TEDDY BEAR JUST FOR FUN!

TEDDY BEAR, TEDDY BEAR
(Have the children stand and follow along as you model these movements.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Turn around. (Turn around.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Touch the ground. (Touch ground.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Read the news. (Pretend to read.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Tie your shoes. (Bend down to shoes.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Go upstairs. (Climb stairs.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Say your prayers. (Fold hands.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Turn off the light. (Pretend to switch.)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear,
Say, “Good night.” (Place head on hands and close eyes.)

*You can change, “Say your prayers,” to “Comb your hair” if you wish.

Puppet – Give children a copy of a bear to color and cut out. Attach it to a straw or craft stick to make a puppet. Use it to repeat the rhyme.

Positional Words - Give the children directions for placing their bear on their head, under their chin, behind their back, etc.
*Let them place their bear somewhere in the classroom and then use descriptive words as to the bear’s position.

Skill Game – Cut out bears and shirts. Write uppercase letters on the bears and lowercase letters on the shirts. Children match bears and shirts with clothespins.

*Make similar games for sets and numerals, color words, and so forth.

THE BEAR WENT OVER THE MOUNTAIN

Here's a "treat" for you from Alex May Webmaster Wonder!

YouTube - https://bit.ly/drJBearMountain

Book - https://bit.ly/drJBearBook

SMILE BREAK

Here's a simple little classroom management trick that might help your kids keep their "cool" with all the candy and partying today.

When children are wound up, help center them with a smile break. Tell them to look at the clock and smile for 30 seconds. (Use the timer on your phone or have them look at the clock until the big hand is on the 6.)

You can also ask them to hug themselves, sit and freeze, or do other motions for a specified amount of time.

Breath Through Your Nose
I love this idea to help children focus and clam down. Have them close their lips and breath through their noses. (Works like a charm because they can’t talk!)




Babble Break
A brain break that students will love is a “talking break.” Set a timer for one minute or whatever and tell students they can talk with a friend until the timer goes off. Once the time goes off there's no more talking!

Hint! You can focus the talking break by having children discuss a story you’ve read or talk about a topic you are studying.

HI HO - ADDING WE WILL GO!

The Great Pumpkin has a treat for you today!  Addition will be like eating candy with this song and video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry-VVkLKKIE&index=1&list=PL7bsHC8DZJxh3UuXWDyOXZ1c_dGBUdxOA

Addition Pokey (“Totally Math” CD)
Put 1 finger in. (Hold up finger on right hand.)
Put 1 finger more. (Hold up 1 finger on left hand.)
Shake them altogether (Roll around.)
And then lay them on the floor. (Place on floor or table.)
Add them both together, (Bring hands together.)
And you don’t want to stall.
Now you have 2 in all.

2 fingers…3 fingers…4 fingers…5 fingers

*Do “Addition Pokey” with other facts.

These are two of my other favorite materials for addition.

Math Mat
You will need heavy paper cut in a 10" square. (I used a file folder.) Draw a line horizontally down the middle and then divide the top section in half as shown. Children make sets in the upper sections and then bring them together in the bottom. I tell the children the horizontal line in the middle is like the "=" sign. What's on top has to equal what's on the bottom.

*You could use this for subtraction, the missing addend, and other operations.


Hands Up Math
Trace around the children's fingers and cut out. Glue the palms to a sheet of paper. Do not glue the fingers because you want to be able to move them up and down to demonstrate addition and subtraction.
Hint! You might want to make this with one hand for the younger children.

CANDY WRAPPERS

Turn those candy wrappers into a learning activity. Have children safe their wrappers and then do some of these "yummy" activities.

Counting - Count the wrappers. Tally how many in the whole class.

Sets - Make sets with the wrappers.

       

Sorting - Sort the wrappers. What’s the sorting rule? Can they regroup them?

Graphing - Use the wrappers to graph their favorite candy bar.

Nutrition - Look at the food value on each wrapper. How many calories? How much sugar? Rank the candies by calories.

Vocabulary - Find descriptive words on the wrappers. Make a list of the words and use them in sentences.

Writing - Fold 2 sheets of paper in half and staple to make a book. Children write “I like…” at the top of each page and glue a candy wrapper underneath. This is a book every child in your room can read! Older children could write descriptive sentences about each candy.

Alphabet Letters - Use the wrappers to make a class book called “The Sweet ABC’s.” Write alphabet letters on 26 sheets of paper. Children glue their wrappers to the appropriate letter. Bind pages together to make a book.
Hint! If you don’t have a wrapper for each letter, let children suggest “sweet” words for the page.




Money - Glue candy wrappers to a file folder. Write a coin value by each wrapper. Children count out the appropriate amount and place it on the wrapper.
Hint! For young children, price the candies from 1 cent to 10 cents and give them pennies. Make the amounts higher for older students.

Art - Let children use wrappers to make a collage.

Finally, take advantage of this “teachable moment” by discussing why sugar is not good for their bodies. What happens if you eat too much sugar? Make a list of healthy snacks that would be better food choices.

TIPS AND TREATS FOR HALLOWEEN WEEK

NEEWOLLAH????

You can do this, yes you can! As the excitement increases for Neewollah (Halloween spelled backwards) go with the flow with one of these activities.

Pumpkin Face
Play "Pumpkin Face" which is similar to Wheel of Fortune. Think of a vocabulary word or sight word. Put a blank on the board for each letter in the word. Children take turns calling out letters. If they guess correctly put the letter on the line. If their letter is not in the word begin drawing a pumpkin and then adding features. If letters are not in the word make a "bone pile" at the bottom of the board.

Real and Pretend
Do a T-chart of things that are real and pretend.




Halloween Safety
Let them work in small groups and make posters about Halloween safety.


Making Words
How many words can you make out of HALLOWEEN?

Partner Writing
Divide the children into partners and challenge them to write a ghost story together or draw a spooky picture together.


Charades
Play a game of pantomime where children act out Halloween symbols and events as their friends try and guess.


Pass the Pumpkin
Play "pass the pumpkin." (You can use a real little pumpkin for this or just pretend with a ball.) Children stand or sit in a circle and pass the pumpkin around as the music plays. When the music stops the one holding the pumpkin has to read a flash card, answer a math problem, recall information from a book, and so forth.

PATALINA MATALINA

Here's another new video to share this week.  It's Katalina's friend!

https://bit.ly/drJPatalinaYT

HALLOWEEN WEEK

Yes, the person who drew this cartoon must have been an elementary teacher!  Here are some tips to help you get through the week.

Whisper Wednesday

This Wednesday make a sign for your door that says “Whisper Wednesday.” Greet the children at the door as you whisper, “Welcome to whisper Wednesday. All day long we are going to use our whisper voices. Take yours out of your pocket and put it on.”

Do the morning routine, songs, reading group, and all other activities with a quiet voice.

Hint! Ask children to help you by putting their index finger on their lips to remind friends to remember to whisper.

Here are a few other relaxation ideas to try today or any other crazy day!

Vacation
Tell your class to give their mouth and their eyes a “vacation” by closing their eyes and mouths. Next, ask them to practice breathing through their noses. You’ll be amazed at how this brings down their energy level and helps them focus.

“Eye” Exercise
Demonstrate how to hold your two index fingers a few inches from your eyes on either side of your head. Look at the right index finger with both eyes and then look at the left index finger.

Tighten~Relax 

Tighten up your body as tight as you can and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Then relax and let it all go. Repeat several times.
*Starting with the toes, call out one body part at a time for children to squeeze and then relax. For example, toes, feet, knees, legs, hips, back, fingers, arms, shoulders, necks, faces, and then a whole body SQUEEZE!

Rag Dolls and Soldiers 

When the teacher calls out “rag dolls” everyone flops over like a rag doll. When the teacher says, “soldiers,” everyone stands up tall and stiff. Continue calling out “rag dolls” and “soldiers” faster and faster.

Criss Cross Applesauce

Do this on each other’s backs:
Cross cross, (Make an “x” on back.)
Applesauce, (Wiggle fingers down back.)
Spiders crawling up your back. (Crawl fingers up back.)
Warm breeze. (Gently blow on neck.)
Gentle squeeze. (Hug from behind.)
Now you’ve got the shiveries! (Tickle fingers down back.)
Hint! Have children stand in a circle and face right. That way they will each have a back to write on.

How about two new ideas to help children sit down and line up?

Sit Down Song (Alissa DeKemper)
Howdy Neighbor,
What’d ya say
It’s gonna be a beautiful day!
So clap your hands
And stomp your feet,
Turn around and take a seat!

Line Up Chant (Alissa DeKemper)
My hands upon my head I place,
On my shoulders near my face,
On my knees,
And at my side,
Then behind me they will hide.
(Lower your voice as you say it!)

CVC WORDS

The ability to blend simple three letter words is a big step in learning to read. Here are some hands-on activities where children can identify initial, medial vowel, and final sounds.

Body Touch
Blend words touching parts of the body. Touch the head as you say the beginning sound in the word. Touch the stomach as you say the middle sound. Touch the feet as you say the final sound. Quickly move from head to feet and blend the sounds. Next, challenge children to isolate where they hear the sound.
For example: Where do you hear the /p/ in cap? (Children touch toes.)

Park the Car
Make a parking lot with three spaces. As you say a word children park the car according to where they hear the sound (beginning, middle, end) of the word.

Letter Tin
Place magnetic letters inside a cookie tin. On the inside cover make three lines with a permanent marker. Have the children take out the letters and place them around the lid. Call out a sound and have the children select that letter and place it on the first line in the lid. Call out a second sound. Call out a third sound. Blend the sounds and read the word.

Hint! Adapt the number of letters to the ability of the students.
*Store small magnetic letters in a breath mint tin.
*Let children use magnetic letters on a cookie sheet.

Unifix Cubes
Place dot stickers on unifix cubes. Write letters on the dots. Children can use these for constructing words.

Donut Words
Cut donut shapes out of construction paper. Write consonants on either side of the donut as shown. Write vowels on small circles. Children place the donut “holes” between the consonants and blend the sounds.

Phonics Fingers
You will need 3 pairs of white cloth garden gloves for this project. Cut the fingers off the gloves. Write a letter on each finger with markers. (Write consonants in blue and vowels in red.) Children insert glove fingers on their own fingers to make CVC words. Have them substitute letters to make new words.

WANT AN OREO?

I was cleaning out my closet, and look at this great idea some teachers from Nebraska shared with me years ago. You know how those two letter words are difficult for children to learn because they don’t always follow the rules (phonics rules, that is!). Well, here’s a yummy idea to help them taste better. 

First, have the children brainstorm all the two letter words they can think of and write them on the board. Encourage them to look in books, look at classroom print, and so forth.

Second, give them a double stuffed Oreo cookie and show them how to open it. Hold one half in each hand. Lick the left side as you say the first letter in a word. Lick the right side as you say the second letter in the word. Then say the word. Continue with all the two letter words on the board.
*If you are in a school where food is not allowed, just pretend you have a cookie in each hand.

Third, follow up with a class book. Write individual letters on 3” circles as shown. Write the two letter word on a 4 ½” circle. Read through the book as you demonstrate how to lick your left hand and say one letter. Lick the right hand and say the other letter. Clap hands and say the word.
Hint! Remind the children that they don’t want to really lick their dirty hand. Just pretend!!!

You can also sing two letter words to the tune from “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”
If you want to spell me, say M –E.
If you want to spell me, say M –E.
It’s easy as can be when you sing and spell with me.
If you want to spell me, say M –E.

Duplo Letters and Words
Here is a photo a teacher sent demonstrating how she integrates blocks with phonics and sight words. She said she asked the parents to donate the Duplo blocks and the children thought they were "playing" instead of "learning."

And you get an "oreo" cheer for visiting my blog today. Pretend to lick your right hand. Pretend to lick your left hand. Clap them together! And that's an "oreo" cheer!

VOWEL FAMILY

Here's a song that introduces the long and short sounds for the vowels. Making manual signs for the letters or holding up letters will help add the visual connection as you sing.

The Vowel Song (Tune: “Are You Sleeping?”)
A makes two sounds. (Echo each line.)
/A/ and /a/.
/A/ for apron, /a/ for apple.
/A/ and /a/.
/E/ and /e/ - eagle and elephant…
/I/ and /i/ - ice cream and inchworm…
/O/ and /o/ - open and octopus…
/U/ and /u/ - ukulele and uncle…

The long vowel sounds are easier for children to remember because "they just say their name." Here's a song that will help put those short vowel sounds in the brain. Of course, the letter U will be their favorite!

The Vowel Family (Tune: "BINGO")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eihx8_jXrOo

Aunt Aggie had an allergy
and she would always sneeze-o (Pretend to sneeze.)
/a/a/a/a/a/ /a/a/a/a/a/ /a/a/a/a/a/
And she would always sneeze-o.

Grandpa Eddie stayed in shape
and he would exercise-o (Pretend to lift weights.)
/e/e/e/e/e/ /e/e/e/e/e/ /e/e/e/e/e/
He liked to exercise-o.

Baby Izzi had chicken pox
and she would always itch-o. (Scratch body.)
/i/i/i/i/i/ /i/i/i/i/i/ /i/i/i/i/i/
And she would always itch-o.

Cousin Otto’s throat was sore
And this is what he’d say-o. (Put hand on throat.)
/o/o/o/o/o/ /o/o/o/o/o/ /o/o/o/o/o/
And this is what he’d say-o.

Uncle Unk wore underwear
and it did stink-o. (Hold nose.)
/u/u/u/u/u/ /u/u/u/u/u/ /u/u/u/u/u/
And it did stink-o.

Let the children use the attached sheet to make vowel puppets. Tape the letters to craft sticks or glue to an envelope that's been cut in half.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljRjhzN3oxNFliSEU/view?usp=sharing

Five Little Vowels (Adapted from "Monkeys and the Alligator")
Five little vowels swinging from a tree (Hold up 5 fingers.)
Teasing Mr. Alligator, “Can’t catch me! (Point finger.)
You can’t catch me!”
Along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be (Open and close arms.)
And snatched that A right out of the tree.
/a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ /a/ (Make sign language A with hand.)

E…I…O…U

*Draw a tree on a magnetic board and remove magnetic letters as you say the chant.

GENIUS HOUR and GENIUS WEBMASTER

I know that many of you are frustrated by cookie cutter curriculums and time schedules, but GENIUS HOUR might be a way to help your administration support a little creativity and exploration in your classroom. It’s based on Google’s 20% policy which allows engineers to spend 20% of their time on any project they are interested in. It’s estimated that half of Google’s projects (such as Gmail) have been created during this time period. Other corporations are discovering that giving employees one hour a week really does increase creativity.

Over 10 years ago A.J. Juliani wrote a book that explains the goals and success of INQUIRY AND INNOVATION IN THE CLASSROOM. 

Note!  I watched the video about it and it made me mad/sad that we are getting further away from encouraging our students to be creative and explore.  What are we doing????

The three pillars of genius hour are:

1. You have to research something.

2. You have to create something.

3. You have to present something.

Here's what Kid President says:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o

Here’s another video introduction to genius hour:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMFQUtHsWhc

You might also want to check out this website:
geniushour.com

My idea of genius hour in kindergarten would be an hour of open-ended learning centers every Friday afternoon. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to just let kids play and explore for one hour a week? That one hour could truly make a difference in a child’s learning, sense of self worth, attitude about school, and their life!!!!

GENIUS WEBMASTER!

Alex May, my genius webmaster for over 20 years has done it again!  AI and CHATGPT have opened new worlds for him and you and your students are the beneficiaries of his talents!

Click to view Over in the Meadow, Part 2

 https://bit.ly/drJKatalinaAnimation

Book

https://bit.ly/drJKatalinaStudentPics

READ AND WIN

Several years ago while visiting a school I saw two shiny new bikes on display in the library. Every time a child read a book they got to put their name on a ticket to win the bike. What a great way to motivate children to read! These ideas aren’t quite as big as a bike, but I bet you might spark a little interest with them.

 

Book Drawing
You will need a roll of tickets (purchase at an office supply store) or make your own. Each time a child reads a book she gets to write her name on a ticket. Collect these in a sack during the week. On Friday, draw a name out of the sack and that child WINS a book!



Note! It could be a book that you purchased or a book that the class has made.

Stay Up Late and Read
To reward children make copies of “Extra 15 Minutes” coupons similar to the one shown. Children who earn the ticket get to stay up an extra 15 minutes at bedtime and read to their parents.

Book Bucks
Run off "reading-bucks." (Free if you do a google search.) When children read a book they earn a "buck." They can save these to buy a book or other prize.

Popcorn Party
Get a large jar and write “Popcorn Party” on it. Every time any student reads a book she gets to add a cotton ball to the jar. When the jar is full the whole class gets a popcorn party.


Reading Incentives
I asked Mr. Google about "reading incentives" and he gave me lots of great links.

THU OR THEE?

"Thuh" or "thee"? 

That is the question. 

But it doesn’t really matter if you spell it 

“t – h – e.”

“The” Book
Fold two sheets of paper in half and staple. Children write the word “The” at the top of each page and then draw a picture. What a simple way for beginning readers to feel successful.

*Advanced children could write a sentence using the word “the."


*You could also make an “a” book.

THE Song
(Tune: “Shortnin’ Bread”)
You can say the
Or you can say the,
But you always have to spell it
T – H – E.

“The” Flip Book
Fold one sheet of paper into eighths. Open and cut up three creased lines to the middle. Fold in half to make flips. Write “the” on the front of each flip and then have children draw pictures or cut out pictures to put under each flip.

BALOGNA - BALONEY!

REMEMBER THIS SONG?
My bologna has a first name,
It’s O – S – C – A – R.
My bologna has a second name,
It’s M - A – Y – E – R.
Oh, I love to eat it every day,
And if you’ll ask me why I’ll say,
Cause Oscar Mayer has a way
With B – A – L – O – G – N – A.

*Here’s the original 1973 video some of you might remember:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmPRHJd3uHI

O.K. So what has this got to do with rigor and standards? Other than letters and putting them together to make a word, not much. So, why am I writing about this? K.J.’s third grade teacher (Mr. D) told them each day about a national holiday and tied in a vocabulary word.   For example, on National Milk Shake Day they learned the word “savor” because you want to savor it and make it last. Well, October 24th is National Bologna Day and Mr. D. taught them this song from the 70’s. K.J. sang it to his mother and she got a kick out of remembering the song as they sang it together. 

Note!  This happened over 10 years ago, but it's an example of the kind of experiences and bridges that are not in your curriculum that children will remember.

SANDWICH BOOK
Sometimes you just have to shut your door and do something silly like National Bologna Day. And, although I don’t have a bologna song, I do have a sandwich book that’s perfect for descriptive writing.You'll need two cheap paper plates to make this book. Fold both plates in half. Cut in 1 ½” from the rim on both sides as shown. Cut off the folded edge between the rim on the second plate. Roll up the first plate and insert it in the hole in the second plate. Unroll and you’ll have a book.

*Let children write about their favorite sandwich.
*Have children write a “how to” make a sandwich.
*Invite children to be chefs and create a new sandwich.