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.
When I was a little girl, I was very, very shy. I was terrified of getting in trouble in school and was polite and well behaved to a fault. I had also been sick with tonsillitis from about the age of two and therefore missed quite a bit of school up until 5th grade when I had those horrible, useless things yanked out. This meant that I very rarely received the coveted Perfect Attendance award on awards night. I unfailingly got the award for Honor Roll, but that attendance award mocked me. I did always get another award that I didn't really understand. The Citizenship Award. This confused me because I understood what a citizen was from civics lessons but I didn't understand how it applied in the elementary school setting and why some students earned it but others did not. Weren't we all citizens?
I didn't actually learn the significance of the Citizenship Award until 5th grade graduation. Our school was K-5, so this was a big ceremony for us. I'd been out of school for a few weeks, recovering from the tonsillectomy and had even missed field day- my favorite day of the year due to the fact that my best friend and I were really freaking good at the 3-legged race.
After the surgery and post-op checkup, my doctor gave me the green light to attend the graduation ceremony, which was exciting because I'd practiced really hard and knew all of the lyrics to the song that the 5th grade chorus was performing. Here's the one... only imagine it with a hundred 5th graders in fluorescent green t-shirts and early 90s hairstyles:
Oh wait, yeah, the hairstyles were just like that. We really rocked the side-step, clap, side-step, clap dance moves.
When it was time for awards, we had to cross the stage, shake hands with the principal who gave us our diplomas, and have our picture taken. I was never shy when I was singing or dancing on stage, but it was absolutely mortifying to walk across and shake hands with the principal. Then to have to go up twice more for the Honor Roll trophy and then the Citizenship trophy. By the time we gathered outside for fruit punch and tetherball, I was exhausted.
The teachers were all mingling with the parents, trying futilely to escape the 110 degree Florida heat under the awnings while the students chased each other around the giant caterpillar climbing apparatus on the playground. I wasn't really up to snuff yet, so I just stood awkwardly with my parents and some of the teachers. I asked my third grade teacher about the Citizenship Award and she told me that it was for "exemplary behavior in the classroom and for being a role model for other students". I remember her words well because she had been my favorite teacher and was Swedish and had a lovely accent. She will live forever in my memory as she had appeared in our darkened classroom, dressed as Santa Lucia with a wreath of candles on her head for our 3rd grade Christmas party.
I was no longer upset about the elusive Perfect Attendance award. I had been given a beautiful purple and gold trophy, topped with a majestic eagle for a solid 5 years worth of exemplary behavior. My name was etched on the base. The trophy sat next to its Honor Roll sibling on my bedroom shelf for years. I discovered them again recently in a box of childhood treasures that had found their way to my grandmother's attic room and I smiled, remembering that day. The bright sun, the sticky heat, the sweet lilting voice of my teacher, "exemplary behavior".
Citizenship is an important subject. One that is often overlooked, replaced by the hard push for higher test scores. I don't "grade" my son's work yet, but I do reward good citizenship. He has recently begun collecting mini Thomas trains that come in little plastic blind bags. The anticipation of what is hidden inside is so exciting for him. I add to his collection whenever he shows some random kindness, or works uncomplainingly on a task, or whenever he reminds me about acts of compassion- great and small. It isn't often that something like a little plastic toy train reminds us to be good citizens to one another, and to teach these values to our children, but it's a crazy life and I'll take any reminder that I can get.
