Two Weeks at a Glance

Transcription

1 Theme: All About Me Every child is special and unique, and during this unit, All About Me, your child will share about himself or herself and at the same time learn about other children in the classroom. All children will discover what they have in common as well as the differences that make them each unique. Your child will create a writing journal and have many opportunities to practice writing letters and words in the journal. Your child will also create a math journal in which he or she will document math learning involving shapes, colors, and patterns. The literacy and math journals will be used daily and will serve as important records of your child s learning in these critical areas of development. An outdoor component of the program, Take It Outdoors, offers two outdoor activities for your child to participate in each day: Get Thinking activities and Get Moving activities. Most activities are related to the theme of the unit or are focused on another component of children s learning and development. Through the fine-arts component of the program, your child will be introduced to a new work of art each month. This month features the paper cutout Icarus by Henri Matisse. the to and he a boy girl eye hair hola adiós si no Cómo te llamas? Me llamo hand foot nose mouth (hello) (goodbye) (yes) (no) (What is your name?) (My name is) New to the Prekindergarten program this year is a Spanish vocabulary component. During Unit One, your child will be introduced to Spanish greetings, and the songs Hola Means Hello and Adiós Means Goodbye. Sing the song Hola Means Hello together. Here are the lyrics: Hola Means Hello (sung to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star ) When we want to say Hello There s a word that we should know. Hola is the Spanish way To welcome friends who want to play. Hola is a word we know The Spanish word that means Hello. Tell your child his or her personal story, including how he or she was named or funny things he or she did as a baby. Read your child s baby book together. What makes you special? What makes your friends special? What sight words have you learned? EDU-PRK-Unit Knowledge Universe Education LLC. All rights reserved.

2 Theme: My Home and Family The time your child spends with family members teaches him or her about family roles, routines, and responsibilities, and forms the values that foster growth and development as your child becomes older. During the unit My Home and Family, your child will have opportunities to talk about his or her family and home experiences, and discover how his or her home and family may be similar to or different from those of other children. Literacy activities will focus on letter identification and letter sounds as well as five new sight words. Math activities will involve counting, measuring, and exploring shapes and patterns. Outdoor activities focus on various cognitive skills, and large- and small-muscle skills, with an emphasis on the importance of physical activity and exercise. Colors are the focus of fine-arts activities as children learn about the work of Johannes Itten and discuss his painting Group of Houses in Spring. This unit will focus on Spanish greetings, including the phrases for good morning, good afternoon, and good night. I you if on in house living room kitchen bedroom bathroom bed sofa por favor gracias buenos días buenas tardes buenas noches chair sink table stove mother father family (please) (thank you) (good morning) (good afternoon) (good night) Create a family tree with your child. Family trees come in all shapes and sizes. You can draw a family tree on paper, arrange family photos to create a family tree, or use a computer or online website to create a family tree. Have your child help write the names of family members on your family tree. Create a Family Favorites recipe book with your child. Discuss favorite recipes and let your child help choose which ones to include in the book. Invite your child to illustrate some of the recipes too. What is your favorite family memory? What are some of your favorite things to do at home? What words have you learned in Spanish? What do the words mean? EDU-PRK-Unit Knowledge Universe Education LLC. All rights reserved.

3 Theme: Pets This unit, Pets, helps children build important skills across multiple developmental domains through a variety of fun and educational activities related to pet animals. Children will be given many opportunities to share about their own pets or pets they would like to have through group and individual activities. Word-recognition skills are reinforced through activities involving rhyming, word cards, and sight-word sentences. Your child will also work on developing number sense as he or she practices simple addition and subtraction, and uses math terms such as more than, less than, and the same. Active games and relays outdoors will get children moving while also counting, using positional words, and finding shapes in the outdoor environment. In the classroom, the painting Nursing a Treasured Pet by Charles Haigh-Wood will be used to foster discussions about caring for pets. In this unit, your child will learn to count to ten in Spanish. Learning number words in another language also helps reinforce important math skills. was said his that she dog cat fish rabbit hamster turtle uno dos tres cuatro cinco seis siete ocho nueve diez puppy kitten bird vet bowl leash (one) (two) (three) (four) (five) (six) (seven) (eight) (nine) (ten) Take your child to a pet store. Talk about the animals in the store as well as the other products sold at the store. Back home, invite your child to draw pictures of the pets or pet store. Or work with your child to write about his or her experiences at the pet store. Encourage your child to use the words focused on during this unit, such as the sight words and themerelated vocabulary. Take your child to the library and check out children s books and nonfiction books related to pets. How do you help take care of our pet(s)? If you could have a pet, what pet would you choose? How high can you count in Spanish? EDU-PRK-Unit Knowledge Universe Education LLC. All rights reserved.

4 Theme: In the Fall Many things happen when the seasons change, and this unit, In the Fall, will encourage your child to focus on and describe the changes happening around him or her. Science skills will be reinforced as children observe and talk about the weather, and learn about changes that take place in the natural world and other events that happen during the fall season. Your child will continue to develop word-recognition skills and be encouraged to use any new words learned to express himself or herself during both individual and group writing experiences. Math activities will focus on shape recognition and measurement. Fall activities are the focus of many outdoor activities as children pretend to rake leaves and harvest crops. Fall foods, events, and colors are also reinforced while children learn about the painting In the Orchard by Walter Boodle. Children will continue learning number words and counting in Spanish through a variety of games and activities both indoors and outdoors. yellow red blue green orange fall for on they but had cero autumn leaf tree apple pumpkin rake (zero) Talk with your child about how things change in your community during the fall. For example, does the weather in your area change? What fall activities does your family participate in? What are some of your family s favorite fall foods? Create fall decorations together to display in or around your home, such as a centerpiece for a table or a wreath for a door. Collect leaves with your child. Then create a book of the different leaves you have collected. Encourage your child to write the names of the leaves next to the leaves. What is your favorite thing about fall? What are some of your favorite fall activities? What painting did you learn about this week? What does the painting show? EDU-PRK-Unit Knowledge Universe Education LLC. All rights reserved.

5 Theme: The Farm Farms are filled with learning opportunities for children. This unit, The Farm, includes a variety of activities related to farms and farm life that build on skills in science and social studies, among many others. Through learning about different types of farms, your child will have opportunities to discuss and write about everything from the buildings and equipment on farms to the animals raised and crops grown on farms. Literacy activities will involve identifying rhymes in songs and poems, and listening to books related to the theme The Farm. Math activities will focus on creating patterns from farm sounds, playing the board game Farm Lotto, and counting and sorting toy farm animals. Outdoor activities will reinforce literacy and math concepts learned in the classroom and allow children to practice large-muscle skills such as running, jumping, and tossing. While discussing the 19th century painting Harvesting Tea Leaves, children will learn about the techniques artists use to create space (depth) in their work. Your child will be introduced to eight Spanish color words in this unit, and will be given many opportunities to practice using these words in active games and other activities involving the classroom Mystery Box and Investigation Jar. at him with up all pig apple cow barn rojo azul amarillo verde morado anaranjado negro blanco horse duck tractor farmer (red) (blue) (yellow) (green) (purple) (orange) (black) (white) Encourage your child to create a farm collage from pictures found in magazines and catalogs. Have your child look for pictures of these things related to farms: farm buildings and equipment, farm animals, people working on farms, and crops grown on farms. Bake a favorite food item with your child, such as a cake or cookies. While mixing the ingredients, talk about which ones come from farms. For example, wheat, flour, milk, and eggs all come from crops grown on farms or from animals that live on farms. If possible, visit a local farm with your child and invite your child to tell you what he or she has learned about farms and farm life. What kinds of animals live on farms? What do people do on farms? What color words do you know in Spanish? EDU-PRK-Unit Knowledge Universe Education LLC. All rights reserved.

6 Theme: My Community Learning about the community they live in is a valuable experience for young children. During this unit, My Community, your child will be encouraged to look at, explore, and discuss different places in his or her community. Your child will also learn about the jobs of different people in communities and how people can help care for their communities. In addition to learning new sight words, your child will continue to develop a rich spoken and written vocabulary through group discussions and journaling activities. Shape identification and counting will be the focus of many math activities. Public transportation is the focus of many outdoor activities, such as moving together on a pretend bus, and singing and performing the movements to well-known songs such as The Wheels on the Bus. The painting by Frida Kahlo titled The Bus ties in well with the unit s theme and is used to inspire children to create their own artwork depicting people in their communities (including themselves). look is here there some street town car police officer firefighter mail carrier café rosado school store truck train grocery store bus (brown) (pink) Spanish colors words continue to be the focus in this unit as children learn new color words and review previously learned color words during fun activities and games such as I Spy Colores and Colores Bingo. Talk with your child about different places in your community, such as police stations, fire stations, parks, hospitals, schools, or libraries. Then create Bingo cards for playing Community Bingo while you and your child travel throughout your community. Create Bingo cards by writing the names of the places on the squares of the cards or by drawing simple pictures on the squares. When you pass a place that is on your card, cross it off. The first person to get a Bingo then calls out Community Bingo! Explore new places in your community with your child, such as recreation centers, farmers markets, museums, and parks. What is your favorite place to visit in our community? What is your favorite thing to do in our community? What new sight words have you learned this week? EDU-PRK-Unit Knowledge Universe Education LLC. All rights reserved.