The Most Magnificent Thing, by Ashley Spires

A little girl knows what she wants to build; she just has to put it all together. With lots of trial and error she finally gets it and it is almost exactly as she predicted. This is a fun book for all budding inventors as it shows the persistence needed to have one’s imagination reach fruition. It also shows that a healthy cool down period can lead to positive results.

Materials

Blank head sheet
Emotion cards
Poster board or large sheet of paper (you will need to prep this before class, see blocks)

Vocabulary

Magnificent- wonderful and marvelous
Tinker-to play around with supplies trying to figure out what to do
Pummels-bashes
Proud-pleased with self or another
Frustrated-irritated and upset

Before Reading the Story

Ask the children if they know what the word proud means. If they cannot give you an answer, tell them that it means to do something that makes you really pleased or happy with yourself or another person. Use an example of learning to ride a bike. First you have to practice, practice, practice and then one day you finally figure out just how to peddle/balance and off you go riding. That is a proud moment. Explain to the children that many things take lots of practice and trial and error before you can figure out how to do them. Ask the children if they can tell you about any other proud moments they may have experienced. If they cannot come up with any, help them to think up moments that should make them proud (Andres poured his milk into his cup without any spills, Alison tied her shoe for the very first time, Paula learned how to spin the top, etc.). Explain to the children that when we are learning something new, we must keep trying and trying and not give up. Tell the children that the story today is about a little girl who has to try and try again to build something very magnificent and special. Define magnificent to the children and introduce the book.

Language Development; Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary. AND Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

Reading the Story

As you read, stop on the pages where the girl notices that the thing is still not right. Have the children look at the girls face and ask them if they can guess how she might be feeling (surprised, frustrated, angry). On the page where it says, “If only the thing would just work!”, stop and ask the children again to look at the girl. Ask them what they think is going to happen next. On the page where she finally finishes her invention, have the children look carefully at what is in her hands and ask the children if they can guess what it is she has made. On the last page again have the children look at the girls face and ask them what they think she might be feeling (happy, proud).

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.

After Reading the Story

Remind the children that in the story the little girls invention did not work at first. Ask them if they remember what happened? What did the little girl do to get over her anger? Was that a good way? Talk to the children about what to do in school when you get irritated or upset (ask for help, walk away, take a break). Go over any anger management or cool down strategies that you use in your classroom.

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 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

Put out tops or other toy that requires practice in order to be able to use correctly. Encourage the children to try and try again.

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

Sing If You’re Happy and You Know It adding verses that include other emotions such as angry, frustrated, surprised, sad, and proud.

The teacher acts out an emotion using her/his whole body. The children guess the emotion and then act it out as well. (Excited=clap hands and jump up and down. Angry=make a fist and stomp the floor. Sad=rub eyes and shake like crying with whole body. Proud=extend hands up and take a bow. Bored=yawn and look around the room. Loving=give self a hug and an arm kiss).

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

Blocks

Before class lay the poster board on the floor and use your wooden blocks to trace around. Fill as much of the paper as possible with block shapes. Let there sides touch but do not over lay the shapes. Lay the paper on the floor and challenge the children to fill it in using the appropriate blocks, kind of like a puzzle.

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

Art

Give the children play dough today with scissors, hammers, and rollers. If you do not have hammers and rollers, wooden blocks work well (the half arch and the cylinder blocks).

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

Sand and Water

Put clean and empty bottles into the table today such as used shampoo and ketchup bottles. Challenge the children to fill the bottles to the top of the container. Put out a variety of tools to help but do not show your children how to use them. Tools could include measuring spoon, funnel, turkey baster, plastic hosing, and small teapot.

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.

Library and Writing

Encourage the children to practice copying or writing their names today. Make sure to tell them that you are pleased to see them trying so hard and that they should be proud of themselves for their accomplishment.

Literacy/Early Writing; progresses from using scribbles, shapes, and pictures to represent ideas, to using letter-like symbols, to copying or writing familiar words such as their name.

Give the children a blank face sheet and ask them to draw an angry face. When they are finished, ask them to tell you one thing that makes them angry, write it on the bottom of their sheet. You can also use this for other emotions such as proud.

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences. Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play.

Dramatic Play

Add puppets to the dramatic play center today and encourage the children to put them on and pretend that they are the puppets. Encourage a puppet show.

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play activities that become more extended and complex.

Math and Manipulatives

Play Memory with the children. Make two sets of the emotion cards on thick paper or glue a backing so the children cannot see through the paper. Shuffle the cards and lay face down on the table. The children take turns trying to find matches of cards. If they find a match they get to put the cards in a pile. When all the cards have been matched, have the children count the cards to see how many they have.

Mathematics/Patterns & measurement; shows progress in matching, sorting, putting in a series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size. AND Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games and in using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive.

Outdoor Play

Add bikes and other riding toys to the playground today. Encourage the children to try and try again as they work to develop their peddling and steering skills.

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

Draw a simple hopscotch board on the ground and encourage the children to 1) throw a beanbag or stone onto the correct number, 2)jump and hop accordingly to the hopscotch board.

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

Put out hula-hoops or jump ropes for the children to practice their skills. Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; progresses in physical growth, strength, stamina, and flexibility.

Transitions

Ask the children to name one thing that makes them happy. Write their answer down on a large sheet of paper and hang it on the wall. At each transition, you can ask the children to tell you about a different emotion.

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions, and for varied purposes.

Dear Parent- today we read a story about a little girl who had to try and try gain to make her idea come to fruition. Tell your child about something you had to practice and practice to learn to do. Then tell your child how proud you felt afterwards by accomplishing your goal. If you see your child really trying at something, tell them you are proud at how hard they are working.

Resources

The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats

Join Peter as he adventures out into the snow and how he discovers that when warmed, snow will melt.

Materials

Several days’ worth of newspaper or ½ sheet of newsprint per child.
Bag of cotton balls
1 bar of ivory soap, 1 roll of toilet paper, cheese-grater.
Piece of poster board cut into several simple boot shapes. Use a paper punch; to punch holes around the edge of the boot shape.
10 inch lengths of yarn with masking tape wrapped around one end.
Copy of the hot and cold items cut out individually.
A bucket of snow if possible.

Vocabulary

Before Reading the Story

Talk to the children about snow. Have you ever seen the snow? Have you ever touched snow? What should you wear to go out in the snow, why? What kinds of things do you like to do in the snow? Make a list of the things the children like to do in the snow. If possible, bring in a bucket of snow and pass it around as you talk of the snow.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; develops growing awareness and beginning understanding of changes in time and temperature.

Reading the Story

When you get to the page where something is sticking out of the snow, point to the new track and ask the children what might make a track like that? When you get to the part where Peter looks for the snowball in his pocket, ask the children what they think happened to it, why?

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem. AND Science/Scientific Knowledge; develops growing awareness and beginning understanding of changes in time and temperature.

After Reading the Story

Compare the children’s list to what Peter did in the book. Have the children spread out and act out the different things that Peter did while playing in the snow (Walk with feet pointing out, then in, dragging feet, pretend to roll a snowman ball, lay on the floor and make an angel). Act out anything else the children have experienced while playing in the snow.

Discovery

Make a copy of the hot and cold items and cut them out. Have the children sort them accordingly. As they sort, talk about any safety issues that the pictures show (matches and lighters are not toys, when you go outside to play in snow it is important to cover your body, etc.).

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

Music and Movement

Ask the children if they can remember what the big boys were doing in the story (having a snowball fight). Ask the children why Peter did not join them in their snowball fight (he wasn’t big enough). Now ask the children to raise their hand if they have ever had a snowball fight. Tell the children that today you are all going to have a snowball fight. Give each child a half a sheet of newspaper or newsprint paper. Show them how to crumple it up into a ball. Use these to have a classroom snowball fight. Let the children have a few minutes to throw the paper balls at each other and you. Make sure to state any safety rules ahead of time (you may not throw your snowball near the fish tank, if someone is sitting in the dramatic center then they do not want you to throw your snowballs at them). When you are finished you can have the children try to throw their paper ball into the trashcan or a box.

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

Pretend to be snowflakes floating and twirling down to the ground. Now pretend that you are rolling a snowball. It starts out very small and as you roll it gets bigger and bigger. Now pretend that you are a snow person standing tall. Uh oh, the sun is shining bright and you are beginning to melt smaller and smaller until you are just a puddle on the floor.

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

Blocks

Tell the children that in the story Peter climbed a hill and slid down. Challenge the children to use the blocks to make a hill/ramp that they can slide cars down. If they seem stumped, show them how to take a long block and prop one end up on a smaller block to make a ramp. As they experiment with the ramp, watch how they solve problems of cars going off the side of the ramp or how to make the ramp go faster. What else can they make slide down the ramp?

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

Art

Show the children how to make a snowy day picture by taking a cotton ball and pulling it apart and then gluing it to a piece of construction paper. Let the children glue cotton balls onto the paper. When they are through, ask them if they would like to glue a person onto the snow. If they do, give them a person and ask them what the person is doing in the snow. Write their dictation down and attach it to their snow picture.

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

Sand and Water

If possible bring in snow today and add gloves, spoons, shovels, and sand molds. Talk to the children as they play asking them what is happening to the snow? (it’s melting, it’s turning to water).

Science/Scientific Knowledge; develops growing awareness and beginning understanding of changes in time and temperature.

Make clean mud. Have the children take turns grating the bar of ivory soap into the water table. While the child/ren are grating, others can be tearing the toilet paper into small lengths. When the children are finished preparing the soap and toilet paper, slowly add water and have the children mix. This will turn into a thick consistency that you will be able to sculpt with. It will feel very slick. Remind the children that this is made with soap so do not put your hands near your face.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multi-step directions. AND Science/Scientific Knowledge & Skills; begins to use senses and a variety of tools and simple measuring devices to gather information, investigate materials, and observe processes and relationships.

Library and Writing

Give the children pieces of black construction paper and white colored pencils or white chalk to practice writing their names today.

Literacy/Early Writing; progresses from using scribbles shapes, and pictures to represent ideas, to using letter-like symbols, to copying and writing familiar words such as their own name.

Dramatic Play

Put out any dress-ups that encourage the children to practice their zipping, snapping, and buckling skills. Include gloves.

Physical Health & development/Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer. AND Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; develops growing capacity for independence in a range of activities, routines, and tasks.

Math and Manipulatives

Put out the boot shapes and the lengths of yarn. Show the children how to “sew” around the boot shape by going in and out the holes. This is hard for younger children so accept anything that they do.

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

Outdoor Play

If there is snow on your playground, go out and re-act all the things that Peter liked to do in the snow.

Transitions

Use the hot and cold cards. Hold up a card and ask a child to name the object and tell you if it is something that feels hot or cold when touched.

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

Dear Parent, today we talked about things that are hot and cold. Take a few minutes and talk to your child about safety with hot and cold items. Matches are hot and can burn, so can a pot on the stove. Dressing appropriately when going out into the cold. If possible go for a walk with your child and enjoy the snow!

Resources

I Stink! By Kate and Jim McMullan

This story is told by the garbage truck as he rolls through his day/night. Find out what a garbage truck does, and how much he likes this stinky job.

Materials

Garbage and Recycle cards
Several shoe boxes

Vocabulary

Doubles-two of everything
Hopper-where you throw the garbage into the truck
Compacted-squished till really small

Before Reading the Story

Play I’m thinking of a community helper. Think of several community helpers and make statements about their work. Have the children guess who you are thinking of. Do the Garbage collector last and then introduce the story. (I’m thinking of a community helper who wears a uniform with a star on it. This person helps keep us safe. This person is someone we can call upon when we are scared or in danger. Police. I’m thinking of a community helper who works in a building full of books. This person sometimes has storytimes for children. This person lets you check out books if you have a special card with your name on it. Librarian. I’m thinking of a community helper who helps keep our streets and neighborhoods clean. This person drives a big truck that picks up our garbage and takes it to the dump. This person has a very stinky job. Garbage collector).

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

Reading the Story

On the page where the truck asks, “Did I wake you?” Use your hands to show the squeezing, crushing, mashing, smashing motions. When doing the alphabet soup pages, point to the letter and say A is for _____ and let the children help name the items. As you do the alphabet pages make a face like it stinks, hold your nose, say eww, have fun with it. On the last page; Ask the children what they think would happen if no one ever picked up the garbage? Ask them where they think the barge/boat will take all the garbage?

Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; shows progress is associating the names of letters with their shape and sound.

After Reading the Story

Does your school recycle? If so, talk about how important it is as it helps keep the garbage dump from getting too filled. If you do not, talk with the children about doing some classroom recycling. Can they save drawing paper by using both sides? And if they use paper for cutting, save the scraps for collaging. Can you save plastic cups and use them as paint cups later?

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

Discovery

Put some of your breakfast leftovers into a zip lock bag and hang it in the classroom. Later in the day, open up the bag and let the children smell it. Reseal the bag and leave it over night. Ask the children to guess/hypothesis what they think is going to happen to it? Check it out the next morning and how ever many you choose to after that. Warning-some stink bombs are quite noxious so open with caution.

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

Do you know the day the garbage man comes to your school? Take the children out to watch as the garbage man collects your schools trash.

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

Share this video about recycling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jQ7y_qQYUA

Music and Movement

Sing, I Like To Eat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNNMknj0PyE

I like to eat, I like to eat, apples and bananas

I like to eat, I like to eat, apples and bananas.

Now as you sing, change all the vowel sounds to /A/ sounds

A lAte taA A te, A lAte tA Ate, Apples and bAnAnAs

Now to short /a/ sound, then /E/, /e/,/I/,/i/,etc.

Or Sing it learning the sign language that goes along with. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R7kkTNQdYw

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

Blocks

Add shoe boxes to the center. Tell the children to pretend that it is the garbage truck. How many bags/blocks of garbage can they fit in their truck?

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

Art

Use old scraps of paper, scissors, and glue today to collage.

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

Add a scent to playdough, preferably one that smells good.

Sand and Water

Add alphabet letters to the sand (the magnetic refrigerator kind work well) and a small box or container. Let the children pretend the container is the garbage truck and they can look for letter in the sand to fill it. As they fill their truck with letters, ask them if they can name the letters that they have found.

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

If you have a small magnetic board that you can write on; use a permanent marker to trace around each magnetic letter. As the children find a letter they must put it onto the correct letter shape drawn on the magnet board.

Library and Writing

Give each child a copy of the garbage truck maze and encourage them to follow the path from beginning to end. Can they stay within the lines of the path? Did they follow the path from beginning to end? Have each child write their name upon their page.

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. AND Literacy/Early Writing; experiments with a growing variety of writing tools and materials, such as pencils, crayons, and computers.

Dramatic Play

Tell the children that today is cleaning day in the dramatic center. Give the children damp paper towels and have them empty the shelves and wipe them. Add a garbage container and ask the children to help you throw away anything that is broken or chewed upon. I do b not have them throw things directly into the garbage when we do this because some children just like to throw things away. Use a basket or cubby that you can go through later to make sure that the garbage is truly garbage.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Garbage verses Recycle cards. Put the cards on the table and challenge the children to sort them by things that can be recycled and things that are thrown away.

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

Outdoor Play

Tell the children that you going to roll like wheels of the garbage truck. Let the children experiment with different types of rolling. Can the make their body long and straight and roll? Can they curl up and roll into a somersault? Can they roll a hula-hoop on its edge? Can they roll a ball? Can you roll a ball to them and they kick it? What other things can they children find to roll?

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; participates actively in games, outdoor play, and other forms of exercise that enhance physical fitness. AND Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; chooses to participate in an increasing variety of tasks and activities.

Transitions

Ask each child to name something they think is stinky as they go off to the next activity. Be prepared for some silly answers and lots of giggles. (I once had a child who said another child’s fart. I told the child everyone farts and sometimes I bet yours are stinky too. Just be prepared for this kind of answer to deflect it off the child mentioned and back on the child who said it).

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

Dear Parent, Today we read a story about the garbage truck and how he comes to collect our garbage each week. If you have garbage service, encourage your child to help take the garbage out to the can. If you do not, you can still have your child help by emptying your trash bins in the house. And don’t forget to recycle!

Resources