Reflections May 2-6

Shadows and Reflections Unit Week 2

Unit Book:  The Puddle Pail

Weekly Question and Vocabulary Words:
Why can’t we hold on to shadows or reflections?
(collection, illustration, ordinary, puddle, proud, disappear)

Literacy Small Groups

Lowercase letter t- We will learn to write the lowercase letter t. Lowercase t is a diving letter.  It starts at the top and dives straight down.   We will practice this letter using Magna doodles, chalkboards, salt trays, etc.  We will rainbow write and pencil practice the letter h as well.

Rhyming Collections- In our story this week, Ernst collected puddles in his pail to discover beautiful collections of shadows and reflections that could be held inside.  We will review our rhyming skills to make collections of rhyming words.  We will use our own special rhyming pail to collect picture cards that rhyme with our picture card.  We will illustrate our collections.  Ask your child to name his/her rhyming collection.

 Long Vowel Sounds- We will learn that sometimes vowels make the sound of their own name.  For example, in the word “cute” the letter u says it’s name.  We will play a vowel race game. After carefully listening to the words the teacher says, we will use a dot marker to stamp the vowel that says it’s own name.  We will find out which vowel will win the race!

Lowercase letter h- We will learn to write the lowercase letter h. Lowercase h is a diving letter.  It starts at the top and dives straight down.   We will practice this letter using magna doodles, chalkboards, salt trays, etc.  We will rainbow write and pencil practice the letter h as well.

Final Sound Carnival Game- We will play a group board game to review identifying ending sounds in words. Using a carnival board game filled with letters, players will need to pull a card that has the ending sound of the letter they need to advance in the game.  We will also practice waiting and good sportsmanship during our game.

Math Small Groups

Sharing Pails- We will make another class book while practicing sharing quantities fairly.  Using cubes, we will share a set amount among three pails.  We will need to put any leftovers to the side to be sure each pail has an equal amount.  We will record our work using stickers to create our class book.

Shapes to make Shapes- We will use pattern blocks to make hexagons. Using triangles, trapezoids and rhombuses, we will work to fill the shape of a hexagon.  We will count the number of each shape we used and record our answers in our books.

Tangram Shape Activity- We will use special shapes called tangrams to make objects based on their shadows.  We will manipulate a set number of shapes to fill in the shadow of a boat, house, dog, swan, cat and candle while learning that shapes can be combined and manipulated to make other shapes.  Once we’ve completed the puzzle using real shapes, we will glue paper shapes onto our shadows to take them home.

Guess My Collection- We will sort shapes by various attributes (sides, corners, color, size, shape.)  Using pails, we will make our collection based on one or two rules.  (For example: shapes in my collection have 4 sides.)  We will sort our shapes according to our rule and challenge our friends tp guess the rule of our collection.

Number Formations

Using the Handwriting Without Tears program as a guide, we will continue to practice forming numbers 1-10.  This week, we will practice numbers 9 & 10 using wooden sticks, chalkboards or magna doodles and in our letter formation books.

Centers

Art Table- painting pail reflections and a "mystery painting project"--sh!!

Sensory Table- bubbles and tin foil to look for bubble reflections
Book Area- Exploring Books about shadows and reflections
Easel-Markers and paper
Writing Table-Writing the room using vocabulary words
Dramatic Play- Toy Store (toys and cash register)
Math, Puzzles, and Manipulatives- concave mirrors to look at how mirrors can change images
Rug- Bucket Sorting
Block Area- blocks with mirrors (building by looking at reflection in mirror)

Science/Social Studies/Math Circle Concepts
-How can reflection change
-Collections (making a rule)
-Shapes inside of shapes

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

-Someone sitting by the pool reflection song
-Alphabet Chant using sign language
-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