Inside a Barn in the Country, by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

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

The Story of Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf

This is the story about a bull who was contented and happy being himself even if he was not like all the other bulls. This is a story about accepting others for who they are. Ferdinand is a bull who just does not like to fight and play rough like all the other bulls. He is happy to sit and smell the flowers.

Materials

Dip cotton balls into different scents. Put the cotton ball into small containers that the scent can come through. (IE; a zip lock bag with small pin holes along the seal). Seal the container so the children can not open them. (vanilla, perfume, vinegar, mouthwash, shampoo, liquid soap)
Tape measurer or yard stick

Vocabulary

Bull ( a boy cow)
Lonesome (sad from being alone)
Snort (the sound of air being forced through nose)
Fierce (the fightingest)

Before Reading the Story

Ask the children if they ever like to be alone and do quiet things all by themselves? What kinds of things do you like to do by yourself? Do you have a special place that you go when you want to be alone? Show the children the front of the book and ask if they know what kind of an animal Ferdinand is (bull). Point out his neck muscles and say that bulls are very strong. Show the children where Spain is on a globe or a map. Explain to them that in Spain people fight with bulls kind of like how in the U.S. wrestlers fight with each other on television, it is a sport.

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

Reading the Story

When you get to the part where the author is telling how all the other bulls played and knocked their heads together; hold up your two fists and bump them together saying these are their heads.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

When you get to the part where Ferdinand sits on the bumble bee, stop and ask the children what they think is going to happen.

After Reading the Story

Ask the children how they felt about Ferdinand not wanting to fight.? What if someone wanted to fight with you, what would you do? Is it ok to not do what everybody else is doing? Does everyone have to like to play in the mud just because I do? Am I being a good friend if I try to make you play in the mud when you do not want to? Is it ok to tell somebody “no” that you do not want to do something?

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; shows increasing abilities to use compromise and discussion in working, playing, and resolving conflicts with others. AND Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; grows in eagerness to learn about and discuss a growing range of topics, ideas, and tasks.

Discovery

In the story Ferdinand liked to smell the flowers. Bring in several small containers that you have soaked a cotton ball in a scent. Let the children sniff and guess what the scents are. Ask them to tell you which scents they like and do not like. Ask them to tell you what other scents they like (peanut butter, my shampoo, my baby when he’s not stinky)

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

Begin a discussion on smells. What do we use to smell with? How do smells help us? (They tell us about smoke, they tell us where to find food).

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to describe and discuss predictions, explanations, nad generalizations based on past experiences.

Did you know that if you have a very plugged nose you can not taste food? At lunch if someone says they do not like something, see if they will try an experiment. Have them plug their nose and take a bite of the food. Tell them to hold their nose until after they have swallowed. THere, you see that was not so bad.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; begins to participate in simple investigations to test observations, discuss and draw conclusions, and form generalizations.

Music and Movement

Do the fingerplay 5 Little Bulls

5 little bulls (hold up 5 fingers)

Bumping heads (bump knuckles of hands together)

Bumped too hard so went to bed. (rub forehead)

4 Little bulls (hold up 4 fingers)

Bumping Heads (bump knuckles of hands together)

Bumped too hard so went to bed. (rub forehead)

3 bulls

2 bulls

1 little bull (hold up 1 finger)

Couldn’t bump heads (shrug shoulder

He got bored so off he fled (put hands behind back)

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Teach the children the fingerplay, Here Is The Beehive

Here is the beehive (Make a fist with hand)

But where are the bees? (Shrug shoulders)

Hiding away where nobody sees. (Use other hand to point to fisted hand)

Oh, do you hear them? (Hold fisted hand to ea

They’re coming out of the hive

Here come the bees, 1,2,3,4,5! (Open up hand as count out the bees)

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

Blocks

Encourage the children to use the blocks to make a fence. Can they make a pattern fence with the blocks?

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

Art

Cut out circles, petal shapes, leaf shapes, and long strips for stems. Let the children collage the parts together to make flowers.

Creative Arts/Art; progresses in abilities to create drawings, paintings, models, and other art creations that are more detailed, creative, or realistic.

Library and Writing

Ask each child what it is that they especially like to do. Write their responses onto a piece of paper. Encourage the child to then illustrate their words. (I like to pet my cat cause he is soft and tickles me. I like to play video games on my Mommies phone. I like to play with my sister).

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences. AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; progresses in abilities using writing, drawing, and art tools, including pencils, markers, chalk, paint brushes, and various types of technology.

Sand and Water

Add silk or real flower petals to the water today.

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

Dramatic Play

Put fresh or silk flowers onto the table for the children to enjoy.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Using unifix cubes or counters, put out two sets and ask the children to count each set and tell you which has more or which has less.

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

Outdoor Play

Encourage the children to run and jump on the playground. Set up a long jump area. Mark a line across the ground and bring out a tape measurer. Have the children run and at the line jump as far as they can. Measure the children’s jumps using a tape measurer or yard stick. Also have the children stand at the line and jump from this standing position. Measure the length of their jumps.

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

Transitions

Ask the children questions about their five senses as they go off to the next activity. What do you use your nose for? How does your nose help you to know about the world? What is one thing you have to do to take care of your nose? Continue using all the senses.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and respect for their bodies and the environment.

Resources

The Hullabaloo ABC, by Beverly Cleary

This alphabet book encourages a loud and busy day on the farm. Let the children have fun learning the alphabet through this noisy book.

Materials

Index cards
Books or pictures of farm scenes
Stuffed animals that are farm related
Plastic Easter eggs

Vocabulary

Hullabaloo (to make a whole lot of noise!)
Echo (a repeated sound or word)
Bawl (to cry)
Yodel (a kind of singing)

Before Reading the Story

Show the children the cover of the book and ask the children if they recognize what is on the girl’s shirt. Read the title of the book and ask the children if they know what a hullabaloo is? Tell them it is to make a whole lot of noise! Ask the children what they can do while they sing the alphabet song to make a hullabaloo (clap, shout the words, stomp their feet), pick one idea and sing the alphabet song. As you sing, point to the letters on your alphabet wall chart.

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; knows the letters of the alphabet are a special category of visual graphics that can be individually named.

Reading the Story

As you read the story, talk about what is happening on the pages (A-B; can you tell what game they are playing? E; who knows what an echo is? Have the children try a few/ Hello!/hello, Ms. ____ is the best teacher!/Ms ____is the best teacher!). Continue through the book.

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

After Reading the Story

On index cards write the children’s first letter of their name, K=Kerry. Hold up the letter and ask if anyone recognizes this letter, do you know it’s name? Help the children think up a sound they can make with their letter (K=crow, R=roar, T=tap your feet on the floor).

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; shows progress in associating the names of letters with their shapes and sounds.

Discovery

Put out books or pictures of farm scenes for the children to talk about and compare. Can the children name different structures on the farm? Do they know the kinds of animals that might live on a farm or the produce that a farm might sow? Explain to the children that it takes many people to make a farm run and it is hard work. On farms where animals live, the animals must be fed and cleaned (someone has to muck up all that poop). And on farms that grow produce someone has to plant the seeds and water then. And when the produce is mature someone has to pick it and put it in the trucks to take it to the market.

Science/develops an increasing ability to observe and discuss common properties, differences and comparisons among objects and materials. AND Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; grows in eagerness to learn about and discuss a growing range of topics, ideas, and tasks.

Music and Movement

Sing the alphabet song pointing at the letters as you go.

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; shows progress in associating the names of letters with their shapes and sounds.

Put out your music instruments to make lots of noise. Add a metal coffee can to make the sound of drumming on the washtub.

Creative Arts/Music; experiments with a variety of instruments.

Sing Down By the Bay and have the children echo back each line. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAjhLexlrDc

Teacher Child Response

Down by the bay Down by the bay

Where the watermelons grow Where the watermelons grow

Back to my home Back to my home

Where I dare not go Where I dare not go

For if I do For if I do

My Mamma would say My Momma would say

Did you ever see a whale, waving his tail, down by the bay.

Did you ever see a snake baking a cake, down by the bay

Did you ever see a mouse painting a house, down by the bay

Encourage the children to help make up more verses.

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

Sing Sweetly Sings the Donkey. Use the beginning of the song Down by the Station and then make the donkey braying sounds loudly!

Sweetly sing the donkey,

At the break of day.

If you do not feed him

This is what he’ll say…

Hee-haw, hee-haw, hee-haw, hee-haw, hee-haw!

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

Teach the children how to yodel (o-d-lady, o-d-lady, o-d-lady-i-o).

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

Go on a farm exercise adventure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHJ2fW3iJVE. Can the children help make up more adventure?

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

Blocks

Use index cards and write the letters E,T, W, H, L, F, N. Add these to the center and encourage the children to try to make the letters using blocks.

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; shows progress in associating the names of letters with their shapes and sounds.

Art

Ask the children if they remember where the setting was in the story ( a farm). Encourage the children to draw farm animals.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; progresses in abilities to use writing, drawing, and art tools, including pencils, markers, chalk, paint brushes, and various types of technology.

Library and Writing

Put the book in the center and let the children use magnet letters. Can they put them in alphabet order? Can they match the letter to the page?

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; shows progress in associating the names of letters with their shapes and sounds.

Sand and Water

Put dirt in the table today and let the children add water to make mud, slick and wet.

Science/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.

Dramatic Play

Add any stuffed farm animals that you might have and plastic eggs to gather from the chickens.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Cut index cards in half. On each half write a capital letter, you do not have to use all 26 letters, just make sure you have some that are made with all straight lines (WETIHL) and some that have curved lines (QRPSGJC). Put out a piece of paper with a line drawn down the middle. On one side write straight lined letters and on the other side write curved line letters. Let the children sort the letters accordingly. Can they name any of the letters as they sort?

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. AND Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their name.

Outdoor Play

Ask the children to help you think of ways to make noise on the playground today. (use a stick along the chain link fence, use a shovel to bang on a bucket, kick a ball, scream, etc.)

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

Transitions

Turn to various pages in the book and ask the child if they can name the letter, then read the page and let them make the noise of that letter (J is for jabber, the child can say go away, go away!)

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; identifies at least 10 letters of the alphabet, especially those in their name. AND Language Development/Listening & Understanding; demonstrates increasing ability to attend to and understand conversations, stories, songs, and poems.