Element - Southern Oregon Head Start



Book List:

The following books are included in this unit as read-alouds; copies will be provided to each classroom.

|The Jolly Postman |Janet and Allan Ahlberg |

|Dear Juno |Soyung Pak |

|A Letter to Amy |Ezra Jack Keats |

|The Post Office Book |Gail Gibbons |

|My Friend Rabbit |Eric Rohmann |

|The Lion and the Little Red Bird |Elisa Kleven |

|The Three Bears |Paul Galdone |

|Jack & the Beanstalk |Carol Ottolenghi |

|Little Red Riding Hood |James Marshall |

Additional Resources:

The following books are not required, but could be used to complement and enrich this theme, if teachers have access to these or similar titles:

|Larabee |Kevin Luthardt |

|Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type |Doreen Cronin |

|Good-bye, Curtis |Kevin Henkes |

|Chester’s Way |Kevin Henkes |

|Matthew and Tilly |Rebecca C. Jones |

| |Week 1 |Week 2 |Week 3 |

|Big Idea(s) |In this first week of the new theme, children will be |Children will delve deeper into the process of writing and | “Friendship” is an extremely important and relevant topic to |

| |introduced to concepts related to mail by reading the book The |sending mail through a “classroom post office” where they can |preschool children. This week children will continue to write, |

| |Jolly Postman. To better appreciate this book, we will also |role-play as postal workers, sort mail, weigh packages, add |send, sort and explore mail, while focusing more on |

| |revisit some fairy tales from earlier in the year. Children |stamps, etc. Through this play, our ongoing pen-pal activity,|friends—including ideas such as friends help each other; |

| |will begin a pen pal activity with another classroom, which |and several read-alouds, children will have multiple |friends like to do things together; we can solve problems with |

| |will lead into discussions about friendship later in the theme.|opportunities to learn that that mail is an important way to |our friends. |

| | |communicate with people. | |

|Read-Alouds | | |

|Mon |The Three Bears |Dear Juno by Soyung Pak |The Lion & the Little Red Bird by Elisa Kleven |

|Tues |The Jolly Postman by Janet and Allan Ahlberg |Dear Juno |The Lion & the Little Red Bird |

| | | |My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann |

|Wed |Little Red Riding Hood |A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats |My Friend Rabbit |

| |The Jolly Postman: revisit page that connects to Little Red | | |

| |Riding Hood only | | |

|Thurs |Jack and the Beanstalk |A Letter to Amy |The Post Office Book by Gail Gibbons |

| |The Jolly Postman: revisit page that connects to Jack and the | | |

| |Beanstalk only | | |

|Fri |The Jolly Postman |Rereading (child choice) – “Which book about mail should we |Rereading (child choice) – “Which book about friends should we |

| | |read again?” |read again?” |

|Small Group Activities | | |

|Mon |Group1 – Silly Words & Animals |Group1 – Patterns & Problem Solving |Group 1 – Friendship Dough |

| |**Embedded Assessment – Alliteration, Segmentation |**Embedded Assessment – Patterning, Number |Working with a partner to make cloud dough |

|Tues |Group 1 – Stamps with Ink |Group 1 – Introduction to the Post Office |Group 1 – Mural with Friends |

| |Experimenting with ABC stamps |Exploring classroom post office in dramatic play area |Working together to create one large mural |

|Wed |Group 1 – Pen Pals |Group 1 – Mail |Group 1 – Exploring Symmetry |

| |Writing letters to children in another classroom/center |**Embedded Assessment – Writing |Using paint and folded paper to create symmetrical shapes |

|Thurs |Group 1 – Favorite Fairy Tale |Group 1 – Weighing Mail |Group 1 – Postcards |

| |Writing/drawing about something you remember from one of the |Sorting and comparing envelopes of various weights, using |Using pictures to create a postcard of a place you’d like to go|

| |fairy tales |balance scales | |

|Circle Time / Opening Meeting | | |

|Mon |Question of the Day (QOTD): “Who is your favorite character |Question of the Day (QOTD): Are these the same kind of pattern?|Question of the Day (QOTD): What will you do with a friend |

| |from this story?” (Goldilocks/ baby bear/ mommy bear) |(Y/N) Post Patterns #1 & #2 (see QOTD Pattern Template in |today? |

| |Song: Introduce friendship song |Activities packet) for children to compare. |Post Office Play Review: Ask children to talk about what they |

| | |Poem/Song: “Mail Myself to You” |did last week in the classroom post office. |

| | | |Friendship Song: Teach a new friendship song |

|Tues |Morning Message |QOTD: Are these the same kind of pattern? (Y/N) Post Patterns |Discussion: How can you help your friends? |

| |Song: Repeat friendship song |#1 and #3 (see QOTD Pattern Template in Activities packet). |Friendship Song: Repeat song(s) from yesterday and/or earlier |

| | | |in the theme. |

|Wed |QOTD: “Who would you like to have the Jolly Postman deliver a |Poem/Song: “Mail Myself to You” |QOTD: Should we send more letters to our pen pals? (Y/N) |

| |letter to?” |Exploring Envelopes: Show envelopes and packages of different |Discussion – Problem Solving: Use puppets to present a brief |

| |Song: “Mail Carrier” |sizes. |story about friends who have a problem they need to solve. |

| |Introduce Pen Pals activity |Movement: “Freeze Dance” (see below) |Invite children to propose solutions; then re-enact. |

| | | |Friendship Poem: Read/teach a poem about friends |

| | | |Movement: “Partner Simon Says” (see below) |

|Thurs |Song: “Mail Carrier” |Morning Message |Shared Writing: Involve children in composing a letter together|

| |Pen Pals follow-up – Share a few examples of letters that |Pen Pals: Read/distribute letters received from partner |as a class. |

| |children wrote yesterday. |classroom (if you’ve received any). | |

| |Movement: “Big, Medium, Small” (see below) |Movement: “Freeze Dance” (see Wed.) | |

|Fri |QOTD: “Do you want to write another letter at school today?” |QOTD: “What kind of mail do you like better, letters or |QOTD: “What will you do with a friend with today?” |

| |(Y / N / I don’t know) |postcards?” |Friendship Song/Poem: Repeat from earlier in the week. |

| |Pen Pals next steps |Poem: “Post Office” (or repeat another song from this unit) |Movement: “Partner Simon Says” (see Wed.) |

| | |Experience Chart: Invite children to talk about what they | |

| | |explored and learned this week. | |

|Movement |Ask children to march in place with big steps, then medium |Freeze Dance: When the music stops, children must freeze in | “Partner Simon Says”: each child links arms with a partner and|

| |steps, then small (or tiny). Repeat with arm circles, kicks, |specific positions, indicated by cards with stick-figure |follows directions in unison – jumping together, clapping (one |

| |etc.; vary the order (sometimes starting with small). Allow |drawings (e.g., 2 children holding hands, hugging, etc.). Show |child’s right hand with other’s left), turning in circle, etc. |

| |children to suggest new movements. |the picture before the music stops, for an extra |Disregard the usual Simon Says rules; getting children “out” |

| | |self-regulation challenge. |isn’t the point here. |

|Centers | | | |

|Blocks |Materials to act out fairy tales – e.g., bears and blond doll –|Community helper figure of postal worker |Photos of friends – either ones that families have sent in, or |

| |if desired |Boxes in different sizes, and variety of heavy and light items |that you have taken of the children at school. |

| | |to put in them. | |

|Dr Play |Materials to act out fairy tales – e.g., oatmeal box, red cape,|“Classroom Post Office”: |Classroom Post Office |

| |etc. – if desired |Envelopes/boxes in varied sizes | |

| | |Variety of mail (letters, postcards, advertisements, greeting | |

| | |cards, etc.) | |

| | |Stickers or stamps/ink pads | |

| | |Balance scales | |

| | |Mailman uniform/ bag | |

|Toys-Games |Big, Medium, Small: Variety of materials in different sizes for|Mailbox Matching Game: Shoeboxes or manila folders, each | |

| |children to sort; three containers, labeled with word and |labeled with a number or letter; “mail” labeled with the same | |

| |symbol. |numbers/ letters | |

|Art |Ink pads and stamps | |Pictures of symmetrical paintings/drawings |

| |Paper circles, pompoms or popsicle sticks of different sizes | |Cloud dough; playdough tools |

| |(small, med, large) for collages | | |

|Library/Writi|Read-aloud books |Envelopes, paper, children’s name cards |Other books about friendship (if available) |

|ng |Puppets or flannelboard pieces related to fairy tales – if |Poster with children's pictures and name, to facilitate | |

| |desired |letter-writing to classmates. | |

|Discovery | |Variety of mail items – postcards, greeting cards, flyers, etc.|“I Like”/ “I Don’t Like”: Have a variety of items for children |

|(Science) | |– some of them cut into pieces |to smell, with a chart labeled “I Like”/ “I Don’t Like” (or a |

| | |Magnifying lenses |smile face/frown face). Compare results between different |

| | | |students to find out what they have in common. |

|Sand-Water | | | |

|Music-Movemen| | | |

|t | | | |

|Computer | |To support children’s interest in patterning: |To build on children’s experience with symmetry (see |

| | | |small-group activity): |

| | | | |

|Outdoors |“Simon Says” – Embedded Assessment for gross motor objectives. | |Play “Friendship Tag,” in which children link arms and run in |

| | | |pairs as ‘friends.’ |

| |Do this activity in small groups of 3-6 children, spreading it | |As children play, comment on kind acts, cooperation, examples |

| |out throughout the week as needed. | |of helping or solving problems, etc. |

| |Materials needed: balls to kick and catch; cones or tricycles | | |

| |to serve as obstacles. | | |

|Other | | | |

|Family |If possible, plan a class trip to the local post office or ask |Letter-writing is a perfect way to bring home and school |In this final week of the theme, make one last request for |

|Involvement /|a postal worker to visit the classroom. |together. Encourage all families to send in a letter for their|families to send in letters for their preschoolers. Update |

|communication|After sending home family letter about theme, follow up later |preschooler—in an envelope, labeled with child’s name, so it |family members individually (informally) about their children’s|

| |in the week to remind/encourage parents to write letters to |can be delivered through the classroom post office! (Be |letter-writing activities: what have children been writing |

| |their children at school. |prepared with special letters for the children than may not |letters about? what aspects of the classroom post office is |

| |There are always props and materials needed for classroom |receive one from home.) |their child most interested in? etc. You can also encourage |

| |activities, and parents can be extremely helpful by donating or|Ask families to contribute other mail for the classroom post |families to continue writing letters with children at home … to|

| |lending items. This week items include different size boxes, |office, such as junk mail, circulars, etc. If they have any |send to family members, friends, or even to teachers! |

| |different size/ shape envelopes, old greeting cards/ postcards,|letters or postcards from family members far away, ask to |If materials are still needed for the Postcards small-group |

| |circulars/advertisements, magazine pictures or photos of |borrow these (to connect to Dear Juno). |activity—e.g., magazines with photos, examples of real |

| |vacation spots. |If it’s not possible to arrange a visit to the post office, |postcards—ask families to contribute these. |

| | |find out what time the mail is typically delivered to your | |

| | |center, and take an excursion with a small group of children to|Update families on what you have been discussing regarding |

| | |wait for the mail carrier and ask him/her questions. Bring a |friendship, helping friends and solving problems with friends. |

| | |camera! |In particular, let individual families know if their children |

| | | |have responded strongly to any of the books; have been talking |

| | | |about specific friends in the classroom; or any other |

| | | |individual updates you think families might like to know. |

Materials Needed:

The following list compiles any new, unusual or important materials needed for this unit. (Materials are also listed under the appropriate small-group activity, read-aloud guide or lesson plan for that week.) Items are listed only in the first week they are used, but may be re-used in a later week of the theme.

|Week 1 |Week 2 |Week 3 |

|Various animal puppets or small plastic animals (should start|Pattern cards (see examples provided in Activities packet) |Picture of a butterfly or other symmetrical animal/object |

|with a clear consonant sound: e.g., cat, dog, goose, mouse) |Post office materials (also see Intro to Post Office small-group |(self-made or printed from internet) |

|Picture cards of items with varied initial sounds |activity): |Old postcards (donated by parents, collected by you, or self-made)|

|Information about pen-pal classroom: name cards for students;|Mailbox, sorting boxes (shoeboxes, manila envelopes, hanging shoe |Photos, magazine clippings, greeting cards, etc. showing varied |

|address of classroom written out; list of which of your |organizer, etc.) |places or activities |

|students are writing to which of theirs (if applicable) |Variety of envelopes and boxes |Flour |

|Envelopes |Stickers/stamps/ink pads |Baby oil (or other type of oil – olive, canola, etc.) |

|Ink pads and stamps – including ABC stamps and one other type|Mail carrier uniform/bag(s) |Large butcher paper |

| |Variety of mail (letters, postcards, advertisements, greeting cards, |Photos of friends – either ones that families have sent in, or |

|Materials to retell/act out fairy tales (if desired) |etc.) |that you have taken of the children at school. |

|Big, medium and small items |Mailbox Matching Game – shoeboxes or manila folders, each labeled with|Variety of items for children to smell, with a chart labeled “I |

|Balls and cones (for Simon Says outdoors) |a number or letter, and a stack of “mail” labeled with the same |Like”/ “I Don’t Like” (or a smile face/frown face). |

| |numbers/ letters. | |

| |Poster with children's pictures and name, to facilitate letter-writing| |

| |to classmates. (Also consider doing this for pen-pal classroom.) | |

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