Category Archives: Family

A Birthday Basket for Tia, by Pat Mora

It’s Tia’s birthday, what special gifts will she find in the basket?

Materials

  • Large basket to hold a book, a teacup, a mixing bowl, a (red) ball, a flowerpot, and some silk flowers.
  • A circle graph
  • A sheet, or towel, large enough to cover the items in the basket.
  • Pillowcase
  • 10 flannel candles, color these yellow and blue
  • Copy of basket, one per child
  • old wrapping paper or aluminum foil
  • 4-5 pipe cleaners cut into thirds

Vocabulary

  • Tia (means Aunt in Spanish)
  • Tea Cup (a special cup to drink tea in)
  • Surprise (to give somebody something unexpectedly)

Introducing the story

Bring the large basket filled with the items listed. Tell the children that you have a surprise for my Tia/aunt whom I love very much. Ask them if they can guess why you are giving them to your Tia. “Yes! It’s her birthday!” If nobody suggests birthday, tell the children because it is her birthday. Pick up each item and have the children name. Ask the children how they celebrate birthdays. Write their responses on a large sheet of paper.

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; 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

Read the story quietly, secretly as though you do not want Tia to hear. As you read, hold up each item in the basket when presented in the story and put down in front of you in a haphazard order.

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

After Reading the Story

Ask the children to recall what item was put in the basket first, second, third, last. Put the items back in the basket in the proper order with the help of the children.

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.

Use the circle graph and take the list of the children responses of how they celebrate birthdays and mark those that are like the story and those that are different.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; begins to make comparisons between several objects based on a single attribute. 

 Music and Movement

Sing Happy Birthday with your children. Or, try

Happy Birdle Daydle toodle yooudle.
Happy Birdle Daydle toodle youdle
Happy Birdle Daydle deardle youdle
Happy Birdle Daydle toodle youdle.

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

Or teach them to sing it in Spanish

Feliz cumpleaños a ti
feliz cumpleaños a ti
feliz cumpleaños querido/a (name)
feliz cumpleaños a ti.

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; uses an increasingly complex and varied spoken vocabulary.

Discovery

Without the children being able to see, put an object into the pillowcase. It should be something from the classroom that the children are familiar with. Let the children take turns feeling the item through the pillow case. Can they guess what it is without looking? After each child, change the object. Try putting in the objects from the story also. Encourage the children to take turns finding a classroom object and putting it into the pillowcase for a friend to guess.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; approaches tasks and activities with increased flexibility, imagination, and inventiveness. Chooses to participate in increasing variety of tasks and activities.

Blocks

Give the children scraps of wrapping paper and tape, or pieces of aluminum foil, and show them how to wrap the blocks up like gifts.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer.

Art

Use the teacup and a variety of cups to print circle shapes on paper. Talk about small, medium, and large circles as they print.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to be able to determine whether or not two shapes are the same size and shape.

Sand and Water

Use dampened sand today to make cakes. Add pieces of pipe cleaners to represent candles. Encourage the children to add 3 candles, 5 candles, etc.

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

Library and Writing

Give children a copy of the basket and ask them to draw a picture of a gift that they would give to Tia.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest in reading related activities, such as asking to have a book read; choosing to look at books; drawing pictures based on stories, asking to take books home…

Dramatic Play

Put the basket with the items from the story (minus the tea cup-replace with a plastic one) and encourage the children to play birthday party. You could also add some crepe paper and tape, some boxes to put items in, and birthday hats.

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.

Math and Manipulatives

Teach the children the poem, Ten Little Candles and let them subtract the candles as you recite.

10 Little Candles standing on a cake (Put the 10 candles on the flannel board)
Whhh, Whhh, now there are 8 (Take 2 candles away)
8 little candles in candlesticks
Whhh, Whhh, now there are 6 (Take 2 candles away)
6 little candles and not one more
Whhh, Whhh, now there are 4 (Take away 2 candles)
4 little candles, yellow and blue
Whhh, Whhh, now there are 2 (Take away 2 candles)
2 little candles, 1 plus 1
Whhh, Whhh, now there are none. (Take away 2 candles)

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

For younger children you might try Five Little Candles

5 little candles standing tall
Burning brightly, count them all
Puff, I blow with all my might
And out goes one little candle light.
Then so on for 4, 3, etc.

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

Outdoor Play

Hang a piñata from a tree and practice hitting it with a plastic baseball bat. If you do not have a piñata you can use a pillowcase stuffed with newspaper, sack, anything that the children can practice hitting at. You do not need to fill it with goodies, you can pretend.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; demonstrates increasing abilities to coordinate movements in throwing, catching, kicking, bouncing balls, and using slide and swing.

Transitions

Have each child pretend to blow out the birthday candles. Remove 1-10 and the child must tell you how many remain before they go to the next activity.

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

Dear Parents, Today we read a story about a birthday celebration. Talk with your child about when their birthday is. Tell them the date and what happens just before. Example; Kerry your birthday is March 11, when it is your birthday it will begin to get warmer because soon it will be spring. Roger your birthday is December 23, when it is almost Christmas it will be your birthday.

Resources

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candles
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A Chair for My Mother, by Vera B. Williams

Imagine how you would feel if your home caught on fire! This is the story of a girl named Rosa and her family that this happened to. Her friends and neighbors all pitch in to help her family but still there was something missing. Through hard savings they finally had the money for that one last item they dreamed about; a chair for her Mother.

Materials

  • 5-10 pennies for each child
  • Box of salt
  • Jar of vinegar
  • A variety of real or play coins

Vocabulary

  • Tips (a gift of money for a job well done)
  • Spoiled (to be ruined)
  • Sofa (another name for couch or davenport)

Before Reading the Story

Bring a chair to the rug to read from today. Ask the children if they have ever lost something that was really special to them. Let them talk about how they felt (sad, angry). Tell the children that our story today is about a family that lost everything, all their clothes and toys and furniture because a big fire burned it all up. Give the children time to talk about any fire experience that they may have had. Hold up the back of the book with the picture of the chair and introduce the story.

Social & Emotional Development/Social Relationships; progresses in responding sympathetically to peers who are in need, upset, hurt, or angry; and in expressing empathy or caring for others. AND Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; 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

Read the story using emotion.

After Reading the Story

Turn to the page where the neighbors were bringing Rosa’s family things for their new house. Ask the children if they thought their friends and neighbors were being kind? Ask the children what they would have given to Rosa’s family? Take a few minutes and talk about fire and fire safety. What should you do if your house catches on fire (get out, call 911, find your parent, call “help,help,help” if you are inside, get down low to the floor)

Social & Emotional Development/Social Relationships; progresses in responding sympathetically to peers who are in need, upset, hurt, or angry; and in expressing empathy or caring for others.  AND Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic, and pedestrian safety; and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

Discovery

Give each child 5-10 pennies. Ask them to sort them by shiny pennies and not shiny pennies. Ask them to count how many shiny pennies they have, how many not shiny, how many total, Let the children mix a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of vinegar, and 5 teaspoons of water into a small bowl. Put a couple pennies into the bowl and stir. Take the pennies out and wipe dry with a paper towel. The mixture helps remove the tarnish and make the pennies shiny. When they are finished have them put their pennies into a jar like Rosa and her family did in the story.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops increased abilities to combine, separate, and name “how many” concrete objects.  AND Science/Scientific Knowledge & Skills; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships.

Music and Movement

Teach the children the song/chant I’ve Got a Penny sung to the chorus of Playground in my Mind. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slp69VwEj4w

I’ve got a penny, I’ve got a penny
I’ve got a penny shiny and new.
I’m gonna buy all kinds of candy
That’s what I’m gonna do.

Put a variety of coins in a bag. Take turns picking out and naming the coin. Replace the word penny with the appropriate coin name. Let the child then decide what they are going to buy (Kerry’s gonna buy all kinds of headbands, that’s what she’s gonna do).

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

Blocks

Put fire trucks into the center. Encourage the children to build houses and act out being fire persons.   For older children ask them if they can build a fire house.  Can they include a roof?

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; approaches tasks and activities with increased flexibility, imagination, and inventiveness.  AND 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

Make a group chair collage. Have the children go through magazines and furniture ads and cut out pictures of chairs. When you finish the collage, the children can tell which chair is their favorite and write their name beside.

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.

Sand and Water

Water play today.  Add turkey baster, hosing, and funnels.

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

Library and Writing

Remind the children that Rosa was saving to buy a chair for her mother.  Ask the children to draw a picture of what they would buy their Mom if they had $100.00. Write their response under their picture. ‘I would buy a ______for my Mother.’

Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.

Dramatic Play

Add play money and cash register.   Remind the children that Rosa’s Mom was a waitress at a restaurant.  Encourage the children to pretend to play restaurant taking turns being the waitress, the cook, and the customers.  Add a cash register and pretend money along with a real or home-made menu.

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families and Communities; develops a growing awareness of jobs and what is required to perform them.

Math and Manipulatives

In a clean egg carton, glue 2 pennies head/tail, 2 nickels head/tail, 2 dimes head/tail, and 2 quarters head/tail side by side. Use the four extra egg cups to hold a variety of coins. Explain that the glued ones show the front and back of each coin. Have the children sort the loose coins into the appropriate coin cup (it does not matter if it’s heads/tails). Make sure they wash their hands afterwards as money is known to be dirty.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; shows growth in matching, sorting, putting in a series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size.

Outdoor Play

Teach the children how to play Categories. Teacher picks a category (things in your kitchen, kinds of clothes, fruits).   You can either toss a bean bag to a child who then must answer or if you have a slide, the child must answer before he/she can go down the slide.

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

Transitions

Have the children sit in a circle.  In the center of the circle put a chair.  Give each child a block and take turns asking them to put them on, under, beside, in front, behind, near, and far from the chair.  Each child can be given one or two directions before they head off to the next activity.

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.

Dear Parents- Today we read a story about a family whose household belongings burnt in a fire.  Although this might be a subject that is a little scary to talk about with your child, it is important.  Show your child how to dial 911 (do not really call).  Talk about what to do and where to go if there is ever a family emergency and you get separated (go to the neighbors house, the mailbox, the lamp post at the end of the block).  It is important that children learn what you want them to do when there is not an emergency going on.  Talk to them calmly and answer all their questions.  Who knows, this may one day save yours or their life.

Llama Llama Red Pajama, by Anna Dewdney

Baby Llama is waiting for Mama but Mama does not come right away. Baby Llama has a melt down until Mama comes and makes things right.

Materials

  • Several boxes/blankets to be used as beds for wither the children or the dolls in the dramatic center.
  • Many 2-inch squares of paper to be used to make a quilt design. I have used old wrapping paper as well as colored construction paper to make squares.
  • Several flashlights, 1 for each number of children allowed in center

Vocabulary

  • Fret (to worry or become upset)
  • Whimper (to whine or moan)
  • Moan (to groan or sigh)
  • Tizzy (to become panicked or really upset)

Introducing the Story

Hold up the cover of the book and ask the children to look at Llama’s face, how do you think he is feeling? I have gotten answers from sad to scared. Read the title of the book to the children. Ask why they think Llama is feeling this way (he does not like the dark, he does not want to go to bed, he wants to watch TV). Steer the conversation around bedtime rituals. Tell the children. “Let’s find out what is going on with Llama” and introduce the book.

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions; and for other varied purposes. Social & Emotional Development/Self-Control; show progress in expressing feelings, needs, and opinions in difficult situations and conflicts without harming themselves, others, or property.

Reading the Story

On the page where Llama and Mama are reading a story, ask the children if they think Llama likes this time of day (note Llama’s facial expression). Ask the children how many of their families read to them at night? When you get to the page where Llama starts to stomp and pout, ask the children what they think is happening (Llama is having a temper tantrum). Read the next 2 pages and stop after the sentence, “Mama Llama run, run, run”. Ask the children if they think this is a good way to get what they want, why/why not? Turn the page where it shows Mama coming into the room. Ask the children to look at Mama’s face, how do you think she is feeling? If they cannot place the emotion, tell them that Mama is afraid/scared.   Why? (She is scared that her baby is sick, she thinks baby fell off the bed and got hurt, there is a robber in the house).   On the page when Mama is in the room, (Baby Llama what a tizzy) again stop and look at the Llama’s faces. How do you think Mama and Llama are feeling?

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction and non-fiction, and poetry. AND Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions; and for other varied purposes.

After Reading the Story

Ask the children if they ever feel sad or angry when it is time to go to bed?Tell them that getting good night’s sleep is important because that’s when our brains grow to help make us smarter. Explain to them that their parents need adult time to do things that they cannot do when they are at work (laundry, pay bills, relax, time to talk to their friends). Remind them that they have time to do this during the day at school but their parents have to wait until they get home.

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; progresses in understanding similarities and respecting differences among people such as genders, race, special needs, culture, language, and family structures.

Music and Movement

Sing, If You’re Happy and You Know It. Sing and make movements for different emotions as you sing; happy, sad, frustrated, angry, excited, and loving.

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Control; show progress in expressing feelings, needs, and opinions

Do the fingerplay, 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.

Mathematics/Number & Operation; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in a meaningful way.

If you have a tumble mat or large pillow, put it on the floor and have the children make a large circle around it. The pillow is going to be used for different kinds of large movements so make sure the children are seated far enough away not to be kicked. Let the children take turns trying to do a forward somersault roll. Older children may like to try a backward somersault roll however this is much more difficult. For children new to forward rolling, tell them to put their hands beside their feet, bend their knees, and look at their belly button so your head is tucked in tight. Challenge the children to do a log roll. Lay on the floor with your hands above your head and roll your body to the side making you roll from back to front to back again.

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

Discovery

Find a way to slightly darken your science center today and put out flashlights for the children to experiment with. Put out a variety of materials and ask the children to see which ones the light will shine through. Suggestions of things in your room that might provide the light to shine through; an article of doll clothing, a scarf, construction paper, paper plate, nap time blanket, easel paper, or a crystal. Include items that the light cannot pass through also.

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.

 Blocks

Challenge the children to make beds, either for themselves or stuffed animals in your room. Is the bed long enough? How many blocks long does the bed need to be for the stuffed rabbit? How many blocks long does the bed need to be for the child?

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows progress in using standard and non-standard measures of length and area of objects.

Art

Use the many 2-inch squares of colored paper that you have and a sheet of paper to make quilts. Open up the book, Llama, Llama Red Pajama, and show the children the quilt design. Tell the children that they are going to make their own quilts today by gluing the 2-inch squares to the sheet of paper. As the children work, you can talk about the colors they are using and papers that may have design. For older children you can challenge them to make a pattern using the squares ABAB or ABBABBA, etc.

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

Sand and Water

In the water table today, put out small pitchers and cups so the children can practice pouring. Remind them that in the story Llama thought he wanted a drink. If you are using disposable cups, mark lines on them at various heights so the children can practice filling a cup full, half full, and just a little bit full/quarter full.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, or hammer.

Library and Writing

Youtube has a reading of this story by author Anna Dewdney

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest in reading related activities, such as having a favorite book read: choosing to look at books; drawing pictures based on stories; asking to take a book home; going to the library; and engaging in pretend reading with other children.

Dramatic Play

Nighttime rituals. Bring in several boxes or blankets the children can use for beds. Encourage the children to be the parent and read to their dolls or stuffed animals. If you have doll clothes, encourage the children to dress the dolls in their pajamas.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest in reading related activities, such as having a favorite book read: choosing to look at books; drawing pictures based on stories; asking to take a book home; going to the library; and engaging in pretend reading with other children. AND 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.

Math and Manipulatives

Put out any activity that you have that has pattern play today. My children enjoy matching the numbers on the dominos.

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

Outdoor Play

Have the children gather round and tell them you want to have a classroom tantrum or fret. Ask the children if they can remember some of the things that Llama did? Act out the children’s recall and suggestions. In the story Llama boo-hooed, stomped, pouted, jumped, and shouted. But let the children run and scream or whatever else they might suggest that will not hurt each other (NO HITTING). The idea is to be very noisy and let off steam. When you are ready to end your classroom fret, holler ” Llama’s Stop!” and call all the children back to you. Give them all a kiss or a hug and send them on their way to play.

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

Tell the children that today’s story was full of rhyming words. Give the example; pajama-mama. Ask them if they can tell you what a rhyming word is (rhyming words sound the same). As you dismiss the children to the next activity, say a word and see if they can make a rhyming word to go along with it. Use some of the sounds in the story; /air/ink/oon/un/ as well as those that are not; /at/ow/in/un/.

Literacy/Phonological Awareness; progress in recognizing matching sounds and rhymes in familiar words, games, songs, stories, and poems.

Dear Parents- Today we read a story about a llama who did not want to go to bed.  Talk to your child about the importance of getting a good night’s sleep, it helps our brains to grow and our bodies to rejuvenate.  Try setting up a bedtime ritual to help prepare your child for sleep.  (After you brush your teeth I will read you one story and then we will turn the light off and you need to rest).  Your child might fight you on this but being consistent will help with any routine that you are trying to enforce.