Week of May 28th!

Theme for the Unit:

Babies!

Enduring understandings that the student should have by the end of the unit:

Human babies need special food and care.

Animal babies need special food and care.

There are similarities and differences in the ways babies are cared for.

All babies grow.

LEARNING CENTERS AND ACTIVITIES:

Blocks- 

The children will be invited to use blocks to create animal babies habitats that they are investigating.  The children will be supplied with pictures of these animals and their habitats for the children to reference as they create. The teacher will use the animal baby and adult names frequently with the children. 

Pretend Play-Pretend Play will be turned into a pediatrician’s office. The children will be supplied with dolls and instruments  to take care of babies and measure their growth with a measuring tape as well as writing utensils for children to take notes about the babies, schedule appointments, etc. The children will be encouraged to use the term pediatrician and other related words such as appointment, infant, height and weight throughout the experience to help children learn these vocabulary words. 

Art- 

The teacher will supply clay for the children to use to create the animal babies they are studying. The children will be supplied with pictures of these animals for the children to reference as they create it. The teacher will use the names of the animal babies frequently throughout this activity. The teacher will encourage children to talk about their animal. 

Science-

The teacher will provide the children with small plastic eggs that open. The teacher will put various small plastic animal babies or pictures of animal babies (some that hatch from eggs and some that do not) inside and invite children to open the eggs and determine if the animal inside hatches from an egg or not and sort them into two piles accordingly. 

Math- 

The children will be provided with pictures of animals life cycle. Children will be invited to sequence the pictures. This can also be done with pictures of humans. For example, supply a picture of an infant, toddler, child, teen, adult and elderly adult.

Library- Related books about the unit will be provided for children to read. 

Writing- 

The children will be invited to make a book about the animal babies they are investigating. The teacher will encourage children to write and draw about their animal baby. Children can reference the Animal Baby name cards and pages in other books to find words that they may want to include. If a child is writing about bears, the teacher will ask them what sound they hear at the beginning of the word, make connections to the written letter B and encourage the child to look for the letter.

Technology-  Weekly learning games on iPads are provided.  

Sensory- Sand and water, or play-doh.

Some of the books we will read this week are 

• When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Olds Memoir of her Youth by Jamie Lee Curtis 
• ABC Zooborns by Andrew Bellman

Lesson Plan Link

 Reminders

•         School is closed on Thursday, June 7th and Friday, June 8th.
•         Donuts with Dad will be on Thursday, June 14^th, at 9:00 A.M.

Dear parents, 

If you have any questions about the UPK for All program that the teacher or school is unable to answer please feel free to contact: The Archdioceses Help Line at 888-227-8175 from 9:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. or by Email at catholicschool.upk.arch.ny.org.