Gummy Bears

Someone wantedmore information about “The Gummy Bears.” First, cut 5 bears out of construction paper (red, orange, green,yellow, and purple).  Cut fivepennies out of orange construction paper or fun foam.  Choose five children to come to the front of the room andhold the bears.  Pass out penniesto five other children.  Invite therest of the class to hold up five fingers as you sing this song to the tune of“Five Little Ducks.”  (It’s on myCD IS EVERYBODY HAPPY?)

Down at the candyshop what did I see?

Five little gummybears smiling at me.

Along came(child’s name) with a penny one day.

He/she bought thegreen one and took it away.

Down at the candy shop what did I see?

Four little gummy bears smiling at me.

Along came (child's name) with a penny one day.

He/she bought the purple one and took it away.

Continue singingas children buy the other colors.

Adaptations:  Change the number of bears in the song.

Use nickels,dimes, or quarters.

Pumpkins,valentines, and other seasonal items can be used in place of the bears.

Desktop Writing

Desktop Writing

Here’s an idea tosave for when you’re setting up your classroom.  Did you know you could write directly on the surface ofdesks and tables with a Sharpie marker. It can be erased with a Mr. Clean eraser.  Think of all the possibilities for this!  Names, alphabet letters, number lines,sight words, notes of encouragement….!

You can also writeon a mirror with a dry erase marker. Put reminders, such as “Remember to wash your hands!”  Congratulate a child on a specialaccomplishment.  Write a dailyriddle or brain teaser.

Tater Tot Cheer

When I was at the ETSU Conference this week Seglinda taught me the Tater Tot cheer.

For a good job give a tater tot.  (Make a fist and stick out the knuckle of your index finger and tap with your partner.)

For a better job give a tater.  (Make fists and touch all knuckles.)

For a super job give some fries.  (Extend fingers and wiggle as you touch.)

Grandma's Finger Play

(Rita Quarles shared this finger play that she learned from her grandmother when she was little.  Just an example of how all those rhymes and songs stay in our brains forever!)

Two little hands soft and bright.  (Hold up hands.)

This is my left.  (Extend left.)

This is my right.  (Extend right.)

Ten little fingers standing on each.  (Wiggle fingers.)

So that I may hold a plum or peach.  (Open palms up.)

When I get as big as you,

Lots of things these hands will do!  (Clap hands.)

Discovery Bags

What do you do with all those bags you get at conferences?  Here are some 
"discovery bags" you can create to use in your classroom this year.  

Why?             writing;science concepts; math; vocabulary; motivation

What?            computerbag, old briefcase, backpack, etc.

How?             Filla computer bag with some of the materials below.

ConceptBag –Put objects that are the same color, shape, beginning

sound,etc. in the bag

ThemeBags – Collect books about a particular theme.  Add pencils, paper, crayons, and ask children, “What can youfind out?”

TellMe More – Put an object in the bag and give the children clues.  When they guess what it is, take it outof the bag and encourage the children to describe the object.  Keep saying, “Tell me more!” as theyuse more adjectives to describe the item.

WritingPortfolio – Put paper, envelopes, sticky notes, pencils, pens, coloredpencils, stickers, scissors, glue, and other writing paraphernalia in the bag.

MathKit – Add a calculator, ruler, minute timer, counters, toy money, tablet,pencil, calendar, and other math related objects to the bag.

ScienceKit – You will need an old white dress shirt (short sleeve) and safetygoggles to make a science kit. Write “scientist of the week” on the pocket.  Add paper, pencils, a magnet, magnifying glass, and book ofscience experiments to the kit. One child each week gets to be “scientist of the week” and take home thebag on Monday.  They choose ascience experiment and practice it at home with their parents.  On Thursday, they return the kit andpresent the experiment to their classmates.

HappyBag – Fill the bag with a special book, puppet, game, flashlight, and othersmall toys.  Use for emergencies tomake children happy.

ArtPortfolio – Place construction paper, markers, crayons, glue, scissors,play dough, and other art media in a bag for individual creative activities.

TakeHome Activities – Send home games, books, puzzles, and other activitieschildren can work on at home with their parents.

WOW!  Take a look at what Jennifer at "kinderpond" has to share!

kinderpond.com/discoverypacks

NAME BADGES

I was cleaningoff my desk this morning and found a name badge from a conference I recentlyattended.  You’ve probably got oneyourself in a drawer.  You can alsopurchase these at an office supply store. Here are some interesting ways to recycle those old name badges in yourclassroom this year!

Skills - Chooseskills you are working on (letters, words, numerals, colors, shapes, etc.) and wear them in thename badge. Sing this song to the tune of “If You’reHappy and You Know it:”

                                    If you can read this word,letter, shout it out. 

                                    Ifyou can read this ______, whisper it out.

                                    Ifyou can read this ______, spell it out.

                                    Ifyou can read this ______, shout it out.

                        Here’sanother chant to reinforce skills:

                                    I know color, numeral.  Yes, I do.

                                    Iknow _____.  How about you?

                                    Childrenrepeat:

                                    Weknow ______.  Yes, we do.

                                    Weknow ______.  Just like you!

Special Event -  Whena child has a special event in their life, make a badgefor them to wear.  Forexample:  “I’m a new big brother.”   “I scored a goal at my soccer name.”  

Hint!  Encourage faculty members to recognizethese badges.

Ask Me About - Tocelebrate a skill (writing their name, recognizing all the letters,reading sight words) a child has achieved, write “Ask me about skill” onthe badge.  For example:  “Ask me about counting to l00.”  “Ask me about writing my name."


Whenchildren show proficiency in addition, make a badge thatsays, “Name has earned a B.A. (Best in Addition).” Forsubtraction write, “Name has earned an M.S. (Master in Subtraction.)"

Ifyou are doing a unit of study, individualize instruction by allowingchildren to choose a topic they are interested in.  Afterdoing “research,” they write their area of "expertise" andwear it in their name badge. Children walk around theroom and ask each other questions.

*Usethis idea for book reports.  

*Atthe beginning of the school year, make “expert” name badges so children can get to know eachother.


Here is a comment from Ms. Jessi:

Perfect ideas! I've usedthem on field trips by putting my business card in it. :)

MrsDugginsDoodlebugs wrote:

I LOVE these ideas - Iuse them a "Center Captain" badges too. My captain of the day (foreach group) get's to wear this badge and boy do they feel special! 

KATALINA MATALINA UPSADINA WALKADINA HOCA POCA LOCA

Katalina GoesBack to School

Oh, mygoodness!  August is almost hereand many of you are getting ready to go back to school.  Katalina Matalina would like to go withyou this year!

Katalina and I goback a long time to when I was a girl scout in the 1950’s.  I loved her then and children stilllove her today!  She has several cousins,like Hagalena Magalena, but the message is the same. 

Skills:  phonologicalawareness, invented spelling, diversity, comprehension

Directions:  Children will love singing this song tothe tune of “Shortnin’ Bread.”  Then you can use Katalina as a catalyst for reinforcing other skills. 

*The song is on my“Silly Songs” CD if you want to get it on my website drjean.org.

Chorus:            KatalinaMatalina Upsadina Walkadina Hoca Poca Loca was her name.

                        Herhead was shaped like a baseball bat.   (Point to head.)

                        Andright on top was a funny, old hat. (Chorus)

                        Shehad two hairs in her head.  (Pointto hair.)

                        Onewas alive and the other was dead. (Chorus)

                        Shehad two eyes in her head.  (Pointto eyes.)

                        Onewas purple and the other was red. (Chorus)

                        Shehad two teeth in her mouth.  (Pointto mouth.  Point up and down.)

                        Onepointed north and the other pointed south.  (Chorus)

                        Herneck was as long as a ten foot pole. (Point to neck.)

                        Andright in the middle was a big, black bow. (Chorus)

                        Herhips were like two ships in port. (Wiggle hips.)

                        Oneheaded south and the other headed north. (Chorus)

                        Herfeet were as flat as a bathroom mat. (Point to feet.)

                        Howdid they ever get like that? (Chorus)

                        Butshe had a heart, so I’m told.  (Puthands over heart.)

                        Thatwas made of purest gold.  (Chorus)

Syllables  - Clapout the syllables in Katalina’s name. Clap out the syllablesin the children’s names in your classroom.  Count howmany claps in each person’s name. Compare and graph.      

            

Shared Writing  -  Asan interactive writing activity slowly say Katalina’s name. Encourage the children to call out letters as you write them on theboard.   Makeup silly rhymes with children’s names,

Comprehension - Have children close their eyes as yousing the song and createa picture of Katalina in their heads. Give each child asheet of paper to draw her interpretation of Katalina.  Displayon a bulletin board or make a class book.

Diversity  - Talkabout what it means to have a heart of gold.  Cut out 4 hearts and decorate with gold glitter. Punch holes in the heartsand tie on string to make necklaces. Each day when yousee a child being a kind friend, let them wear KatalainaMatalina's heart of gold.

      

Today’s blog islike “show and tell.”  Here aresome great ideas teachers have shared with me over the past few weeks.

Banana DanceBook

You’ve got to goto kinderkaren.blogspot.com and download the adorable book she made to go withthe “Banana Dance.”  Too cute!

Short Vowels

Joanne Poland fromAnniston, AL, has come up with a multi-sensory way for children to remember theshort vowel sounds. 

at thechair – children stand at their chairs as you emphasize the short /a/

edge of thechair – children sit on the edge of their chairs = short /e/

in thechair – children sit in the chair – short /i/

on thechair – children stand on the chair – short /o/

under thechair – children crawl under the chair – short /u/

Catch a Bubble

Melanie Tew ofMobile, AL, sings this song to the tune of “London Bridge” to focus children’sattention:

Catch a bubble inyour mouth,

In your mouth, inyour mouth.

Catch a bubble inyour mouth.

Show it to menow.  (Children puff out cheeks.)

Melanie then walksaround and gently “pops” the bubble by touching their cheeks.

Name Game

Kristin Murray ofRiverdale, GA, shared an interesting activity to do with children’s names.  It’s perfect for the beginning of theschool year.  Put stickers on unifixcubes and write the letters in the children’s names. 

-Count how manyletters in each person’s name.

-Pair children upand see who has more, less, or the same.

-Graph names.  Whose name is shorter, longer, or thesame as the teacher’s name?

Sign Language

You know how muchI LOVE sign language.  aslpro.comis one of my favorite sites because they have a dictionary where you can seesomeone sign almost any word you can think of.  Taylor Dinges of Madison, AL, said that there is also a freeapp called isign lite.  I foundanother free app called alphabet sign language.  Oh, what wonders there are in the app world!

Bbbaaattt

Here’s a greatidea from Megan Stewart and Rachel Patterson.  Take the chorus for “Tooty Ta” and use it for blending CVCwords.

/b/b/b/   /a/a/a/   /t/t/t/  BAT

/p/p/p/  /e/e/e/   /n/n/n/    PEN

PictureSchedules

Rebecca Jett ofMobile, AL. uses pictures schedules for some of her special needschildren.  She recommends insertingpictures for art, PE, or other specials daily so that children don’t getfrustrated.

Singing Science

Sandy Romo of ElPaso has created some songs to help her children learn about the states ofmatter, the water cycle, parts of a plant, forces, and other scienceconcepts.  Here’s the link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqVuveUgYWw

ABC - Sing with Me!

ABC Tunes

Did you know thatthe traditional tune we use to sing the A B C’s is also the tune for “Baa BaaBlack Sheep” and “Twinkle Little Star”? Here are several other tunes that you can use to sing the ABC’s.  Give it a try!

“Amazing Grace”

“Braham’sLullabye”

Theme fromGilligan’s Island

“100 Bottles ofBeer on the Wall”

“Mary Had a LittleLamb”

Clap on theconsonants and hop on the vowels as you sing.  You can alsomarch, tiptoe, disco (finger up in the air and then cross the midline and pointdown), patty with a friend or do other movements.

Give children acopy of the alphabet and have them point to the letters as you sing.  You can use a pretzel stick, Bugle, or craftstick with a wiggly eye as a pointer.  But, my favorite pointer is a fake fingernail glued to a craft stick.  "Keep your finger on the letter!"

Debbie sent a link for some song posters she made to go with a few tunes I posted lately.  They're really cute!  Thanks for sharing, Debbie!

http://teachingmaketheworld.blogspot.com/2011/07/linky-party-songs-for-classroom.html

After a whirlwind trip to Houston, Mobile, and Dallas this week:
I'm home again, home again, jiggity jog!  
Now I'll get busy and do some more blogs!

Nature Center

Nature Deficit Disorder

Several years ago I read afantastic book called LAST CHILD IN THE WOODS.  It reminded me that children need to be connected to nature,and in our technical, fast paced society they are just not getting to spendenough time outdoors.

We all need balance in ourlives or things get out of whack. It’s especially critical when children are young and their brains aredeveloping to make sure they have plenty of sensory stimulation, time to be creative,time to use their imaginations, and time to experience all seasons ofnature. 

Last week when I attendeda conference in El Paso I happened to walk by the Lakeshore exhibit.  Now, I’ve seen enough plastic toys inmy time that I usually walk on by. But Todd Hays (Lakeshore’s sales rep) had created the most engaging scenario.On logs made from real trees he had placed some little plastic animals.  I wanted to stop and play!  I usually don’t push commercial products,but this was something unique, different, and refreshing.  

You can buy the kit, or perhaps it will inspire you to collect natural objects and create a nature center of your own.  Surely, there’s a parent in your classroom who would saw some limbs off a tree and cut them into sections for the block center.  A little bag of forest animals and you're in business! 

Materials:  basket of leaves, rocks, shells, pine cones, sticks, nuts, or other natural items (rotate for different seasons)

magnifying glass

clipboard, pencils, paper

ruler

field guide book (leaves, rocks, shells, etc.)

Activities:

*free exploration

*sorting

*counting

*seriating by size

*measuring

*observing with a magnifying glass

*sketching with a clip board

*identifying with a field guide book

*non-fiction writing

*PLAYING!

On the Road Again....

Hi there!   After an exciting week in Las Vegas, El Paso, and Austin I'm home!!!  The planes, cabs, and trains were no fun, but all the wonderful teachers filled my heart!!!

One of my favorite activities at the beginning of the school year is to hold each child on your lap as you sing this song to the tune of "Lassie and Laddie":

(Child's name) is important, important, important.
(Child's name) is important to you and to me.
At work and at play, she does her best each day.
(Child's name) is important to you and to me.

Here's a picture of me demonstrating the activity with a teacher in El Paso:

Carmelita Ramirez of Sweetwater, TX, taught us this song to the tune of "This Old Man."

I have two hands,
the left and right.
Hold them up high
so clean and bright.
Clap them softly, 1, 2, 3.
Clean little hands are good to see.

Yadira I. Chavez translated the butterfly song.  (Sorry if I don't do the punctuation correctly.)

La Mariposa
(Tune:  "Up on the Housetop")

Primero viene la mariposa y pone un huevo.
Una oruga sale Ya
Veraz a la oruga
girar y girar
en un capullo se dormira.

Oh, oh, oh!  Mira y ve.
Oh, oh, oh!  Mira y ve.

Y del capullo que saldra?
Una mariposa volara.

The Butterfly

First comes the butterfly who lays an egg.
Out comes a caterpillar
with may legs.
Oh, see the caterpillar spin and spin.
A little chrysalis to sleep in.

Oh, oh, oh!  Look and see.
Oh, oh, oh!  Look and see.

Out of the chrysalis, my oh, my.
Out comes a beautiful butterfly.

Banana Cheer

Hola from El Paso Texas!  El Paso is one of the nicest, friendliest places in the world!

Here's a cheer a Aurora Domingues taught me yesterday:

Make a banana.  (Put your fingertips together.)
Kiss the banana.  (Kiss fingertips.)
Peel the banana.  (Slowly pull down one finger at a time as if peeling a banana.)
Share the love.  (Open your palm and pretend to blow a kiss.)

CHECK IT OUT! CHEER  (Teresa Nicks)

Use this cheer when a child answers a question correctly:
"Check it out!  Check it out!
Child's name knows what he's (she's) talking about!?"
Pretend to touch index finger to tongue and then hold up as you say,
"Psssss!"  (Like it's really hot!)

PARTING WORDS

A teacher who taught at a Christian school said this is how she ends her day:

Teacher:  May the Lord watch between me and thee.
Children:  While we are absent one from another.

Although most of you teach in public schools where you can't use this idea, it was so sweet I wanted to pass it along.

Wishing you a wonderful day!

Ready to Read

Richer than I
you will never be,
for I had a parent
who read to me!

Many teachers have asked me to do a video where I could explain to parents how children learn to read.  It's now up on my list of videos on my website (drjean.org) so you can take a look and see if it's something that you might want to share with your parents this coming school year.  It's rather simplistic, but the message is strong...talk to them, read to them, sing to them, play with them!

The National I Teach K Conference in Las Vegas was amazing!  It was reaffirming and inspiring to see so many teachers from all over the world who still believe in early childhood and love children!

Viva Las Vegas!

Here I am in Las Vegas at the National I Teach K Conference. WOW! This is some city! I can't wait to sing and dance with kindergarten teachers from all over the USA! Rock and roll!Here's an echo chant I'll be doing tomorrow. It is a take off on my "Alligator" song. It could easily be adapted for any grade level or school.Chorus:Kindergarten. (Children repeat each line.)Kindergarten.Kindergarten.Is the best. Is the best. Is the best class.Boys and girls come to school.They learn to read and write.Making books and writing words.They really are so bright!ChorusBoys and girls learn to count.They also know their shapes.They learn to add and subtract.Their teachers think they're great!ChorusBoys and girls make new friends.They learn to follow rules.They laugh and cheer and sing a lot.It's cool to be in school!ChorusTrashcan TipsJena Snowden emailed that she named her trashcan "Miss TRASHLEY.". She asks the children to bring in "clean trash" during the week. On Friday they practice reading the logos. What a meaningful way to make print connections through environmental print!Tessa (spotlight on kindergarten) adapts her trashcan for different themes. During their zoo unit it becomes Leo the Lion Letter muncher and eats letters.It's cool to be in school!

Mr. and Mrs. Trash Can

I'm home from SPLASH (Super Conference in San Antonio) and I'm on my way to Las Vegas for the National I Teach K Conference.  I'm sorry I've neglected you for a few days, but I'm going to gather lots of great ideas and make it up to you!

Mr. and Mrs.Trash Can

Here’s an idea forsomething you can make today and then use all school year.  Dollar Tree sells small trash cans witha swing top.  You can decorate oneside to look like an old man and the other side to look like an old lady.  Children can feed them magneticletters, word cards, etc.  They areperfect for “The Old Lady Who Swallowed Numbers” or “The Old Man Who SwallowedLetters.”  (See drjean.org forlyrics.)  Children could also findthe letters in their names, spell high frequency words, or make the lettersounds as they insert them in the can.

Mr. Munch

Here’s anotheridea for the swinging trash can from Gaye Lynn Sarff.

Sing this songto the tune of “Tiny Tim” as you pretend to feed Mr. Munch magnetic letters:

I have a hungryfriend.

His name is Mr.Munch

And what helikes to do all day is gobble up his lunch.

He likes theletter ___  (for example H)

And things thatstart with ___(make /h/ sound)

And he is veryhappy when he goes munch, munch, munch, crunch.

Encourage childrento call out words that begin with that sound for Mr. Munch to crunch.

Howdy!

Yippee to yi yo! Here I am in San Antonio at the Frog Street conference. This is the first time I've done a blog from my phone. Give me a cowboy cheer! (Put your finger in the air and twirl it around as you say, "Yee haw!")This will be short because Y big old fingers don't do well on the lithe keyboard.SUB CD - One day when you have an extra hour create a CD that a substitute teacher can use when you are absent. You'll need a good morning song, calendar song, alphabet song, several movement songs and a good bye song. The sub can sing her way through the day!

"Handy" Fly Swatter

“Handy” FlySwatter

You can buy afancy fly swatter or just get an inexpensive one and cut it to look like ahand.

Adapt it todifferent skills by sealing an envelope and cutting it in half.  Slip the open end onto the flyswatter.  Write a letter or word onthe paper and then challenge a child to find the same letter or word in theclassroom.  You could also use itfor matching colors and shapes.

Write sentences onthe board and leave off the punctuation at the end.  Take 3 envelope halves and draw a large period, questionmark, and exclamation point on them. Let children practice reading sentences as you use the fly swatter toput different punctuation marks at the end.

Write “s,” “ed,”“ing” and other inflicted endings on envelopes.  Write root words on the board and then change the endings with the fly swatter.

 Here’s a comment Tessa(Spotlight on Kindergarten) sent yesterday:  “Love the fly swatter ideas! I cut hole in the small ones(I'm sure I found them in a dollar spot somewhere) and we swat sight words inour literacy stations or use the hole to frame sight words in our guidedreading books.”

 Fly Swatters

The flies arebuzzing this time of year, so here are some fun things to do with fly swatters.

Write letters,words, numerals, etc. on the chalkboard or on the sidewalk.  Give a child a fly swatter and saythis rhyme:

Turn around andswat a fly.

Tell me the(letter, word, number, etc.) that you spy.

The child closesher eyes, turns around, and swats the board.  She identifies the letter that the fly swatter is on.  If she doesn’t know it, she can “askthe audience” to help her.

Play a similargame with two fly swatters.  Dividethe class into two teams.  Onechild from each team comes to the board. The teacher calls out a letter. The first child to swat the letter wins a point for her team.  The game continues as differentchildren from each team come forward.

*If you writenumerals on the board you can call out a math fact.  The first person to swat the correct answer wins a point forher team.

Give children alarge sheet of paper.  Let themdraw insects on the paper with crayons or markers.  Place a little paint in a pie pan.  Children dip the fly swatter in the paint and hit thepaper. 

*You can also dothis as a group project and use bulletin board paper.  Attach to a fence on the playground with clothespins and swat away!

On a more personal note, we had a wonderful thing happen yesterday.  My husband's niece from CA was visiting with her two children aged 6 and 8.   Our grandson is in Bulgaria for the summer and he'd never met these second cousins.  We were able to Skype yesterday and it was incredible!!!  We're thousands of miles apart and the kids were telling jokes and laughing.  Now, K.J. can't wait to meet them in person.

One teacher said that when a child moved they tried to Skype to ease the sense of loss. Isn't that a great idea to tuck in your pocket for this coming school year?

Another great thing happened yesterday.  One of my neighbors has a granddaughter who teaches pre-K in Oklahoma City.  Kristin came over and it was so much fun to meet a kindred spirit!

I Love a Parade!

I Love aParade!

Every year ourcommunity has a 4^th of July parade.  No, you won’t find fancy floats or movie stars, but what youwill find are people who love their country!  There will be a fire truck leading the parade, along withbicycle riders, homemade costumes, dogs, grandparents, babies, golf carts,bubbles, loud music…and there will be goose bumps on my arms!  Once a year it’s nice to stop and thinkabout where we live, what others have sacrificed for us to have our freedom,and celebrate our “oneness” instead of our differences.

This is a day forhomemade ice cream, barbeques, watermelon, fireworks, bands, and FUN! 

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

PARENT POWER PAK

Parent PowerPak

Have you visitedmy July, 2011, website to check out the PARENT POWER PAK?  I worked very hard on those activitiesfor months, so I hope you’ll find all the resources and ideas useful.  Research continually reflects theimportance of involving families in their children's education.  And, the earlier we engage families,the more likely they will stay active.

I’m especiallyproud of the downloads because that’s something I would have loved as ateacher.  There are readingcalendars, activity/homework calendars, and “recipes for fun” for eachmonth.  My daughter (Dr. Holly)helped me make some videos demonstrating the monthly activities for parents soyou can look forward to seeing those in September.  They are a little hokey and homemade, but if one parent doessomething with their child after watching them, then that’s what it’s allabout!

One of my favoriteideas is called the BROWN BAG SPECIAL. This is a terrific idea for parents who work.  At the beginning of the school year ask for parentvolunteers to help you make games, copy materials from the internet, collectsupplies, etc.  Next, get a largepaper grocery sack and write “Brown Bag Special” on it.  The child will feel so proud when she gets to take it home and the parent will feel a sense of involvement. 

 *When you need a game made place the materials for making the game along with the directions in the bag.  Choose a child to take it home to their parents.   

*Instead of using your printer and paper to download games and books from the internet, send home a note in the "Brown Bag Special" and a parent can do it for you.

FIRECRACKER SANDWICH

FirecrackerSandwich

This is a greatidea for lunch or a snack.  It canbe adapted in so many ways to meet your child’s dietary needs and tastes.  When cooking with children, the morethat THEY can do, the better it will taste to them! 

You will need:

flat bread, pitabread, tortilla, or a slice of bread

* If using breadremove the crust and roll flat with a rolling pin.

peanut butter andjelly, cheese, sliced meat, roasted veggies – whatever!

plastic wrap andribbon (red, white, and blue if you have it)

Directions:

Wash your hands!

Spread the fillingon the bread.

Roll up the breadnice and tight.

Place the rolledsandwich on a piece of plastic wrap and roll. 

Twist the ends andtie on the ribbon.

Give yourself afirecracker cheer.  Place palmstogether at your waist and move up above your head in a snake like motion asyou make a hissing sound like a firecracker shooting in the air, “Ssssss.”  Clap your hands together over your headto represent a firecracker going off. Wiggle your fingers around and down like sparkles as you say, “Ahhhh!”

Go to my website(drjean.org), click on “videos” and scroll down until you get to “cheers.”  You’ll be able to see me demonstratethe firecracker and lots of other fun celebrations.

THREE CHEERS FOR THE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE!

Three Cheersfor the Red, White, and Blue

All right, partypeople!  It’s almost America’sbirthday! 

Tell your childrenthat in America we never say, “I can’t.” We always say, “I CAN” because we are AmeriCANS!

As Americans wetry to help each other.  I just heardabout a fantastic opportunity to help some of the teachers in Joplin, MO, wholost everything in the recent tornado. Visit birghtfuturesjoplin.org/adopt-a-classroom/ to see how you canhelp.

Here’s a song tothe tune of “The Farmer in the Dell.” The teacher who shared this said she used it to prompt her childrenbefore they said the Pledge of Allegiance.

We love our flag.

We love our flag.

We love America

And we love ourflag.

Red, white andblue.

Red, white, andblue.

The colors of ourcountry

Are red, white,and blue.

A simple way todecorate for the 4^th of July is to give children red, white, andblue chalk and let them decorate the sidewalk or driveway.

I’m on my way tothe grocery store to get Rice Crispies (red, white, and blue special holidaybox) to make treats for my nieces two children who will be visiting.  (The kids are a great excuse to makethese because they taste just as yummy when you’re grown!)

Come back tomorrowand I’ll tell you how to make a fire cracker sandwich!