Peter wants to be able to whistle.  He practices and practices and practices.  This book is a good example of the idea that practice makes perfect or if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.

Materials

• One paper plate per child.
• A bright light that will make shadows on the wall
• Several sponges cut into one-inch pieces and attached to a clip clothes pin.
• Dachshund dog page for length or sorting

Vocabulary

•  Proud (to feel pleased with yourself)
•  Pride (to feel pleased or proud of yourself)
•  Whistle (to make a sound by blowing through your lips)
•  Whirl (to spin around and around)
• Shadow (a darkened shape of something made by bright light, like the sun)

Before Reading the Story

            Ask the children if they know how to whistle.  Let them experiment.  Talk to them about how you have to try and try and try.  That to keep trying is called practice.  Explain to the children that something’s take lots of practice. Introduce the story by stating that today’s story is about a little boy named Peter who really wanted to be able to whistle.  Can you guess what he did (he practiced)?  Have the children repeat the motto; practice makes perfect.

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

Reading the Story

            As you go along, let the children try to whistle with Peter.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

After Reading the Story

            Ask the children how they think Peter felt after he finally learned to whistle (happy, proud, special)? Ask them if they have ever practiced and practiced something and then finally learned how to do it.  Did it make them feel proud? (I learned to ride my bike without trainer wheels on it.  I can write my name but I couldn’t when I was three, I can almost make my bed)  Write a list of the children’s ideas.

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; demonstrates growing confidence in a range of abilities and expresses pride in accomplishments.

Discovery

            Find a place in your school where the children can easily see and make shadows.  Show the children that their shadow does what they do although the shape of it might be different.  Let the children experiment with shadows and shadow play.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships.

Music and Movement

Do the following poem with the children.

I’m whirling, I’m twirling, I’m whirling all around

Faster and faster then I sit upon the ground.

I’m whirling, I’m twirling. I’m whirling all around

Slower and slower them I sit upon the ground.

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

            Practice whistling!

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

Bring in a whistle. Explain to the children that when you blow the whistle they are to walk forward. When you blow it again, they are to walk backward. Do this several times and see if they are able to follow the directions. Or blow once to jump and twice to skip, etc..

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

Blocks

Depending upon the size of the blocks in your center, encourage the children to build a structure that the can hide inside of or a structures that a people/animal manipulatives can hide inside of. As you go over to check on the children play Teacher Says. Teacher says hide inside your structure. Teacher says stand beside your structure. Teacher says make your body lower than your structure. Teacher says hide behind your structure.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; builds increasing understanding of directionality, order, and positions of objects, and words such as up, down, over, under, top, bottom, inside, outside, in front, behind.

Art

            Show the children how to print by using a sponge.  Pinch a piece pf sponge with the clip clothespin. SHow the children how to dip the sponge into paint and then print (up and down, up and down) across their paper or around the edges. This will get some of the same effect as the illustrations in the book.

Creative Arts/Art; gains ability in using different art media and materials in a variety of ways for creative expression and representation.

Library and Writing

            Explain to the children that you are going to make an I Am Proud book.  Have the children review things that they have done that make them feel happy and pleased with themselves.  Ask them to draw what their face looks like when they are proud onto the paper plate.  On the back of each plate write what makes them proud.  Punch holes in the plates and attach together with a piece of yarn. (My Mom let me feed my brother said Kerry, I did my own seatbelt yesterday said Tammie, I buttoned all my buttons, even the little one said Roger)

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; demonstrates growing confidence in a range of abilities and expresses pride in accomplishments.

Sand and Water

Dramatic Play

            Remind the children that in the story Peter wanted to feel grown-up so he put on his father’s hat.  Ask the children what clothes in your dramatic center could make them feel grown up?  Encourage them to try the clothes on. Challenge them to do their own buttons, zippers, velcro, and snaps.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Cut out the dashund dogs and challenge the children to arrange them from shortest to longest. Or cut out several of each length dog and sort them.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows growth in matching, sorting, putting in series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as shape or size.

Outdoor Play

If you have any whistle or whistle slides (think Dollar Store) bring them in for the children to enjoy.

            Take colored chalk outside and let the children color on the sidewalk.  Can they write their name? Can they draw various shapes? If you do not have a place to use colored chalk, try writing in the dirt with sticks.

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

In the story there was a girl jumping rope.  For older children encourage them to practice this skill.

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

Transitions

            As each child leaves the group, ask them to try to whistle. After their attempt, remind them that practice makes perfect.

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

Resources