Activity 1: (10 minutes) I CAN LEARN NEW THINGS

Review the Pyramid of Happiness poster. Review the fourth and fifth level of the pyramid and perform that action (strike a superhero pose and star-jump with arms and legs spread out wide). Make the connection of how knowing that we have the capacity to learn leads to a happier and healthier life. This makes us the best version of ourselves! Remind students about the actions associated with each level of the pyramid. Have a discussion:

Our brains are amazing things. They help our bodies grow and function. They also help us learn new things. I know that I can learn new things because I can think about all the things that I have already learned.

• What is something you know?
• How did you learn this?

Activity 2: (15 minutes) WHEN I WAS LITTLE

Invite each child to share about the kinds of things they can do now that they couldn’t do when they were a baby. Read When I Was Little, by Jamie Lee Curtis or watch the read-aloud video by Catherine Evans. As we grow older, we learn lots of new things. If we can’t do something, we can try and try until we can do it.

Give each child an I Am Learning handout. Have them draw a picture and dictate a story about something they can do now on the left-hand side of the paper, and something they want to learn to do on the right-hand side of the paper.

Activity 3: (20 minutes) MY BRAIN IS AMAZING

Our brains are an amazing part of our bodies. It helps us think, learn, move, and much more. Watch this video from Peekaboo Kidz to help children understand all the things that their brains can do.

Ask the children to recall all the things the brain does. Review the following list by having a discussion or moving as suggested.

• Thinking: What color is the sun?
• Movement: Jump up and down, wiggle your fingers.
• Balance: Stand on one foot.
• Breathing: Practice taking deep breaths.
• Heartbeat: Run in place, then feel your heartbeat in your chest.
• Digesting food: What did you eat for breakfast? Where does the food go and how does it get to the parts of the body that need it?
• Emotions: How are you feeling?
• Memories: What happened on your last birthday?

Activity 4: (15 minutes) LITTLE STEPS LEAD TO BIG LEARNING

Our brains have an enormous capacity to learn new things. We are learning new things every day. Read The Magical Yet, by Angela DiTerlizzi, or watch the read-aloud video by Storytime & Art with the Two Teachers. Learning new things takes time, patience, and trying again and again. Share a time of when you learned a new skill. Tell the children about your experience. Outline the steps you took to accomplish your goal. Invite the children to share about something they would like to learn to do. Talk about the steps that are needed when you don’t know how to do something—YET!

Select one of the following topics to have a discussion about learning:

• Riding a trike or bicycle
• Getting dressed
• Reading a book
• Writing your name
• Singing a song
• Putting on your own seatbelt
• Making a sandwich

Assess which students already know how to do the activity and invite them to share what they know about it, how they learned that particular skill, and how it felt when they accomplished the task. Talk about how there are many little things to learn along the way to learning about big things. For example, learning how to read a book starts with knowing how to sit quietly, knowing how to turn pages, recognizing letters, learning what sounds the letters make, and finally, learning how to read words. Each step brings us closer to learning new things.

Activity 5: (15 minutes) THINGS I KNOW BOOKLET

Make a copy of the Things I Know Booklet for each child. Help each child:

• Write their names.
• Circle the letters they can identify.
• Write the number they can count to.
• Color the crayons the correct colors.
• Draw a shape.