A Chair for My Mother, by Vera B. Williams

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

Materials

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

Vocabulary

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

Before Reading the Story

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

Social & Emotional Development/Social Relationships; progresses in responding sympathetically to peers who are in need, upset, hurt, or angry; and in expressing empathy or caring for others. AND Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions; and for other varied purposes.

Reading the Story

Read the story using emotion.

After Reading the Story

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

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

Discovery

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

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

Music and Movement

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

I’ve got a penny, I’ve got a penny

I’ve got a penny shiny and new.

I’m gonna buy all kinds of candy

That’s what I’m gonna do.

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

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

Blocks

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

Approaches to Learning/Initiative & Curiosity; approaches tasks and activities with increased flexibility, imagination, and inventiveness. AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; grows in hand-eye coordination in building with blocks, putting together puzzles, reproducing shapes and patterns, stringing beads,and using scissors.

Art

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

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

Sand and Water

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

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

Library and Writing

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

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

Dramatic Play

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

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

Math and Manipulatives

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

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

Outdoor Play

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

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

Transitions

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

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; builds an increasing understanding of directionality, order, and positions of objects, and words such as up, down, over, under, top, bottom, inside, outside, in front behind.

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

Come to Town, by Anne Rockwell

Follow the bears as they go to town. This is a great talking through book about what goes on in the different buildings around town.

Materials

Picture of penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and dollar bill
10 pennies, 2 nickels, 1 dime
Store Labels
2 pictures of shape buildings
Pictures of storefronts and items they might sell.

Vocabulary

Town (This is where all the buildings are that people go to during the day).

Before Reading the Story

Turn to the page that says “Morning has come to town”. Ask the children if they know what town means. Help the children define it by using your town as the example. Ask the children what kinds of buildings are in their town? If they cannot answer, ask them if they ever go to the bank, library, grocery store, department store, fish store, etc.

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; begins to express and understand concepts and language of geography in the contexts of the classroom, home, and community.

Reading the Story

Take your time on the pages that describe what is going on in the buildings. Let the children take turns describing something that they see.

After Reading the Story

Tell the children that town is where all the stores are. Ask the children to help you make a list of all the kinds of buildings that are in your town and that they might go

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. AND Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; begins to express and understand concepts and language of geography in the contexts of the classroom, home, and community.

Discovery

Explain to the children that many people get to town by driving in their car or taking public transportation. Talk about how most land transportation has wheels and wheels roll. Ask the children if they can recall what shape wheels are (round, circle), Ask the children if they think a rectangle block would roll (no, because it is not round). Show the children how a cylinder block is round like a wheel. Ask them if they think it will roll? Invite the children to collect objects in the room that they think will roll. Make a small ramp using a piece of cardboard and let the children experiment finding objects that will roll and not roll.

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

Music and Movement

Sing or chant, I’ve Got a Penny

I’ve got a penny, I’ve got a penny

I’ve got a penny shiny and new

I’m going to by all kinds of _______

That’s what I’m going to do.

Also sing nickel, dime, quarter, and dollar

(Give each child a piece of money. When you sing the song see if they can name the piece of money that they have and also what they would buy.)

Approaches to Learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, tsdk, or problem. AND Creative Arts/Music; participates with increasing interest and enjoyment in a variety of music activities, including listening, singing, finger plays, games, and performances.

Chant One a Penny

One a penny, Two a penny, Three a penny, more

Four a penny, Five a penny

That makes a nickel for the store

Six a penny, Seven a penny, Eight a penny more

Nine a penny, Ten a penny

Now that’s a dime for the store!

(As you do this poem, hold up pennies until you get to 5 then replace with a nickel. Continue adding pennies to the nickel until you get to ten and replace with a dime. Count out five pennies and ask the children what this is equal to. Then count out ten pennies and ask them what it is equal to (2 nickels or a dime)

Mathematics/Number & Operations; develops increased abilities to combine, separate, and name “how many” concrete objects. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Blocks

Put tape on familiar store labels and let the children build a town. Have them tape on the store names to label each building in town.

Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; demonstrates increasing ability to set goals and develop and follow through on plans.

Art

Contact over the building shapes pages. Show the children how to use the play dough to cover the shapes of the buildings. They can roll it out or pinch it on. You can also make letters for them to cover.

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

Sand and Water

Place play coin money in the table with sand. The children sift through the sand and find the coins. Put a cupcake tin near the center with a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter glued to the bottom. The children find the coins and put them into the correct tin.

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

Library and Writing

Make two sets of the store labels and glue them to index cards. These then can be used to make a memory matching game. TUrn all the cards upside down. The children take turns picking up two cards. If they ar a match they get to keep them. If they are not a match, the cards get put back in their place upside down and the next child takes a turn.

Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; tpo take turns in games and in using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive. AND 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.

Dramatic Play

Add an office prop box (briefcase, clip board, pencil and paper, old calendars and memo books, calculator, paperclips, stapler, computer keyboard and phone.

Creative Arts/Dramatic Play; participates in a variety of dramatic play experiences that become more extended and complex. AND Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops strength, dexterity, and control ineeded to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, andhammer. AND Literacy/Early Writing; experiments with a growing variety of writing tools and materials, such as crayons, pencils, and computers.

Math and Manipulatives

Match the store to the items that belong in them game. Make a copy of the pages, cover them with contact paper and have the children match the items that belong in each store.

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

Outdoor Play

Tell the children that you are going to act out a story with them. Pretend to get up and dressed, eat breakfast etc. Now it is time to go to town. Get in your car, put on your seatbelt, turn the key and drive. When in town, decide what stores you are going to (Kerry you go to McDonald’s and get everyone French fries, Roger you go to the hardware store and buy a hammer, etc). Gather everyone back; ask them if they can remember what they bought. All get in the car and head back home.

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

Transitions

Ask each child if they know what their parent does for work. List these on a piece of paper. (Alison’s Mom is a teacher. Ryan’s Dad works for the cable company. Paula’s Mom is an artist. Sean’s Mom makes books. Raven’s Mom is a Mom).

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; progresses in understanding similarities and respecting differences among people such as genders, race, special needs, culture, language, and family structures. AND Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions,; and for varied other purposes.