Connecting with School and Friends
Unit 1: Connecting with School and Friends builds the most important school connections: among the child and peers, teachers, and the school. They engage in hands-on science explorations in the senses and hear and perhaps even use rich vocabulary in context. They explore high-quality children’s literature as they learn how print is used and begin to understand how to work with books. Children learn classroom routines, how to use materials, and social-emotional skills, including how to be with a group, make friends, and work together. They explore mathematics manipulatives, learning foundational ideas and skills through play.
Our Environment
Unit 2: Our Environment begins close to school and home with investigations of the outdoors. Then, the focus of the unit shifts to the more exotic environment of the coral reef. Lessons, activities, and books support this focus as children explore the components within an environment; the resources that come from an environment; and how animals, plants, and earth features are connected.
How Structures Are Built
Unit 3: How Structures Are Built focuses on how structures and tools work and how to make or do things. Children explore the form and function of objects through observations, simple experiments, games, and activities. In particular, they explore how objects move and investigate their shapes and uses. They spend time reading and writing procedural texts that tell someone how to make or do something.
Exploring Museums
Unit 4: Exploring Museums centers on museums and collections—what they are, what they contain, and how they work. In particular, this unit focuses on two areas of study: paleontology and medieval times. Books, texts, and activities help the children develop knowledge in both areas and knowledge about museums in general. Children create exhibits, collections, signs, and captions for the culminating project—a class museum!
Growing Our Garden
Unit 5: Growing Our Garden explores growth and change over time by investigating gardens and the living things within them. Children learn about what plants need to grow, what creatures live in and benefit gardens, and how people rely on gardens for food. The books and lessons focus on learning information from and creating expository texts.
How We've Grown
Unit 6: How We've Grown offers the children an opportunity to look back over the year and recognize how much they have learned and developed. They revisit some of their favorite books, games, and activities and look forward to what comes next—kindergarten! A culminating celebration showcases a class video yearbook.
Inside a Unit
BUILDING TOWERS
Connect
Connect lessons let you reconnect with the whole group and introduce or revisit explorations or topics that are the day's focus.
At a Glance summarizes the purpose and objectives of the lesson.
Ahead of Time explains what you will need to do prior to beginning the lesson.
BUILDING TOWERS
Small Group
Small Group time offers you the opportunity to work with 3-5 children at a time, delving into the topic more deeply and gathering information about each child's level of understanding.
C4L Processes explains the fundamental cognitive processes developed during the lesson.