Calvert Education Services • Lesson 4 13

Notes

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Lesson 4Materialsshoebox with lidshoestringcrayons or markersLetter Cards The Music Break: Disc Two (Optional)small photograph of your student or a mirrorstring or yarnpillowballbookplastic cup and platebroomtray

BooksPoems & ProsePractice Book, Volume 1 Activity Pages

Student Assignments ❑ DISCUSSION

___Participate in an opening activity___Practice tying a shoe

❑ MATHEMATICS ___Complete today’s lesson

❑ READING COMPREHENSION___Listen to and discuss “Henny Penny,” Poems & Prose

❑ READING READINESS___Sing the “Alphabet Song” to a new tune___Preview letters D and d___Complete pp. 10–11, Practice Book

❑ PHONEMIC AWARENESS/LISTENING ___Discuss spiders___ Learn and recite “Eensy Weensy Spider” with hand

gestures___Complete Reading Checkpoint

❑ SCIENCE___Identify physical characteristics___ Read and color Science Activity 2: Look Out for Others!

Activity Pages ❑ GAMES & ACTIVITIES

___Practice balancing

Discussion Tying Shoes

Punch holes in the lid of a shoebox, making two rows of four holes each on the lid to represent a shoe. Use the shoestring to “lace the shoe,” but do not tie it.

Show your student the laced shoebox. Explain that it will help him learn how to tie his shoes. As he watches, show him how to tie a shoe using the shoebox.

Next have your student attempt to tie the “shoe.” Note: This is a difficult skill that each child achieves at a different stage in his development. Encourage your student by explaining that the more he practices, the easier it will become.

Give your student time to practice today.Note: Save the laced shoebox for Discussion Lesson 5.

Suggested ReadingTie Your Shoes: Rocket Style/Bunny Ears, Leslie Bockol and Linda Solovic (illus.) Red Lace, Yellow Lace, Mark Casey, Judith Herbst, and Jenny Stanley (illus.)Look! I Can Tie My Shoes! Susan Hood and Amy Wummer (illus.)Tie a Bow, Ben Bunny: A Lacing Book With Step-by-Step Instructions,

Mavis Smith

MathematicsComplete Lesson 4 in the Calvert Math Manual.

Notes

Calvert Education Services • Lesson 414

Reading Comprehension Objective: to differentiate reality from make-believe

Introduction: Before reading today’s story, explain that this story is about a hen named Henny Penny. She thinks that the sky is falling and rushes off to tell her friends. Ask your student: Could the sky really fall? Whom would you tell if you thought the sky was falling?

Instruction: Read aloud “Henny Penny,” found in Poems & Prose.

Application: Remind your student that all of the stories he has read have had talking animals as characters. Ask your student: Can animals really talk? Explain that although animals cannot talk in real life, talking animals can make a story more interesting. Ask your student: What other talking animals have we read about in our lessons? (bears, pigs, and goats) What other things happened in the stories that cannot happen in real life? (Possible responses: a wolf blowing down a house, a troll living under a bridge, pigs building houses)

Reading ReadinessObjective: to preview and identify letters D and d

Introduction: Sing the “Alphabet Song” to a new tune. This time, try singing it to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Clap your hands to emphasize the rhythm.

Instruction: Today focus on Dd. Trace each letter and say: This is the big (or capital) letter. Its name is D. It has a straight line and just half a circle. Capital D has a buddy, small d. This has a straight line, too. But it has a circle standing next to it. It does not look very much like its letter buddy.

Hold up the D, d, C, and c Letter Cards. Ask your student to find D or d, and then ask him to name the other letters he has learned.

Application: Assist your student in completing pp. 10–11 of the Practice Book.

Phonemic Awareness/Listening Objectives: to identify rhythm through rhyming sounds and expressive language; to recognize patterns of the English language

Introduction: Tell your student that today he will learn a rhyme about a spider. Discuss what he knows about spiders.

Instruction: Teach your student that a spout is similar to a water faucet. Using the following hand gestures, teach your student the words to “Eensy Weensy Spider.” (A variation is also found in Poems & Prose.) For the first line, alternately touch the thumb of one hand to the index finger of the other. For Down came the rain, hold both hands up and wiggle the fingers as you lower the hands. For washed the spider out, sweep the hands to the side. For the third sentence, bring both hands up and then to the sides to sweep out a semi-circle. For the last sentence, alternately touch the thumb of one hand to the index finger of the other.

Notes

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Calvert Education Services • Lesson 4 15

Note: Your student may enjoy listening to “Eensy Weensy Spider” on Track 6 of The Music Break: Disc Two.

Eensy Weensy Spider

The eensy weensy spider went up the waterspout .

Down came the rain and washed the spider out .

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain .

Then the eensy weensy spider went up the spout again .

Application: Ask your student: How is the eensy weensy spider’s name like Henny Penny, Foxy Loxy, and Turkey Lurkey? (They rhyme.) Have your student repeat those rhyming pairs and ask him to think of words that rhyme with his name or the name of a family member.

Complete Reading Checkpoint

ScienceObjectives: to identify physical characteristics; to understand movement

Introduction: In the following lessons, your student will complete activities designed to encourage him to identify and develop healthful personal habits.

Note: All human beings need to move and express their feelings. In young children these needs can be met in a movement education program. The level of skill will vary according to each student’s own experience and physical development. An atmosphere that offers encouragement and freedom will help develop each student’s potential.

Instruction: Movement is a vital part of a curriculum for young children. As they explore and discover their bodies’ motor abilities, they develop an ease and confidence that enhances their self-concept. As they gain self-confidence, they improve their problem-solving skills and better understand their relationship to their surroundings.

Ask your student to identify his physical characteristics. Guide his responses by asking: What color is your hair? What color are your eyes?

If you have a small color photograph of your student, use this as part of your discussion about what other people see when they look at him. You may want to attach the photograph to your student’s profile, All About Me, completed in Science Lesson 2. In the absence of a photograph, a mirror will work well to allow him to see how others see him.

If you have an opportunity to take your student to a playground, try to go there and talk about the children on the playground and the activities he can see.

Application: Read and have your student color Science Activity 2: Look Out for Others! in Activity Pages.

Notes

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Calvert Education Services • Lesson 416

Games & Activities Balancing

Today have your student explore the concept of balancing. First ask him to balance himself on one foot. Then ask him to put that foot straight out in front of or behind him. Can he balance on one hand and one foot?

“Draw” a line on the floor using string or yarn. Have your student walk along the line, putting one foot in front of the other, heel to toe. If he can do this, have him try it with his eyes closed.

Have your student sit on the floor with his arms and legs crossed and his eyes closed. Then have him try to stand up. It is not as easy as he may have thought! Can your student balance on tiptoe? He may even wish to try a headstand.

Note: If he wishes to try a headstand, have him use a pillow for his head, and “spot” him carefully! It may be safer for him to try this against a wall.

Now show him the following objects: a pillow, a ball, a book, a plastic cup and plate, a broom, and a tray. Have him try to balance the objects on his hands, feet, toes, fingers, head, and knees. Ask him to predict whether or not he will be able to balance an object before he makes his attempt. Have him choose where on his body he thinks he can best balance each object.

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