A little girl knows what she wants to build; she just has to put it all together. With lots of trial and error she finally gets it and it is almost exactly as she predicted. This is a fun book for all budding inventors as it shows the persistence needed to have one’s imagination reach fruition. It also shows that a healthy cool down period can lead to positive results.

Materials

• Blank head sheet
• Emotion cards
• Poster board or large sheet of paper (you will need to prep this before class, see blocks)

Vocabulary

• Magnificent- wonderful and marvelous
• Tinker-to play around with supplies trying to figure out what to do
• Pummels-bashes
• Proud-pleased with self or another
• Frustrated-irritated and upset

Before Reading the Story

Ask the children if they know what the word proud means. If they cannot give you an answer, tell them that it means to do something that makes you really pleased or happy with yourself or another person. Use an example of learning to ride a bike. First you have to practice, practice, practice and then one day you finally figure out just how to peddle/balance and off you go riding. That is a proud moment. Explain to the children that many things take lots of practice and trial and error before you can figure out how to do them. Ask the children if they can tell you about any other proud moments they may have experienced. If they cannot come up with any, help them to think up moments that should make them proud (Andres poured his milk into his cup without any spills, Alison tied her shoe for the very first time, Paula learned how to spin the top, etc.).   Explain to the children that when we are learning something new, we must keep trying and trying and not give up. Tell the children that the story today is about a little girl who has to try and try again to build something very magnificent and special. Define magnificent to the children and introduce the book.

Language Development; Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary. AND Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

 Reading the Story

As you read, stop on the pages where the girl notices that the thing is still not right. Have the children look at the girls face and ask them if they can guess how she might be feeling (surprised, frustrated, angry). On the page where it says, “If only the thing would just work!”, stop and ask the children again to look at the girl. Ask them what they think is going to happen next. On the page where she finally finishes her invention, have the children look carefully at what is in her hands and ask the children if they can guess what it is she has made. On the last page again have the children look at the girls face and ask them what they think she might be feeling (happy, proud).

Social & Emotional Development/Social Relationships; progresses in responding sympathetically to peers who are in need, upset, hurt, or angry; and in expressing empathy or caring for others.

After Reading the Story

Remind the children that in the story the little girls invention did not work at first. Ask them if they remember what happened? What did the little girl do to get over her anger? Was that a good way? Talk to the children about what to do in school when you get irritated or upset (ask for help, walk away, take a break). Go over any anger management or cool down strategies that you use in your classroom.

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 happen next in a story. AND Social & Emotional Development/Self-Control; shows progress in expressing feelings, needs, and opinions in difficult situations and conflicts without harming themselves, others, or property.

Discovery

Put out tops or other toy that requires practice in order to be able to use correctly. Encourage the children to try and try again.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer.Music and Movement;

Sing If You’re Happy and You Know It adding verses that include other emotions such as angry, frustrated, surprised, sad, and proud.

The teacher acts out an emotion using her/his whole body. The children guess the emotion and then act it out as well. (Excited=clap hands and jump up and down. Angry=make a fist and stomp the floor. Sad=rub eyes and shake like crying with whole body. Proud=extend hands up and take a bow. Bored=yawn and look around the room. Loving=give self a hug and an arm kiss).

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Control; shows progress in expressing feelings, needs, and opinions in difficult situations and conflicts without harming themselves, others, or property.

Blocks

Before class lay the poster board on the floor and use your wooden blocks to trace around. Fill as much of the paper as possible with block shapes. Let there sides touch but do not over lay the shapes. Lay the paper on the floor and challenge the children to fill it in using the appropriate blocks, kind of like a puzzle.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to be able to determine whether or not two shapes are the same size and shape.

 Art

Give the children play dough today with scissors, hammers, and rollers. If you do not have hammers and rollers, wooden blocks work well (the half arch and the cylinder blocks).

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer.

Sand and Water

Put clean and empty bottles into the table today such as used shampoo and ketchup bottles. Challenge the children to fill the bottles to the top of the container. Put out a variety of tools to help but do not show your children how to use them. Tools could include measuring spoon, funnel, turkey baster, plastic hosing, and small teapot.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem-Solving; grows in recognizing and solving problems through active exploration including trial and error, and interactions and discussions with peers and adults.

Library and Writing

Encourage the children to practice copying or writing their names today. Make sure to tell them that you are pleased to see them trying so hard and that they should be proud of themselves for their accomplishment.

Literacy/Early Writing; progresses from using scribbles, shapes, and pictures to represent ideas, to using letter-like symbols, to copying or writing familiar words such as their name.

Give the children a blank face sheet and ask them to draw an angry face. When they are finished, ask them to tell you one thing that makes them angry, write it on the bottom of their sheet. You can also use this for other emotions such as proud.

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences. Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.

 Dramatic Play

Add puppets to the dramatic play center today and encourage the children to put them on and pretend that they are the puppets. Encourage a puppet show.

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Math and Manipulatives

Play Memory with the children. Make two sets of the emotion cards on thick paper or glue a backing so the children cannot see through the paper. Shuffle the cards and lay face down on the table. The children take turns trying to find matches of cards. If they find a match they get to put the cards in a pile. When all the cards have been matched, have the children count the cards to see how many they have.

Mathematics/Patterns & measurement; shows progress in matching, sorting, putting in a series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size. AND Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games and in using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive.

Outdoor Play

Add bikes and other riding toys to the playground today. Encourage the children to try and try again as they work to develop their peddling and steering skills.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; demonstrates increasing abilities to coordinate movements in throwing, catching, kicking, bouncing balls, and using the slide and swings.

Draw a simple hopscotch board on the ground and encourage the children to 1) throw a beanbag or stone onto the correct number, 2)jump and hop accordingly to the hopscotch board.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; shows increasing levels of proficiency, control, and balance in waking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping.

Put out hula-hoops or jump ropes for the children to practice their skills.  Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; progresses in physical growth, strength, stamina, and flexibility.

 Transitions

Ask the children to name one thing that makes them happy. Write their answer down on a large sheet of paper and hang it on the wall. At each transition, you can ask the children to tell you about a different emotion.

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions, and for varied purposes.

Dear Parent- today we read a story about a little girl who had to try and try gain to make her idea come to fruition. Tell your child about something you had to practice and practice to learn to do. Then tell your child how proud you felt afterwards by accomplishing your goal. If you see your child really trying at something, tell them you are proud at how hard they are working.

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