Pre-K Spring Unit Important Dates Book Fair Good Friday (No School)-April 18th Pre-K Easter Egg

gg Hunt Earth Day-April 22nd Topics to Cover Plants Insects Oviparous animals Earth Day (April 21st-April 25th) Guiding 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Questions How does spring differ from winter? How does spring affect plants? What happens to insects in the spring? What are some animals that hatch from eggs? How can we affect our earth?

Family Literacy Project Ideas Decorate an Easter Egg http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/april.html Nature Alphabet Book Page (Angie sent) Questions Trike-a-thon: Yes, No, Maybe? Earth Day would be the third week. Any ideas on order for the other weeks?

Plants Opening Circle Monday-Plants: Have, Need, Give Chart

http://eberhartsexplorers.blogspot.com/2011/04/plant-week.html

Tuesday-Flowers Word Splash (Adjectives) Wednesday-Pick a [color word] flower and place it in the basket
[Tune: Paw Paw Patch] Pick a ________(color) flower, Put it in the basket. Pick a ________(color) flower, Put it in the basket. Pick a ________(color) flower, Put it in the basket. Way down yonder in the flower patch.

Thursday-Plant a little Seed Action Rhyme

Words I plant a little seed in the dark, dark ground. Out comes the yellow sun big and round. Down comes the rain, soft and slow Up comes the little seed. grow, grow, GROW! Actions Bend down, dig hole, push seed into ground and cover with dirt. Hold arms up over head in a circle. Hold arms out over head, with fingers moving. Move arms slowly down to the floor. Squat down. Touch fingers to floor and come up slightly. Move body up as though you are the flower, until you are standing with

arms up. http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/rain.html

Friday- Pick a [color word] flower and place it in the basket Large Group Monday-Label the parts of a plant Tuesday-2 Column Chart: Things that Grow/What They Need Wednesday-Dramatize The Gardener Plants the Seeds [Tune: The Farmer in the Dell] with props (a gardeners hat, a hoe, a watering can, artificial flowers, and plants)
The gardener plants the seeds, The gardener plants the seeds. Hi, Ho, the Derry-o, The gardener plants the seeds. The gardener waters the seeds, The gardener waters the seeds. Hi, Ho, the Derry-o, The gardener waters the seeds. The gardener hoes the weeds, The gardener hoes the weeds. Hi, Ho, the Derry-O, The gardener hoes the weeds. The gardener watches the weather, The gardener watches the weather. Hi, Ho, the Derry-o, The gardener watches the weather. The gardener picks the flowers, The gardener picks the flowers. Hi, Ho, the Derry-o, The gardener picks the flowers.

Thursday-What if plants Q&A

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Friday-Shared Reading Big Book: Up, Down, & Around (classroom) Phonological Awareness Monday-Tulip Words (change beginning sounds)

Tuesday- Tulip Words Wednesday-Introduce rhyme: Mary, Mary Quite Contrary. Circle the rhyming words. Thursday-Mary, Mary Quite Contrary Name Game Example: Starling Starling Quite Darling Friday-What words rhyme with grow? Other Instructional Activities Monday-Plant seeds (Have students choose from bean, corn, tomato, or watermelon)
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Tuesday-Pollen transfer exploration with Cheetos

http://littlekinderwarriors.blogspot.com/2011/04/pollination-science-lesson.html

Wednesday-Planting a Rainbow collage. (Look in magazines for different colored flowers). Thursday-Spring Nature Walk Friday-Growing Vegetable Soup Pictures
http://www.pre-kpages.com/plantseed/

Small Groups Teacher-Roll, Say, Keep with Alphabet, Numbers, or Sight Words
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cute-Bugs-Roll-Say-Keep-ABCs-and-123s232462

Teacher-Read Flower Garden by Eve Bunting. Create flower patterns. Independent-How does rain come from clouds exploration? (Shaving Cream on top on water, blue food coloring in medicine droppers)
http://play-explore-learn.blogspot.com/2011/11/weather-watchers.html

Independent-Floral pictures with flower stickers. (Students stick flower stickers on paper and draw stems, petals, roots, etc.) Independent-Assemble and label the parts of a plant. Books The Tiny Seed Ferdinand the Bull
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 Rain by Robert Kalan Whats alive? By Kathleen Zoehfeld Tops and Bottoms Flower Garden Growing Vegetable Soup Planting a Rainbow Allisons Zinnia Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! We can eat plants
Plants Need [tune: Three Blind Mice] Plants need sun, Plants need air, Plants need water, Plants need soil, They need all these things to help them grow. They need all these things to help them grow. They need all these things to help them grow. And now you know. Now you know.

Dance to Dance of the Flowers while holding flower props. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EF6nOpdl-k8

Insects Opening Circle Monday-Insects: Are, Can, Have Chart

http://thegoodlifelindsay.blogspot.com/2012/04/bugs-life.html Tuesday-Is it an insect? Pocket chart

http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/i_like_bugs_.html Wednesday-Sing Head Thorax Abdomen

[tune: Head, Shoulders, Knees, Toes] Head, thorax, abdomen, its an insect (Touch head, waist, and touch and wiggle hips.) Head, thorax, abdomen, its an insect (Touch head, waist, and touch and wiggle hips.) Two eyes, two antennae (Point to eyes and use the pointer fingers to make antennae on top of the head.) Four wings, six legs (Hold out two fingers on each hand at shoulder height and pretend to fly. Then make six legs by holding three fingers from each hand at the waist.) Head, thorax, abdomen, its an insect 7

(Touch head, waist, and touch and wiggle hips.)

Thursday-Our Insect Alphabet

Friday-Splat! (Letter Recognition game with fly swatter) Large Group Monday-Dramatize the Ants Go Marching
The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching one by one, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching one by one, The little one stops to suck her thumb And they all go marching down to the ground To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching two by two, The little one stops to tie her shoe And they all go marching down to the ground To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ants go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching three by three, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching three by three, The little one stops to climb a tree And they all go marching down to the ground To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ants go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching four by four, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching four by four, The little one stops to shut the door And they all go marching down to the ground To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ants go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching five by five, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching five by five, The ants go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching six by six, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching six by six, The little one stops to pick up sticks And they all go marching down to the ground To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ants go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching seven by seven, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching seven by seven, The little one stops to pray to heaven And they all go marching down to the ground To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ants go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching eight by eight, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching eight by eight, The little one stops to shut the gate And they all go marching down to the ground To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ants go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching nine by nine, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching nine by nine, The little one stops to check the time And they all go marching down to the ground To get out of the rain, BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching ten by ten, hurrah, hurrah The ants go marching ten by ten,

The little one stops to take a dive And they all go marching down to the ground

The little one stops to say "The End", And they all go marching down to the ground To get out of the rain

Tuesday-Interactive Writing: Bug Poem

Have students fill in the blanks below with descriptive words (color, size, number, etc.) in order to make a new 'buggy' poem. Then let each student illustrate to make their own booklet to share at home! I like ______ ______ ______ ______ I like bugs. bugs. bugs. bugs. bugs. bugs!

Wednesday-Label an Insect

Thursday-Hungry Caterpillar Sequencing

Friday-Graph: Which was your favorite Eric Carle book about insects? Phonological Awareness Monday-Introduce Bug Poem
Big bugs, little bugs What do they do? Black bugs and brown bugs, Red bugs, too. Fat bugs and skinny bugs Creeping on your shoe. Flying bugs and crawling bugs Coming after you!

Tuesday-Buggy for rhymes

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Buggy-For-Rhyming-A-Fine-Motor-Phonemic-AwarenessActivity-225247

Wednesday-Insect Parade
Student can sing 'Insect Parade', substituting the name of the bug and the beginning sound. (This idea is found in Spring Phonemic Awareness Songs and Rhymes by Jordano and Callella-Jones, Creative Teaching Press, 1998.) Insect Parade (tune: 'This Old Man') This little butterfly sings /b/ songs. He sings /b/ songs all day long, with a bick-back-baddy-back. Sing his insect song. He wants you to sing along!

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Thursday-Syllable Hoops (Place three or four hulahoops on the floor. Students jump for as many syllables as they hear in insect words.) Friday-Crazy Critter (Insect Syllable Mix-Up) [Phonological Awareness book pgs. 44-48] Other Instructional Activities Monday-3D ants with egg cartons and pipe cleaners Tuesday-Decorate cocoon (toilet tissue tube) and caterpillar (clothespins with pompoms) Wednesday-Paint butterfly wings (watercolors on coffee filters)

Thursday-Is the Hungry Caterpillar Healthy?

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Friday-Cooking Activity-Dirt Dessert Small Groups Teacher-Ladybug Math (Addition)

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ladybug-Shake-and-SpillMath-Mat-273849

Teacher-Color and Read Color Bugs Emergent Reader

http://www.prekinders.com/color-bugs-emergent-reader-printable-book/

Independent- Spring Pattern Blocks (found on PreKinders) Independent-Butterfly lacing cards

http://www.prekinders.com/bugs-theme/

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Independent-On/Off game with bug counters and leaves Books Bug Safari A Leaf Can Be The Very Hungry Caterpillar The Very Grouchy Ladybug The Important Book Charlie the Caterpillar The Very Busy Spider The Very Clumsy Click Beetle (make beetles with clothespin glued to the back and have them click on the carpet) The Very Lonely Firefly The Very Quiet Cricket I like bugs by Margaret Wise Brown Are you a butterfly? From caterpillar to butterfly Bugs, Bugs, Bugs (Tumblebooks) Hey Little Ant In the Tall, Tall Grass Songs-

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Oviparous Animals Opening Circle Monday-Did it hatch from an egg? Pocket chart

Tuesday-Its time for bed

Movement: Let children pretend to be the different baby animals. Rhyme and Play "Come my chicks, it's time for bed." That's what Mother Hen said. "But first I'll count you just to see, If you have all come back to me. Softly touch five children on the head while reciting: Chick 1, Chick 2, Chick 3, oh dear, Chick 4, Chick 5, yes, you're all here. (The chosen children (chicks) make the sound of chicks and walk in the middle of the circle to go to sleep.) You're the sweetest things alive. My chicks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5." (touch each child on their backs again) Repeat and replace "chicks" and "hen" with other oviparous animals. 14

Wednesday-Kind/Unkind Behaviors Chart Thursday-Fill in the blank Ugly Duckling story [Scholastic] Friday-Who stole the eggs from the Easter basket? Large Group Monday-Guess that Egg with Photos [from April Larremores unit] Tuesday-A ____ hatches from an egg Pocket Chart Wednesday-Rewrite It started as an egg specifically as a chick or a duck Thursday-Venn Diagram for swan and duck Friday-Show picture of elephant bird egg without identifying it. Write a class story about what hatched from the egg. Phonological Awareness Monday-Beginning sounds hot potato with Easter Eggs (Pictures inside the eggs. The students have to identify the beginning sound when the music stops). Tuesday-Whos hatching? rhyme riddles

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Wednesday-Introduce Peck, Peck, Peck. Circle rhyming words.

Peck, peck, peck on the warm brown egg. Out comes a neck. Out comes a leg. How does a chick that's not been about discover the trick of how to get out?

Thursday-Change the word chick in the Peck, Peck, Peck to other oviparous animals. Friday-Humpty Dumpty Erase-a-rhyme
http://www.jmeacham.com/docs/erase.rhymes/humpty.dumpty.jessica.pdf

Other Instructional Activities Monday-Egg Float/Sink Experiment Tuesday-Easter Egg float/sink Experiment
http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2010/03/preschool-science-sink-orfloat.html

Wednesday-Egg craft and writing (It started as an egg. It hatched and it grew. It became a ____.)
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Thursday-After reading Rechenkas Eggs. Decorate Easter Eggs. Friday-Egg Hunt Small Group Teacher-Introduce rhyme Humpty Dumpty. Can you prevent humpty from cracking using these materials? http://easiee-as-pi.blogspot.com/2011/11/savinghumpty-dumpty.html Teacher-My Egg Measurement Activities Independent-Lays eggs/Does not lay eggs sort Independent-paint bird feet with a fork Independent-Egg patterns

Books It started as an egg by Kimberlee Graves The Chick and the Duckling Chickens arent the only ones Ducks dont get wet My Goose Betty Make way for Ducklings Daisy and the Monster Daisy and the egg
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 Come along Daisy The Chicken or the egg? Quack and count A Duck so small All my little ducklings Five Little Ducks Have you seen my duckling Wow, Its great being a duck Little White Duck One Duck, Another duck Swim, Number 9 Duckling Giggle Giggle Quack The Ugly Duckling Guess what is growing inside the egg An extraordinary egg Other ActivitiesEgg-cellent Animal Relays (It started as an egg pack pg. 47) I found a nest full of eggs (It started as an egg pg. 48) Egg Toss and Egg Relay (It started as an egg pg. 49)

Earth Day Opening Circle Monday-Fill in the Alphabet

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Tuesday-Sort Newspapers in the Correct Bin (addition) Wednesday-Sort Milk Gallons in the Correct Bin (subtraction) Thursday-Earth Day word problems (draw pictures to find the answers) Friday-Earth Day Patterns Large Group Monday-After reading Michael Recycle, make a list of ways we can be Green Superheroes. Tuesday-Story Map: Stone Soup Wednesday-True or False facts about the Earth Thursday- Sentence/Not a sentence sort Friday-Ways we can reduce, reuse, recycle Phonological Awareness Monday-Introduce song what a wonderful world Tuesday-Highlight rhyming words for what a wonderful world WednesdayThursdayFridayOther Instructional Activities Monday-Decorate boxes for our recyclables. Tuesday-Paper Towel Bird Feeders
http://moffattgirls.blogspot.com/2011/02/toiletpaper-roll-birdfeeders.html

Wednesday-Recycled Materials Art Creations Thursday-Musical Instruments from Recycled Materials

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Friday-Make milk jug piggy banks Small Group Teacher-Can you undo water pollution? Experiment
http://gironlife.blogspot.com/2010/04/experiment-can-you-undo-waterpollution.html

Teacher-Read Rhyming Dust Bunnies. Recycle old Socks to make sock puppet dusters. Independent-Happy Earth Day Headbands Independent-I love the earth flipbook. Independent-Recycled tin foil art BooksOil Spill Where does garbage go? Michael Recycle series Our class is going green Earth Day Hooray Fancy Nancy Every Day is Earth Day The Earth and I Stuff! Reduce, Reuse, Recycle The Three Rs Earth Day, An alphabet book

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