Franklin is playing outside with his friends when suddenly he becomes lost in the dark and scary woods.  How will he ever get home and what will his parents do when they find him?

Materials

• Paper plates, enough for 2 per child.
• Paper plate clocks made ahead of time but do not add the numbers to the face.
• Body coverings match game
• Fingerprint poem. Here are my fingerprints, they belong to me,  No one has these same prints, they are special to just me.

Vocabulary

• Woods (an area of many trees, another name for the forest)
• Annoyed (when you get irritated at someone or they get irritated at you)
• Worried (to feel like something bad might have happened to someone)
• Knoll (a little hill)
• Lost (to not know where you are)

Before Reading the Story

Hold up the cover of the book and tell the children that this turtle’s name is Franklin. Ask them to look at Franklin’s face and ask them how they think Franklin is feelin, why? Read the title of the book and ask the children if any of them have ever been lost? How did you feel? If no one has ever felt lost and afraid, make up an example that the children can respond to (Once when I was little I went to the store with my Dad and when he was paying I hid behind a shelf. My Dad did not know and walked out of the store without me. When I ran after him, I could not find him and I was so scared. I cried and then he realized I was not behind him and came back and found me. I was scared and never hid in a store again).

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

Reading the Story

            On the page where Franklin is looking for Fox and walks into the woods, stop and ask the children what they think is going to happen next?.  On the page where Franklin’s parents get worried, ask the children if they know what it means to be worried?  Why do you think his parents worried?

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.

After Reading the Story

            Ask the children, Why was Franklin not allowed to go into the woods alone?  Are there places your parents tell you, you are not allowed to play?  Why do you think they tell you that?  Explain to the children that sometimes parents yell when they are worried or scared for their child (Franklin’s Mom might have yelled at him for going into the woods) but it does not mean that they do not love you.  You scared them and even though it’s not nice, they sometimes just yell.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; grows in eagerness to learn about and discuss a growing range of topics, ideas, and tasks.

Discovery

            Put the body covering match cards out and see if the children can find which animals have which kind of body coverings.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows increasing abilities to match, sort, put into series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes, such as shape or size.

            Look at pictures of animals and talk about how they are alike and different from people. (People have hands, bears have paws/people have skin, birds have feathers/people have two eyes, and so do most animals!)

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

Music and Movement;

            Sing Hickory Dickory Dock ,use your paper plate clock to move the hands about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMNOZ7rC5hU

Hickory Dickory Dock, tick tock

The mouse ran up the clock

The clock struck one

This made him run,

Hickory Dickory Dock

The clock struck 2, he lost his shoe/the clock struck 3, he scraped his knee/ the clock struck 4, he went back for more/ the clock struck 5, he jumped off with a dive/ the clock struck 6, he gave his paws a lick/ the clock struck 7, he ______/ the clock struck 8, he felt great/ the clock struck 9, he hurt his spine/ the clock struck 10, he ran down again/ the clock struck 11, he wished it was 7/ the clock struck 12, he was tired and went to sleep.

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

            Count to 10 and Back Again holding up and taking down fingers as you do so. On the way down when you get to zero, call out blast off! and let the children jump up.

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

Blocks

            Tell the children that while they are building a structure, to see if they can hide an animal within.  Then they can call you over to see if you can find it.

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; demonstrates increasing ability to set goals and develop follow through on plans.

Art

            Let the children paint paper plates with green, yellow, and white paint.  After they dry, they can cut out 4 legs, a tail, and a head to make their own turtles.

Creative Arts/Art; develops growing abilities to plan, work independently, and demonstrate care and persistence in a variety of art projects.

Library and Writing

            Give each child a piece of white paper and have them trace around both their left and right hand.  Then help them to use a stamp pad in a darker color to carefully put their fingerprints in the coordinating finger.  Make copies of the fingerprint poem that can be glued to the back of the page.  After you have finished, give the children magnifying glasses and let them look at their prints and their friends to see that they really are all different.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; progresses in abilities to use writing, drawing, and art tools, including pencils, markers, chalk, paint brushes, and various types of technology.

Sand and Water

            If you have small animals, put them into the sand and let the children bury them and then hide and seek them. Give them a small bowl to put their animals into and a plastic fork for scraping the sand. If you have multiple kinds of an animal, encourage the children to collect all of the same kind first. (Annie, can you find all 6 of the cows, and Lee you look for the 4 tigers).

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

Dramatic Play

            Franklin was lost and scared.  When he comes home he is very hungry.  Can the children make a meal nutritious meal that would help Franklin to feel better?  Ask the children what they are preparing.  Write their nutritious meal plans down.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare, and contrast objects,, events, and experiences.

Math and Manipulatives

            In the story, Franklin was told to be home at 6 o’clock.  Have a paper plate clock made ahead of time and show the children what 6 o’clock looks like.  Give each child a paper plate clock.  Show the children on a clock how the numbers go around the face of the clock.  Encourage the children to copy numbers onto their own clocks.  (They will probably not get it exact but the activity is to practice copying/writing numbers more then making a clock).

Literacy/Early Writing; experiments with a growing variety of writing tools and materials, such as pencils, crayons, and computers.

Outdoor Play

            Use a familiar classroom toy animal and hide it somewhere on the playground.  Tell the children what you have hidden and that they will need to follow your directions to find it.  Give 2-3 part directions and let them see if they can find the toy.  Do with each child individually or in small groups.  Hide the toy in different spots between children.  (I have hidden our little toy cow.  Go over to the red tricycle and then look down by the ground and you will see the cow.  Go around the big tree two times and then to the chair by the water table and you will see the cow)

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions.

Transitions

            Ask questions about the story.  What kind of an animal is Franklin?  Whose house did he go to?  What did his parents tell him about the woods?  What game was he playing when he got lost?  Who was he playing with?  How did he feel when he got lost in the woods? Etc..

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates 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.

Resources