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 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.
Each weekly lesson contains several elements. The units are developed for a 5-day week, but you could easily adjust to fit your needs. You should read the Primary Story and a Read-Aloud chapter each day that you "do school". All of the other elements can be spread through the week as you choose.
Begin each day by reading the story Goodnight Moon.
DISCUSSION PROMPTS
Ask your student the following questions to jump-start a discussion.
Did you like the story, Goodnight Moon?
Which part of the story did you like best?
Do you have a favorite picture from Goodnight Moon?
VIDEO
Watch this animated version of the story narrated by Susan Sarandon. It is a segment from the DVD, Goodnight Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY
Teach some or all of the following ASL signs and have your student sign with you while you read or watch Goodnight Moon. You can view video examples of these signs at lifeprint.com.
Goodnight: Begin by holding your non-dominant arm horizontally in front of your body, palm down. With a closed flat hand, touch you fingertips to your lips with your dominant hand then place wrist on the back of your non-dominant hand, fingertips pointing down.
Moon: Make your thumb and index finger into a C-shape, while keeping your other fingers curled. Start with the C-shape near your temple and move it up and away from your face.
Telephone: Extend your thumb and pinkie into the “Y” hand shape, like an imaginary telephone, and hold your hand to your ear as if you were talking on the phone.
Balloon: Place your closed fists in front of your lips and expand them into an open shape, representing the action of blowing up a balloon.
Cow: Extend your thumb and pinkie into the “Y” hand shape. Place your thumb against your temple and twist your hand forward and back.
Bears: Cross your arms over your chest and claw your chest twice ending with the fingers in a claw shape.
Mittens: Use your dominant hand to trace the outline of a mitten on your non-dominant hand.
House: Use flat hands to trace the roof and walls of a house from the roof peak down the side walls.
Mouse: With an extended index finger, brush your finger past your nose twice.
Brush: With a closed fist, make a couple of brushing movements near your hair.
Bowl: Use slightly curved hands to show the shape of a bowl from the bottom up the sides.
Lady: With a closed fist and extended thumb, draw thumb tip along jaw toward chin and bring hand in front of chest to an open “5” hand position.
Hush: Place index finger to lips and lean forward slightly.
Stars: Extend your two index fingers and hold them together in front of your face. Raise and lower your two fingers alternatively higher as if you are pointing at lots of stars in the sky.
Noises: Point to (or touch) your ear and then shake your hands a couple of times in front of you.
Everywhere: Begin with both hands palm up at chest and spread hand apart and away from your body.
BONUS ENRICHMENT I made a felt board set for Goodnight Moon. I've seen these for purchase on Etsy if you want to use one but aren't interested in making your own. The Spawn had fun with this.
ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Van Gogh Layered Finger Painting
SUPPLIES
Apron Baking Sheet
Aluminum Foil Finger Paint: Blue, Yellow, White, Black
Gold or glitter paint White Paper
Step 1: Pour a small amount of blue paint onto a baking sheet covered in tin foil.
Step 2:Add small dollops of white and yellow paint.
Step 3: Use fingers to create swirls and patterns in the paint.
Step 4: Very lightly lay a piece of white paper on top of the paint and remove. Repeat with a few sheets of paper.
Step 5: Allow paper to dry for a while. You can repeat steps 1-4 a few times if you want more layers and depth.
Step 6: Repeat paint mixing process on foil, mixing gold paint of glitter and swirl with fingers.
Step 7: Lay paper gently on paint to pick up final layer. Remove and dry.
When your paintings have dried, frame them and hang them to enjoy. This technique can also be used to make greeting cards.
EXPLORATIONS
Snack Idea: cut sandwiches into crescent moon shapes.
Have a nighttime excursion to view the moon and stars.
I've finished the booklist for the preschool program that I'm writing for The Spawn to use this year. It's basically a weekly schedule for literacy including a Primary Story and enrichment activities with ideas for further exploration. We'll be starting in August or September and I'll post the enrichment activities as we complete them but I'm leaving the list here in the event that someone finds it useful. They are presented in the reading order so that it's possible to find them at your local library or order a few at a time.
