Ant Cities, by Arthur Dorros

This book is full of ant facts. It would be a good introduction for children who show interest in ant communities.

Materials

Ant picture
Dice

Vocabulary

Harvester ants (the little black ants that collect seeds for food)
Larvae (little worm looking babies that will turn into ants as they grow)
Tunnels (underground passageways)
Colonies (the home where ants live, underground)

Before Reading the Story

Show the children the cover of the book. Ask the children if they know what the boys are looking at? Ask the children if they have ever seen any ants and where? What were the ants doing when you saw them? Tell the children that the story today is about ants and how they live. Give the children a chance to share any information they might have about ants.

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

Reading the Story

This book has detailed pictures, it should be read in smaller groups where you can really point out the ants and what is happening.

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

After Reading the Story

Ask the children if they have any questions about ants? If it is something that was in the book, go back and review that page. If it was not in the book, tell the child/ren that you will help them find the answer, and do. Remind the children that ants can bite and sting. Be careful that you do not step on their colony.

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

Make an ant farm and bring in ants to observe. There are directions in the back of the book. Make sure to only make it temporary and put the ants back when you are done.

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

Set out three small plates in a place where you have seen ants. On one put sugar, on the second put a piece of fruit, on the third put bread. Occasionally check to see if the ants have found the plates. When they have, invite the children to observe the ants. Which food do they seem to like best? Can you see their path, where are they taking the food?

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

Music and Movement

Have the children line up on their hands and knees and crawl like ants in a line. They can crawl into their hole (under the table), over a stick (a chair), around a rock (another chair).

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

Sing the Ants Go Marching One by One https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjw2A3QU8Qg

Teach the children La hormiguita, a traditional Mexican fingerplay

La hormigita The Little Ant

Andaba la hormiguita A little ant was walking ( Fingers climb up arm)

Juntando su comidita Gathering her food (Cup hands together)

Le coge un aguacerito When along came a rainstorm (Use fingers to show rain)

Que corre para su casita So she ran towards home ( Run fingers down arm)

Y se metio’ en su covachita And dove straight into her anthill (Place fingers under your lap)

English translation by r. trevino

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

Blocks

Cut out ants from ant page and put in the center. Ask the children if they can make tunnels for the ants to go inside of.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to determine whether or not two shapes are the same size and shape. AND Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; demonstrates increasing ability to set goals and develop follow through plans.

Art

Let the children help make ant antenna’s by twisting together two pipe cleaners. These can then be stapled to a sentence strip and used in dramatic play.

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

Let the children cut out food pictures and glue them to a paper plate. When they are dry, hang several on the wall with a sign that says No Ants Allowed!

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 out damp sand and let the children experiment making tunnels.

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activities, projects, and experiences.

Library and Writing

Review with the children that ants live in groups called colonies. In the colony everybody has a certain job. Explain to them that in your child care center everybody has a job also. On a piece of paper write the names of the people in your center whom the children know. Ask the children to explain what this person’s job is and write their definitions beside. When you have made a list, you can have the children make thank you cards for each person and deliver them.

Ms. Ada-she cooks our food

Ms. Edna-she drives the bus

Ms. Ivette-she sits with me until my Mommy comes if I am sick

Ms. Annette-she helps me get off the bus

Ms Janey-she types letters for my parents

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; develops a growing awareness of jobs and what is required to perform them. AND Literacy/Early Writing; develops an understanding that writing is a way of communicating for a variety of purposes.

Dramatic Play

Make ant hats by attaching pipe cleaners to a sentence strip. Encourage the children to play ant colony and everybody work together to prepare a meal.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Copy the ant picture page and cut out the ants. Make sure you make, black, brown, and red as these are the colors of real ants. Also make several other colors. On index cards write the color names using magic markers that correspond. Ask the children to sort the ants and put them on the correct color name. Ask them which colors they think real ants are. What other color ants are there? Have them choose their favorite color ant and copy the color name onto an index card and then cut around an ant and color it. As a group look at the cards and decide which color is the most popular.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; shows growth in matching, sorting, putting in series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

Outdoor Play

Ask the children why they think ants like to join people on picnics? Bring out a picnic basket, blanket, dishes, and let them use plastic food or sand to make food for a picnic. Children can pretend to be ants and crawl up and sneak off the food crumbs.

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

Transitions

Tell the children that you are going to pretend that the dots on the dice are ants. Let the children take turns rolling the dice and counting the number of ants that they see.

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

Dear Parent-today we read a book about ants. Though ants are interesting to watch, please remind your child that ants bite and to keep a distance between themselves and an ant colony.

Resources

On Monday When It Rained, by Cherryl Kachenmeister

Each day the narrator talks about an event that brought about an emotion. This book offers simple explanations for a variety of emotions.

Materials

One or two mirrors
One paint stir stick per child (these can be found at any place that sells paint).
Copy of the Emotion game

Vocabulary

Before Reading the Story

Play Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down with the children. Give a scenario and ask the children if they think this is a thumbs up (kind thing to do) or thumbs down (not kind thing to do). Examples; Ann wants to ride the bike so she goes in front of Michael and tries to pull him off the bike. Ann is playing in the block center and Michael asks her if he can help build a tower. When Michael asks Ann, she says yes. When Ann says she wants a turn on the swing, Michael tells her “you can be next when I am finished”,he then calls her when he gets off the swing. Ann bumps into Michael when they are playing and says she is sorry. Note; young children do not always know right from wrong so you may have to talk about some of your questions and teach them positive social responses.

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 to others.

Reading the Story

Stop on each page where the boy talks about his experience and ask the children if they can guess how he feels. When you turn to the page where he names a feeling, ask the children to copy the same facial expression. After reading the last page, ask the children what they think the boy was wondering about? If they give answers such as “What will I play with today?” or “Who will be my friend?”, ask them how it makes them feel.

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

Open up the book to a page where the boy names an emotion. Ask the children if they have ever felt this way. Allow them time to tell their story about the emotion. (When my Mommy turns off my night light I get scared. When Johnny told me I couldn’t play with him I felt sad).

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

Discovery

Put mirrors out along with the book and encourage the children to practice making the facial expression in the mirror, As they play, help them to name the emotion. “Oh, that face looks really angry”. “When you do that you look like you are feeling silly and having fun”.

Approaches to Learning/grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activities, projects, and experiences. AND Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare, and contrast objects, events, and experiences.

Music and Movement

Sing or chant any days of the week song you might know. Point to your class calendar as you sing.

Literacy/Print Awareness & Appreciation; develops growing understanding of different functions of forms of print such as signs, letters, newspapers, lists, messages, and menus.

Sing If You’re Happy and You Know It changing up the verses to sing and act out different emotions. Ask for the children’s input upon how to act out the emotion (angry-kick foot, stomp fist, jump up and down).

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

Blocks

If room allows, do not put the children’s block structures away but leave them up for tomorrow. Allow the children to continue to build upon yesterday’s block structures for several days. As they continue to build use the words; yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; develops growing awareness of ideas and language related to attributes of time and temperature.

Art

Give each child a paint stir stick and explain that today you are going to paint one side and tomorrow when it is dry you will paint the other. Show the children how to paint stripes onto their paint stir stick but allow to paint anyway that the child chooses. After the second side has dried, drill a hole in one end and hang as a cluster from the ceiling using string or yarn.

Creative Arts/Art; develops growing abilities to plan, work independently, and demonstrate care and persistence in a variety of art projects.

Sand and Water

Water is often very calming to children. Put warm water into the table today and allow the children to choose what equipment they will add.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; develops growing awareness of ideas and language related to attributes of time and temperature.

Library and Writing

Encourage the children to draw a picture about something that they did at school today or at home. After they are finished, ask them to tell you about it as you write their words onto a piece of paper. After their story ask them how it made them feel and write; I felt ______ as the last line of your dictation. Attach their story to their picture.

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

Dramatic Play

Watch the dramatic center closely today and help the children to identify the emotions that each is feeling. Is someone being left out of the play? Is someone bossing everyone around? Help the children to see how their actions affect the emotions of others. And then help the children find positive ways to be included and to share the role playing with others.

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; shows increasing abilities to use compromise and discussion in working, playing, and resolving conflicts with peers.

Math and Manipulatives

Make a copy of the Emotion game. Give each child a small manipulative to use as a marker. Take turns rolling a dice and moving your man forward. If you land on a face card, you must make the face, name the emotion, or tell something that makes you feel that way.

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

Outdoor Play

With chalk, draw 7 squares onto the cement that are large enough for the children to jump into. Show them how to sing your days of the week song as they jump from square to square. Challenge them to jump forward, backward, like a frog, and hop on the squares as they say/sing the days of the week.

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

Pull out your classroom calendar and talk to the children about upcoming events. Count how many days until the event. Show the children today on the calendar and then point to tomorrow and tell them what day it will be. Show the children yesterday on the calendar and tell them what day that was. Ask them if they can recall anything they did or ate yesterday.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; develops growing awareness of ideas and language related to attributes of time and temperature.

Dear Parent- Today we talked about the days of the week. This is a difficult subject for young children because many do not fully understand the concept of time. You can help your child by sharing your family calendar. Help your child count the days to upcoming events, talk about what you did yesterday(remember yesterday when grandma called?), and what might be happening tomorrow (tomorrow I am making spaghetti for supper).

Resources

Archibald’s Opposites, by Phil Vischer

This little story helps teach the concepts of opposites in a fun and silly way.

Materials

Opposite cards
Templates for basket, cucumber, and tomato
Roll of aluminum foil
Black and white paper

Vocabulary

Absurd (so crazy it doesn’t even make sense)
Opposites (two things that are totally different)

Before Reading the Story

Ask the children if they have ever heard the word opposites? Ask them to explain to you what it means. Give them the definition of opposites and ask if they can think of any. If they can not or they have finished doing so, introduce the book and say that this story will help us understand opposites better.

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

Reading the Story

As you read, pause on each page to see if the children can name the opposite. After you have read the page say, “____ and ____ are opposites. Have the children repeat.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare, and contrast objects, events, and experiences.

After Reading the Story

Make a set of the opposite cards. Give each child a card from half the set. Hold up a card from the second set and see if the children can figure out who has the opposite.

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare, and contrast objects, events, and experiences. AND Mathematics/Geometry & Spacial 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.

Discovery

Show the children pictures of two objects/items. Ask the children to help you make a list of how they are alike/how they are different. (try bringing in a picture of a dog and a horse, a chair and a crate, bird and an insect, a worm and a snake)

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare, and contrast objects, events, and experiences. AND Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts.

Music and Movement

Teach the children Everything I Always Say, to chorus of Pop Goes the Weasel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWGp9rsKuEU

Everything I always say,

You always say the opposite.

When I say open,

You say (closed).

(Continue with opposites that you and the children have been working on.)

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

Sing the King of York and stand up and squat down as the song goes along. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWWNFB8grkw

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

Blocks

Challenge the children to build a pattern with the blocks using large and small blocks.

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

Art

Cut out a 12 inch sheet of aluminum foil. Put out a variety of shapes cut from only black and white paper. Encourage the children to collage onto the foil.

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

Library and Writing

Make tracing templates out of a manila file folder for the basket, cucumber, and tomato. Have the children trace them and cut them out. Assemble the basket. Ask the children to glue one of the vegetables inside the basket and one outside the basket. Have them tell you which is in and which is out. Write it on the basket. (The tomato is in the basket, the cucumber is outside the basket).

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 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.

Sand and water

Put sand in the table today. Make 56 1 inch cards from a manila file. Write a set of capital alphabet letters and a set of lower case alphabet letters. Mix them up into the sand and see if the children can match the upper and lower case letters as they dig through the sand.

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

Dramatic Play

Encourage the children to act out or make opposites while playing in the center today. (I can sit and I can stand, I put all the food in the fridge, I took all the food out of the fridge).

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

Math and Manipulatives

Use counters with the children. Put 3 bears on the table. Ask the child if he can show you more. Ask her if she can show you less. Take a handful and have the child take a handful, can the child tell you who has more and less? Sort the bears by color, does one color have more or less than the other?

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

Outdoor Play

Draw several large shapes on the sidewalk. Give the children bean bags and call out a shape. The child sees if he can throw his bean bag to land inside the shape.

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

Transitions

The teacher says an opposite word and the child tries to name the correct response. In-Out, Under-Over, etc..

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

Dear Parent- today we talked about opposites. This can be a confusing concept for young children but you can help by making a game out of it. Give your child a simple word/concept and ask them if they can think of the opposite. Some that we use in school are day-night, up-down, in front-behind, tall-short, young-old, near-far, and happy-sad.