The barn is in turmoil because a little mouse squeaked.  Children enjoy this book with silly illustrations and the repetitive lines.  It’s also in Rebus form so that once you have read it with the children several times, they can remember the story and re-read on their own.

Materials

•             Animal headbands that go with the story
•             Box of dominos
• Pictures of animals that live/do live on the farm
• Several large boxes from the grocery store.

Vocabulary

•             Country (far away from the city, where farms are)

Before Reading the Story

Using the picture cards of the animals in the story; play, One of these is not like the other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsRjQDrDnY8 Put out 3 cards where the children can see them making 1 different from the other. (2 birds & 1 not bird, cat-cow&pig, 2chicks-cards with only 1 animal, 2 w/4footed&1 w/2feet).

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

Reading the Story

            Give the children the animal headbands to wear (keep them in order of the story the first few times you read this book).  Tell the children that today they are going to help you tell the story.  When you point to the child/children they are to make the animal sound that is on their headband.  Practice this several times so the children can get used to making the animal sound on command.  If you have more children then animals, make a couple sheep, hens and chicks.  In this story everyone needs a part.

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

            As you read the story begin at a slow pace and then begin to read faster as you get towards the end of the book.  As you point to the children as they continue to make their animal sounds but expect mix-ups and laughter along the way.

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

After Reading the Story

            Ask the children if they can remember why the mouse squeaked at the beginning of the story? Can they recall the order of 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.

Discovery

Have the children sort animal pictures by those that live on a farm and those that do not live on a farm.

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

Music and Movement

Teach the children the song, Come and See My Farm. Teach it in Spanish if possible. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJzpFDA2rCw

Continue doing a variety of farm animals.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems. AND Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plakays, games, and performances.

Put on the song, The Barnyard Dance and have the children do the movements along with. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jcbcgg1pQjY

Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plakays, games, and performances.

Blocks

            Put a box of dominos into the center today.  Show the children how to stand them up on end close together.  After they are all stood on end, gently tap the first domino and let it fall onto the next causing the row of dominoes to fall.  This is like the story, one thing affects the next!

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

Art

Pick a paper plate animal and put out the materials that the children will need to make. Cotton balls for sheep, pink paint for pigs, black lima bean shapes for cow.

Creative Arts/Art; develops growing abilities to plan, work independently, and demonstrate care and persistence in a variety of art projects. AND Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; demonstrates increasing ability to set goals and develop and follow through on plans.

Library and Writing

            Play I’m thinking of an animal who lives in the barn in the country.  Draw a letter onto a piece of paper and see if the child can guess the animal that starts with that letter (This is the letter P.  It sounds like /p/.  What animal starts with the letter P sound? /p/ /p/ pig!  This is the letter H.  It sounds like /h/.  What animal starts with the letter H sound?)

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

Sand and Water

Add farm animals and sand to the table. The children can either dig for animals or you can dampen the sand and the can build a farm.

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

Dramatic Play

            Let the children use the animal headbands in the center to act out the story or make up their own.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress 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.

Math and Manipulatives

Make an extra set of the Barn animals from the story. Tape a line of masking tape onto the table. Give the children directions on where to put the animal cards. (Put the horse on the line. Put the sheep above the line. Put the cow next to the sheep. Put the mouse under the horse. etc.).

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

Outdoor Play

Bring the grocery boxes and red paint outside for the children to work cooperatively painting ‘barns’. When the barns are dry, the teacher can cut a door into one side. These can then be used for outside play, dramatic play center, or even the block center.

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

Transitions

Play, Who’s Being Fed? The teacher says’ (Someone on the farm today was happy to be fed. _____ _____ _____ ______ is what that someone said. So tell me (child’s name) who was fed? The child then names the animal.

Turkey-gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble Goat-naa, naa, naa, naa Etc.

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

Resources