3K Learners

Current Unit: Unit 4 - Clothing

Next Unit: Unit 5 - Reuse, Reduce, Recycle

Summary of Unit: 

Clothing

This unit focuses on recognizing and making observations about the different types of clothing we wear throughout the four seasons & during specific activities. We will also look at clothes worn by community helpers as well as cultural clothes. Throughout this unit the students will investigate different  types of clothes, where we get our clothes and even create clothing. As we study clothes, the children will learn concepts and build skills in language, literacy, math and art. The students will use skills to ask questions, solve problems and make predictions. 

At home you can:

• Read to your child every day! Ask them questions about the story.  
• Work on independence! Please encourage your child to get dressed independently. The goal is for your child to be able to put on their own shoes, put on their own jackets and sweatshirts, etc. with some assistance. Have conversations and use lots of language doing these tasks. For example, ask your child what color their sweatshirt is, count the number of buttons on their sweater, etc.  

• Donate clothes to an organization: Talk to your child about how we reuse and reduce clothing in order to help our environment. 

Summary of Unit: 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Reduce, reuse and recycle are important aspects of taking care of our planet. Our students will develop an understanding of why we need to take care of the Earth and different ways we can do that. We will explore the topic of trash while learning through hands-on experiences that support all areas of development and learning. Through this exploration the students will solve problems, expand their vocabulary, create art using recycled items, and continue to develop math skills.  

At home you can:

• Talk about little ways we can help protect our planet.
• Pose questions: How can we reduce trash? What objects can we recycle? What can we reuse in another way?
• Go for a walk: notice trash/garbage trucks/garbage cans: have them be problem solvers
• Create something out of recycle items

Reading

Clothing: Our daily Read Alouds during this unit will focus on clothing. During our Read Aloud, students sit together on the carpet and listen to a story read aloud by the teacher. Children are encouraged to actively participate in the story by answering questions and repeating predictable text. Students will continue to make connections to texts that we read. For example, “In this story Froggy is wearing a scarf. Do you have a scarf? Why do we wear a scarf?  Students will also use the pictures in the book to begin to make predictions about the story. 

At home you can:

• Read to your child everyday!!! There are so many benefits to reading with your child including language development, cognitive development, imagination and creativity, social emotional development, bonding and developing a life long love for reading. 

• When reading with your child, identify different types of clothing the characters are wearing.  You can ask:, “Why do you think that character is wearing a hat at the beach? Why is that character wearing boots in the snow? What would happen if he didn’t wear boots? Remember to encourage your child to speak in complete sentences. 
• Make predictions before reading a book. Look at the cover and read the title and author. Ask your child, “What do you think will happen in this story? Why do you think that?”

Suggested books to enhance our Clothing Unit:

• This Jacket I Wear in the Snow By: Shirley Neitzel
• The Hat  By: Jan Brett
• Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse   By:Kevin Henkes
• Make Clothes Fun  By: Kim Solga

Reuse, Reduce, Recycle:

In this unit and throughout the year, students will continue to engage with our daily Read Alouds. In 3K, we begin our stories by looking at the cover and taking a story walk to preview the text. This helps students make predictions and connections to the story. After reading, students are encouraged to answer questions to help build vocabulary and conversation skills.  

At home you can:

• Reread familiar books with your child and encourage them to use the picture clues and their past knowledge of the book to “read” the story to you.
• Preview new or familiar books before reading. Look at the pictures (cover of the book) and make predictions about what will happen in the story. 
• Some books to read:

• The Keeping Quilt By Patricia Polacco
• Trashy Town By:Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha

Writing:

3K students participate in many pre-writing activities throughout the day. There are various writing tools (markers, crayons, pencils, dry erase markers, etc.) available to the students throughout the centers. During this unit we will also begin doing morning “sign in” as part of the 3K morning routine.  

At home you can:

• Encourage your child to draw with a variety of writing instruments. Demonstrate a “tripod grip”. This is when you hold a pencil using the index finger, middle finger and thumb.  Have your child practice tracing or writing the first letter of their name.
• Practice drawing different lines with your child. Straight, curved &  zigzag lines are the beginning of writing the letters.
• Help your child strengthen their fine motor skills by playing with clay, play-doh or small legos.

Math:

In math, students are counting 1-10, counting small groups of objects (up to 5) and recognizing numbers 1-5.  Beginning in the Clothes unit, 3k students will begin to identify simple patterns and create their own. Children will also play matching games with colors, shapes and digits. 

At home you can:

• Have your child identify patterns that are around your home. 
• Ask your student to help you count out objects when helping around the house. For example, when cleaning up legos count each piece as it gets put back in the bin. 
• Make patterns using household items, such as: fork, spoon, fork, spoon, fork, spoon. 
• Count how many steps from the front door to the kitchen, etc.

Gym/Gross Motor Movement

Every morning 3K is very fortunate to go to the gym with Ms. Sheflin. The students participate in exercises; running, jumping, and playing active games such as on obstacle courses where they practice balancing, skipping, and crawling. This time is also very important for our young students because they learn to play together, take turns and learn how to be a team player.