Earth and Sky Week 4 (April 1-5)

Earth and Sky Unit Week 4

Unit Book: Think Green

Weekly Question and Vocabulary Words:
How can we take care of the Earth?
(plastic, aluminum, recycle, paper, separate, harm, bin)

Small Groups

Journals- We will continue our practice writing in our journals.  This week, we will write about taking care of our earth on a take home paper. We will bring the papers home to show our families what we can do to help the earth.

Handwriting Without Tears- We will be reviewing our Diving Letters. Using a bag filled with letters, we will pull out a letter and then form thaUsing the HWT t letter on our papers.  

Number Formation- We will be working on number formation of numbers 1 and 2 now that we have completed our upperletter formations.  

Duplo Sharing -We will learn what it means for quantities to be equal.  Equal quantities have the same amount.  Starting with a set number of Duplo blocks we will take turns adding blocks to make two towers.  When all the blocks have been used we will compare the towers to be sure they look the same and then count them to be sure they have the same amount of blocks in each tower.

Sharing Fairly- We will learn how to divide items equally into two groups.  Using a number dice, we will roll a number.  Using that number of bottles, we will sort the bottles fairly among the two recycling bins.  Each bin must have an equal number of bottles.  We will also learn that any leftover bottles can’t be placed into a group since it would make the group not equal.

Recyling Bottles- We will be creating books with recycling bottles. We will be practicing our 1:1 correspndence skills as well as our number formation skills. 

Sharing Fairly with Leftovers- After learning how to divide items equally into two groups, we will learn how to divide leftovers fairly.  Using an odd number dice, we will roll an odd number.  Using that number of paper sheets,  we will sort the sheets fairly among the two recycling bins.  Each bin must have an equal amount. When we come across the leftover sheet, we will cut it in half to be sure we have the same (or an equal) amount in each bin.  

Centers

Art Table-Recycled collages

Block Area- Recycling Center

Sensory Table- bottle caps with letters on them
Book Area- Exploring Books about sky and earth
Easel-Markers and paper
Writing Table-Paper and words to trace
Dramatic Play-Recycling Center
Rug- Legos

Science/Social Studies/Math Circle Concepts
-Sharing Equally
-Sharing Leftovers
-Reusing our things from our house
-Recycle

Songs, Word Plays, and Language

-Our Good Morning Chant

-Pick up the Litter Game (using letters on "trash")
-Let's Go Green
-Letter Sounds

Earth and Sky Unit Week 3 March 25-29

Earth and Sky Unit Week 3

Unit Book: A Time for all Seasons

Weekly Question and Vocabulary Words:
What changes in each season?
(summer, spring, winter, fall, perfect, chilly, bud)

Small Groups

Handwriting- We will be working on hand strengthing by working with theraputty. We will be encouraging them to create a tree and use beads to decorate their spring trees with flowers(beads)

Handwriting-We will be completing our HWT books by finishing Y and Z.

Sequencing the life of a tree- Using 4 pictures, we will cut, sort, and glue pictures to show the sequence of a tree's life.  We will also be tracing targeted vocabulary words from our unit book.

Season Sorting- We will be discussing items we need for each of the 4 seasons.  We will be cutting, sorting and gluing these items

Tower Blocks- We will be building towers of a specific number.  We will then find objects that match the length of our block towers.  Then we will draw pictures to show our work.

Beginning Sounds- We will search in buckets with black beans for objects that begin with the consonants P, S, and L.  We will draw a picture of the items that we find.

Journals- We will be working in our journal on what our favorite season is.

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Centers

Art Table-Seasonal Tree collages

Block Area- Building with blocks to build trees

Sensory Table- green grass and letters
Book Area- Exploring Books about sky and earth
Dramatic Play-Flower Shop
Math, Puzzles, and Manipulatives-Star builders
Rug- Legos

Science/Social Studies/Math Circle Concepts
- Signs of the Seasons
-- Jobs All Year
-Trees and Soil
-Clothing that Protects us in different seasons

Shamrock Solution Today

On Thursday we built a trap for a leprechaun.  We decided to build a pattern path using his favorite colors. Yellow for gold and green for shamrocks.  

On Friday, we checked the trap.  We did not catch the leprechaun but he left a magical shamrock solution with a mystery white powder.   We predicted what would happen.  Then when we poured in the shamrock solution the powder fizzed and magically appeared gold.  (Green vinegar and gold flakes)

It was a magical day.

Week 2 Earth and Sky March 16-22

Earth and Sky Unit Week 2

Unit Book: One Dark Night

Weekly Question and Vocabulary Words:
What happens when the weather changes?
(stray, dawn, thunder, lightning, prepare)

Small Groups

Mystery Sounds- Using a mystery bag, students will practice listening for beginning sounds and matching those sounds to the corresponding letter.  One student will pull three picture cards from a mystery bag and say them for the group.  Students will use a dot marker to record the letter that makes that sounds try to get four in a row! 

Journal Writing-We will write a two-part journal entry.  By drawing a line in the middle of our paper we will divide it into day and night.  We will write and illustrate one activity we can do during the day and one we can do at night.  We will focus on being great illustrators so that day and night are obvious in our pictures by adding important details.  

Handwriting Without Tears-Search and Sorting Letters- Y and Z

Under the Blanket-We will make a class book.  Using 6 cats, we will hide some under a blanket and leave some showing.  We will challenge one another to determine how many cats are hidden under the blanket.

One Dark Night Sequencing- We will be sequencing the events from our unit story, One Dark Night.  Then we will be writing the numbers.

In the Box/Out of the Box- In our unit story, One Dark Night, the boy in the story kept stray kittens safe in a box during a thunderstorm.  We will be placing sets of 8 or 9 kittens in a box and out of the box.

-SuperFlex Activity- We will be working on an activity related to the social thinking curriculum. Ask your child who SuperFlex and Rock Brain are?

Centers

Art Table-Weather collages

Block Area- Building with blocks

Sensory Table- water and colanders to make falling rain
Book Area- Exploring Books about sky and earth
Dramatic Play-Cats with boxes and bathrobes to role play unit book
Math, Puzzles, and Manipulatives-Independent activity sorting weather
Rug-Doll Houses

Science/Social Studies/Math Circle Concepts
-Weather changes
-Making and Breaking apart sets of objects
-Magic C letter review
-How to prepare for weather
-Introduce Seasons

Songs, Word Plays, and Language

-Our Good Morning Chant

-Windy was the weather
-Letter and sound connections

Earth and Sky Unit March 12-15

No School Monday- Teacher Development Day- March 11

Earth and Sky Unit Week 1

Unit Book: Night Shift Daddy

Weekly Question and Vocabulary Words:
What happens when day changes to night?
(cloud, awaken, day, star, snore, night)

Small Groups

Handwriting Without Tears- Letters W and X

Night Numbers- We will work to recognize, name and write numbers 1-10.  We will dim the lights and use flashlights to search our classroom for number stars in the “night sky.”  We will trace each number on our recording sheet after we found each one.  

Starry Night Math- We will practice recognizing and subitizing numbers 1 through 3. After rolling a number cube, children will recognize the number then find the set of stars to match the sum (subitizing) and put them in a cup. Finally, each child will add how many stars they added to their cup.  When the game is over, they will use those stars to fill up the night sky on their paper.

How Many Am I Hiding- We will have fun playing a guessing game that will help us learn to count on to get to a given number.  Using 5 cubes, we will hide some behind our backs and reveal the leftover cubes.  Players will have to count on to guess the hidden amount and record it on their sheet

Star Gazing Counting Book- We will practicing matching quantities to written numerals while making our own star gazing counting book.  We will identify numbers 5-10 and trace their formations.  Then, we will cut and count out that many stars to paste on each page of our book.  

Journal Writing- We will be writing in our journals about the seasons.

Centers

Art Table-Day and Night painting (multi-step activity)

Block Area- Building Rocket ships with blocks

Sensory Table- black beans with stars sorting
Book Area- Exploring Books about sky and earth
Easel-Markers and paper
Writing Table-Day /Night Words
Dramatic Play-Space Station
Rug- Foam Blocks

Science/Social Studies/Math Circle Concepts
-Energy from Electricity (lights)
-Going to Sleep Routines
-What Do I spy?
-Making and Breaking sets to count

Songs, Word Plays, and Language

-Our Good Morning Chant

-Season Song
-Space Man Song (counting song)

Jungle to Desert (Week 5) March 4-8

Weekly Question and Vocabulary Related to book:

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

Unit Book: The Gingerbread Cowboy

Small Groups

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.

Playdough Pattern Snakes- We will use playdough to practice patterning.  Using beads, paper clips and buttons we will create and repeat our own patterns on our playdough snake.  Patterns can be made with almost anything at all- have fun patterning at home too!

Desert Math Books- We will be creating number animal books by coloring a desert scene then adding desert animals to the scene.  Then we will count the number of animals we used and write the number in the sentence below.

Gingerbread Measuring- Using non-standard units of measure (a gingerbread ruler), we will measure objects in our small group.  We will compare objects to one another as well. For example, the block is 8 gingerbread long.  The paintbrush is 6 gingerbread long.  The block is longer than the paintbrush.

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.

Sink or Float experiment- In our story, the gingerbread cowboy was given a choice to go across the river. Why did he not float across the water? We will discover how some objects sink and some objects float on the top of the water.

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

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

Songs, Word Plays, and Language

-Our Good Morning Chant

-Animals in the Desert Song