Shadows and Reflections-Week 3
Theme –Shadows and Reflections. During this unit students will explore shadows and reflections, using observations, experiments and books to learn what makes a shadow and a reflection. Through Story Time books, children hear about a girl playing by a still pond, a puppy who thinks he is a kitten, a crocodile collecting reflections in a pail, a sleepy boy who sees a shadow save a cat, and a raccoon who has an adventure with only his reflection for company.

Theme Concepts:
Reflections are images thrown back from a shiny surface.There must be light or there is no reflection.Mirrors and still water reflect light well; dull surfaces do not.If water is moving, its reflections are blurry or crooked.Objects are opaque, translucent, or transparent.Shadows are the dark areas made when an object blocks light.

Stories:
Play with Me by Marie Hall Ets
Raccoon on His Own by: Jim Arnosky
Puddle Pail by Elisa KlevenS

Small Groups:
-Math- Tallying animals from our story
-Art-Making Kaleidoscopes
-Science-Exploring Mirror Panels

Choice: -
Easel – Cloud Painting on blue paper using white paint and sponges
-Sensory– Looking for reflections in water using child decorated boats(lids)
-Dramatic Play – Reflection Station-A table with reflective paper on it with objects to create reflections
-Math-Using swamp animals to create collections
-Art- painting with glitter paints
-Writing Center – Drawing and writing about animals-Puzzles
– Photographs of Animal Puzzles (Raccoons and crocodiles)
-Blocks – Jungle Animals

Songs, Word Plays and Letters
-Change, Change, Rearrange (using the word cat, we change the beginning sound to make new words such as hat, bat, mat, sat)
-Whose Reflection is in the Pool?
-Five Green Speckled Frogs (using child created props)
-Bingo – with the word Snake-Old Macdonald had a swamp