals move
- Games-Number Go Fish 
-Math-  Bears in a cave books. We will create number books to show addition facts up to 5. (ie. 2 brown bears and 3 black bears = 5 bears all together in a cave)
-Science- We will create block shadows by building towers then using a flashlight to cast shadows in groups.
-Games-Alphabet Bingo Uppercase Matching to Lowercase/ Sound Identification.

Choice: -

-Easel – Open ended art planting
-Sensory–Water play/ Beans
-Dramatic Play – Shadow Puppet Show/ Pizza Shop
-Art – Watercolors/ Collage materials/
-Writing Center – Ipads
-Puzzles – Animal Puzzles (Raccoons, crocodiles, grasshoppers, and fawns).
-Blocks –Safari Animals/ Mirrors to make block towers
-Science Center- Mirrors and Reflection Exploring
-Independent Center-Diagonal Lines Letter Books (HWT)/ Write the room/ Creating collections

Let's Talk About It
March 23-27
What are seahorses and starfish?
How to be accepting of others?
How Shadows sizes change?
Sharing accomplishments with others.
March 30-April 3
Exploring transparent and translucent objects
Finger shadow show on the touch it board
Body in the group discussion
How do I know you are flexible?
Songs, Word Plays and Letters
Five Green Frogs
Compound Words
Bingo – with the word Snake
Whose Reflection is in the Pool?  (Smart board Activity)
The Turtle
Five Little Fishies

Handwriting
Diagonal Line letters- We will focus on letters such as N, W, M, and other diagonals in uppercase letters.  We will also talk about lowercase formation in large group.

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.