This story tells about a duckling named Dabble and what his first day out of the egg is like. It gives some duck facts in a simple and well-illustrated manner.

Materials

• Rubber ducks
• Smooth and rough textured items from room and home        (sandpaper, rock, bark, piece of foil, the lens of an old pair of sunglasses, a plastic protector, a block, a color paddle, a marker, a lego, etc).
• 1 white paper plate per child.
• Flannel board parts for Little White Duck
• Plastic eggs, 6 for blocks and some for the water table.

Vocabulary

• Reeds (grassy plants that grow beside a pond)
• Cattail stems (another plant that grows beside a pond)
•  Gleefully (happily)
• Dazzled (very impressed)
•  Smooth (flat)

Before Reading the Story

 If ducks are something that lives in your area and the children might be familiar with, ask them to share their knowledge about ducks. (Where do they live, what do they eat, what sound do they make, can they swim, walk, fly?). 

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Reading the Story

On the page where Mother duck swims quickly between the snapping turtle and the duckling, ask why do you think that the Mother duck calls her babies to swim ashore?

Literacy /Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in a bilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

After Reading the Story

Look at the list you made of things you know about ducks, can the children add any new facts? (Turtles eat ducklings, baby ducks are called ducklings, Mother Duck makes a soft nest from grass, and she plucks feathers from her breast to make the nest.)

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.  AND Literacy /Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in a bilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

Discovery

The story talks about how the eggs were smooth. Talk to the children about things in the room that are smooth.  Put out a box of items that have a variety of textures and let the children sort them by smooth and rough.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops increased ability to observe and discuss common properties, differences and comparisons among objects and materials.  AND Mathematics/Patterns Skills & Methods; shows increasing abilities to match, sort, put in a series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size.

Music and Movement

In the story Dabble liked to tip his head down into the water and catch little fish.  Have the children get down on their haunches and pretend to swim by using their hands as feet.  Now encourage them to try to tip their heads down and catch a fish (they will have to use their hands to support them-this should look like the beginnings of a head stand).

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; progresses in physical growth, strength, stamina, and flexibility.

Make the flannel board parts for Little White Duck and present it to the children. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y57RWhz76y8

There’s a little white duck, sitting in the water

(Put pond, duck and lily pad onto your board)

A little white duck, doing what he oughter.

He took a bite of the lily pad,

He flapped his wings and he said I’m glad

I’m a little white duck sitting in the water, quack, quack, quack.

There’s a little green frog, swimming in the water

(put frog on to lily pad)

A little green frog, doing what he oughter.

He jumped right on that lily pad

That the little duck bit and he said I’m glad

I’m a little green frog swimming in the water, glug, glug. glug.

There’s a little black bug, floating in the water

(put bug on top of the water)

A little black bug doing what he oughter.

He tickled the frog on the lily pad,

That the little duck bit and he said I’m glad

I’m a little black bug floating in the water, chirp, chirp, chirp

There’s a little red snake, lying in the water

(put snake in the water)

A little red snake, doing what he oughter.

He frightened the duck and the frog so bad,

He ate the black bug and he said I’m glad

I’m a little red snake lying in the water, ssss, ssss, ssss.

(remove all the animals)

Now there’s nobody left sitting in the water

Nobody left doing what he oughter.

There’s nothing left but the lily pad

The duck and the frog ran away, I’m sad.

There’s nobody left sitting in the water

Boo, hoo, hoo.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attends to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.

Blocks

Add several plastic eggs to the center and ask the children if they can build a block nest to keep them safe and from rolling away.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem.

Art

Make paper plate ducks. Draw a line across the white paper plate and have the children cut the plate in half along the line.  Help them to staple the two halves together at a right angle.  This is the duck body.  They can collage feathers, triangle shapes, use crayons, or paint their duck bodies. Add a small bill and webbed feet when the duck is dry.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multi-step directions.  AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills;develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer.

Library and Writing

 Add flannel board parts for Little White Duck.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest in reading-related activities such as asking to have a favorite book read; choosing to look at books; drawing pictures based on stories; asking to take books home; going to the library; and engaging in pretend-reading with other children.

Sand and Water

            Add rubber ducks and plastic eggs to the water table if you have them.  If not just enjoy water play today.

Dramatic Play

 Remind the children that in the story the Mother duck took very good care of her babies.  Encourage the children to take good care of their babies also.  They can snuggle them, make them a comfortable bed, swaddle them, feed them, and dress them.

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; progresses in understanding similarities and respecting differences among people such as genders, race, special needs, culture, language, and family structures.

Math and Manipulatives

Cut out multiple copies of the insects and use them to show the children how to make simple patterns (ABAB, ABCABC).

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; enhances abilities to recognize, duplicate, and extend simple patterns using a variety of materials.

Outdoor Play

Play Turtle tag.  Pretend to be little ducklings swimming around the playground.  The person who is “it” is the snapping turtle who tries to catch a baby duckling for its meal.  Take turns being the turtle and encourage the children to swim little duckling swim!

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & practices; participates actively in games, outdoor play, and other forms of exercise that enhance physical fitness.

Transitions

Hold up 1-5 fingers.  The child must quack the correct number of times as they go off to the next activity.  Older children try 1-10 fingers.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a  means for solving problems and determining quantities.

Resources