Amos McGee works at the city zoo.  Every day he visits his good animal friends until one day when he calls in sick and does not go to the zoo.  Find out what happens and how his friends come to make him feel better.

Materials

• One head shape per child
• Several boxes and marbles
• Frozen ice block/s (see sand and water)
• Many boxes, cubbies, or baskets
• Stuffed animals from home
• Box of animal crackers

Vocabulary

• Amble (stroll or saunter)

Before Reading the Story

Talk to the children about the importance of washing hands and covering sneezes to prevent germ sharing. 

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

Reading the Story

On the page where the animals ask, “Where is Amos?”, ask the children how they think the animals are feeling?  On the next page where it says, “Later that day…”, ask the children what they think the animals are doing?  And when they get on the bus, where do you think they might be going?

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

After Reading the Story

Talk about what you should do if you are sick? What should you do if you are unable to stay home? (Cover your mouth when you sneeze, wipe your nose when it runs, wash your hands often).

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

In the story Amos was friends with many different animals and made each feel special by doing special things with them.  Name a way that you show kindness to someone around you/ a friend.

Social & Emotional Development/Social Relationships; shows progress in developing friendships with peers.

Talk about what Amos friends did to make him feel better.  What does your parent do when you are sick?  What kinds of things can you do to show you are a good friends?

Social & Emotional Development/Social Relationships; shows progress in developing friendships with peers.

Discovery

Make a Cover please when you sneeze poster. Give each child a head shape to color. Trace around their hand and help them cut it out. Glue a tissue paper onto the face and the hand on top of that. Write Cover please when you sneeze onto the paper.

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities. 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.

Have the children take turns showing you their hand washing skills.

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; shows growing independence in hygiene, nutrition, and personal care when eating, dressing, hand washing, tooth brushing, and toileting.

Music and Movement

Teach the children, The Germ Stopping Song (see resources).

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; shows growing independence in hygiene, nutrition, and personal care when eating, dressing, hand washing, tooth brushing, and toileting.

While the children are washing their hands, teach them to repeat;

One bubble, two bubbles, three bubbles, four

Five bubbles, six bubbles, seven bubbles more.

Eight bubbles, nine bubbles, ten bubbles stop!

(Have children rinse hands and dry).

Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops increasing ability to count to ten and beyond.

Sing The Animals on the Bus go ____ on the way to the zoo. Sung to the tune The Wheels on the Bus. Let the children help make up what the animals do or say on the way to the zoo. (The tigers on the bus go growl, growl ,growl. The elephants on the bus sway back and forth, back and forth, back and forth)

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

Blocks

Today would be a perfect day to add zoo animals and encourage the children to make a zoo.

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.

Art

Put out an art project today that can be done with a partner. Marble paint inside a box having two children each hold an end of the box and roll the marbles back and forth. Add a huge piece of paper to the easel and encourage the children to do a friendship painting together.

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; shows increasing abilities to use compromise and discussion in working, playing, and resolving conflicts with peers.

Sand and Water

Ahead of time freeze small plastic animals in blocks of ice.  Put into the table and ask the children to help you figure out how to get the animals out.  If you do not have small animals you could use pennies.  Several days ahead, fill a bowl aout an inch with water.  Drop in several small animals, freeze.  When it is frozen solid, make another layer.  Continue adding layers until the bowl is filled with small animals frozen in layers of ice.

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

Amos read to the owl at night.  Read to the children as they are preparing for nap time.

If you could visit with any animal, what animal would you like to visit with and what would you do?  Illustrate   (I would visit the giraffe and we would pick apples,  I would visit the lion and we would slide on the bumpy slide).

Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and play.

Dramatic Play

Let the children bring stuffed animals from home.  Provide boxes that they can use for cages.  Encourage them to be the zoo keeper and clean the cages, feed the animals, and play/exercise with the animals.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Use Animal Crackers to sort and count.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

Amos played a board game with the elephant.  Get out a board game and play with the children.

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

Outdoor Play

Remind the children that Amos McGee would run races with the tortoise everyday.  Make a set of races to do with your children.  (Run from point A to point B.  Roll a ball from point A to point B.  Hold hands and run).

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

Transitions

As you move about the room today, tell the children that you a want to go spend a little time visiting with the children in another center but that you will be back soon.

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; shows capacity to maintain concentration over time on a task, question, set of directions or interactions despite distractions and interruptions.

Resources