Lively Elizabeth, What Happens When You Push, by Mara Bergman

Elizabeth is considered ‘lively’. What happens when one becomes too lively at school? Find out what happens when one forgets about their personal space and lands upon another’s.

Materials

One toilet paper tube per child, cut in half
One rubber band per child, big enough to fit around two toilet paper tube halves.

Vocabulary

Scowl (frown and make an annoyed or angry face at someone)
Blame (to say something is someone’s fault)
Glare (to stare at someone)
Lively (very active and bouncy)
Goggles (a kind of glasses that protects your eyes from wind)

Introducing the Story

Explain that today our story is about a girl named Lively Elizabeth. Open the book up so the children can see both the front and back cover. Ask them if they can guess what Lively means. Let the children give you their ideas and then explain that lively means being very active and bouncy. Imitate a lively child at the rug time. Ask the children if they like sitting next to a lively child, why/why not? Tell them it’s hard to pay attention when someone is being bouncy and active next to you. Ask them what they think will happen if Elizabeth is very active and bouncy inside? (She could get hurt. She could hurt someone. The teacher may get mad. She could knock something over). Tell the children, let’s find out and introduce the book.

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

Reading the Story

Shake your head and look upset as you read the first pages about how Elizabeth behaved. Watch the children’s faces to see if they react to this kind of behavior. (I see Roger shaking his head no; I do not think he likes how Elizabeth is behaving. Alison, you look mad, you don’t like when your friends act this way?) When you get to the part where Elizabeth pushes Joe Fitzhugh; ask the children what they think might happen. After the children have been allowed to share their ideas, continue reading. When you get to the part where Joe yells, “What have you done? You pushed me and hurt everyone!” stop again but this time ask the children how they think Joe is feeling.

Social & Emotional Development/Self Control; develops growing understanding of how actions affect others and begins to accept the consequences for their actions.

After Reading the Story

Tell the children that you want to spend a minute talking about your classroom rules. If you do not have any, make 3-5 rules with the help of the children. After the children have finished discussing the rules, remind them that you have rules to help keep everybody safe and happy.

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

Music and Movement

Put on music with different music styles and tempos and have a dance party.

Creative Arts/Movement; expresses movement through and dancing what is felt and heard in various musical tempos and styles

Discovery

Put out the toilet paper tube halves and some rubber bands. Show the children how to put two halves inside the rubber band to make goggles (these will look more like binoculars but the children will not mind). Put out markers if they would like to decorate them. Encourage the children to look through their goggles around the room or out the window and tell you something that they see. For older children you can put out a variety of rubber band sizes for the children to experiment with which works best. For younger children, or children who put things in their mouths, use masking tape to tape the two halves together.

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.

Blocks

Encourage the children to build tall towers to knock down. If you have hard blocks, set a height rule for building (IE-no higher that your belly button).

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

Art

Finger paint today; use either large sheets of paper or let the children finger paint right onto the table. Table painting is messy but fun. Put on music and let the children walk around the table pushing the finger paint along. Encourage them to reach to the center of the table and make a big circle. Can they write their name in finger paint? Make sure to put smocks on and give yourself 10 minutes to clean up at the end of the play. The children can help with the cleanup after you get the majority of the paint off the table.

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

Sand and Water

Water with soap to make bubbles. Use whiskers or hand beaters to whip up a soapy froth.

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

Library and Writing

Give the children pieces of paper and ask them if they can think of any new rule that they would like to write. Have them illustrate the rule. Or, have the children illustrate one of your classroom rules.

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

Dramatic Play

Encourage children who do not normally play in this center to spend some time here today. Watch to see how they interact and who is the leader of the group.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Bring out the dominos today. Not to match the number of dots but to stand end to end to make a row. When the row is standing, have the child gently knock the first domino into the second and watch the chain reaction as the dominos fall. Just like the children in the story! ).

Outdoor Play

Bring out the balls today. Encourage lots of kicking, running, and catching bouncing balls.

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

Teach the children to play; Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down. Make up a scenario about two children in the classroom. If it is an act of kindness, the children put their thumbs up. If it is an act of aggression or not following a rule, the children put their thumbs down. (Roger asked Jose for a turn and Jose let him have one. Kerry told Liz you are not my friend. Tammie was running in the classroom and hurt herself. Alison said thank you when Jose gave her the truck).

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.

Dear Parents- Today we read a book about the importance of following rules. If you see your child following your rules (brush your teeth before bedtime, put your clothes in the hamper), thank them and tell them you are proud that they remembered the rule. Catch your child being good and praise them for it. Preschool children are still learning to act in socially acceptable ways and to follow rules. Be consistent with your home rituals as this may help cut down on children not following your home rules. Children like to know what is expected of them.

Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, by Kevin Henkes

Lily has a new purse that she is very proud of, but what happens when she brings it to school and tries to interrupt the teacher?

Materials

Blue Prints
Purse shape
Pillowcase

Vocabulary

Jaunty (playful)
Lurched (jerked forward)
Furious (very angry)
Demonstrated (to show how something works)
Diva (a starlet)

Before Reading the Story

Ask the children to think about a career that they think they would like to be when they grow up? Help the children learn to recognize that things that they like doing can perhaps be a career later. (Andres likes to build with blocks, maybe he will grow up and build houses. Lisa likes to pretend to cook in the dramatic center, maybe she will grow up to be a famous cook and write a cookbook. Wanita is always playing with the musical instruments, maybe she will grow up to be in a rock and roll band).

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

Reading the Story

Stop on the page where Lily reads the note that Mr.Slinger placed in her purse. Though the pictures are small, ask the children to see if they can tell how Lily is feeling,shy? On the page where Lily’s father makes a tasty snack, ask the children why he said,”I think Mr. Slinger will understand” (Lily said he was a fat mean teacher-she was angry)

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

Tell the children that you will have a day that they can bring something special to share with the rest of the class. Let them know that you will send a letter home telling their parent what day they may bring their special item to share.

Discovery

Gather up several objects from each of your centers. For younger children choose more familiar objects. Keep these items out of view of the children and place one inside a pillowcase. Challenge a child to put their hand inside the pillow case and try to figure out what the object is by using their sense of touch only. Encourage the children to play this game with a partner.

Music and Movement

Put on some music and tell the children that you are all going to do some “Interpretive Dancing” just like Lilly and Mr Slinger did. Put on the music and have fun.

Creative Arts/Movement; expresses through movement and dancing what is felt and heard in various musical tempos and styles.

Sing 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 gonna buy all kinds of ______

That’s what I’m gonna do.

Child names what they would buy if they had money. Use a quarter like in the story and as you sing the children can pass it around so that the person with the quarter gets to name what they would buy.

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

Blocks

Add blueprints to the center and encourage the children to see if they can follow them just like a real builder or architect would.

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

Ahead of time, make simple block structures using 3-6 blocks. Challenge the children to copy your structure. This can also be done by taking pictures of the structures and tape them to the wall for the children to copy using the blocks. As they copy tell them that they are reading the directions.

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

Art

Give each child a simple purse shape. Put out magazines and scissors and have the children cut out items and then glue them onto their purse. These can be hung on the wall with a sign that states, “What’s In Your Purse?”. (When I have told the children that this is what out bulletin board says, they begin to have fun and cut out crazy stuff and laugh that it would be found inside a purse (cars, spaghetti on a plate,animals, a baby).

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

Sand and Water

Add play money/coins to the sand today. As the children dig and find the coins, ask them if they can name the coins. After they have found a handful, encourage them to sort the coins by like kinds. Then have them bury them back into the sand for another child to dig and find.

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

Library and Writing

Remind the children that in the book, the children went to the Lightbulb Lab where they could draw and write about any ideas that they had. Tell the children that today you are going to use your writing center as a Lightbulb Lab. Encourage the children to use paper and pencil to draw out inventions or things that they would like. Go over occasionally and ask the children if they would like you to add any dictation to their work.

Literacy/Early Writing; begins to represent stories and experiences through pictures, dictation, and in play. AND Science/ScientificSkills & Knowledge; develops growing abilities to collect, describe, and record information through a variety of means, including discussion, drawings, maps, and charts.

Dramatic Play

Add purses to the center today. Try to have many smaller items that the children can put into their purses (play money, wallet, small mirror, paper and pencils, sunglasses, gloves, etc.)

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

Math andManipulatives

Put out any puzzles that you might have that depict children at school. As the children work on the puzzles ask them to talk about what is happening in the picture. Can they describe using full sentences?

Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; progresses in abilities to initiate and respond appropriately in conversation and discussion with peers and adults.

Outdoor Play

Remind the children that in the story, Lily was so happy that she ran and skipped and hopped all the way home. Play a follow the leader game on the playground and run and skip and hop about.

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

Bring a purse to the rug and a box or bag that the children cannot see through filled with different pieces of equipment from the room. Put an item into the bag without the children seeing and let a child feel inside to guess what it is in the purse. Make sure you use items that the children are familiar with. (Some things that I have used are; small cars, crayons, magnifying glass, play person, wallet from dress-ups, a shoe from dress-ups, turkey baster from water table, etc)

Dear Parent- We have decided that we would like to do ashow and tell at school. Your child isbeing asked to bring something that they consider special to school to shareand talk about with the other children. We will make sure that this item is put up safely after your child hasshared it with the class. Your child’s day is _____________.

Resources

Don’t Let the Pigeon drive the Bus! By Mo Williams

A naughty pigeon tries to convince your children that he should be able to drive the bus. Children enjoy interacting with this fun book.

Materials

Simple pigeon shapes
Alphabet bus page, one per child

Vocabulary

Before Reading the Story

Talk to the children about rules. Why do we have rules? What are some of our classroom rules? What do you think would happen if nobody followed the rules? Is it fair for one person to not have to follow the rules but everyone else does?

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

Reading the Story

Read it as though you are trying to convince the children that you (the pigeon) should really drive the bus. Turn to the last page with the truck and ask the children what they think the pigeon might be thinking? (I’ll drive the truck!)

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories ain dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in the story.

After Reading the Story

Tell the children that you are going to play a game about listening and following the directions. Play The Bus Driver Says… which is really Simon Says. The teacher either says,”Bus Driver says to jump up and down” or “jump up and down” The children only follow the direction if the Bus Driver says to do. Think of lots of fun and silly things for the children to do mixing up times when the Bus Driver says and times when the the Bus Driver does not say what to do.

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

Discovery

Do you have any feathers? Put out several and a magnifying glass. Encourage the children to look through the magnifying glass and see how feathers are made. Up close, they are truly lovely.

Music and Movement

Sing The Wheels On The Bus doing the actions to go along with each verse.

The wheels on the bus go round and round,

Round and round, round and round.

The wheels on the bus go round and round,

All through the town.

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

Blocks

Put out your transportation vehicles today, especially if you have a bus. Encourage the children to make roads using blocks.

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

Art

Put the book on the table so the children can see the cover. Explain that today they are going to make pigeons. Put out the pigeon shapes, either pre-cut for younger children or with scissors for older children. The children can then look at the book cover and see if they can put their shapes together in a similar pigeon fashion. Put out markers so that they can add beaks and eyes and embellishments.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; progresses in ability to put shapes together and to take them apart.

Sand and Water

Library and Writing

There is a Youtube of this story.

Literacy/Book KNowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest in reading related activities, such as asking to have a favorite story read; choosing to look at books; drawing pictures based on stories; asking to take books homes; going to the library; and engaging in pretend reading with other children.

Make copies of the alphabet bus page and small pieces of paper with a letter on each. The children take turns picking up and letter and naming it. They can then all look for the letter on the bus page and color it in. Continue until all the letters are found.

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

Dramatic Play

Add a police type hat and call it a bus driver hat for today. Let the children bring in chairs to make a bus. A paper plate makes a simple steering wheel. The children can take turns driving the bus.

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

Math and Manipulatives

Put out your counting bears or similar small counters and several duplos/large legos of different sizes and shapes. Ask the children to pretend that a duplo is a bus and to see how many of the bear counters they can get onto or into the bus. As they experiment, ask them why they think one duplo can hold more counting bears that another. (The red one is longer so it has more room. The yellow one is tiny. This one has a circle so it is big)

Mathematics/ & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness of numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity. AND 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. AND Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to use language to compare numbers of objects with terms such as more, less, greater than, fewer, equal.

Outdoor Play

Play Duck, Duck, Goose. Have all the children hold hands and make a large circle. Drop hands and have everyone sit down. Choose one child to be ‘It’. It walks around the circle gently tapping each child on the head saying either duck or goose. If the ‘It’ says duck, nothing happens. But if ‘It’ taps a child and says, “goose” the child quickly stands up and tries to chase ‘It’ around the circle. ‘It’ tries to get to the child’s open spot before the child can tag him/her. This child is the new ‘It’ and the game continues.

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

Transitions

Have all the children get in a line behind you. Tell them that you are going to pretend to be the bus driver and drive them to the different centers today. Have the children follow you as you make your way around the room announcing each center and letting children ‘off’ the bus to go play.

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

Dear Parents, today we read a story about a pigeon who did not want to follow the rules and begged and pleaded to be able to drive the bus. Talk to your child about house rules, why do you have them? What happens if you do not follow them? Does begging change your mind?

Resources

Screen Shot 2018-11-13 at 5.30.36 PM — Use this to make a pigeon

Careers, Following Rules