Desert Unit Week 2 (March 20-24)

Weekly Question and Vocabulary Related to book:

What are desert animals like?
(lizard, cowboy, herd, spider, sniff, burrow)

Unit Book: The Gingerbread Cowboy

Literacy Small Groups
Letters and Sounds- We will work to match sounds with their corresponding letters.  We will be using words from our unit.

Compare and Contrast- We will discuss animals from the jungle and animals from the desert. We will look in books to see how they are the same or different. Then we will create a chart in small groups.

Letter Sound Rolling Game: We will roll a letter cube with letters we have already learned. After rolling the cube, we will say the letter, the sound, then find it on our papers. We will then trace the letter. We will try to roll all of the letters on our paper. Some groups will also try to think of words that begin with the same sound as a challenge.

Journals: We will be "writing" in our journals. Each child will choose an animal that they learned about that lives in the desert. They will try to write the letters they hear in the animals name and write what they hear. We are encouraging students to write letters they hear so the word may not look like the way we read them.

Handwriting Without Tears

-Magic C Letters: g and d

We will be working on lowercase letters d and g. We will be using magnet boards, colored salt trays, chalk boards, or shaving cream to form these letters within our small group time. We will then expose the children to the Fundation lines. Fundations is the curriculum used in kindergarten. We will be exposing the students to the language (ie. sky line, plane line, grass line, and worm line) when forming our letters. 

Math Small Groups

Waxy Numbers- We will practice identifying and naming numerals to 10.  Using wax sticks, we will practice making each number while others in the group guess the number made.  We will trace our guesses on our recording sheet.

Pattern review- We will create our own desert patterns.  Using desert cutouts and a pattern grid, we will create our own patterns.  We must be sure that they repeat to be a pattern.

Sandy Numerals -We will practice forming numerals through 10.  Using sand trays, we will practice writing numerals with our finger.  We will then trace numbers on our papers with glue and sprinkle them with sand to make sandy desert numbers.  Ask your child to trace these numbers with his/her finger when dry while naming each one.

Math Stories: (Desert Word Problems) Children will be using desert animals to make a math story. We will use 1:1 correspondence to count the animals we add to our desert picture. Then we will write the number of animals we added.

Centers

Art Table- Playdough

Block Area- Animals and blocks

Sensory Table- Water and sponges (absorb concept)
Book Area- Exploring Books about jungle and desert
Easel-Markers and paper
Writing Table-Desert Words
Dramatic Play-Gingerbread Bake Shop
Math, Puzzles, and Manipulatives-Wiki Sticks to create numbers
Science - Sponges and water to explore  how water absorbs
Rug- Building shelter from the sun in the desert

Science/Social Studies/Math Circle Concepts
- Sink or Swim
-Desert Animals Video
-What is a numeral?
-Compare and contrast desert animals to jungle animals

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

-Animals in the Desert Song

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 behaviors.