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Teach students about the different ways insects move.

National Standard
Science (NSES)
Characteristics of organisms

Goal
Students will learn about some of the ways insects move and about the life cycle of a ladybug.

Objective
Students will be able to identify the parts of an insect’s body by drawing
a line from each part to its name.

Link
Find insect-themed songs, crafts, and recipes.

Literature Connection
• Bugs in a Rug, by Della Neavoll
• Gotta Go! Gotta Go! by Sam Swope
• Ladybug Girl, by David Soman and Jacky Davis
• One Hundred Hungry Ants, by Elinor J. Pinczes
• Sam and the Firefly, by P. D. Eastman
• Waiting for Wings, by Lois Ehlert

A Poem to Share
Ant Hill
Ants are working all the time.
Their hill is always busy!
They run and dart and tug and climb
Till watching makes me dizzy.
They never seem to rest at all,
And still, they look quite hearty …
But don’t they ever bat a ball
Or have a birthday party?
—Aileen Fisher

Before Reading
Compare and Contrast: Explain that insects can be similar to one another in some ways or different from one another. Ask: What are some things that make insects special? How are insects like other animals? How are they different?

Background Information
• All insects have six legs, three on each side of their bodies.
• Some insects, such as flies, have sticky pads on their feet. They can walk up a wall or across a ceiling.
• Many insects, such as dragonflies, have wings. Insects fly to find food and to escape enemies.
• Adult insects have two antennae on their heads. Antennae are also called feelers. An insect uses its feelers to find out about the world.
• Some insects taste with their feelers. Butterflies can taste with their feet.

During Reading
Make Predictions: Read aloud the life cycle of the ladybug, on page 3. Then ask: What will happen next in the life cycle?

After Reading
Think Critically: Invite children to think of one way insects are helpful and one way they are harmful. Record responses on an easel pad.

Sequence Extension: Cut out the four pictures of the ladybug life cycle. Invite children to place the photos in order.

Science Extension: Butterflies drink nectar, or juice, from flowers. Explain that a butterfly sucks the nectar through a long tubelike mouthpart called a proboscis, which it rolls up when it is not drinking. Show students a party blower to illustrate. Explain to students that they can drink the way butterflies do. Distribute straws and small paper cups filled with small amounts of juice. Encourage children to imagine that each cup is a flower filled with nectar. They can drink their juice through straws, much as butterflies drink nectar through their proboscises.

Science/Art Extension: Invite students to make a model of an insect to reinforce parts of an insect’s body. Precut several hand-sized circles and ovals from construction paper to represent insect body parts, shapes from black paper to represent legs and antennae, and wing shapes from waxed paper. Also supply students with glue and craft eyes. Invite them to create their own insects. Remind them that insects have three main body parts, six legs, and so on.

Adaptation: Display pictures of colorful insects. Using color, shape, and size words, describe one of the insects to children. Encourage students to point to the picture of the insect you described.

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Engage students in a lesson about the sun’s benefits.

National Standard
Science (NSES)
Objects in the sky

Goal
Students will learn about some of the ways people benefit from the sun.

Objective
Students will be able to identify the objects that help protect people from the sun’s harmful rays.

Link
Get activity ideas for teaching about the sun and the solar system.

Literature Connection
• Fun Dog, Sun Dog, by Deborah Heiligman
• Sun Bread, by Elisa Kleven
• The Sun Is My Favorite Star, by Frank Asch
• To Be Like the Sun, by Susan Marie Swanson
• What Can You Do in the Sun? by Anna Grossnickle Hines

A Poem to Share
The Sun
What’s bright and yellow, hot and round,
And shines above my head?
What hides in clouds and slips away
Before I go to bed?
What warms me up when winds are cold
And cheers me with its light?
The sun! It is a friend of mine.
It makes my daytime bright.
—Kathleen M. Hollenbeck

Before Reading
Set the Stage: Invite children to think about the sun. Ask: What do you know about the sun? In what ways is the sun helpful? How is it harmful?

Background Information
• The largest object in our solar system is the sun.
• The sun is many times larger than Earth. In fact, more than 1.3 million Earths would fit inside the sun. The distance around the sun is 1,092 times the distance around Earth.
• The sun is a star. It is one of billions of stars in the universe.
• The sun is a glowing ball of gases. The temperature of the sun’s surface is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
• The center, or core, is the hottest part of the sun. The sun’s energy is made at the core.
• All life on Earth depends on energy from the sun in order to survive.
• Plants use sunlight to make food. Plants give off oxygen. People and animals breathe in the oxygen.
• The sun is bigger than the moon, even though they appear to be the same size. Unlike the sun, the moon is made of rock. It appears to shine at night because it reflects light from the sun.

During Reading
Think Critically: Remind children that Earth gets light and heat from the sun. Ask: What do you think would happen to Earth without the sun?

After Reading
Draw Conclusions: Explain that people do not see the sun on some days. Ask: Why not?

Science Extension: Gather small items such as a pencil, a coin, and a key. Invite children to place the objects on a piece of dark construction paper. Place the paper and the objects in direct sunlight for a day or two. Ask children to predict what might happen. Then remove the items from the paper. Ask: What happened? Explain that sunlight faded the color on the parts of the paper that were not covered by the objects.

Language Arts Extension: Guide children to identify words that rhyme with sun (such as done, run, won, and fun). Record their responses. Invite children to create short rhyming sentences using those words.

Adaptation: Display a variety of items, or pictures of items, such as a bottle of sunscreen, sunglasses, a sun hat, and a beach umbrella. Encourage children to say the name of each item and to guess what all the things have in common. Ask: How might all these things protect you from the sun? What might happen to you if you spent the day in the sun without any protection? If possible, invite a child to share a story about being sunburned. Ask the child to describe how he or she felt.

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Teach students about dolphins.

National Standard
Science (NSES)
Characteristics of organisms

Goal
Students will learn about the characteristics of dolphins.

Objective
Students will be able to differentiate between things dolphins can and cannot do.

Link
Let children play an online dolphin game.

Literature Connection
• Dolphins in Danger, by Amanda Lumry
• Dolphin Tale: A Tale of True Friendship, by Emma Ryan
• If a Dolphin Were a Fish, by Loran Wlodarski
• My Finny Fin Fin, by Judi Chesshir
• Zaira and the Dolphins, by Mar Pavon

A Poem to Share
If I Were a Dolphin
If I were a dolphin, I’d catch lots of fish
And play with my friends all day long.
I’d call to them with my whistles and clicks
As I sang my dolphin song.
If I were a dolphin, I’d swim in the sea
And splash in the waves every day.
I’d leap from the water and dive in again,
And then I’d go gliding away.
—Kathleen M. Hollenbeck

Before Reading
Think Critically: Explain that dolphins are animals that live in water. They are mammals, like humans. They breathe air. Ask: How might a dolphin live in the ocean if it must breathe air?

Background Information
• Dolphins are mammals. They give birth to live young.
• A dolphin calf can swim and breathe immediately after birth. Calves stay with their mothers for two or three years.
• Dolphins have blowholes on their heads for breathing.
• One of the largest dolphins is the bottlenose dolphin, which can grow to be 12 feet long.
• Dolphins feed on live food, such as fish. They especially like herring and mackerel. Although dolphins have 100 sharp, cone-shaped teeth, they do not chew their food. They use their teeth to catch fish, and they swallow them whole.
• Dolphins are very vocal. Special nasal passages enable them to make sounds called clicks.

During Reading
Use a Diagram: Say: “I am thinking of something that helps a dolphin breathe.” Invite a child to point to the blowhole on the diagram. Continue for the other parts of the dolphin.

After Reading
Compare and Contrast: Point out the diagram showing the dolphin’s body. Ask: How is a dolphin’s body similar to yours? How is it different?

Science Extension: Explain that dolphins use their sense of hearing to find other dolphins and food underwater. Demonstrate how dolphins are able to do that.
Blindfold one child, and invite three other children to surround the blindfolded child. Tell the blindfolded child to call out “dolphin,” and tell the other children to call out “echo” in response. Ask the blindfolded child to touch one of the other children on the shoulder. Then ask the blindfolded child to explain how he or she was able to find the other child.

Language Arts Extension: Explain that dolphins live and swim together in groups called schools or pods. In those groups, the dolphins help one another. If one is hurt and cannot swim, other dolphins can lift it out of the water so it can breathe. Ask children to think of other ways dolphins might help one another. Have them create a mural to depict the ideas.

Adaptation: Ask two students sit on the floor and hold the ends of a jump rope a few inches above the floor. On one side of the rope, place cards with words from the issue. On the other side of the rope, have the other students stand in a line. Say a word. The first student must jump over the rope, find that word card, and hold it up.

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Help children understand the importance of being safe.

National Standard
Science (NSES)
Personal health

Goal
Children will learn about different ways of staying safe while participating in summer activities.

Objective
Children will identify the items with names that begin with the letter s.

Link
Get your students ready for summer with safety tips.

Literature Connection
• Bluebird Summer, by Deborah Hopkinson
• Grandma Summer, by Harley Jessup
• How I Spent My Summer Vacation, by Mark Teague
• It’s Summer! by Linda Glaser
• One Hot Summer Day, by Nina Crews

A Poem to Share
It’s Almost Time
It’s almost time! It’s almost time!
Oh, I can hardly wait.
Soon we’ll travel to the beach,
And that’s a special date.
I’ll hurry down to see the waves
And watch the seagulls fly.
I’ll take my pail and shovel too
And build sand castles high.
It’s almost time! It’s almost time!
I wish it were today.
The seashore is the place I love
To swim and run and play.
—Jean Conder Soule

Before Reading
Tap Prior Knowledge: Invite children to think about summer. Ask: What kinds of things do you like to do during summer? How do you stay safe when you do
those things?

Background Information
• Summer is a time when children often play outdoors and are involved in unstructured activities. It is important that they know and follow certain rules when playing outdoors.
• Wearing a helmet when riding a bike or a scooter is important because it will help protect a child’s head from serious injury in case of an accident or a fall.
• Children should always swim with an adult.
• Children and adults should apply sunscreen before going outside to help reduce the amount of sun exposure the skin receives.
• Everyone should drink plenty of water when the weather is warm to keep hydrated.

During Reading
Draw Conclusions: Point to the photo of the child looking at the list of rules. Ask: Why is following rules important? What might happen if we do not follow rules?

After Reading
Make Connections: Discuss safety situations. For example, ask: If you were playing outside on a summer day and you wanted to ride your bicycle, what would you need to do to ride safely?

Language Arts Extension: Play summer safety charades. Choose one child to silently act out a summer safety rule. For example, the child might pretend to put on and buckle a bike helmet and then pretend to ride away. Invite children to guess which rule is being demonstrated.

Art Extension: Create beach scenes. Invite children to draw themselves at the beach on construction paper. Then guide them to spread glue over where the sand appears in the drawing. Help them sprinkle real sand over the glue. Once the glue has dried, shake off the excess sand, and display the pictures. Use the pictures to spark a discussion about beach safety.

Adaptation: Arrange children in a circle. Hand one child a beach ball. Play music. Invite children to pass the ball until the music stops. When the music stops, have the child holding the ball name one way to stay safe during the summer. Continue until all children have had a turn.

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Pre-Kindergarten Teaching Centers, 2011-12

March/April 2012

Print your March/April Teacher's Guide here.
 

February 2012

Print your February Teacher's Guide here.
 

December/January 2011-12

Print your December/January Teacher's Guide here.

November 2011

Print your November Teacher's Guide PDF here.

October 2011

Print your October Teacher's Guide PDF here.

August/September 2011

Print your August/September Teacher's Guide PDF here.