This is the story about a little bear who wants to share something special with the moon on its birthday.

Materials

• Pictures of the moon in the sky at night to go with poem
• Recipe card for Man in the Moon treats
• Cream cheese and round crackers
• Plastic knives to spread
• Small box of raisins

Vocabulary

• Echo (to repeat a sound)

Before reading the Story

            Talk to the children about what an echo is.  Sing an echo song (examples; There was a Man, Going on a Bear hunt).  Practice having the children echo back responses by naming letters while you hold up cards and say first, TEG, SFP, DBV

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their own name.

Tell the children that you are going to read a story and need their help to be the echo.

Reading the Story

            As you read the story, stop when you get to the part where Bear shouts; “Hello!”  This time his own voice echoed off one of the mountains:” Hello!”  Tell the children that they are the echo now and repeat back all the things that Bear thinks the moon is saying.  Continue this way to the end of the story.  For older children you can write the echos on paper and hold up so the children can see the sentence as they echo back to you.

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

After Reading the Story

            Talk to the children about the moon.  When do you see the moon?  Does it always look the same?  The moon helps to light the sky at night.  What else helps to light the sky at night?  The moon looks like it is growing in the sky and then gets little again, this is called a moon cycle.  Read the poem, The Moon, anonymous.

Sometimes the moon is full           Hold up full moon picture

And shows a circle of light 

And sometimes the moon looks like          Hold up half moon picture

One half a ball at night.

Sometimes the moon is only                        Hold up new moon picture

A sliver and hardly more

But all the night the moon is out there

When you look out of your door

Science/Scientific Knowledge; develops growing awareness of ideas and language related to attributes of time and temperature. AND Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.

Discovery

            Using books and magazines that depict nocturnal animal life. Help the children develop a list of animals that come out at night. Notice the eyes of many of the animals are large, better to see at night with.

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

Music and Movement

Teach the children the chorus to I See The Moon. If you have time teach them the verses also. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4ZOGGRGuTw

Teach songs with Echo like Frere Jacques https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QblcSZcRDBA

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

Blocks

            In the story Bear climbed to the highest mountain.  Challenge the children to build a very tall structure. You might start this activity with the children using one inch cubes or small blocks instead of the unit blocks.

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activities, projects, and experiences.

Art

            Cut out moon shapes from a manila folder.  Show children how to take 1 inch squares of tissue paper, crumple into small ball and glue it onto the moon shape.

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

Sand and Water

            Put water in the table 2 inches deep.  Give the children lids, small plastic containers, and boats.  Show the children how to put counting bears on to the boats/containers, lids to make boats to float the bears.  How many bears can you put in a boat?

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects. AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing patterns and shapes, stringing beads and using scissors.

Library and Writing

            Play the Man in the Moon only speaks in ‘m’ words.  With the children in a circle, go around taking turns thinking of words that start with the letter M.  Also try putting an ‘m’ sound as the first letter of each child’s name (Kerry=Merry, Roger=Moger)

Literacy/Phonological Awareness;showing growing awareness of beginning and ending sounds in words.

Dramatic Play

            Bedtime rituals.  Bring in blankets, pillows, books, night time pictures to hang on the wall.

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

Math and Manipulatives

            Spread crème cheese on round crackers.  Add a man in the moon face using raisins.

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

Outdoor Play

            Let the children climb onto something tall (climber, box, log stump) and pretend that they are the moon.  Shout out a silly sentence and have them repeat it back to you

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stries, songs, and poems. AND Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates ability 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.

Transitions

            Say a sentence and have the child repeat back to you.  This could be a long 12 syllable sentence of a silly sentence depending upon the child’s language skills.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stries, songs, and poems

Resources