Shadows and Reflections Week 2 May 1-5

Shadows and Reflections Unit Week 2

Unit Book:  Moonbear's Shadow

Weekly Question and Vocabulary Words:
What makes shadows change?
(wide, noon, short, long, cast, deep)

Literacy Small Groups

Letters- We will practice the lowercase  formation of the letter e 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 e as well.

Where’s the Sound?- We will continue to practice segmenting words by sound. We will play another round of Where’s my Sound? Using clothespins to slowly segment each word, we will listen for the /m/ 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.

Letters - We will learn to write the lowercase letter i. Using magna doodles, chalkboards or salt trays we will practice the formation.  We will rainbow write and pencil practice the letter i as well.

Journal Writing- In our story this week, Moonbear’s shadow followed him wherever he went. We will write about where our shadows follow us.  We will turtle talk to sound out each word in our sentence and carefully illustrate our ideas using details.   

Math Small Groups

Bears in a Cave- In our story this week, Moonbear experimented with his shadow. We will continue our practice with parts of numbers to make a whole.  Using bears in a cave, we will add some brown bears with some black bears.  We will create our own number sentences to show how many altogether.

Pattern Block Puzzles- We will explore a variety of 2d shapes using pattern block puzzles.  After spinning for a shape, we will work to complete our puzzles.  We will name & discuss each shape and its attributes as we play.  

Shape Hunt- After learning about the attributes of a circle, triangle, square, rectangle, hexagon, rhombus, oval and trapezoid we will go on a special shape hunt.  Searching around our classroom, we will look for objects that resemble each shape and record our work on our papers.

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 1 & 2 using chalkboards or magna doodles and in our letter formation books.

Shape Hunt- We will use our clipboards and go on a shape hunt. We will try to find 2 D shapes around our school and record the shapes we find on our papers.

Centers  (IN THE DARK) WE WILL TURN THE LIGHTS OUT FOR A FUN WAY TO EXPLORE OUR CENTERS.  

Art Table- Shadow art project (To reinforce the word cast and shadow)

Sensory Table- fish
Book Area- Exploring Books about shadows and reflections
Easel-Markers and paper
Writing Table-Paper and words to trace
Dramatic Play- Fishing for letters in a boat
Math, Puzzles, and Manipulatives- Independent activity
Rug- We will use a large box to go into and use a light projector to explore shadows and light
Block Area- blocks with flashlights to create block shadows

Science/Social Studies/Math Circle Concepts
- Do we need light to make shadows?
- How can we change the shape of shadows?
- Discussing shape attributes (How many corners/side does each shape have?)

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?)
7. When someone is in your way or if you want something, "Excuse Me, May I ______?"

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

Shadows and Reflections Week 1 April 24-April 28

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

Music Man "Mr. Mullen" Came to the BECC

Mr. Mullen (AKA Andy) came from MSMS for a music class.  The Cub Cadets loved his songs and his props.  They had a blast.  

Earth and Sky Week 2 April 3-7

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)

Literacy Small Groups

Blending Phonemes We will continue to practice blending phonemes in words.  Phonemes are the individual sounds heard in each spoken word. We will practice this skill using words from the Fundations to help them become familiar with these words once they go to kindergarten. We will use chips/blocks to help us understand this concept.

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.  

Journal Writing- We will be writing in our journals about the weather. We will look outside our window and do a "weather report". We will encourage students to write the letters they hear.

Storm Segmenting Song- We will sing a song related to the weather. We will add animals to our song by segmenting each animal. For example /d/ /o/ /g/ to say the word dog. After segmenting and singing the song we will color each animal. We will send home a paper for your child to sing the song to you to practice at home.

Handwriting Without Tears

-Sliding Letters: v and w

We will be working on lowercase letters v and w. 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

Sets of 8 and 9- We will be working in pairs to count sets of 8 and 9.  We will take turns counting a set of red cubes.  The next child will count on as they add to the cubes to make a set of 8 or a set of 9.

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.

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
Easel-Markers and paper
Writing Table-Day /Night Words
Dramatic Play-Cats with boxes and bathrobes to role play unit book
Math, Puzzles, and Manipulatives-Independent activity(Cat in a box)
Rug- Legos
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

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

-Windy was the weather
-Letter and sound connections

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. 

Earth and Sky Week 1 March 27-31

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)

Literacy Small Groups

Day and Night Sorting- We will be discussing activities that we do during the day and at night.  We will color and then cut pictures.  Students will then sort the pictures.

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 the 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! 

Phoneme Segmenting- We will begin learning how to segment phonemes in words.  Phonemes are individual sounds heard in words.  For example, the word bike has three phonemes we can hear- /b/-i/-/k/.  This skill lends itself to the turtle talk we use to journal write.  We will use chip to slide and count the number of phonemes we hear for each picture.  We will then say it ourselves while using a dot marker to mark each phoneme. (This will be presented in a large group this week and then presented again in a small group)

Handwriting Without Tears

-Magic C Letters: s and q

We will be working on lowercase letters s and q. 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

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 Ways- We will discover the many combinations that make a whole number.  Using 6 colored chips, we will begin with our counters in all one color. One by one we will flip a counter to make a number combination. For example, 1 yellow and 5 red make six, 2 yellow and 4 red make six.  There are many ways to make the number 6!

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.  

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

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

-Season Song
-Space Man Song (counting 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. 

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. 

Desert Unit Week 1 (March 13-17)

Unit Book: Two Cool Coyotes

Weekly Question and Unit Words
What is a desert?
(sand, desert, coyote, howl, absorb, cactus)
Literacy Small Groups

Two Cool Coyote Initial Sounds Sunglasses- We will be listening to the initial sound we hear in words.  When two pictures have the same beginning sound we will pair them together to create a “pair” of sunglasses for our Two Cool Coyotes. 

Deleting the onsets- We will practice deleting the onset from words.  The onset is the beginning sound/s of a word and the rime is all the sounds that follow it.  For example, in the word “bell” /b/ is the onset and /ell/ is the rime.  We will use picture cards to take physically take away the onset of the word to discover what the word is with just the rime left.  If we take away the /b/ in bell, we are left with /ell./

Journals-We will write in our journals about animals that live in the desert.  We will add lots of detail to our illustrations and carefully sound out our words to write what we hear.

Desert Vocabulary Books- We will be reviewing our unit vocabulary from our unit book Two Cool Coyotes. We will write or trace the beginning letter for each of our words. We will also review the definition of each word and we will recall the word from our story.

Handwriting/Letter Groups
-Magic C Letters: c and o

We will be working on lowercase letters. 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

Patterned Snakes- Desert snakes have patterns all over them.   We will use paper links to make a pattern by alternating colors to make our own desert snakes.  We will be sure to check to see that our pattern repeats!  

Playdough Numbers- We will use number mats and playdough to mold numbers 1-10.  We will also count out the corresponding number of playdough dots to practice matching quantities to written numerals. We will roll out snakes and then form them to the numbers.

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!

Pattern Trains- We will be using unifix cubes to create “pattern trains”.  Each child will be given a card with a pattern on it.  Then they will place their hand in a bag and choose a unifix cube.  If they need that color for their pattern, they will keep the cube.  If they do not need it, they will give the cube to a friend that needs it to complete their pattern. The goal of the game is for everyone to complete a pattern of 10 cubes.  

Desert memory game: We will play a memory game using vocabulary from our unit.

Centers

Art Table-Animal art to add to our mural (catcus hand prints, camel hand prints)

Block Area- Animals and blocks

Sensory Table-Sand (Animals, rocks, caves....)
Book Area- Exploring Books about jungle and desert
Easel-Markers and paper
Writing Table-Desert Letters
Dramatic Play-Camping
Math, Puzzles, and Manipulatives- Counting cactus activity
Science - Sponges and water to explore  how water absorbs
Rug- Safari jeeps, animals, and people

Science/Social Studies/Math Circle Concepts
-What is a desert?
-How do animals live in a desert
-Aborbing Sponges/Sponges cut into catcus to show how water absorbs
-Compare and contrast jungle and desert 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
-Pattern songs
-Magic C 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.