- leaves
- plant
- seed
MA Standards:
Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.2: Recall information for short periods of time and retell, act out, or represent information from a text read aloud, a recording, or a video (e.g., watch a video about birds and their habitats and make drawings or constructions of birds and their nests).
Head Start Outcomes:
Language Development/Receptive Language: Attends to language during conversations, songs, stories, or other learning experiences.
Logic and Reasoning/Reasoning and Problem Solving: Classifies, compares, and contrasts objects, events, and experiences.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 3: Communicate personal experiences or interests.
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 12: Listen to, recite, sing, and dramatize a variety of age-appropriate literature.
Watch Together: “Exploring Small Spaces” #1 (PEEP live-action clip)
STEM Key Concepts: Respect the environment and do not harm plants and other living things; A collection of objects can be compared and sorted in many different ways
ELA Focus Skills: Active Viewing, Speaking and Listening, Vocabulary
Tell children they are going to watch PEEP and the Big Wide World “Exploring Small Spaces.” Explain that in the video children are exploring plants in a small area, just like they did while exploring outdoors.
Set a viewing focus for children by asking them to think about how the plants compare to the ones they found while exploring. Ask questions such as,
- What kinds of things did the children discover in their small square?
- What did the children notice that was different about the leaves they found?
- Why did the girl think the plant looked like a seed?
- Did the children find any of the same things you found while you were exploring your small spaces? What was the same?
- Did the grass you found feel soft and stringy like the one the children found? How was it different?
Educator Tip: Watching and discussing the selected PEEP stories and live-action video clips can spark and extend children’s interest and understanding of plants. We suggest that children watch the video clips after they have had an opportunity to do their own initial exploration of plants. That way your children can compare their experiences and discoveries with those shown on the video clip and think about what additional plant explorations they might like to try.
