MORE IDEAS FROM MI!

Cheering theScale

LaNae Yagertaught us a cheer using the scale.  Use your hand to imitate going up on ascale from low to high and then go back down to low.  It’s a great cheer to calm children and focus theirattention.

Family FunCalendar

Yeah!  Carol Shattock uses my family activitycalendars (see drjean.org/July, 2011) in a special way.  At the beginning of the month she marks5-6 “must do” activities on the calendar with a smiley face sticker.  As the children complete theactivities, they color them in on the calendar and then return them at the endof the month.  Super idea for documentation!

CareerAwareness

ConnieBehm used large sheets of cardboard to let the children paint what theywanted to be when they grew up. They learned what skills they would need to do their job, dressed up,and shared with the class.

PersonPointer

Tricia Zieglertakes a photo of her students with their arm pointing in the air.  She cuts them out and puts them on apopsicle stick for a perfect person pointer!

MAGNIFICENT, MARVELOUS, MICHIGAN!

Oh, mygoodness!  The teachers I met inMichigan last week were MARVELOUS! I’ll be sharing some of their ideas the next few days on my blog.

RecessMonkeys

Jennifer Altwiestold us about these three creative male teachers from Seattle.  Search “recess monkeys” and you’ll beable to see some of their free videos. “The Teens” is fantastic! Quirky fun that your kids will love!

EnvelopePuppet

You know how Ilove to recycle!  Well, here’s anenvelope puppet that Martha RoHer shared that you can make from junk mail.  Slit the top edge and take out thejunk.  Bend the top corners down asshown.  Open and squeeze. 

I think thiswould be great for Mother Goony Bird!

He, She, TheyTurtles

Look how cleverColleen Callahan was to teach pronouns using a finger play.

         Here is a turtle.             (Make fist.)

         Helives in a shell.                            

         Helikes his home                            

         Verywell.                                   

         Whenhe gets hungry       (Stickout thumb and wiggle.)

         Hecomes out to eat.                 

         Thenhe goes back into      (Tuckthumb back in fist.)

         Hishouse to sleep.        

*Second Time:  Here is a turtle.  SHE lives in HER shell…

Third time:  Here are two turtles.  THEY live in THEIR shells…        

Humpty DumptyPuzzle

After learning “HumptyDumpty” Amy Fielbrandt gives the children paper ovals.  She lets them cutthe ovals into 4 or 5 pieces and then asks them to "put him back togetheragain" by gluing the pieces on another sheet of paper.  These aredisplayed on a bulletin board with this rhyme:

Humpty Dumptysat on a wall.

Humpty Dumptyhad a great fall.

All the king’shorses and all the king’s men

Couldn’t putHumpty together again.

But thekindergarteners got out some glue

And put himtogether as good as new!


Cheers for Sharon Dudley!
Sharon Dudley is an amazing teacher from Maryland.  She's a National Board Certified Teacher, has been Teacher of the Year, was featured on Fox news, and she just happens to be blind.  You'll be inspired by her story http://teachingwithsight.blogspot.com.

LETTER BUS

Cut a school busout of yellow poster board similar to the one shown.  Add magnetic tape to the back and place it on a magneticboard.  Put magnetic letters in thewindow as you sing the song. 

                   TheLetters on the Bus

                  (Tune:  “The Wheels on the Bus”)

                  Theletters on the bus all make their sounds,

                  Maketheir sounds,

                  Maketheir sounds.

                  Theletters on the bus all make their sounds

                  Allaround the town.

                  TheB on the bus goes /b/ /b/ /b/, /b/ /b/ /b, /b/ /b/ /b/,

                  TheB on the bus goes /b/ /b/ /b/ all around the town.

*Usethe bus for phonics lessons to demonstrate CVC words, silent ‘e’, etc.

Thanks to IrisNieves for translating the song into Spanish!

El Camion deLetras  

La  A en elcamion  dice /a//a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/

La  A en elcamion  dice /a//a/ /a/  por lacarretera etc...

I did several free concerts in Charleston Schools yesterday and I was once again reminded why I like kids better than most grownups.  One little boy guessed my age to be 22!  I wanted to take him home with me!  He had no idea what a compliment that was!  Children keep us young for real!

A GIFT FROM THE HEART

Here is a special Valentine your childrencan make for their families.  Thedirections are the same as those for a flip book.  

Make a hotdog fold.  (Fold in half.)

Make a hamburger fold.  (Fold in fourths.)

Make a juice box.  (Fold in eighths.)

Open in half.  Tear down each crease to the middle fold.

Fold in half to make four flips.

SOME GIFTS ARE ROUND.

SOME GIFTS ARE TALL.

SOME GIFTS ARE LARGE.

SOME GIFTS ARE SMALL.

BUT A GIFT FROM THE HEART IS THE BEST GIFTOF ALL!

You can also use the flip book for theseactivities:

         lifecycle of a butterfly

         storyelements

         lettersand pictures that begin with the sound

         opposites

         beforeand after

         motherand baby animals

         sequenceof your day

         setsand numerals

         riddlesor questions and answers

         fourseasons

         animalsand their homes

         spellingword – picture or definition

                          

Hint!   Uselonger paper and more strips to make a book about the five senses, days of theweek, planets, etc.

HONEST ABE'S BIRTHDAY

February 12 is Abraham Lincoln's birthday.  You might want to integrate one or two of these ideas in your lesson plans next week.


AbrahamLincoln 

(Tune:  “Pop Goes the Weasel”)

Abraham Lincoln,past President,         (Pointto a picture of Lincoln.)

Loved and honoredby many.

To help usremember this famous man,

We put his face ona penny.

Hold a penny inyour hand                           (Holdup a penny.)

And his faceyou’ll see.

He always tried totell the truth.

He’s Honest Abe tome.

You can download this book on my February, 2007, website.

Hint!  Why do people call Abraham Lincoln "Honest Abe"?

Log Cabin Snack– Give children pretzeltwist sticks and a spoonful of peanut butter or cream cheese.  Children try to build a log cabin bystacking the pretzels with the peanut butter.

PennyInspection – Let childrenlook at pennies with a magnifying glass.

Rubbings – Make rubbings of pennies.

Penny, Penny – Three children leave the classroom.  The other children cup their hands asif holding a penny.  The teacherhides the penny in one child’s hand. When the three children return to the room, they walk around the roomand open their friends’ hands.  Thefirst one to find the penny gets to choose 3 new friends to leave the room andshe gets to hide the penny.

Time Line – Give children a sentence strip.  At the left write the year they wereborn.  Write each additional yearup until the present.  Childrentake the time line home and try to find a penny with each year’s date.

Hint!  Explain that’s it’s O.K. if they don’tfind all of them.

SHARE THE LOVE

Bringing Home aValentine

(Tune:  "Baby Bumblebee")

I’m bringing homea valentine for you,             (Cuphands and move them to  

One that says, “Ilove you.”                           thebeat in front of your body.)

I’m bringing homea valentine for you

With a great bighug, and a (kiss) (kiss), too!    (Hug self and then kiss 

            in the air.)

Softer….hum

Valentine forParents - Let each childtake off one shoe and trace around her foot on white paper.  Cut it out.  Give each child 5 small pieces of red tissue paper to wad upand glue at the end of each toe for toenails.  Write “I love you from my head down to my toes” on the foot.

Mouse Bookmark – Cut a heart about the size of a child’shand from red construction paper. Fold in half.  Open.  Tape a 6” piece of string in themiddle.  Glue closed.  Draw a nose, whiskers, and ears on theheart as shown to make it look like a mouse.  Use for a bookmark.

WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?

Will You Be My Valentine?

(Tune:  “Do You Know the Muffin Man?”)

Will you be myValentine,                            (Pointto various friends.)

Valentine,Valentine?

Will you be myValentine?

I’ll be yours ifyou’ll be mine!                  (Pointto self and then a friend.)

Some are red, someare blue,                  (Holdup fingers.)

Some have lace andribbons, too.

Some are funny,some are not.                  (Smileand then shake head “no.”)

I like the candyones a lot.

Will yoube…(repeat)

Chocolate PlayDough – Make play doughusing your favorite recipe.  Omitthe food coloring and let the children knead the dough in cocoa.  It will look and smell likechocolate.  Purchase a box ofvalentine candies and remove/eat the candies.  Children can roll up the dough and put them in the papercontainers.

ChocolatePeanut Butter Dough – Mix1 cup smooth peanut butter, 1 cup chocolate icing, and one cup instant milk ina bowl.  Give each child a heapingspoonful.  Let them mold chocolatesand wrap them up in plastic wrap. This makes a special gift for their parents.

ValentineSandwich – You will need aheart shaped cookie cutter, bread, cream cheese, and red food coloring to makethis sandwich.  Mix the creamcheese with red food coloring until it is pink.  Cut a heart out of the bread with the cookie cutter.  Spread on the cream cheese.