Early Learning Lesson

Pond Hoops
Children balance and hop, using a hoop as an imaginary pond.

Materials

• plastic Hula-Hoopฎ, one per child
• whistle
• outdoor space

How to Play

1. Children take a Hula-Hoop and spread out in an outdoor space. They place their hoop on the ground next to where they are standing and pretend that it is a pond.
2. Then children listen for the sound of the whistle before standing in their pond.
3. The teacher reads the "Pond Hoops" script (below) aloud to the children, and they follow the teacher's directions.

Pond Hoops Teacher Script

Be a cattail growing by the pond.
Show me how you can stand by the edge.
Show me how you can sway when the wind blows.
Be a plant growing at the bottom of the pond.
Show me how you can stand inside the pond.
Show me how you can pick up the hoop with two hands.
Show me how high you can lift the hoop over your head.
Now you are under water!
Be a floating plant in the pond.
Show me how you can stand inside the pond.
Show me how you can pick up the hoop with two hands.
Show me how you can lift the hoop up to your shoulders.
Now your head is floating above water like a flower!
Be another plant growing in the pond.
Show me how you can stand inside the pond.
Now show me how you can stand on one foot.
Show me how you can stand on the other foot.
Stand outside the pond.
Now squat down and walk like a duck all the way around the pond.
Look for duckweed to eat.

From All About The Pond (EMC 2409)

Kindergarten Connection

Math and My Family
Math Skills: counting, collecting & recording information, graphing, nonstandard measurement, size comparison

Making the Connection

1. Discuss how families come in different sizes. Some families are very small. Some families consist of many people.
2. Recite the clapping rhymes below together. Then ask students to think about the people in their home. Ask this question: "Do you have a big family or a little family?"
3. List student names and have each make a tally mark for each person in the family.
   Show students how tally marks can be made in groups of five.
4. Once everyone has taken a turn, have the class count each set of tally marks with you. If appropriate, have each child write the numeral after his or her set of tally marks.
5. Use the list to compare family sizes:
   "Which family is largest? smallest?"
   "Which families have the same number of people?"
   "Are there more or less people in Sue's family than in your family?"
6. Use the list to do simple computations:
   "How many more people are in Carlos's family than in Sue's?"
   "How many people would be in Sue's and Megan's families if we put them together?

A Little Family
My mom and me
Just two to see
Hap - py as can be!

A Big Family
Fa - ther and Mo - ther
Sis - ters and bro - ther
Two grand - fa - thers
And one grand - mo - ther
Wait!
There's more!
Lots of Aunt - ies
Lots of Un - cles
Cou - sins, cou - sins
By the do - zens

From Early Learning Resources, Real Math for Young Learners (EMC 744)

Word of the Week

headquarters
noun
Headquarters is the main office where members of a group meet and decisions are made.
The police officer called headquarters to request help from more officers.

Which of the following groups might have a headquarters?

• babies
• firefighters
• forest rangers
• Girl or Boy Scouts
• cartoon characters

If you were going to form a neighborhood club, where would its headquarters be?

From A Word a Day, Grades 1-3 (EMC 2717)

Ten-Minute Activity

A Long Sentence
Language Arts
Skill: descriptive writing

Materials

• chalkboard
• chalk
• paper, pencils

Here's How:

1. Write a three-word phrase or sentence on the chalkboard.
2. Ask the students to add adjectives and phrases to make the sentence longer.
   This morning, the rickety old school bus stopped in front of the school just before the bell rang.
3. Count the words in the sentence.
4. Write another sentence, adding even more words.

Variation
Encourage the addition of conjunctions and verbs.

From Ten-Minute Activities, Grades 1-3 (EMC 784)

Word of the Week

exquisite
adjective
having an intricate and beautiful design

The exquisite embroidery must have taken hours to complete.

Which words mean about the same thing as exquisite?

• valueless
• delicate
• detailed
• crude
• fine

What is something exquisite that you have seen? Describe it.

From A Word a Day, Grades 4-8 (EMC 2718)

Ten-Minute Activity

More Nifty Nines
Math
Skill: Multiplication

Materials

• paper
• pencils
• calculator for checking answers (optional)

Here's How:

1. Divide students into groups of four.
2. Give the groups several two-digit and three-digit numbers to multiply by 9.
3. The groups look for patterns in the answers.
4. Present the following information if no one discovers it: The digits in each answer add up to 9 or a multiple of 9.
5. Have the groups test the information. Did they find exceptions to the rule?
6. Discuss how this information can help in judging the reasonableness of an answer.

From Ten-Minute Activities, Grades 4-6 (EMC 785)

Science Activity

Weather Map
Earth Science
Process Skill: Interpreting Diagrams

A weather map is a map that uses symbols to show some of the weather conditions in an area.

• Find a weather map in your local newspaper. It can be a map of your local area or a map of the whole United States. Examine the map with your group. Use the legend to figure out what the different map symbols mean.
• Use class resources to learn more about weather fronts and areas of high and low pressure.
• Use the map and what you learned to write about the weather shown on the map.

From Science Cooperative Learning Cards (EMC 5006)