Shadows and Reflections April 4-8

Shadows and Reflections Unit Week 1

Unit Book:  Whistle for Willie

Weekly Question and Vocabulary Words:
Why do we see shadows? 
(dark, light, shadow, practice, errand, whirl)

Literacy Small Groups

Lowercase Letters- We will practice the lowercase  formation of the letter a using a variety of mediums.  This may be in the form of magna doodles, chalkboards, salt trays, etc.  We will rainbow write and pencil practice the letter a as well.This is another magic C letter-first, we start by making a lowercase c and continue on to make an a.

Robot Segments- We will use the picture cards from Whistle for Willie to segment words using our robot voice.  We will listen for the individual sounds in each word.  Then, we will count the sounds we hear in each word.  We will sort the words by two or three sounds.

Lowercae Letters- We will learn to write the lowercase letter g. Using magna doodles, chalkboards or salt trays we will practice the formation..  We will rainbow write and pencil practice the letter g as well.This is another magic C letter-first, we start by making a lowercase c and continue on to make an g.

Where’s the Sound? - We will practice segmenting words by sound.  We will use clothespins to slowly segment each word and listen for the /t/ sound.  We will determine whether we hear the sound at the beginning, middle or end of the word and record our guesses on our sheet.  

Journal Writing- In this week’s story, Peter wished he knew how to whistle.  We will make a personal connection to the story and write and draw about what we want to learn to do.  We will practice turtle talking (slowly saying our words to hear their sounds) and adding spaces between our words.  We are also working on our detailed drawings to correlate with our writing.

Math Small Groups

Fill Up the Frame Game- In pairs, we will roll a number cube and subitize the amount of dots we see.  Then each child will place the amount of dots of the cube.  We will identify how many dots each child has and how many empty spaces there are.  The goal is to fill up a ten frame.  

Shape Shadow Sorting-We will sort 2D shapes by their attributes.  Using the black shadows of squares, rectangles, circles, ovals, rhombuses and triangles, we will sort them by the number of corners they have. We will discuss each shape as we sort.

1,2,3 Shape Share- We will play a game to practice dividing quantities fairly.  Working in pairs, students will put 1-5 fingers behind their backs. On the count of three they will reveal their amount and count the fingers altogether.  Using that number of shapes, they will use paper shapes to share equally and problem solve to share any leftover shapes.  

Guess my Shape- Students will work in pairs to play a shapes guessing game.  Using a mystery shape hidden under a box, students will describe (corners, sides) the shape to their partner without naming the shape.  Partners will try to guess the mystery shape based on their partner’s description.  

Number Formation Practice- Using the Handwriting Without Tears program as a guide, we will continue to practice forming numbers 1-10.  This week, we will practice numbers 3 and 4 using wooden sticks, chalkboards or magna doodles and in our letter formation books.

Centers

Art Table-Chalk on black paper

Block Area- blocks with flashlights to create block shadows

Sensory Table- water with floating objects to see shadows of objects
Book Area- Exploring Books about shadows and reflections
Easel-Markers and paper
Writing Table-Paper and words to trace
Dramatic Play-Movie Theater
Math, Puzzles, and Manipulatives-
Rug- Legos
Science/Social Studies/Math Circle Concepts
-Shadows and Shapes
-How to change the shape of shadows
-Using blocks and light to make shadows
-Shape attributes

Preschool Life Skills 
- We will be focusing on our curriculum of Preschool Life Skills during this time to help us transition into our new classroom.

1. When I call your name, stop what you are doing, look at me, and say,"Yes".
2. When I give you an instruction, do it "right away"
(Ask your child what do you do when your teacher tells you to do something.  They should reply "I do it right away." You can reinforce this at home too.  "Put your legos away and do it "right away""
3. When I give you  instructions, do them "right away" (multi-step directions)
4. When something is too hard say "Help me please"
5. When you want something from a teacher or friend, say "Excuse Me" to get their attention
6. When you want something from a teacher or friend, say "Excuse Me" to get their attention and then use your asking words(ie. May I have a turn?)

Songs, Word Plays, and Language

-Our Good Morning Chant

-Shadows Letter on smartboard
-I see shadows (tune of frere jacques)
-Letter Sounds

Classroom Motivational System
We will be learning classroom routines and expectations within our new classroom.  In order to create a successful and rewarding environment, each child will have a motivational system. Our classroom system promotes positive classroom behavior through positive peer modeling and teachers providing positive reinforcement for desired behavior