Little Cloud, by Eric Carle

This is a good introduction for children to clouds. It is fun and shows through simple words and pictures how a cloud becomes a rain storm.

Materials;

File folder with a 1-inch hole cut in it.

Interesting pictures for the children to guess

Scarf per child or 2-foot strip of crepe paper

Cookie tray

Eye droppers

Baby powder

Ivory snow flakes

Plastic containers with holes punched through the bottom.

Cotton Balls

Vocabulary

Before Reading the Story

Hold the file folder with the hole cut in it, up so the children can all see. Behind it put an interesting picture that the children will try to guess by looking at the hole. Move the picture around so that they can only see a small portion at a time.

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

Reading the Story

Hesitate on each page long enough to see if the children can guess what Little Cloud turns into next.

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

After Reading the Story

Give each child a scarf or a 2 foot piece of crepe paper. Put on some slow music and have the children cloud dance. As they dance, ask them what they imagine themselves to be. In the end have all the children come together and become a rain cloud.

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

Discovery

Place the cookie tray on the table so that it is propped up at one end, to be on an angle. Gently shake some baby powder on top of the cookie tray. Show the children how to fill an eyedropper up with water and drip the water onto the top end of the angled cookie sheet. The water will drip down the sheet. As the children continue to do this, the drops will begin to come together. Talk about how drops come together to form a big cloud. Have the children tell you what they see happening.

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

Sung to 1 little 2 little, 3 little Indians.

1 little 2 little 3 little clouds

4 little 5 little 6 little clouds

7 little 8 little 9 little clouds

10 little clouds float by.

(hold up fingers accordingly. Now go from 10 to 1)

Mathematics/Number & operations; develops increasing ability to count to 10 and beyond.

In to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y45-G61kuqg

All around the sky today,

The clouds are full of raindrops.

They push and shove until they burst,

Out pop the raindrops.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; shows increased awareness and beginning understanding of changes in materials and cause-effect relationships.

Tell the children that you are going to do a cloud dance. Put on music and have the children spread out around the room. Let them whirl and swirl and float like clouds. Have them begin to gently bump into each other and then form groups getting bigger and bigger until all of the children are one very large cloud. Count to three and all clap your hands (this is the thunder) and then fall to the ground in a rainstorm.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; shows increased awareness and beginning understanding of changes in materials and cause-effect relationships.

You could also do this activity by singing, One Fluffy Cloud, to One Elephant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf68lVnvR6E

One fluffy could a way up high

Danced and swirled in the clear blue sky.

He had so much fun that day

That he called for another cloud to come and play.

Mathematics/Number & operations; develops increasing ability to count to 10 and beyond.

Blocks

Art

Make textural clouds. In a bowl pour the ivory snowflakes and then begin adding water. Use a fork or spoon to mix them into a whipped texture. Depending on how thick you make these, the children can sculpt a cloud shape onto a piece of cardboard or they can paint with a stiff brush onto a piece of cardboard.

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

Have the children fold a piece of blue paper in half and then open back up. Pour a spoonful of white paint onto one half of the paper so that it touches the crease line. Fold it back up and show the children how to use the heel of their hand to spread the paint. Open the paper back up. Ask the children to look the design and say what it looks like to them. One the bottom of the paper write; Small Cloud changed into a _________. This could easily be made into a class book.

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

Sand and Water

Put out a variety of containers that allow water to fall through them at various rates. These can easily be made by poking holes in the bottom of plastic containers. As the children let the water pour through the holes, it will sound like rain.

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

Dramatic Play

Add any rain gear that you have; umbrellas, boots, slickers.

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

Math and Manipulatives

On pieces of blue paper write the numbers 1-5 or 1-10. Ask the children to put the correct amount of cotton balls onto each piece of paper by ‘reading’ the number and counting out the cotton balls. For children who are just learning to identify number shapes, make corresponding dots also. For children who are versed in numbers, write the letter name as well as the shape onto the paper.

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

Outdoor Play

Take a blanket or old sheet outside and lay on the ground and watch the clouds float by. Bring clip boards and paper so the children can draw the clouds as they look.

Science/Scientific Skills & Methods; develops growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts.

Transitions

As the children move to the next activity, have them turn into objects and go. Kerry turn into an elephant with a long trunk, Roger turned into a kangaroo and bounce.

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

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, by Michael Rosen

Children of all ages like to go on a bear hunt. Follow this families adventure as they swish, splash, squelch, stumble, and hooo there way in search of a bear. Be brave!

Materials

Binoculars
Pictures of real bears
Alphabet bingo cards -add letters to the frames provided
Teddy Graham cookies
Bears about 4-5 inches tall
Several teddy bears
Bucket of dirt

Vocabulary

Adventure ( a trip or an experience)
Brave (to not be scared, even if it’s something kind of scary)
Gloomy (dark and cold looking)

Before Reading the Story

Ask the children if they know what it means to be brave. Let them share any acts of bravery they might have done (when it was thundering I had to be brave cause my sister was crying, I rode my bike without training wheels, I swim in the lake, Ms. K picked up the worm!)

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating;uses an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary. AND Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare, and contrast objects, events, and experiences.

Reading the Story

Show the children the cover of the book. Read the cover and ask if anyone has ever been on a bear hunt before? Where would you look for a bear? What will happen when you find a bear? As you read the story, show the children how to make the sound actions with their hands.

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 predict what will happen next in a story.

After Reading the Story

Ask the children if they would like to go on a bear hunt. Move about your classroom following the theme of the book. Let the children help tell what you might encounter along the way and how you will have to move (a big tree, we have to climb it, a giant mountain we have to climb it, a tall bridge we have to go across it)

Discovery

Add a pictures of bears, a Teddy Bear, and binoculars to the center. If the children do not know how to use binoculars, show them by looking out the window. If you can, put a teddy bear outside for the children to focus on with the binoculars.

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

Music and Movement

Make enough bear cards for all the children to have one. On each card write an action (jump over the block, jump around the table, crawl under the table, and walk backwards across the rug); Hide the cards about the room . Tell the children that they are going to go on a bear hunt. Everyone must find one bear card and then meet at a designated spot. When everyone is gathered, read the directions on each bear and have the children do the action. Make sure that you write your directions to include one preposition. Let everyone do the actions if they like.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple and multiple-step directions. AND Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; builds increasing understanding of directionality, order, and prepositions of objects, and words such as up, down, over, under, top, bottom, inside, outside, in front, and behind.

Teach your children Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear. Have the children do the actions as you repeat the poem.

Teddy bear teddy bear turn around

Teddy bear teddy bear touch the ground

Teddy bear teddy bear tie your shoe

Teddy bear teddy bear that will do

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

Blocks

Build a cave for a bear. Add several small teddy bears to the center.

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

Art

Draw a picture of your family going on a bear hunt. Don’t forget to add the bear!

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

Play alphabet bingo with the children. Use Teddy Graham cookies for markers. Have each child play until they fill their card, then they can eat the bears.

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

Sand and Water

Make mud to put in the table. Does it really go squelch? How does it feel?

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.

Dramatic Play

Put a scarf or sheer curtain over the table and pretend that it’s a bear cave.

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

Math and Manipulatives

If you have teddy bear counters, put them out for the children to sort and count.

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

Outdoor Play

Play Are You Sleeping Mr. Bear? Choose one child to be the bear. The bear gets in the middle of the circle and pretends to sleep. Everyone else holds hands and makes a big circle around Mr. Bear. Quietly the children in the circle ask, “Are you sleeping Mr. Bear?” and take a step closer. Mr. Bear continues to sleep. The children ask again getting closer. Continue until Mr. Bear lets out a huge ROAR and tries to grab a child while all run away shrieking. Let the children take turns being Mr. Bear.

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

Transitions

As the children go to the next activity, have them do one of the actions from the story.

make bears 4-5 inches large and use to write action words upon

This is a group of 4 BINGO boards. Write a letter in each square. Make all the boards slightly different.

Gathering the Sun; an Alphabet in Spanish and English Alma Flor Ada

This book beautifully illustrates and honors the people who work hard in the fields to bring food to our tables. Each letter of the alphabet is a poem in both Spanish and English

Materials

Many alphabet letters
White construction paper
Oil pastels/conte crayons
Several pieces of produce or recipes that are made with produce

Vocabulary

Harvest (to pick produce)
Produce (fruits and vegetables)
Farm Worker (person who works on a farm picking produce).
Customer (buys the produce and eats it)
Store Keeper (the person who cleans and sells the produce).

Before Reading the Story

Look through the book and decide which pages you would like to share with the children, this may not be the best suited book to read through complete with young children. When you pick the pages you want to read, or talk about, note the alphabet letter that is represented. Ask the children if they can think of other words that begin with the letter.

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

Reading the Story

Use the book to promote conversations with the children. (Letter /D/. Ask the children if the can tell what the farm workers are picking. Have the children ever tasted peaches? What are those things that the men are standing on? What other kinds of fruits grow from trees? Etc.

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; grows in eagerness to learn about and discuss a growing range of topics, ideas, and tasks. 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

Make a note to the children on all the pages where people are working in the fields and they are wearing hats. Ask the children why they think the workers are wearing hats. Discuss with the children how important it is to protect your body from the sun when you are picking produce. What other ways do people protect their skin? When are other times when it is important to protect your skin from the sun’s rays?

Physical Health & development/Health Status & Practices; builds awarenss 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

Bring in several produce or recipes that uses produce to prepare with the children. Try something using prickly pear, mango, or a salsa recipe to carry the theme of the story. Have a taste test and make a graph of those that liked the produce and those that did not like the produce.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; begins to make comparisons between several objects based on a single attribute. AND Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, or preferences.

Music and Movement

Sing Where oh Where are all the Children, sung to Way down yonder in the paw paw patch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LHZSPZZCWU which begins at 3.10 minutes into the video.

Where oh where are all the children,

Where oh where are all the children?

Way down yonder in the _____patch.

Picking ______, put them in the basket,

Picking ______, put them in the basket.

Picking _____, put them in the basket,

Way down yonder in the _____ patch.

(Have the children pick different produce and then pretend to pick it accordingly.

Picking strawberries, put them in the basket

Picking apples drop them in the bucket).

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

Sing a song in English and Spanish such as Hello/Hola https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqx2phxn_cM

Hello, hello, hello and how are you?

I’m fine, I’m fine, and I hope that you are too.

Hola, hola, hola y como estas?

Usted es bien, bien, y__________

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

Sing Dig a Little Hole, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOJLPw2WJtM

You dig a little hole

Plant a little seed

Pour a little water

Pull a little weed

Chase a little bug

Hey ho there he goes

Give a little sunshine

Watch it grow, grow, grow.

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

Blocks

At clean up have the children pretend that the blocks that they have built with are potatoes and have them pick the potatoes and put them in the boxes (the shelves).

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

Art

Ask each child to name a favorite piece of produce. Draw a simple shape of their produce on white construction paper. Have the children color their produce in using oil pastels/conte crayons. After they have colored their produce in, have them use water colors and wash over the entire page. When it is dry cut out the piece of produce and mount it to a dark piece of construction paper. This can make a very stunning piece of artwork. Label the produce in both English and Spanish.

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

Sand and Water

Add magnetic alphabet letters into the sand today. Give the children small spades or spoons to scoop out the letters and name. (I have taken a cookie sheet and traced around all my magnetic letters so that the children can match them by shape). Ask your children to name the letters that they have found. Can they think of a word that begins or ends with that letter sound?

Literacy/Alphabet Awareness; shows progress in associating the names of letters with their shapes and sounds. AND Literacy/Phonological Awareness; shows growing awareness of beginning and ending sounds in words.

Library and Writing

Collage with alphabet letters. Can you find the letters in your name? Can you spell a word from the story?

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

Write a letter to a farm worker thanking him or her for all the good things that you eat. Find a local farm or produce stand where you can send it.

Literacy/Early Writing; develops understanding that writing is a way of communicating for a variety of purposes.

Dramatic Play

Set up a produce stand. Bring in several baskets and have the children sort the plastic fruits and vegetables. Add some prices, paper bags, aprons, and a cash register.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Give the children alphabet letters. Make a large Venn diagram on a piece of paper. Ask the children to sort the letters by those with curved lines and those with straight lines. (If you do not have enough letters, you can make them by cutting out many 1/2 inch squares and writing the letters on them).

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

In Mexico parties often include a piñata. Bring in a piñata or hang a pillowcase filled with scrunched newspaper , a tether ball, or a stuffed animal from a tree . The children can practice hitting at it with a plastic wiffle bat or stick.

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

Transitions

Name a letter sound and ask each child to make a word that begins with that letter sound. Older children can be challenged to think of words that end with the letter sound.

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