One day some mice were playing in a field when along came a snake looking for his dinner.  Will the mice be eaten or will they be able to get away?  This is a fun book to count through.

Materials

• 10 mice
• Dice
• 10 ping-pong balls or bouncy balls
• Sand pail
• Variety of puff balls
• Tongs, tweezers, pinchers
• Construction paper to coordinate with the color of the puffballs.
• Snake page
• Yardstick. clip board, paper, and pencil

Vocabulary

Before Reading the Story

Count how many children are in class today.  Count how many girls, how many boys.  Which has more? 

Mathematics/Number Operations; begins to use language to compare numbers of objects with terms such as more, less, greater than, fewer, and equal to.

Reading the Story

Print out 10 mice. As you read the story, tape on the wall the number of mice as the snake counts. Have the children help you count.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops increasing ability to count in sequence to 10 and beyond.

After Reading the Story

Draw a large jar on a white board or chalk board.  Use the mice to show simple addition and subtraction.  Start with 2 mice in the jar.  The first child states how many.  Then she rolls a dice and adds that many more mice to the jar.  The classroom counts along with; 2,3,….and states the new number.  Another child comes up and rolls the dice.  They subtract that many mice from the jar, counting down as they go; 8,7,6,5….  If it is a negative zero number, just call it zero.  The children take turns rolling the dice.  The first child adds mice to the jar, the next child takes mice away from the jar.  The 4^th child adds mice to the jar, the next child takes mice from the jar.  Always have the child begin with the number of mice in the jar (they do not need to count from 0 to ___.  They just start by saying the number in the jar at the beginning of their turn and then count either up or down.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Discovery

Use the many pictures of mice to make a matching game (make 2 sets of mice) or make one set of mice for comparing and counting.

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

Music and Movement

Sing, How Many Fingers? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNw1SSz18Gg I just count the hands verses and end the song with the last line being, “clap, clap, clap your hands, clap your hands together”.

Count to 10 and back again. Have the children get in a squatting position. Count to 10 and back again. On “Blast off” everyone jump up.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 blast off!

Blocks

Put the 10 ping-pong balls into the sand pail. Let the children/snakes take turns dumping the pail and then the children collect all the mice and put them back into the pail as quickly as possible. Ask them to count while they drop each mouse into the pail. When the children/snakes are tired or dumping and gathering, suggest they try tossing the ping-pong balls into the pail.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops increasing ability to count in sequence to 10 and beyond. AND Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activities, projects, and experiences.

Art

Use play dough today to practice rolling out snakes, making mice by rolling balls of play dough, and making a pinch pot to hold the mice.

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

Sand and Water

Add a variety of puffballs , tongs/pincers/tweezers, and color coordinated bowls or paper squares. SHow the children how to use the tongs to pick up the puffball mice and place them in the coordinating bowl. Once they have collected all the mice, ask them to figure out which color has the most and the least puffball mice.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor SKills;grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting puzzles together, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors.

Library and Writing

Show the children how to use the snakes to make patterns using crayons or markers.

Literacy/Early Writing; experiments with a growing variety of writing tools and materials, such as pencils, crayons, and computers. AND Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; enhances abilities to recognize, duplicate, and extend simple patterns using a variety of materials.

Dramatic Play

Remind the children that in the story, the snake was looking for mice to eat for his supper.  Ask the children what kinds of foods they like to eat for their supper?  Encourage the children to cook their favorite meal and call you back when it is ready to eat. 

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming diffrent roles in dratic plasy situations. AND

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns while playing games or using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive.

Math and Manipulatives

Do the After Reading the Story activity again but with a small group of children instead of the whole group. Give each child some puffballs and a copy of the jar so that they can work individually with the teacher interacting.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Outdoor Play

Take a yard stick out on the playground with you and practice doing jumps. Draw a line in the dirt/sand and show the children how to do a running broad jump. Measure how far each child jumps. Now do a standing jump, measure how far the child jumps. Try a backwards jump. Measure each child’s jump and record it on the paper.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; shows increasing levels of proficiency, control, and balance in walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping. AND Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows progress in using standard and non-standard measures of length and area of objects.

Transitions

Write a number on each mouse so that there is one mouse for each child in your room, starting with 1 and going to…17. Give each child a mouse, but not in order., On your dry erase board or chalkboard, write the #1. The child with the 1 mouse lines up or can go to the next activity. Write #2 ont he board,the child with the #2 mouse lines up or goes to the next activity. Continue until you have written and called a number for every child inthe classroom. Collect the mice and use throughout the day to move from one activity to the next.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Resources