PRIMARY STORY: Begin each day by reading the story Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin, Jr. VIDEO: View this nursery song version of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Writing Practice, Heads and Tails Matching Game, Color Match Supplies: Brown Bear Printables Crayons or Markers Paper and Cardstock Print the Heads and Tails Matching Game (page 3-4) on cardstock and cut it out. Color Match and Writing Practice can be printed on regular printer paper.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Bear Tracks Process Art Supplies: cardboard (2) sponges hot glue gun and glue art paper paint scissors 1. Cut two cardboard rectangles (a bit larger than the sponge) 2. Trace a bear print onto each sponge and cut out pieces. 3. Glue pieces to cardboard to make you bear print stamps. 4. Have your child stamp paint tracks onto the paper. Note: You can also do prints of other animals from the story.
EXPLORATIONS Learn some interesting facts about bears:
PRIMARY STORY: Begin each day by reading the story Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. VIDEO: View the animated version of Where the Wild Things Are.
1.Discuss action words. 2. Make a list of action words that your child knows. 3. Have a "wild rumpus." Turn on some music and read your action words and have your child demonstrate their actions. ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Wild Thing Mask Supplies: Paper Plates Elastic or string Hole punch Crayons Construction paper Scissors Glue stick
1. Cut out eye holes in paper plate mask. 2. Help your student decorate their mask. 3. Hole punch sides and add elastic or string.
EXPLORATIONS Learn about mythical creatures like unicorns and dragons.
PRIMARY STORY: Begin each day by reading the story The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister.
VIDEO: View the read-aloud version of The Rainbow Fish.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Tissue Paper Fish Supplies: Paper plate Scissors Tape Glue stick Tissue paper
1. Cut a small wedge out of a paper plate. Keep the wedge for the fish tail. Cut tissue paper into small squares. 2. Have student draw an eye for the fish. 3. Help student tape the tail onto the fish. 4. Have student paste tissue "scales" on the fish. ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Fruit Loop Sorting Supplies: Fruit Loops cereal Plastic cup for each color Sorting tweezers Bowl
1. Writes each color name on the cups. Fill a bowl with Fruit Loops. 2. Have your student sort the cereal with the tweezers (or fingers). 3. Snack time!
PRIMARY STORY: Begin each day by reading the story Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault.
VIDEO: View the animated version of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Coconut Tree Name Supplies: Construction paper Scissors Markers or crayons Glue stick
1. Cut out a green leaf shape for each letter of student's name. Cut out brown tree trunk. 2. Have student write each letter of their name onto a leaf. 3. Have student paste tree trunk onto paper. Paste leaves in order on tree. ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Letter Stamping Supplies: Small alphabet stamps Stamp pad Crayons Coconut Tree printable
1. Have your student color the coconut tree. 2. Help your student to stamp all of the letter of the alphabet around the tree.
1. Arrange the painter's tape into the shape of the Eiffel Tower. 2. Use your watercolors to paint the paper. 3. Let it dry then remove the tape. ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Coin Arrays Supplies: Coins
1. Help your child to organize coins into arrays. I.E. twelve little girls in two rows. 2. Count the coins together.
EXPLORATIONS Watch this video about the Eiffel Tower.
PRIMARY STORY: Begin each day by reading the story Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.
DISCUSSION PROMPTS: Ask your student the following questions to jump-start a discussion. Did you like the story, Green Eggs and Ham? Which part of the story did you like best?Do you like to taste new kinds of food?
VIDEO: View the animated version of Green Eggs and Ham.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Fizzing Green Eggs Supplies: Baking Soda Vinegar Food Coloring Dropper Tray
1. Mix 1/2 c baking soda with 8-10 drops green food coloring and 1 tbsp water. 2. Form "dough" into egg shapes. 3. Place eggs into tray and let student drip vinegar onto the eggs with the dropper. 4. Watch the fizz and discuss how the baking soda reacts with the vinegar to form carbon dioxide which gives us all of these fun bubbles.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Rhyming Eggs Supplies: Rhyming Eggs Printable 1. Print onto cardstock (green if you have it) and cut eggs. 2. Mix up eggs halves. 3. Talk about rhyming words and help your student to match the egg halves.
EXPLORATIONS Make a green eggs and ham omelet with a few drops of food coloring. Watch this video about Easter Egger chickens.
PRIMARY STORY: Begin each day by reading the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
DISCUSSION PROMPTS: Ask your student the following questions to jump-start a discussion. Did you like the story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar? Which part of the story did you like best? Which of the foods do you think was the tastiest?
VIDEO: View the lovely animated version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
1. Print out the puzzles and cut along the gray lines. Keep individual puzzles in plastic sandwich bags. 2. Help your child put the puzzles together.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Caterpillar Life Cycle Supplies: Cardstock Life Cycle printable Scissors
1. Print out the puzzles and cut along the gray lines. Keep individual puzzles in plastic sandwich bags. 2. Help your child put the puzzles together.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Caterpillar painting Supplies: Paper Cardboard tubes Red, yellow, and green paint
1. Help your child to dip ends of tubes into paint. 2. Use tubed to stamp circles onto paper to make caterpillar's body. 3. Paint or draw face, antennae, and feet.
NARRATION JOURNAL At week’s end, after your final reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar,
have your child complete a narration journal entry. Ask your child
describe the story. Your student can draw or paint an illustration to go
with the narration.
EXPLORATIONS
Have a Very Hungry Caterpillar snack and include fruits and foods from the story.
Watch this video about the caterpillar life cycle.
PRIMARY STORY: Begin each day by reading the story Corduroy by Don Freeman.
DISCUSSION PROMPTS: Ask your student the following questions to jump-start a discussion. Did you like the story, Corduroy? Which part of the story did you like best? What did Corduroy lose? Did he find what he was looking for?
ADDITIONAL READING: Read the sequel, A Pocket for Corduroy, also by Don Freeman. Another favorite bear book is A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond.
VIDEO: If you want to give your child nightmares, view this live-action version of Corduroy.
If you'd rather skip scarring your offspring for life, there are many read-alouds of Corduroy on YouTube. Here's a decent, non-terrifying one:
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Button Fun Supplies: Various colored buttons Cups or containers labeled by color Yarn or string
1. Have your child sort the buttons into containers by color. 2. You can also have them sort by size if your button sizes vary. 3. You could use bowls with lids with slots cut into them for more fine motor practice. 4. Use the string to make button necklaces.
We counted, sorted, and tallied the buttons. Then we made a bar graph.
1. Lay out the counting bears cards and a bowl full of bears. 2. Have your pupil place the correct number of bears on top of each card. 3. Practice with two cards at a time to work on simple addition. 4. Snack on your sums to work on subtraction. Subtraction was our favorite. :)
EXPLORATIONS Watch this video about making teddy bears.
PRIMARY STORY: Begin each day by reading the story Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann.
DISCUSSION PROMPTS: Ask your student the following questions to jump-start a discussion. Did you like the story, Good Night, Gorilla? Which part of the story did you like best? Which animal was your favorite?
ADDITIONAL READING: Check out other zoo books. Our favorites are The View at the Zoo, by Kathleen Long Bostrom and 1, 2, 3 To the Zoo, by Eric Carle.
VIDEO: Here's an animated version from the Scholastic Video Collection, Good Night Gorilla and More Bedtime Stories.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Animal Track Process Art
SUPPLIES Zoo Animal Figurines (Here's a Wild Toob with a lot of standing animals) Paint Paper Paper Plates
Step 1: Pour paint into plates. Step 2: Allow your child to dip animal feet into paint and make "tracks" on the paper. Step 3: Ask about the similarities and differences in types of tracks.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Flashlight Play Gather up some flashlights and teach your student to operate them. Turn off lights and have some fun playing with the flashlights. Make hand silhouettes or play flashlight tag. Look for objects in the dark. EXPLORATIONS Visit a zoo!
Play the following video of the finale from The Carnival of the Animals from Walt Disney's Fantasia 2000. Allow your watch or explore movement while listening.
Begin each day by reading the story The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown.
DISCUSSION PROMPTS
Ask your student the following questions to jump-start a discussion.
Did you like the story, The Runaway Bunny?
Which part of the story did you like best?
What kinds of things did the little bunny become? What might you like to become when you are older? The bunny talks about running away. Do you think this is a good thing for the bunny to do? What might the bunny do instead?
ADDITIONAL READING: The bunny runs away to the circus to become a flying trapeze artist. Read the poem, The Acrobats, by Shel Silverstein.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Popsicle Stick Rafts
SUPPLIES
Popsicle sticks Glue Wooden skewers or small dowels Corks
Empty milk carton Straws and plastic bin for racing
Step 1: Paint popsicle sticks if you wish. Glue popsicle sticks together to make a raft. Glue two sticks onto the bottom parallel to your raft sticks.
Step 2: Cut a hole into one end of a cork. Glue a skewer or dowel into hole. Glue cork to raft. Step 3: Glue corks onto the bottom of raft. Step 4: Cut sail out of milk carton. Attach milk carton sail to skewer. Step 6: Fill plastic bin with water and use straws to blow your raft across the water's surface.
EXPLORATIONS
Practice "tightrope walking". Put down some tape or a rope and walk the line.
The runaway bunny talks about becoming a flower. Plant something and talk about caring for plants.
Step 1: Cut out the blueberry number labels and affix to small cups.
Step 2:Fill a bowl with at least 55 blue pom-poms (or rotate them out and do less numbers at a time).
Step 3: Show your student how to use the tongs to transfer the poms from the bowl to the cup.
Step
4: Help your student to count and transfer the appropriate number of "blueberries" to the corresponding cup.
The Spawn preferred using his fingers to the tweezers. They were a bit too large for his hands. This was a big hit and he asked for it twice after we'd moved on to other things. :)
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Blueberry Muffins
INGREDIENTS
1.5 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp baking powder 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 egg approx. 1/2 cup buttermilk 1 cup fresh blueberries For the topping: 2/3 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup all purpose flour 2 tbsp butter at room temperature 1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional) DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray top and cups of muffin pan with non-stick spray. 2. Combine flour, brown sugar and baking powder. 3. In a 1-cup measuring cup, combine oil and egg. Add enough buttermilk to fill cup. Add to flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Fold in blueberries. 4. Fill muffin cups to the top. Sprinkle with crumb topping. 5. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Increase temperature to 400 and bake for an additional 3-7 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before removing. Crumb Topping: 1. Mix brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter with a fork until combined.
EXPLORATIONS
Go fruit picking. Look for you-pick farms and bring home a bounty of fruits or veggies.
Store something for the winter: You could learn to preserve or can food. If you have a fireplace or fire pit, go out and gather firewood. This is a good time to talk about saving money for later. Count coins into a piggybank or open a bank account.
Watch this video to learn what kinds of foods bears eat:
Begin each day by reading the story Freight Train by Donald Crews.
DISCUSSION PROMPTS
Ask your student the following questions to jump-start a discussion.
Did you like the story, Freight Train?
Which part of the story did you like best?
Do you have a favorite color from Freight Train?
ADDITIONAL READING: Read the book Inside Freight Train for more discovery.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Alphabet Matching Train
SUPPLIES
Construction paper Scissors
1.5” Circle Hole Punch Sticky dots or double stick tape (velcro if laminating)
Tape-safe surface or poster/foam board Black sharpie
Step 1: Cut out a train engine from 1/4 black sheet of paper.
Step 2:Cut 8 sheets of construction paper in quarters to make boxcars.
Step 3: Punch 26 circles of various colors of construction paper for each type of matching you want to do (uppercase/lowercase, uppercase cursive, lowercase cursive).
Step 4: Write alphabet letters on boxcars (3 per car) and attach a sticky dot or piece of double stick tape beneath each letter for the wheels. (I used felt/velcro because I laminated my letters. I know that Atlas will flip his shit if I try to take letters away from him after one use.)
Step 5: Attach train to wall or surface.
Step 6: Write alphabet letters on circles (wheels).
Step 7: Mix up wheels and have your student match and attach wheels to corresponding boxcar. You could also match uppercase and lowercase or manuscript and cursive.
Step 2:Print enough copies to have all of the letters in your child's name.
Step 3: Cut out the engine and the boxcars to spell your child's name.
Step 4: Have your child trace the letters of their name with a marker. Let your child color the boxcars. Step 5: Help your child to practice ordering the boxcars to spell their name.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Egg Carton Steam Train
SUPPLIES
Bottom half of a cardboard egg carton Scissors
Toilet paper tube Cotton balls
Tempera paint and sponges
Step 1: Cut egg carton in half lengthwise.
Step 2:Paint the first section of the upside-down egg carton black for the engine car.
Step 3: Paint each section of the carton a different color, red last for the caboose.
Step 4: Cut off 1/3 of the toilet paper tube and paint the remaining section black for the smoke stack.
Step 4: Attach the smoke stack to the black section of the train.
Step 5: Spread and squish cotton balls to create smoke and attach to smoke stack.
EXPLORATIONS
Snack Idea: eat fruits/veggies to match the train car colors. Monday: red apples (caboose), Tuesday: oranges/carrots (orange tank car), etc.
