Friday, March 27, 2015

Shadows and Reflections Week 2

Please note the blogs have been posted for the next two weeks as well as a recap of this past week.
Thank you.

Week of April 10th

Shadows and Reflections: In this unit, children explore shadows and reflections using observations, experiments, and books to learn about what makes a shadow and a reflection. During story time, children will hear about a girl playing by a still pond, a puppy who thinks he is a kitten, a crocodile collecting reflections in a pail, a sleepy boy who sees a shadow save a cat, and a raccoon who has an adventure with only his reflection as company. Children will continue to learn about letters, letter sounds, and counting concrete objects.

Theme Concepts for this Unit
  • Reflections are images thrown back from a shiny surface
  • There must be light, or there can be no reflection
  • Mirrors and still water reflect light well; dull surfaces do not
  • If water is moving, its reflections are blurry and crooked
  • Objects are opaque, translucent or transparent
  • Shadows are dark areas made when an object blocks light
  • The sizes of shadows vary, depending on how close an object is to the light source.


Books for the week:
Puddle Pail by Elisa Kleven
Raccoon on His Own by Jim Arnosky

Small Groups:
  • Making Collections - Students will group frogs, lizards and snakes into categories and compare their collections
  • Exploring mirrors
  • Creating patterns with animals from our stories

Choice time
Art Table: Puddle Pail Collection
Easel: Painting animals
Adding to our pond
Library Area: Stories about animals
Making a Raccoon
Math: Tallying animals