Pretend that you are a chipmunk.  What would you do and where would you go?  This book is a wonderful look at the life and habitat of a chipmunk.

Materials

•             Several sponges
•             Pictures of animals that live underground 
•             Recipe cards for Worms in the Dirt
•             Cottonballs
•             Large serving spoon and bowl.

Vocabulary

•             Burrow (a hole or tunnel home under the ground)
•             Imagining (pretending)
•             Dashing (running quickly)
•             Statue (a sculpture that cannot move)

Before Reading the Story

Look at the cover of the book.  Does anyone know what animal this is?  The child is copying the chipmunk.  She is pretending to be a chipmunk, she is imagining.  Ask the children to raise their hands if they have ever seen a real chipmunk?  Let them share any information they may have about chipmunks.  (I saw a chipmunk on my Grandma’s stone fence one time.  My cat caught a chipmunk and ate it!).

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

Reading the Story

 Take your time reading the story and encourage the children to share any comments they have about the illustrations.

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

After Reading the Story

After reading, write what the children learned about chipmunks.  Go back through the book and have the children act out being a chipmunk. (crawl out of your hole/from under the table, look around to see if safe and stretch, dash to the berry bush/a designated place in the room such as the easel, leap from stone to stone, chip out a song, etc).

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books ands experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story.

Discovery

Put the book in the science center and show the children the page with the animals underground. Find magazines or books that show more pictures of animals underground.

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

 Make Worms in Dirt snacks.  Put chocolate pudding into individual cups.  Add broken Oreo cookies for rocks and gummy worms.

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

Music and Movement

 Play Statues with the children.  Put on music and have the children dance.  When the music stops, the children must freeze in their place until the music begins again.

Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger poplays, games, and performances.  AND Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions.

Blocks

Challenge the children to build a tunnel.  After they have built one tunnel ask them if they can build a longer tunnel, a shorter tunnel, a tunnel that some of your plastic animals can fit through.

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

Art

 Have the children paint a large piece of paper with brown paint.  Show them how to use sponges to lift the paint off the paper.  This effect resembles dirt underground.  The children can then draw or cut out animals that live underground. 

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

Library and Writing

Encourage the children to draw a chipmunk.  After they have finished their drawing, ask them to tell you what their chipmunk is doing in the picture or a chipmunk fact.  Write their words on the bottom of their picture or on another piece of paper that you can attach.  (“My chipmunk is eating an acorn. “” The chipmunk is sitting on the ground””It’s a chipmunk Mommy and her bab

Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.  AND Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; grows in eagerness to learn about and discuss a growing range of topics, ideas, and tasks.  

Sand and Water

 Mix sand and dirt together.  Add a small amount of water.  Encourage the children to dig burrows. 

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

  If you have acorns available,these would be fun to add to the water table to float along with leaves. Can the children make the acorns float on top of the leaves? How many acorns will a leaf hold before it starts to sink?

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

Dramatic Play

Bring in acorns or poker chips that the children can pretend is food.  They can gather the food into a bowl.  Encourage them to talk chipmunk by saying Chip, chip, chip over and over.  Put a scarf over a table and underneath can be their burrow.

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.  AND 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.

Math and Manipulatives

Put acorns or cotton balls into a large bowl.  The children grab a handful and count how many they were able to collect.  Use a large serving spoon and let the children grab another handful.  How many were they able to collect this time?  Which pile has more/less acorns?

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

Outdoor Play

Play Animal Walks with the children.  Imagine you are a snake and slither along the ground. Pretend you are a deer and leap across the field.  Pretend you are a mouse and scamper along the path.  Pretend you are a horse and gallop around the pen.  Pretend you are a bee and buzz from flower to flower.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.  AND Physical Health & Development/Health Status & practices; participates actively in games, outdoor play, and other forms of exercise that enhance physical fitness.

Transitions

 Tape pictures of animals to the wall or a flannel board.  On another piece of paper or whiteboard, write the first letter of one animal and say the letter sound.  The child must then come up and take the animal picture off the wall that goes along with the letter sound.  Start with letters that your children might be familiar with such as the first letter in their names. (Can you find the animal whose name begins with the letter R, /R/, R?  The child would then take the rabbit picture off the wall.

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

Resources

This book is a good introduction to farm animals. It also is a fun recall game.

Materials

•            A bag of dried corn or birdseed
•             Animal flannels
•             Any stuffed animals you might have that go along with the story

Vocabulary

•             Sty (the same thing as a pigpen)
•             Yonder (Over there)

Before Reading the Story

Put the farm animal pictures onto the flannel board one at a time.  Ask the children if they know the animals name and the animals voice.  Once they are all on the flannel board cover the board with a sheet and remove one animal.  Ask the children if they know what is missing.  Continue to play removing different animals or combinations of animals. 

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; chooses to participate in an increasing variety of tasks and activities.  

Reading the Story

As you read, pause and encourage the children to recite how the animals ‘go’ with you.

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

After Reading the Story

Place all the flannel board animals at the top of the flannel board and ask the children to help recall the order that the animals appeared in the story.  How did the cat go?  How did the hen go?

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

Bring in real pictures of farm animals for the children to discuss

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.

Music and Movement

Sing the Cows in the Barn, to The Wheels on the Bus

The cows in the barn say moo, moo, moo,

Moo, moo, moo,

Moo, moo, moo

The cows in the barn say moo, moo, moo,

We want our lunch.

The horse in the stable say neigh, neigh, neigh

The pig in the sty say oink, oink, oink

The sheep in the pasture say baa, baa, baa

The goose in the grass say honk, honk, honk

Duck in the puddle say quack, quack, quack

The chicken in the coop say buck, buck, buck

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.  And Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and performances.

Blocks

 Bring out the farm animals and encourage the children to build houses for the animals.  I see you built a chicken coop, that is a big barn you made for the cows, I see the stable for the horses, those pigs must like that sty you built them).

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads, and using scissors.  AND Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Art

In the story the sheep and the cow ate hay or long grasses.  Bring in a handful of hay or long grass and rubber band together several pieces to let the children experiment using these as paint brushes.

Creative Arts/Art; begins to understand and share opinions about artistic products and experiences.

Library and Writing

Tell the children that you are going to write your own Fiddle-i-fee book.  Have the children draw a picture of an animal that they like (lion, monkey, sheep, snake) and on the top of each page write; I had a ____ and the ___ pleased me.  Ask the child if they think they know what the animal might eat.  Write their response at the bottom of the page; I fed my ___ ___by yonder tree. (I had a monkey and the monkey pleased me, I fed my monkey bananas by yonder tree. I fed my snake fishes by yonder tree. I fed my tiger meat by yonder tree)

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.  AND Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.

Sand and Water

In the story the boy feeds the hen, the duck, and the goose dried corn.  Bring in dried corn to put into the table today.  The children can use it to pour and sift.  If you can not find dried corn, you can use birdseed.

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Control; demonstrates increasing capacity to follow rules and routines and to use materials purposefully, safely, and respectfully.

Dramatic Play

 Add any stuffed farm animals that you might have to the center.  What does a pig eat?  How should we pretend to feed the pig, on  a plate or in a bowl?  You can also make an extra set of the flannel animals and staple them to sentence strips to make animal hats.  The children can pretend to be the different animals in the story.

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;shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.

Math and Manipulatives

Play a listening game with the children.  Make 2-4 sets of the animals  For each animal set, make a set of food pictures.  Tell the children that they are going to have to listen carefully and put the correct food in front of each animal.  Give directions for two animals at a time (put the apple in front of the goose and the ice cream in front of the cat.  When they can do 2 directions try three and then four.  You can also have one child put a food in front of each animal and the other children copy what the first child did.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multi-step directions.  AND Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; enhances abilities to recognize, duplicate, and extend simple patterns using a variety of materials.

Outdoor Play

Do animal walks and make the sounds that go with the story.  Have the children do the walks from one tree to the one over yonder.

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

Transitions

Have the children go from here to yonder center or line as an animal.  Let the children take turns naming animals for each other and let the children decide the way the animal goes.  (the snake goes sssssss, the elephant goes thump, thump, thump).

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

Resources