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Ayuko's 2AM Classroom 

November 15-19 

Nora Lead Teaching


Overview: The children have shown increased interest in their growing bodies. Through dance and song activities they have been able to further explore their body and its capabilities. To follow up on this interest we will continue to introduce a variety of movement and rhythmic activities and encourage the children to observe, compare, and record a variety of measurements such as their height and size of their hands. We have recently found the children taking notice of numbers as they count various objects both individually, such as toy cars and other manipulatives, and during large group activities and songs. The classroom will be arranged to begin focusing on number concepts. As the weather gets colder, the children will also be practicing the number sequence and steps needed to dress for the outdoors with added layers and accessories. As Thanksgiving break is fast approaching, we find that some families travel to see their extended family members and friends. If you are going to be away for the Thanksgiving break, please let the teachers know if your child will miss class. Also, we would love to hear where you are going and how you will get there (via plane ride, train, etc) so we may incorporate this into our lessons and to prepare the children for any changes in schedule.

Expressive Arts 

**Materials: A variety of liquid water colors, brushes, and paper at the easel
Rationale: To provide an opportunity to experiment with new paint consistencies; to provide an additional outlet for creative expression
Skills: Fine motor, color recognition, symbolic representation, creativity, artistic expression.
**Materials: Stencils, markers, and colored paper. 

Rationale: To promote fine motor coordination and continue to practice tracing as an artistic expression

Skills: Persistence, hand-eye coordination, try out new ideas, risk-taking
**Materials: Natural Clay, rolling pins, cutting tools, and plastic animals

Rationale: To further explore the consistency of clay and the impression various footprints leave in the material. To create lasting molds to symbolically represent their ideas and creativity
Skills: Sensory input, fine motor, creative expression, manual dexterity, observation, creativity

Sensory 

**Materials: Sand, water, various molds, containers, scoops
Rationale: To explore using both dry and wet sand to make structures. To compare and contrast between the two textures
Skills: Sensory input, turn-taking, comparison, observation, imitation, prediction, trying out new ideas

Science 

**Materials: Small objects of various weights (both light and heavy), large fans, ribbons, tabletop rulers

Rationale: To observe and experiment the power of breath, wind, and fans in the movement of materials of various weights. To begin learning how to measure and record the distance of the movement of materials.
Skills: Observation, comparison, prediction, measurement, turn taking, trying new ideas, recording

**Materials: Kites made of plastic bags and yarn [outside]
Rationale: To construct hand-made kites and to explore the effects various wind patterns have on the movement of objects
Skills: Cause and effect, prediction, observation, comparison

Dramatic Play 

**Materials: Familiar kitchen furniture, table, plastic baked goods, plastic and cardboard coffee cups, condiments
Rationale: To further explore an emerging interest of "drinking" and "ordering" coffee, the classroom restaurant will be converted into a neighborhood coffee shop. To encourage the exchange of items between children using various roles, such as customer or server
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, cooperation, social skills.

***Please bring in any left over coffee cups when you are done with them to add to our "neighborhood coffee shop!"

Math and Manipulatives 


**Materials: Measuring wall (to measure and explore height), various sized hand and foot prints, tabletop ruler near fan
Rationale: To give the children opportunities to compare and record how their bodies continue to grow; to record and compare the strength of wind and air using a variety of objects.
Skills: Counting, recording, observing, comparing, turn taking, persistence, numbers
**Materials: Montessori seriation pegs, train puzzles, "Dressing Dolls" (later in the week), zippers.
Rationale: To challenge children to use problem-solving skills to order and place pegs according to size and shape. To become familiar with self-help skills such as buttoning, zipping, and snapping clothing items.
Skills: Problem solving, seriation, persistence, fine motor control, hand-eye coordination, comparison

Language and Literacy 

**Materials: Books about our growing bodies and numbers in the new "Reading Cave"

Rationale: To promote finding and applying new information in books while continuing to facilitate the development of the basic components of language. 

Skills: Listening, speaking, reading, phonological awareness, alphabetical awareness, numerical awareness, heuristic language, give and ask for information, turn taking. 

**Materials: Large cards outlining steps of getting ready for outside (hat, mittens, etc.)
Rationale: To provide a visual representation outlining the sequence of steps needed to prepare for going outside.
Skills: Follow directions, alphabetic awareness, sequencing, self-help skills
**Materials: Menus with prices, notepads, markers, credit cards and machine

Rationale: To encourage writing and reading to promote letter, word, and number recognition in the coffee shop and kitchen
Skills: Fine motor, writing, alphabetical awareness, numerical awareness, vocabulary expansion 


Blocks 

**Materials: Various sized wooden boards and ramps, hollow blocks, small cars, cardboard "trains"
Rationale: To further explore building road structures such as tunnels and bridges of various heights; to continue to foster experimenting with weight, balance, and height; to create "trains" and other vehicles out of recycled materials
Skills: Cooperation, collaboration, creativity, symbolic representation, large and fine motor, spatial concepts, construction skills (building), try out new ideas

Large Motor 

**Materials: Indoors- climbing wall, slide, stairs, A-frame and balancing beams, donut hole, monkey bars, basketball hoops, balls, and mats; large group activities led by teachers
Rationale: To provide children opportunities to engage in activities that challenge their physical skills. To provide opportunities for the children to practice climbing and strengthen their upper and lower bodies. To focus on receptive skills including throwing, catching, and grasping. 

Skills: Upper and lower body strength, endurance, hand-eye coordination, receptive skills (throwing, grasping, reaching, catching), balance, visual/spatial discrimination, symbolic representation, creativity, turn-taking
**Materials: Outdoors- yellow race cars, wagons, buckets, shovels, basketball hoop, balls, sand molds
Rationale: To provide children opportunities to engage in activities that challenge their physical skills including a focus on propulsion skills through riding the trikes. To encourage the children to make creations out of the sand with the variety of molds and buckets.
Skills: Fine and large motor, body manipulation, physical fitness, hand-eye coordination, cause and effect, turn-taking
***Materials: Outdoors- Kites made of plastic bags and yarn
Rationale: To facilitate further exploration and inquiry in the (unpredictable) windy weather; to examine how the wind and varying weather conditions affects them when they move
Skills: Observation, comparison, large and fine motor,

Large group 

**Materials: Songs and rhymes led by teacher (gather, name, and topic songs and rhymes), story telling, dance and instrument activities, modeling of activities
Rationale: To expand on specific topics of interest (body awareness) through sharing a common experience. To practice a routine and be part of a community of learners. 

Skills: Attention span, attending and orienting, respect for one another, following directions.

Music 

**Materials: Piano, bells, tambourines, xylophone, interactive music PowerPoint, guitar, maracas 

Rationale: To promote exploration of sound, volume, rhythm and social interaction. To allow the children an opportunity to use the computer to choose different instrument sounds to listen to the sounds instruments make. To promote social interaction and community by encouraging the children to play instruments both in large group and during free play
Skills: Creative expression and movement, mathematical concepts (beats and patterns), imitation, call and answer, communication.



Snacks:

Tuesday: cucumbers and crackers
Friday: soy butter and graham crackers

Fall lesson plan - week of November 8th
Ayuko's 2AM Classroom
November 9-12
Courtney Lead Teaching

Overview: The children are continuing to form stronger relationships with one another and working together in the classroom. As we work to solidify the children's familiarity with one another, we will continue to facilitate social awareness by sharing common areas, promoting dramatic play, and offering a "matching" game with the children's faces to their name. The temperatures outside have continued to drop and the idea of wind is still being explored indoors and outside on the playground. We will begin focusing on the process of "preparing" to go outside when it is cold and all the steps that we take to get dressed after snack. Furthermore, we will continue to promote opportunities for the children to think about how wind affects objects and give them the opportunity to use "wind" to make objects move. Additionally, we will support and encourage literacy as the children begin spelling and recognizing the letters in their names. The children have recently expressed an interest in the topic of growing and getting "bigger." We will continue to foster this interest in a variety of ways to expand the children's body awareness through a variety of activities available during the week.

Expressive Arts
**Materials: A variety of colors, rollers, and paper
Rationale: To provide an opportunity to experiment with new painting tools. To encourage creativity through mixing colors and experimenting with different paint strokes.
Skills: Fine motor, hand-eye coordination self-expression, risk taking, observation, comparison, and promote social interaction.
**Materials: Scissors and paper with lines
Rationale: To promote fine motor skills of cutting and snipping. To experiment with different methods of cutting (little snips, longer cuts, straight-line cutting) on different lines of the paper. To give opportunities to "write" on the lined paper as the interests in writing names and words have increased.
Skills: fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, persistence, creative expression, patterns, writing, heuristic language, and alphabetic awareness.

Sensory
**Materials: Natural Clay, rolling pins, cutting tools.
Rationale: To introduce and explore a natural material that can be molded and sculpted. To experience the different properties of clay.
Skills: Sensory input, fine motor, creative expression, alphabetic awareness, symbolic representation, manual dexterity
**Materials: sand, scoops, rakes, sifters, shells, rocks, plastic insects, and paddlewheels
Rationale: To explore and experiment with sand by using different tools and containers to excavate and collect.
Skills: Sensory input, observation, measurement, experimentation, math skills (spatial relations and volume), comparison, prediction, fine motor, and creativity.

Science
**Materials: Ribbons, cotton, leaves, feathers, light materials, and heavy materials.
Rationale: To experiment with creating our own "wind" by using a large fan to move light objects and test heavier objects.
Skills: Observation, comparison, try out, prediction, cause and effect.
**Materials: Plastic and stuffed animal birds, basket nests, acorns, seeds, pictures of birds (highlighting the feeding process).
Rationale: To continue to support the children's interest in various types of birds, their habitats, and the process of caretaking of baby birds through dramatic play scenarios and creating bird feeders.
Skills: Creative Expression, observation, role play, social skills, classification, comparison, prediction.
**Materials: Sunflower seeds, pine cones, soy butter, paper bags, string, bird seed.
Rationale: To continue to support the children's interest in birds and the process of feeding the birds outside our classroom by creating our own bird feeders.
Skills: Observation, cause and effect, prediction, comparison, try out ideas.

Dramatic Play
**Materials: Familiar kitchen furniture, table, plastic foods highlighting those that encourage serving (pizza, part to whole plastic fruits/vegetables, cake, cupcakes), serving trays, silverware, plates, bowls, cups, pitchers, menus, aprons, notepad (to take orders), and writing tools.
Rationale: To continue to encourage the children's interest in being in a restaurant setting. To support acting out scenarios of "preparing" and "serving" various foods and drinks to others. To support and promote writing and taking food orders (asking questions) from other children, and serving (sharing).
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, cooperation, social skills.
***Please continue to let the teachers know if your child has any favorite restaurants/coffee shops or specific restaurant experiences you would like to share to make our classroom restaurant more personal and familiar to the children.

Math and Manipulatives
**Materials: Sorting shells, bugs, rocks etc ("buried" in the sand table)
Rationale: To give the children opportunity to group, sort, and count the different objects they find buried in the sand.
Skills: Fine motor control, visual and spatial discrimination, one-to-one correspondence, grouping and ordering, counting, turn taking, manual dexterity.
**Materials: Measuring wall (to measure and explore height), small to large hand and foot prints placed on the floor and table of the classroom.
Rationale: To give the children opportunity to explore and record how our bodies grow.
Skills: Give and ask for information, speaking, counting, keeping record, measurements, seriation, visual and spatial discrimination.

Language and Literacy
**Materials: Books related to the wind, cold weather, construction and growing (body awareness).
Rationale: To promote finding resources and new information in books while continuing to facilitate the development of the basic components of language.
Skills: Listening, speaking, reading, phonological awareness, alphabetical awareness, heuristic language, give and ask for information.
**Materials: Letter matching game to spell out the children's names or initials
Rationale: To continue to support knowledge of symbol and representational systems. To promote alphabetical awareness, name recognition, and letter formations and letter matching.
Skills: fine motor, reading, writing, alphabet awareness, and vocabulary expansion
**Materials: Menus, notepads and markers
Rationale: To encourage writing and reading to promote letter and word recognition in the restaurant area.
Skills: fine motor, writing, alphabetical awareness, and vocabulary expansion
**Materials: Construction paper, markers, tape
Rationale: To encourage writing and reading the signs the children want to make for their roads and construction areas.
Skills: fine motor, writing, alphabetical awareness, and vocabulary expansion

Blocks
**Materials: various sized wooden ramps, hollow blocks, wood blocks, wooden planks, various wheels, small trucks, cars, and road signs.
Rationale: To promote road building with different surfaces (ramps, tunnels, streets). To continue to foster experimenting with speed, weight, direction, acceleration and slope.
Skills: Cooperation, collaboration, creative expression, large and fine motor, spatial concepts, construction skills (building), scientific skill, experimenting, reasoning.

Large Motor
**Materials: Indoors- climbing wall, slide, stairs, A-frame and balancing beams, donut hole, monkey bars, basketball hoops, balls, and mats.
Rationale: To provide children opportunities to engage in activities that challenge their physical skills. To provide opportunities for the children to practice climbing and upper and lower body strength. To focus on receptive skills including throwing, catching, and grasping.
Skills: Upper and lower body strength, endurance, hand-eye coordination, receptive skills (throwing, grasping, reaching, catching), balance, visual/spatial discrimination
**Materials: Outdoors- trikes, wagons, buckets, shovels, sand molds, ribbons with handles
Rationale: To provide children opportunities to engage in activities that challenge their physical skills including a focus on propulsion skills through riding the trikes. To encourage the children to make creations out of the sand with the variety of molds and buckets. To use the ribbons with handles to experiment how the wind affects them when they move.
Skills: Fine and large motor, body manipulation, physical fitness, hand-eye coordination, cause and effect.

Large group
**Materials: Songs and rhymes led by teacher (gather, name, and topic songs and rhymes), story telling, modeling of activities
Rationale: To expand on specific topics of interest (birds, wind, growing, and winter clothing) through sharing a common experience. To practice a routine and be part of a community of learners.
Skills: Attention span, attending and orienting, respect for one another, following directions.

Music
**Materials: Piano, bells, tambourines, xylophone, interactive music PowerPoint, posted song selections.
Rationale: To promote exploration of sound, volume, rhythm and social interaction. To allow the children an opportunity to use the computer to choose different instrument sounds to listen to the sounds instruments make. To promote social interaction and community by encouraging the children to use the instruments in the cave while singing a familiar song together.
Skills: Creative expression and movement, mathematical concepts (beats and patterns), imitation, call and answer, communication.

Snacks:
Tuesday: Bananas and graham crackers
Friday: Oven fries and milk.

Fall lesson plan - week of November 2
Lesson Plan-Ayuko's 2AM Classroom
Jessica Lead Teaching

Overview: We are now into the seventh week and the children are continuing to become more comfortable and are forming relationships with one another. We will be continuing to have a strong emphasis on literacy and mathematical development throughout a variety of activities in the classroom. To encourage social interactions and collaboration with one another, the dramatic play area will be expanded into an area that will promote working together and sharing in experiences. The weather is continuing to change and the wind and cold weather is upon us. We will continue to promote opportunities for the children to think about how wind affects objects and how they can create their own "wind." Their interest in birds has continued to emerge and they have shown a growing interest in bird eggs and the hatching process. We will continue to foster this interest in a variety of ways to expand the children's knowledge and interest in bird life.

Expressive Arts
**Materials: Colored play dough, rolling pins, a variety of molds (such as turtles and houses), Alphabet cookie cutters, cutting tools, name cards
Rationale: To continue to promote literacy and letter awareness with the letter cookie cutters and name cards. To encourage the use of a variety of molds to represent objects and ideas. To encourage cutting with tools to make different marks and shapes.
Skills: Sensory input, fine motor, creative expression, alphabetic awareness, symbolic representation.

**Materials: Primary paint colors, sponge brushes, and paper
Rationale: To provide an opportunity to experiment with new painting tools. To encourage creativity through mixing colors and experimenting with different paint strokes.
Skills: Fine motor, hand-eye coordination self-expression, risk taking, observation, comparison, and promote social interaction.

**Materials: 4x4 grid paper, various colored bingo stampers, and markers
Rationale: To continue the practice of creating patterns and shapes, such as circles, and to encourage one to one correspondence.
Skills: Fine motor, counting, one to one correspondence, patterns

**Materials: Scissors and paper with lines
Rationale: To promote fine motor skills of cutting and snipping. To experiment with different methods of cutting (little snips, longer cuts, straight-line cutting) on different lines on the paper
Skills: fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, persistence, creative expression.

Sensory
**Materials: Shaving cream and trays.
Rationale: To explore the texture and smell of a new material that allows them to use their hands and fingers.
Skills: Sensory input, observation, manual dexterity, comparison, try out

**Materials: sand, scoops, rakes, sifters, and paddlewheels
Rationale: To explore and experiment with sand by using different tools and containers
Skills: Sensory input, observation, measurement, familiarity with new materials, experimentation, math skills (spatial relations and volume), comparison, prediction, and fine motor.

Science 

**Materials: Ribbons, cotton, leaves, feathers, light materials.
Rationale: To experiment with creating our own "wind" by blowing and using fans to move light objects.
Skills: Observation, comparison, try out, prediction, cause and effect.
***If any families have any air pumping devices that are not sharp (for example, hand air pumps for balls) that you are willing to bring into the class it would be greatly appreciated. We hope to expand the idea of creating our own wind by having different devices available for the children to experiment with.

**Materials: Sticks, twine, natural materials, sunflower seeds, neutral colored play dough, tree stumps, real bird nests and eggs
Rationale: To continue to support the children's interest in birds and the process of making their own bird nests.
Skills: Observation, cause and effect, prediction, comparison, try out ideas. 


**Materials: Plastic and stuffed animal birds, basket nests, acorns, seeds, pictures of birds (highlighting the nesting and egg hatching process), and books about birds (in the Cave).
Rationale: To continue to encourage the children's interest in various types of birds, their habitats, and the process of hatching and caretaking of baby birds through dramatic play scenarios.
Skills: Observation, role play, social skills, classification, comparison, prediction, creative expression. 


Dramatic Play 

**Materials: Familiar kitchen furniture, table, plastic foods highlighting those that encourage serving (pizza, cuttable fruits/vegetables cake, cupcakes), serving trays, silverware, plates, bowls, cups, pitchers, menus, aprons, notepad (to take orders), and writing tools.
Rationale: The kitchen area will be extended to be a part of a restaurant setting to encourage the children's interest in preparing and serving various foods and drinks to others. To encourage and promote writing and taking food orders from other children.
Skills: Role play, symbolic representation, communication, collaboration, creative expression, cooperation, social skills.
***Please let the teachers know if your child has any favorite restaurants or specific restaurant experiences you would like to share to make our classroom restaurant more personal and familiar to the children.

Math and Manipulatives
**Materials: Pegs and pegboards, sorting bears
Rationale: To continue to encourage one-to-one correspondence and seriation with the pegs. To give the children opportunity to group, sort, and count the different colored sorting bears.
Skills: Fine motor control, visual and spatial discrimination, one-to-one correspondence, grouping and ordering, counting, seriation, turn taking, manual dexterity. 


Language and Literacy
**Materials: Books related to the birds, the changing weather (wind, rain, snow), and the alphabet
Rationale: To promote finding resources and new information in books while continuing to facilitate the development of the basic components of language.
Skills: Listening, speaking, reading, phonological awareness, alphabetical awareness, heuristic language, give and ask for information.

**Materials: Letter cookie cutters, name cards, letter matching game
Rationale: To continue to support knowledge of symbol and representational systems. To promote alphabetical awareness, name recognition, and letter formations and letter matching.
Skills: fine motor, reading, writing, alphabet awareness, and vocabulary expansion

**Materials: Menus, notepads and markers
Rationale: To encourage writing and reading to promote letter and word recognition in the restaurant area.
Skills: fine motor, writing, alphabetical awareness, and vocabulary expansion

Blocks 

**Materials: various sized wooden ramps, hollow blocks, wood blocks, wooden planks, various wheels, small trucks, cars, and road signs.
Rationale: To promote road building with different surfaces (ramps, tunnels, streets). To continue to foster experimenting with speed, weight, direction, acceleration and slope.
Skills: Cooperation, collaboration, creative expression, large and fine motor, spatial concepts, construction skills (building), scientific skill, experimenting, reasoning.



Large Motor 

**Materials: Indoors- climbing wall, slide, stairs, A-frame and balancing beams, donut hole, monkey bars, basketball hoops, balls, and mats.
Rationale: To provide children opportunities to engage in activities that challenge their physical skills. To provide opportunities for the children to practice climbing and upper and lower body strength. To focus on receptive skills including throwing, catching, and grasping.
Skills: Upper and lower body strength, endurance, hand-eye coordination, receptive skills (throwing, grasping, reaching, catching), balance, visual/spatial discrimination

**Materials: Outdoors- trikes, wagons, buckets, shovels, sand molds, ribbons
Rationale: To provide children opportunities to engage in activities that challenge their physicals skills including a focus on propulsion skills through riding the trikes. To encourage the children to make creations out of the sand with the variety of molds and buckets. To give the children the opportunity to see how the wind affects the ribbons that will be tied to different areas of the playground.
Skills: Fine and large motor, body manipulation, physical fitness

Large group 

**Materials: Songs and rhymes led by teacher (gather, name, and topic songs and rhymes), guest dancers
Rationale: To expand on specific topics of interest (birds, wind, rain/snow) through sharing a common experience; practicing a routine and being part of a community of learners.
Skills: Attention span, attending and orienting, respect for one another, following directions.

Music

**Materials: Piano, drums, chimes, tambourines, interactive music PowerPoint
Rationale: To promote exploration of sound, volume, rhythm and social interaction. To allow the children an opportunity to use the computer to chose different instrument sounds to listen to 

Skills: Mathematical concepts (beats and patterns), imitation, call and answer, communication.

Snacks: 

Tuesday: Pretzels and raisins
Friday: Cereal and milk

Fall lesson plan - week of October 19th
Lesson Plan-Ayuko's 2AM
Classroom October 19th-25th Courtney Lead Teaching

Overview: Going into the 5th week of school, the children seem to have settled into the routine of the classroom. We pay close attention to each child's interests in order to incorporate these into our daily curriculum and make their learning meaningful and fun. Therefore, the classroom environment is set to provide a variety of opportunities for the children to develop relationships, learn how to collaborate, and recognize diversity in ideas and their expression. As the children become familiar with one another, we will continue to facilitate social awareness by sharing common areas and beginning to learn each other's names. This week we will provide numerous artistic outlets for the children to express their ideas throughout the day. In addition, we will be promoting body awareness through various art, sensory, and music activities.
Expressive Arts
**Materials: Fall/Primary tempera paint colors, smaller/thinner paintbrushes.
Rationale: To explore a new type of brush to create thin strokes and precise markings on the paper.
Skills: Fine motor, self-expression, risk taking, try out new ideas.
**Materials: Brown play dough, rolling pins, and a variety of other tools that will help in their exploration of creating 3D "sculptures".
Rationale: To encourage the children to experience and practice molding and manipulating the play dough. To express their creativity and imagination.
Skills: Sensory input, fine motor, creative expression, math skills (proportions).
**Materials: Glue, Q-tips, colored paper, natural materials (leaves, sticks, acorns, pine cones, grass, etc).
Rationale: To use and feel the materials we see and find outside and create artistic expression. To explore the texture of glue and familiarize the children with the purpose and use of glue.
Skills: Fine motor, self-expression, problem solve, sensory input, risk taking, observation, comparison, prediction.
Sensory
**Materials: Water, red and blue food coloring, baster, and a variety of containers.
Rationale: To continue supporting the use of the baster for manual dexterity and transferring water. To observe and experiment with movement of water using tubes and funnels. To support the exploration of what happens when the colors are mixed together.
Skills: Observation, familiarity with materials, experimentation, math skills (volume, more, less), comparison, prediction, and fine motor.
**Materials: Various colors of finger paint, trays
Rationale: To allow the children to fulfill their curiosity of using their hands to feel, move, and mix the paint colors.
Skills: Sensory input, creative expression, and prediction
Science
**Materials: Mirrors on walls, flashlights, CDs, light table with color gels.
Rationale: To experiment with reflections, light, and shadows.
Skills: Observation, cause and effect, prediction, comparison, try out ideas.
**Materials: Real turtles, natural materials, terrarium
Rationale: To begin discussing the care of the turtles in our classroom, as well as observing their behavior.
Skills: Observation, ideas, reflection.
**Materials: Fall vegetables - pumpkins, gourds, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, and any other *vegetables to be brought in from home; magnifying glasses; knife (to be used by teachers), and cutting board.
Rationale: To further explore and investigate the harvested items by cutting them open and seeing the seeds.
Skills: observation, predication, classification, comparison, try out ideas, record.
Dramatic Play
**Materials: Loft "tree house/cave," squirrels and owls, smaller "cave" structures extended from the loft, large branches children will collect in nature, posted questions and books focusing on the squirrels and owls and their habitat in trees.
Rationale: To provide a space/cozy areas to foster pretend play and social interaction among students and teachers. To support their development in language, literacy, and promote emergent reading such as dictating a story from the pictures. To create an opportunity to learn about owls and the squirrels that live in the trees. To emphasize the animals' lifestyles and habitat.
Skills: Role play, creative expression, sensory input, cooperation, turn taking, and communication, symbolic representation, and social skills; phonological awareness, vocabulary expansion on the subject matter.
**Materials: Familiar household kitchen and baking items.
Rationale: To re enact the cooking experiences they have had by pretending to add, stir, and mix ingredients to create "baked goods."
Skills: Role play, communication, symbolic representation, cooperation, turn taking, and social skills.
**Materials: Baby items, multiethnic babies, moving trucks, front loaders, unit blocks, and cars.
Rationale: To support the children's interest in incorporating the blocks to build spaces for the babies while using the trucks to move and deliver the materials.
Skills: Turn taking, social skills, try out ideas, role play, social interactions, communication, symbolic representation, cooperation, scientific and mathematical concepts
Math and Manipulatives
**Materials: Mr. Potato Heads, seriation and color stackers, and puzzles
Rationale: To promote fine motor development, shape and color differentiation, body awareness, and hand-eye coordination for spatial awareness.
Skills: Fine motor control, visual and spatial discrimination, turn taking, cooperation, manual dexterity.
Language and Literacy
**Materials: Alphabet signs, signs, questions, recipe cards (for cooking activity), story-lines, and related books posted in various curriculum areas and a variety of books on the book shelf. Books relating to owls, animals, and the change of seasons (hibernation, leaves, cold weather etc).
Rationale: To support their development in beginning role play, experience the basic components of language systems, and support understanding the changes of the season.
Skills: Communication, referencing, phonological awareness, observation, vocabulary expansion.
Blocks
**Materials: Square and rectangle multicolored blocks, hollow blocks, foam blocks, questions, and photos of children building.
Rationale: To support mathematical skills, social interaction, and collaborative building. To be incorporated into buildings, homes for the babies, homes for the animals, or roads for the vehicles located nearby.
Skills: Communication, collaboration, large motor, fine motor, expressive creation, mathematical and scientific concepts.
Large Motor
**Materials: Indoors - race car tracks, uneven surfaces, donut hole, stairs. Outside -rakes for raking large pile of leaves (to jump in), wooden wagons, trucks and diggers, hard hats, and tools for digging and molding sand.
Rationale: To support basic skills such as walking, climbing, balance, coordination, and upper and lower body development and promote cooperation, social interactions, trial and error, and role play.
Skills: Perceptual Motor Skills (spatial, temporal, directional, and body awareness) and physical fitness (cardio vascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, and agility) Dramatic Play (acting out the jobs of the construction workers they have been observing for the past week).
Large group
**Materials: Name songs, turtle songs, books, upper arm movement activities.
Rationale: To follow a routine, help children learn each other's names, and promote a beginning sense of group, community, and collaboration.
Skills: fine motor development, hand eye coordination, listening, speaking, patience, taking turns, communication, and social skills.
Music - Music will be apparent throughout the day to support transitions and encourage participation.
**Materials: Piano, drums, tambourines, and shakers.
Rationale: To promote exploration of sound, volume, rhythm and social interaction.
Skills: Turn taking, fine motor development, large motor development, and mathematical concepts such as beats and patterns.

Snacks:
Tuesday: Cucumber slices and crackers

Lesson Plan-Ayuko's 2AM Classroom
Week of October 12th
Ayuko Lead Teaching
Overview: As children settle into the routine of the classroom, we continue to support them through the transitions and help them become aware of themselves and each other through positive interactions and problem solving. We will continue to explore what is happening outside, focusing on the changing foliage and on the behavior of animals in our environment. We will encourage and spur social interactions between children, as they learn how to share a common space and materials.
Expressive Arts
**Materials: Glue, Q-tips, colored paper, natural materials (leaves, sticks, acorns, pine cones, grass, etc).
Rationale: To use and feel the materials we see and find outside and create artistic expression. To explore the texture of glue and familiarize the children with the purpose and use of glue.
Skills: Fine motor, self-expression, problem solve, sensory input, risk taking, observation, comparison, prediction.
**Materials: Fall tempera paint colors, paper, various sized brushes.
Rationale: To experiment making various strokes and shapes using a variety of brushes.
Skills: Fine motor, self-expression, risk taking, try out new ideas, comparison.

Sensory
**Materials: Water, blue food coloring, basters, ice cube trays, and a variety of containers.
Rationale: To continue to promote experimentation with cause and effect with the basters. To explore what happens when blue color is added to the clear water.
Skills: Observation, familiarity with materials, math skills (volume and spatial relations), comparison, prediction, and fine motor.

**Materials: Scented playdough, cookie cutters, rolling pins, timer, oven, and "baking ingredients" (i.e. salt and oregano)
Rationale: To encourage the children to experience and practice adding, molding, stirring, and mixing ingredients to create baked goods. This will eventually lead up to a cooking activity at the play dough table where the children will participate in the making of pumpkin muffins.
Skills: Sensory input, creative expression, math skills (counting, measurement), fine motor

**Materials: Mini rain sticks/shakers.
Rationale: To promote experimentation with sound and how to produce sound. To challenge children's thinking while creating a satisfying trial and effect game with teachers and peers.
Skills: observation, trial and error, and sensory input.

Science
**Materials: Mirrors on walls, flashlights, light table with color gels.
Rationale: To experiment with reflections, light, and shadows.
Skills: observation, cause and effect, prediction, comparison, try out ideas.
**Materials: Introduction of real turtles, natural materials, terrarium
Rationale: To begin implementing the idea of hosting a real turtle in our class: what kind of care does it entail? How do we make its habitat?
Skills: Observation, ideas, try out.
**Materials: Fall vegetables and fruit - pumpkins, gourds, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, and any other vegetables brought in; magnifying glasses; knife (to be used by teachers) and cutting board.
Rationale: To further explore and investigate the harvested items by cutting them open and seeing the seeds.
Skills: observation, predication, classification, comparison, try out ideas, record.

Dramatic Play
**Materials: Loft "bear cave," squirrels, and other woodland animals (bears, rabbits, wolves), materials the children will collect in nature, various animal fur, posted questions and books focusing on the squirrels and other woodland animals.
Rationale: To provide a space/cozy area to foster an animal story line to promote pretend and symbolic play and support social interaction among students and teachers. To support their development in language, literacy, and promote emergent reading such as dictating a story from the pictures. To create an opportunity to learn about woodland animals native to Minnesota, emphasizing the animals' lifestyles to the changes in season.
Skills: Role play, creative expression, sensory input, cooperation, turn taking, and communication, symbolic representation, and social skills; listening, speaking, phonological awareness, vocabulary expansion on the subject matter.

**Materials: Familiar household kitchen, baby items, multiethnic babies, various dress-up clothes, and moving trucks, diggers, unit blocks, and cars.
Rationale: To support pretend play, symbolic play, foster social interaction and cooperative play.
Skills: Communication, cooperation, turn taking, role play, symbolic representation, and social skills.

Math and Manipulatives
**Materials: Face matching game, seriation and color stackers, natural material sorting activity, and puzzles.
Rationale: To promote fine motor development, facial recognition, shape and color differentiation, and hand-eye coordination for spatial awareness.
Skills: visual discrimination, turn taking, fine motor control.

Language and Literacy
**Materials: Signs, questions, storylines, and related books posted in various curriculum areas and a variety of books on the book shelf. Books relating to fall (hibernation, leaves, etc).
Rationale: To support their development in beginning role play, experience the basic components of language systems, and support understanding the changes of the season.
Skills: Listening, speaking, phonological awareness, observation, vocabulary expansion.

Blocks
**Materials: Square and rectangle unit blocks, hollow and cardboard blocks, and pictures of children building with blocks.
Rationale: To support mathematical skills, social interaction, and collaborative building. To be incorporated into buildings, homes for the babies, or roads for the vehicles located nearby.
Skills: Communication, collaboration, large motor, expressive creation, mathematical and scientific concepts.

Large Motor
**Materials: Indoors - race car tracks, uneven surfaces, donut hole, stairs. Outside - Rocking boat, rakes for raking leaves, wheel barrows, wooden wagon, and tools for digging and molding sand.
Rationale: To support basic skills such as walking, climbing, balance, coordination, and upper and lower body development and promote social interaction and role play.
Skills: Perceptual Motor Skills (spatial, temporal, directional, and body awareness) and physical fitness (cardio vascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, and agility).

Large group
**Materials: Name songs, turtle songs, books, fingerplay.
Rationale: To begin a routine, familiarize the children with each other's names, and promote a beginning sense of group, community, and collaboration.
Skills: fine motor development, hand eye coordination, listening, speaking, patience, taking turns, communication, and social skills.

Music - Music will be apparent throughout the day to support transitions and encourage participation.
**Materials: Piano, drums, tone blocks, and shakers.
Rationale: to promote exploration of sound, volume, rhythm and social interaction.
Skills: turn taking, fine motor development, and mathematical concepts such as beats and patterns.

Snack
Tuesday: Bananas and graham crackers
Friday: Apples and pretzles

Lesson Plan-Ayuko's 2AM Classroom
Week of October 5th
Ayuko Lead Teaching

Overview: The children are slowly learning the routines of the classroom and are increasingly comfortable separating from their parents in the morning. We will continue to focus on building relationships among children and teachers by getting to know each others' names and finding a common thread through all forms of play. There will be few activities that incorporate the children's photos and names to encourage interaction among them and help us create a sense of community in the classroom. The play areas continue to be arranged to promote these goals and encourage the development of positive relationships with classmates and teachers.

Expressive Arts
**Materials: Scissors and crayons.
Rationale: To promote fine motor skills of cutting and snipping.
Skills: fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, persistence, creative expression.

**Materials: Wooden paint brushes, paper, and fall paint colors.
Rationale: To explore new paint colors that resemble and reflect what we see outside.
Skills: Fine motor grip, hand-eye coordination, observation, comparison, self-expression, and promote social interaction.

**Materials: Scented play dough, cookie cutters, timer, oven, and natural materials (for toppings).
Rationale: To continue to encourage social interactions and creative expression and support the children's interest in baking. To promote the children's understanding of time and waiting.
Skills: Sensory input, creative expression, math skills (counting, measurement of time), fine motor

Sensory
**Materials: Basters and a variety of containers
Rationale: To promote experimentation with cause and effect and how the children can use the basters in the water.
Skills: Observation, familiarity with materials, math skills (volume and spatial relations), cause and effect, and fine motor.

**Materials: Four noise sticks.
Rationale: To promote experimentation with sound and how to produce sound. To challenge children's thinking while creating a satisfying trial and effect game with teachers and peers.
Skills: Physical coordination, observation, and sensory input.

Science
Materials: Visuals of frogs and turtles eating habits and lifestyle. Variety of foliage and plastic bugs, camouflaging frogs, and turtles.
Rationale: To observe and investigate the items in the terrarium using magnifying glasses. To begin thinking about what frogs and turtles eat and where they live. To provoke the idea of hosting a real turtle or frog in our class: what kind of care does it entail?
Skills: Observation, prediction, comparison, classification.

**Materials: Light table, leaves, sticks, milkweed, acorns, pumpkins, grass, rocks, etc; magnifying glasses.
Rationale: To experience, compare, and observe what we find outside at this time of year through awareness and exploration.
Skills: Observation, comparison, ideas, try out, record.

Dramatic Play
**Materials: Loft "bear cave", bears and other woodland animals (rabbits and squirrels), posted questions and books focusing on woodland animals.
Rationale: To provide a space/cozy area to foster an animal story line to promote pretend and symbolic play and support social interaction among students and teachers. To support their development in language, literacy, and promote emergent reading such as dictating a story from the pictures.
Skills: Role play, creative expression, sensory input, cooperation, turn taking, and communication, symbolic representation, and social skills; listening, speaking, phonological awareness, vocabulary expansion on the subject matter.

**Materials: Animal smocks, a variety of "furry" fabrics, and scarves.
Rationale: To encourage creative expression and pretend play in the "bear cave." To explore and discuss different textures of fabric.
Skills: Sensory input, creative expression, and role play.

**Materials: Familiar household kitchen, baby items, multiethnic babies, various dress-up clothes, and dump trucks and cars.
Rationale: To support pretend play, symbolic play, foster social interaction and cooperative play.
Skills: Communication, cooperation, turn taking, role play, symbolic representation, and social skills.

Math and Manipulatives
**Materials: Face matching games, seriation and color stackers, tong sorting activity, and puzzles.
Rationale: To promote fine motor development, facial recognition, shape and color differentiation, and hand-eye coordination for spatial awareness.
Skills: visual discrimination, turn taking, fine motor control.

Language and Literacy
**Materials: Signs, questions, storylines, and related books posted in various curriculum areas and a variety of books on the book shelf. Books relating to fall (hibernation, leaves, etc).
Rationale: To support their development in beginning role play, experience the basic components of language systems, and support understanding the changes of the season.
Skills: Listening, speaking, phonological awareness, observation, vocabulary expansion.

Blocks
**Materials: Hollow and cardboard blocks and pictures of children building with blocks.
Rationale: To support mathematical skills, social interaction, and collaborative building. To be incorporated into buildings or roads for the vehicles located nearby.
Skills: Communication, collaboration, large motor, expressive creation, mathematical and scientific concepts.

Large Motor
**Materials: Indoors - Climbing equipments, stairs, slide, and rocking boat. Outside - Natural materials such as grass, plants, and trees, wooden house, picnic table, slide, rakes for raking leaves, wheel barrows, and tools for digging and molding sand.
Rationale: To support basic skills such as jumping, climbing, balance, coordination, and upper and lower body development and promote social interaction and role play.
Skills: Perceptual Motor Skills (spatial, temporal, directional, and body awareness) and physical fitness (cardio vascular endurance, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, and agility).

Large group
Materials: name songs, fall songs, books, fingerplay.
Rationale: To begin a routine, familiarize the children with each other's names, and promote a beginning sense of group, community, and collaboration.
Skills: fine motor development, hand eye coordination, listening, speaking, patience, taking turns, communication, and social skills.

Music - Music will be apparent throughout the day to support transitions and encourage participation.
**Materials: Piano, drums, and shakers.
Rationale: to promote exploration of sound, volume, rhythm and social interaction.
Skills: turn taking, fine motor development, and mathematical concepts such as beats and patterns.

Snacks:
Tuesday: Pretzels and Milk
Friday: Apples and Graham crackers