Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree, by Eileen Christelow

Teasing is not nice as these five monkeys learn. This is a fun counting/subtraction book based on a popular finger play.

Materials

Drawing monkey directions
Number line 1-5
A basket the children can use for picnic play
A deck of cards.
Bits of tree parts (bark, leaf, stickbud, seed)

Vocabulary

Snooze (a nap)
Scolds (to tell somebody off, to speak angrily to another)
Tease (to make somebody mad on purpose or to be purposely hurtful)

Before Reading the Story

Tell the children that you want to talk to them about teasing. Ask them if they know what it means to tease somebody? Ask them how they feel when somebody teases them? After the children have shared their experiences about teasing, tell them that you are going to play a game. Have them make a thumbs up sign and tell them that when they hear a kind/friendly idea make a thumbs up. When they hear a thoughtless or mean idea make a thumbs down. Make up scenarios or use ones you have seen in your classroom and ask the children if it is a thumbs up or thumbs down? After you have run several scenarios pass the children, older children might like to try making one up. (You are playing in the blocks and another child comes in and goes right up to your building and knocks it down and laughs, is this a thumbs up, or thumbs down? You are getting some water to put into the water table and you spill some on the floor by accident. Another child comes over with a paper towel and helps you wipe it up, is this a thumbs up/down? You fell down while running on the playground and someone laughs at you, thumbs up/down?)

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Control; develops growing understanding of how their actions affect others and begins to accept the consequences for their actions.

Reading the Story

Tell the children that your story today is about 5 little monkeys who tease. Hold up the cover and read the title. Ask the children if anyone can guess who the monkeys might be teasing?

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

After Reading the Story

Ask the children why the mother monkey was scolding her children? Do you think teasing is nice? Why should we not tease (it hurts peoples feelings, it could make somebody mad, sad, cry). What should you do if somebody is teasing you? Have the children practice saying “Stop It, I don’t like that!” Have them practice saying it loud. Tell them if you as the teacher hear a child say this (Stop it I don’t like that) that you will come over to where they are and help them. Have everyone practice saying it again. Say it again loudly.

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Control; shows progress in expressing feelings, needs, and opinions in difficult situations and conflicts without harming themselves, others, or property.

Discovery

Bring in parts of trees and magnifying glasses. Help the children to name the bark, branch, bough, leaf, bud, and seed of the trees.

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;

Count 1-5 and back again. Hold up your fingers as you count. Count 1-5 in Spanish (uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinco, quatro, tres, dos, uno) or another language that you would like the children to be exposed to.

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

Do the Crocodile, Crocodile chant.

Crocodile, crocodile long and green

Crocodile, crocodile with teeth so mean

He snapped at a fish

He snapped at a bee

He snapped at a frog

And he snapped at me.

He caught that fish

He caught that bee

He caught that frog

But he did not catch me!

Whew

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

Gather all the children into a circle and play Monkey See, Monkey Do. One person starts off as the leader and everyone mimics their movements. Take turns being the leader. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ4a7007dV4

When (name) claps, claps, claps her hands

The monkeys clap, clap, clap their hands

Monkey see, Monkey do

Monkey do the same as you (point to the next leader.)

Begin again saying the person’s name and letting them choose the next action

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

Blocks

Draw 5 monkeys, or let the children draw their own. Cut around the monkey shapes and put a piece of tape onto the back. The children can build with blocks and then add the 5 monkeys to swing from their structures.

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.

Art

Put sand into the paint at the easel today. When it dries the surface will be a rough texture like a crocodiles back. Put out green, brown, and white paint to simulate a crocodiles coloring.

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

Library and Writing

Show the children the How to Draw a Monkey page. Encourage them to try to follow the steps and make five monkeys.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; progresses in ability to put together and take apart shapes. AND Creative Art/Art; progresses in abilities to create drawings, paintings, models, and other art creations that are more detailed, creative, or realistic.

Sand and Water

Put water into the table today. Add several long blocks that the children can pretend are crocodiles. They can bob these up and down or pour water over them. Add counting bears or similar manipulative, how many bears can the children float on the block/crocodiles back?

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

Dramatic Play

Bring in a basket and a towel or blanket. The children can pretend to go on a picnic.

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

Bring in a deck of cards. Take out all the face cards. Shuffle the cards and pass them out evenly between 2-4 players. Have the children put their pile of cards face down in front of them. On the count of three, everyone turns over their top card. The person with the highest number gets to take all the cards and put them in a second pile beside them. If two or more players turn over the same number, they must slap their card and say SNAP! The one who says snap first gets to take all the cards and put them beside them. Play until one person has all the cards or the children loose interest.

Mathematics/Number & Operations;begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and writen numerals in meaningful ways. AND Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation;develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions,; to take turns in games and using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive.

Outdoor Play

If you have a tree or structure to climb, let the children pretend to be the monkeys and the teacher can go about snapping like a crocodile at them.

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.

Transitions

As children move on to the next activity, hold up 1-5 fingers and say 4-1=? (Four take away one equals how many?) Do different combinations and have the children figure out the math equation. Make sure to use only 1-5 unless your children are older then try 1-10. Use your fingers as a visual cue to help the children.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops increasing abilities to combine, separate and name “how many” concrete objects.

Resources

Every Buddy Counts, by Stuart J. Murphy

What do you do when you wake up feeling lonely, crummy, yucky, and sad? Count your friends and you will feel better! This is a nice counting book to share with your children.

Materials

Rebus Gorp recipe cards
Gorp ingredients for the class
Dice

Vocabulary

More and less

Before Reading the Story

Do several fingerplays or songs that require some counting (5 Little Ducks, 1,2,3,4,5 I Caught a Fish Alive).

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

Reading the Story

As you read the book, stop and have the children help count (Example; On the page for 7, count the aunts and uncles and the cars. Are there more people or more cars? On the eight page after counting the playmates, ask what the girl is holding in her hand, What is it used for?)

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction and non-fiction and poetry. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

After Reading the Story

Bring in a dice. Take turns rolling the dice and having the children count how many dots. Then let the child choose a movement for everyone to do that many times. (Kerry you rolled 3. Kerry wants to do 3 kicks, everybody kick and count 1,2,3.)

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects. AND Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; participates actively in games, outdoor play, and other forms of exercise that enhance physical fitness.

Discovery

Make gorp using the rebus cards to count out ingredients.

Literacy/Print Awareness & Concepts; develops growing understanding of different functions of forms of print such as signs, letters, newspapers, lists, messages, and menus. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

Music and Movement

Have the children start in a squatting position and begin to count 1-10. As they count, they begin to stand up slowly until they get to 10 and are on tip toe with hands in the air. Now start a 10 and work down to 1 getting smaller and smaller as they count.

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

Teach the children the finger play 1,2,3,4,5 I Caught a Fish Alive.

1,2,3,4,5 Hold up fingers as you count

I caught a fish alive Point towards yourself

6, 7, 8,9,10 Hold up fingers as you count

Then I threw him back again! Pretend to throw fish

What made you let him go? Shrug shoulders up

Because he bit my finger so! Hands on hips with mad face

Which finger did he bite? Look of surprise

The little pinkie on the right Hold up little pinkie and look sad

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

Blocks

Challenge the children to make a set of stairs using 10 blocks. What else can you make using only 10 blocks?

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

Art

Have the children trace around their hands, or they can trace around their friends hands. Encourage them to embellish their hands with fingernails, rings, and bracelets or watches at the wrist. When they are finished decorating their hands, show them how to write the numbers 1-10 and put a number above each finger.

Literacy/Early Writing; experiments with a growing variety of writing tools and materials, such as pencils, crayons, and computers. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Library and Writing

Put out a variety of flannel board shapes and let the children make patterns or count.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurements; enhances abilities to recognize, duplicate, and extend simple patterns using a variety of materials.

Sand and Water

Put sand or water in the table. Ask the children to use a measuring cup and count how many scoops it takes to fill a bowl. Use several size measuring cups and a variety of containers to fill. Which containers hold the most? Which container holds the least?

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use language to compare numbers of objects with terms such as more, less, greater than, fewer, equal to.

Math and Manipulatives

Make a counting book with the children. Give each child a paper with a number on it. The children can draw or cut out pictures of objects to represent their number. Do numbers 1-10.

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

Dramatic Play

Have the children set the table for two, three, and four. They will have to count to make sure they have enough dishes and silverware.

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

Outdoor Play

Play Mother-May-I? All the children stand at one side of the area. The children take turns asking “Mother may I take (3) (jumps)? Mother then says yes, or no you may only take (2) jumps. The children work their way across to the other side of the play yard counting different movements. (Slides, tippy toe walks, giant steps, skips, jumps, twirls).

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to make use of one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects. AND Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; shows increasing levels of proficiency, control, and balance in walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping.

Transitions

Have the children count how many steps it takes to get from point A to point B.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity.

Cut out and put into order for children to follow recipe for Gorp

How Many Feet in the Bed?, by D. Johnston Hamm

This book offers a fun and different way of counting. It talks about morning rituals that will counterbalance all the books out there about night time rituals.

Materials

Pictures of animals and their feet.
Several sentence strips or long strips of paper with the numbers 0-10 written across.

A sentence strip for each child.

Vocabulary

Names of body parts. Include ones that the children might not know such as eye lashes, knuckles, thighs, ear lobes, etc..

Before Reading the Story

Ask the children to help name body parts that people have two of. Now ask the children if they can name body parts that you only have one of, ten of, many of (teeth, hairs, freckles)? Introduce the children and tell them that as you read the story, they will need to help you count the feet.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects. AND Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; uses an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Reading the Story

While reading the story, touch the feet as you count them.

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

After Reading the Story

Have all the girls stick their feet into the circle and ask, how many feet do you think there are? Count all the girl’s feet. Repeat with the boy’s feet. Which have more feet, girls or boys? Now count all the feet together, there are a lot of feet!

Mathematics/Number & Operations; Begins to use language to compare numbers of objects with terms such as more, less, greater that, fewer, equal to. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a means to solving problems and determining quantity.

Discovery

Bring in an insect that is common to your area. Put it into a container that the children can observe it through. How many feet does this insect have? Do you see it’s eyes? How does the creature move? (I have found that roly polies and crickets work well).

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops increasing ability to observe and discuss common properties, differences, and comparisons among objects and materials.

Music and Movement

Teach the children Hap Palmer’s song, What a Miracle.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFlVciz8aGs

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences

Teach the chant, Left Foot Right Foot.

Left foot, right foot I am cool

Left foot, right foot I learned at school.

Make sure you are standing facing the children when you do this. You will put out your opposite foot so the children will mimic using their correct foot. Continue doing, hand, knee. elbow, hip. etc..

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

Blocks

Ask the child if they can build a structure using only ten blocks. Then ask them if they can build a structure using only five blocks, etc.? Observe if they are able to build using the correct number of blocks.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects. AND Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following swimple and multi-step directions.

Art

Help each child draw around their shoe onto a piece of paper. Challenge them to decorate their shoe from a looking down perspective. For younger children it is easier to trace around their hand and then decorate it (fingernails, rings, freckles, hairs).

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences. AND Science/Scientific Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and respect for their bodies and the environment.

Sand and Water

Put large rubber animals in the table today with wet sand. Stamp out animal foot prints.

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

Library and Writing

On a sentence strip make the numbers 0-10. Give the children each their own sentence strip and encourage them to copy the numbers onto it. They can then cut these out and glue them to a piece of paper.

Literacy/Early Writing; experiments with a variety of writing tools and materials, such as pencils, crayons, and computers. AND Approaches t Learning/Engagement & Persistence; grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks , activities, projects, and experiences.

Dramatic Play

Put out many pairs of shoes today so the children will be aware of their feet as they play. If you have the supplies, you could set up a pretend shoe store. As the children try on the different shoes, help them be aware if the shoes are too big, too small, or just right for their feet.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; grows in recognizing and solving problems through active exploration, including trial and error, and interactions and discussions with peers and adults.

Math and Manipulatives

On a piece of paper write the number 0. On another write the number 2, 4, and 6. Put the papers on the table and give the child the picture so animals. Have the child count the number of feet and put the picture on the correct piece of paper. Put the 1 paper on the left and the 6 paper on the right. After the children sort the animals, point to the piles and say,”more, more, and most”.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a means of solving problems and determining quantity. AND begins to use language to compare numbers of objects with terms such as more, less, greater than, fewer, equal to.

Outdoor Play

Take off your shoes and socks today and let the children walk barefoot on a variety of surfaces (sand, wet sand, grass, cement, gravel). Talk about how each one feels and which one they like the best.

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

Take off your shoes today and let the children paint with their feet. Use a long piece of bulletin board paper, have the children paint their feet with a paintbrush, and then hold the hand of a friend as they walk across the paper. Have either a hose or a pan of water they can wash their feet off with. Supply several towels for drying.

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

Transitions

Ask several children stand together. Ask another child to count how many feet there are in the grouping. Ask different groups of children 1-5 come up and let the others count their feet.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a means of solving problems and determining quantity.