COLOR FARM

This is a song your students will enjoy singing, but there are many skills “camouflaged” here. *This song reinforces the concept that when you put letters together you make a word.
*Children can learn to read the color words.
*More advanced children can learn to spell the color words.

The Color Farm
(Tune: “BINGO”)
There was a farmer had a cat
And Black was her name-o
B-L-A-C-K (Clap on each letter.)
B-L-A-C-K
B-L-A-C-K
And Black was her name-o.

Dog – BROWN
Cow – PURPLE
Horse – GREEN
Duck – ORANGE
Bird – BLUE
Chick – YELLOW
Pig – RED

English

Click to view

Spanish

Click to view

Puppets
Let the children make stick puppets that they can hold up as you sing.

Write the color word and put a picture clue by it on a sentence strip. Pass these out for the children to hold up as you sing.

Cut a 7” circle out of the top of a file folder. Add ears, tails, and other features for each animal. Children hold it up around their face as you sing.

Hint! Make up additional verses for other colors. For example, a pink flamingo, tan turtle, grey goat, white sheep, etc.


Word Puzzles
Materials: sentence strips, envelopes, markers

Directions: Write sight words on sentence strips. Cut between the letters to make a puzzle. Place the puzzle pieces in an envelope. Make a balloon the appropriate color on the front of the envelope. Children remove the letters and try to put them together to make the word.
Hint! Write the word on the back of the envelope so children can self-check.

Pull and Read
Materials: sentence strips, envelopes, markers

Directions: Write sight words on 10” sections of sentence strips with a black marker. Draw a small balloon the appropriate color at the right end of each word. Seal a letter size envelope and then trim off the left end. Insert the sight words in the envelope. Children pull out one letter at a time and try to blend the sounds and identify the color word. They can self-check with the balloon at the end.


Configuration Puzzles
Write color words on the board. Invite children to trace around the outside shape of each word. Erase the letters inside the outlines. Can children identify the word from the shadow? 

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MY COLORFUL WORLD

The world is full of beautiful, colorful things. And, many classrooms are full of colorful things and having discussions about colors this time of year. But, have you ever wondered why? Colors nurture visual discrimination and visual memory skills which are the building blocks for letter recognition and sight words. Colors are bolder and easier to discriminate that letters and words, so let's get started!

Color Box (Tune: “Happy Birthday”)
Here’s a crayon for you. (Pretend to hold a present in your hand.)
It’s a blue one for you. (Hold up a blue crayon or marker.)
B – l – u – e blue
Here’s blue for you...
Red, yellow, orange, green, purple, brown, black, white.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8DdOf6xY2c

*Children could hold up crayons or touch something the appropriate color as you sing.
You can download small color cards here:

file:///Users/jeanfeld/Downloads/Color_Cards_Small.pdf


You can download large color cards here:

file:///Users/jeanfeld/Downloads/Color_Cards.pdf

Sign Language
Teach children manual signs for the colors. You can see video clips at aslpro.com.

Color Scavenger Hunt
Cut construction paper in a variety of colors into 2” squares. Place these in a bag and let children choose a square. Have them hunt around the classroom to find an object that color. Can they find more than one?

*Try a color scavenger hunt on the playground.

Colorful Snack
Have a “colorful snack” where every child brings a colorful fruit or vegetable. Ask parents to prepare the food in bite size pieces so it will be easy to serve the class.
*Have children draw pictures of the “colors” they ate.

Wearing Colors
Sing this song to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It." Children stand up when the color they are wearing is sung in the song.
If you're wearing color stand up.
If you're wearing color turn around.
If you're wearing color jump around.
If you're wearing color sit down.

GREAT TEACHERS 122

JUST A-SWINGING IN VICKSBURG, MISSISSI[[I 2013

What Is a Sentence (Jennifer Williams)
(Tune: “Where Is Thumbkin?”)
What is a sentence?
What is a sentence?
A complete thought.
A complete thought.
It starts with a capital letter.
It starts with a capital letter.
And ends with a punctuation mark.
And ends with a punctuation mark.


Show Me Punctuation (Jennifer Williams)
Teach children the following motions for punctuation marks.
. Hand out like “stop.”
? Shrug shoulders.
! Show muscles.
Teacher says a sentence, and the students show the correct punctuation.
I like to ride my bike. (Hand out STOP.)
Do you like to ride a bike? (Shrug shoulders.)
That’s a big snake! (Show muscles.)


Book Sort (Sheila Scott)
Use pictures from old book order forms to do the following:
*Children cut out pictures of books and sort into genres.
*Put books in ABC order.
*Make predictions about books.

Full body Listening (Gloria Pettitt)
Teacher says, “1, 2,3, eyes on me!”
“Full body listening!” 1. Feet on floor
2. Hands in lap.
3. Mouth closed.
4. Ears open.
5. Eyes on speaker.
Students show the action or point when saying the steps.

Envelope Puppets (Cybil Richmond)
Cut envelopes in half so you can insert your hand to make a puppet. Use in science to identify living/nonliving things, biotic/abiotic factors, physical/chemical properties, etc.

Sparkle Spelling Game (Gloria Pettit)
Students stand in a circle. The teacher says a spelling word. The students go around the circle saying one letter each. After they spell the word, the next student says the word. The next student gets “sparkled” (all students yell “sparkle” and that student sits down). Keep going until only one student is left.

Memory Game (Beverly Buice)
“I’m going on a grip and I’m going to take…”
The first student names something that starts with A. The next student repeats the sentence and the first answer. Then the second student adds something that starts with B. This continues until you get to Z. This game helps students develop listening skills, sequential order, and their memory.

Graphic Organizer Puzzle (Ashley Salina)
Make a puzzle out of a math mat to demonstrate parts and the whole.

Punch Out Spelling (Suzanne Artman)
Cross over and punch letters to spell a word. Clap hands at the end while saying the word as you clap the syllables. Kids then say the number of syllables. (say, spell, say)

GREAT TEACHERS 101

Great teachers are not born...they are made by the teacher next door. 

If you ever attended one of my workshops you heard me say that! At the end of most workshops I would have a "show and tell" time where teachers could share their ideas. I started collecting their ideas and posting them on my blog about 15 years ago. This coming month I'll share the best of the best each day!

Join me and earn a BA - Borrow and Adapt

BS - Borrow and Steal

*I promise that you'll find some tried and true "jewels" each day!

March 2016
AWESOME IDEAS FROM AUGUSTA, GA!

Basketball Letter Aerobics (Heather Clark)
Pretend to be basketball players as you spell sight words.
Tall letters – shoot the ball into the basket.
Mid-line letters – pass the ball to a friend.
Letters with a tail – dribble the ball.

Monument Yoga (Lynda Smith)
Washington Monument – feet together and arms up and with pointed fingers.
Statue of Liberty – One arm up holding the torch and the other arm holding a book with feet apart.
Honest Abe – sitting position with arms out as if on a chair.
Mount Rushmore – legs apart with chin under fist and switch sides.
The Arch – arms in an arc twice over head.
Liberty Bell – arms down swinging side to side as you say, “Bong, bong, bong, crack!”

*Talk about active learning!!! This is something middle school kids would enjoy!

Getting Quiet Chant (Tatanisha Whitaker)
(Tune: “If You’re Happy and You Know It”)
If you can hear me with your ears, clap 2 times. (Hold ears open.)
If you can hear me with your ears, clap 2 times.
If you can hear me with your ears, if you can hear me with your ears, if you can hear me with your ears clap 2 times.
*Good for circle time, after group discussions, or sing alongs.

Toy Microphones (Kelsha)
Put toy microphones in the classroom library to encourage students to read. Students can practice making character voices as they read. For example, read with a deep voice for the big bad wolf in “Three Little Pigs.”

Fly Swatter (Heather Clark)
Put Velcro on a fly swatter. Laminate cards with flies on them and put Velcro on the flies. Students swat the flies and identify the information.
*You can put letters, numbers, sight words, etc. on the back side of the fly cards.

Ten Buddies (Ashley Snapp)
If you assign students numbers they will eventually learn each other’s numbers. To help children learn combinations of ten, challenge them to find their “10 buddy.”
Example: Emanuel is #8 and Jaslene is #2 = 10 buddy
If their number is over ten, they have a “minus 10 buddy.”
Example: Joseph is #16 and Gigi is #6 = “minus 10 buddy.”

Attention Grabber (Janice Cleveland)
This will work like a charm even in a gym full of students.
If you can hear my voice, clap twice.
Softer – If you can hear my voice, clap twice.
Whisper – If you can hear my voice, clap twice.
*You can clap or snap.

Selfie Lookin’ Good
Pretend to hold you cell phone in the air and take a picture as you say, “Lookin’ good!”

SNOW MEN AND SNOW LADIES

Toys and fashions come and go, but snowmen are never out of style. They might melt, but they will never go away!


Five Little Snowmen Finger Play
Five little snowmen fat. (Hold up five fingers.)
Each wore a different hat.
Along came the sun and melted one. (Bend down one finger.)
Now, what do you think about that?

Four little snowmen fat… (Hold up four fingers.)
Three…Two…One

Cut snowmen out of felt as shown. Place a different colored hat on each one. Remove one snowman as each verse is said.

*Place the flannel board and snowmen in a center so children can practice saying the rhyme and make sets.

*Make a simple flannel board by gluing a piece of felt to the front of a file folder. Staple the sides. Store pieces inside and glue a copy of the poem to the back.


Snowman Puppet
Cut a snowman out of heavy paper and decorate with markers. Cut a circle for the nose the width of your index finger. Cut another circle the size of your index finger out of a cup. Match up holes and tape the snowman in place. Put your hand in the cup and stick your index finger through the hole as you repeat the rhyme below.

A chubby little snowman
Had a carrot for a nose.
Along came a bunny
And what do you suppose?
That hungry little bunny
Looking for some lunch
Ate that little snowman’s nose
Nibble, nibble, crunch! (Slowly pull your finger back into the cup.)

Flo The Snow Lady
*Cut a snowman shape out of the front of a file folder. Decorate like a snow lady. Insert orange, red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and white paper. Glue the words to the rhyme on the back. As you tell or sing the chant remove the paper to reveal a new color.

(Tune: "Happy Birthday")
My name is Flo.
I'm made out of snow.
I can change my color
when I twitch my nose.

Make Flo orange, red, blue, green, yellow, purple, and end with white.

I can be many
colors it's true,
but being myself
is the best thing to do!


This was one of the cutest ideas I ever heard about to make a winter day FUN! Peg Caines (Greensboro, NC) shared it with me several years ago. Peg did it with her children, but I think it'd also be fun for teens or adults. What a perfect way to encourage children to cooperate, collaborate, and problem solve!

Build a Snowman
Peg said she gave each group a snowman kit with a construction paper hat, nose, buttons, and mittens. There was also a crepe paper scarf, a roll of masking tape, and a roll of toilet paper. (It took them awhile to figure out what to do with the toilet paper.)

Snowman’s Mystery Word
Draw a snowman on the board. Think of a word or phrase and put blanks for each letter. Children guess letters (similar to Hangman). The teacher writes the letters on the appropriate spaces. If a letter that is not in the word/phrase the teacher erases part of the snowman and puts the letter in the “trash pile.” Can they decode the word before the snowman is erased?



Disappearing Snowman
Draw a snowman on the board. If children are noisy or are not following directions explain that you will erase part of the snowman. Erase one part of the snowman throughout the day as a reminder. It won't take long before all you have to do is pick up the eraser and they'll be quiet!!!

MNEMONIC DEVICE

A mnemonic device helps you recall how to spell a word or how to remember a string of words or a phrase that stands for more complicated information. I can remember my fourth grade teacher standing at the board saying, “My father taught me how to spell geography by saying: George Elliott’s Oldest Girl Rode A Pig Home Yesterday.” Some days I can’t remember my phone number, but I’ll never forget how to spell geography! I’m sure all of you have had a similar experience and can attest to the power of these clever tricks.

Note!! I know this isn't that meaningful for young children, but you might need to know this if you are ever on "Jeopardy" or if you're helping older children with homework. Besides, I just felt like giving you (and me) a break today!

Homes – The Great Lakes are:
Huron,
Ontario,
Michigan,
Erie, and
Superior.


Planets
My (Mars)
very (Venus)
eager (Earth)
mother (Mars)
just (Jupiter),
served (Saturn)
us (Uranus)
noodles (Neptune).

Roy G. Biv – He’s your friend when it comes to the color spectrum.
Red,
orange,
yellow,
green,
blue,
indigo,
violet.



Directions
Never (North)
Eat (East)
Soggy (South)
Weenies (or Sour Watermelon) West
*Point to the directions as you say this.


Spelling BECAUSE -
Big
Elephants
Can
Always
Understand
Small
Elephants

Spelling ARITHMETIC (Bridget Weaver)
A
Rat
In
The
House
Might
Eat
The
Ice
Cream

Continents
Eat (Europe)
an (Antarctica)
aspirin (Asia)
after (Africa)
a (Australia)
nutty (North America)
Sandwich (South America).


Months of the Year
Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November.
All the rest have thirty-one excepting February alone;
Which hath but twenty-eight, in fine, till leap year gives it twenty-nine.

*Hold up knuckles on both hands. Point to the knuckles as you name the months. The months with 31 days will be the tall knuckles and the months with 23 or 30 days will be the lower spots in between.

Multiplication by Nine – Hold up ten fingers.
1 x 9 (One - put down left pinky and nine ones will be left.)
2 x 9 (Two – put down second finger/left pinky and you’ll have 1 ten and 8 ones.)
3 x 9 (Three – third finger down for two tens and seven ones.)
4 x 9 (Four – fourth finger down for three tens and six ones.)
5 x 9 (Thumb down for four tens and five ones.)
6 x 9 (Right thumb down for five tens and four ones.)
7 x 9 (Right pinky down for six tens and three ones.)
8 x 9 (Right middle finger down for seven tens and two ones.)
9 x 9 (Right ring finger down for eight tens and one.)

Do you have any mnemonic devices tucked away in your brain? I’d love to hear about them.

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!

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.

DAYS OF THE WEEK

Here's another great song for your morning routine.

Days of the Week (Tune: “The Addams Family” – Sing in sign language.)
Days of the week. Days of the week. (Snap fingers.)
Days of the week. Days of the week.
Days of the week.
There’s Sunday (Open palm and circle out.)
And there’s Monday, (Make an “m” and circle.)
There’s Tuesday (Make a “t” and circle.)
And there’s Wednesday, (Make a “w” and circle.)
There’s Thursday (Make an “h” and circle.)
And there’s Friday, (Make an “f” and circle.)
And then there’s Saturday. (Make an “s” and circle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JsfKTNAL50

*Point to the days on a calendar as you sing.

Days of the Week Active Chant
(Stand up to begin this rhyme.)
Sunday, Sunday,
Clap, clap, clap. (Clap hands.)
Monday, Monday,
Tap, tap, tap. (Tap foot.)
Tuesday, Tuesday,
Hop, hop, hop. (Hop on one foot.)
Wednesday, Wednesday,
Stop, stop, stop. (Hold up hand.)
Thursday, Thursday,
Jump, jump, jump. (Jump on two feet.)
Friday, Friday,
Thump, thump, thump. (Pound fists together.)
Saturday, Saturday,
Turn around. (Turn around.)
Now smile quietly
Without a sound! (Sit down and smile.)

Roller Coaster Days
Start your hands low and move them up slowly as you say the days of the week. When you get to the current day raise your voice high and then lower your voice and hands as you say the final days in the week.

For example, Wednesday would go like this: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, WEDNESDAY, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

Spelling Days with a Song

https://bit.ly/drJHappyDays

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THE COLOR FARM

This is a song your students will enjoy singing, but there are many skills “camouflaged” here. *This song reinforces the concept that when you put letters together you make a word.
*Children can learn to read the color words.
*More advanced children can learn to spell the color words.

The Color Farm
(Tune: “BINGO”)
There was a farmer had a cat
And Black was her name-o
B-L-A-C-K (Clap on each letter.)
B-L-A-C-K
B-L-A-C-K
And Black was her name-o.

Dog – BROWN
Cow – PURPLE
Horse – GREEN
Duck – ORANGE
Bird – BLUE
Chick – YELLOW
Pig – RED

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlgZjI_K8vA

Activities:
Let the children make stick puppets that they can hold up as you sing.




Write the color word and put a picture clue by it on a sentence strip. Pass these out for the children to hold up as you sing.

Cut a 7” circle out of the top of a file folder. Add ears, tails, and other features for each animal. Children hold it up around their face as you sing.


Hint! Make up additional verses for other colors. For example, a pink flamingo, tan turtle, grey goat, white sheep, etc.


Word Puzzles
Materials: sentence strips, envelopes, markers

Directions: Write sight words on sentence strips. Cut between the letters to make a puzzle. Place the puzzle pieces in an envelope. Make a balloon the appropriate color on the front of the envelope. Children remove the letters and try to put them together to make the word.
Hint! Write the word on the back of the envelope so children can self-check.


Pull and Read
Materials: sentence strips, envelopes, markers



Directions: Write sight words on 10” sections of sentence strips with a black marker. Draw a small balloon the appropriate color at the right end of each word. Seal a letter size envelope and then trim off the left end. Insert the sight words in the envelope. Children pull out one letter at a time and try to blend the sounds and identify the color word. They can self-check with the balloon at the end.


Configuration Puzzles
Write color words on the board. Invite children to trace around the outside shape of each word. Erase the letters inside the outlines. Can children identify the word from the shadow?

DANCE THOSE STANDARDS!

All you need is some good music and a little enthusiasm and your students will master those sight words, math facts, and skills as they move and have fun. Model these movements and then invite the children to join you.
Note! Children can do these standing up or sitting in their chairs.

Disco Dance – Put right index finger in the air and point to the left. Bring right index finger down by your side. Spell words or count as you move.

Swim - Pretend to swim by stroking arms as you count by ones, fives, etc. Can you backstroke? Sidestroke?

*Swim as you say letters and hold your nose and wiggle down as you say the word.


Funky Monkey - Fists out in front and move them up and down as you read sight words or count.



Hitchhike - Right thumb up and move across your body and then left thumb and move across the body as you count, read words, etc.


Chicken - Hands in armpits and flap like wings as you count or spell words.

Pony – Pretend to hold reins as you rock back and forth and say letters in a word. Lasso (arm in the air) as you say the word.




Batman – Make “v” with index and middle fingers and swoop them across your eyes as you count or read words.


Salsa - Left arm bent with index finger up in the air as you say an addend. Right arm bent with finger in air as you say another addend. Hands on hips and wiggle as you say the sum.
*Adapt for subtraction or other math facts.


Bollywood – Right palm up in the air like you’re screwing in a light bulb and then left palm down like you’re turning on a water spicket. Children can read sight words or repeat other information as they make the moves.