JUMP INTO SPRING

It's almost spring and you can't help but smile and have a spring in your step. And speaking of steps and springs reminds me of how much fun I had jumping rope as a child…and then teaching my students to jump rope. For some of the children it was easy, but other children really had to work at it. Being persistent and not giving up is a good thing to learn. Jumping rope also encourages social skills, motor skills, counting, and oral language. It’s good for the body and the brain!

Here are some chants we used to say, but you can adapt them if you don’t like the words. You could also use these on a rainy day. Just have the children get a pretend jump rope and jump along as you say the rhymes. What a perfect brain break for kids from pre-k through the primary grades.

*You can jump on two feet or alternate hopping on one foot at a time.

Bubble Gum
Bubble gum,
Bubble gum in a dish.
How many pieces
Do you wish?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5…(How high can you count?)

Bathing Beauty
Bathing Beauty
Thinks she’s a cutie
All she wears is bathing suities.
If you jump to 24, you will get an extra turn.
1, 2, 3…24

Cinderella
Cinderella dressed in yella.
Went upstairs to kiss her fella.
Made a mistake and kissed a snake.
How many doctors did it take?
1, 2, 3…8

Engine No. 9
Engine, engine number nine
Going down the railroad line.
If the train jumps off the track
You will get your money back.
How much money will you get?
1, 2, 3, …10

Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, read the news.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, tie your shoes.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, go upstairs.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, sit down in your chair!

Blue Bells
Blue bells, cockle shells, eevie, ivy, over.
I like coffee. I like tea. I like you to jump with me.

Here's my "Jump Rope Rally" video so we can jump together!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y1UBTOFEzA

Jump Rope Rhyme Book
It might be fun to give children copies of the rhymes and let them make a book of jump rope rhymes. They could illustrate these and use them for independent reading.

*Do you remember any jump rope rhymes from your childhood that you could teach your students?

*Have students ask their parents to teach them a jump rope rhyme they did as a child. 

SPRING PENCIL WALK

Here's a "Spring Pencil Walk" that I hope your children will enjoy this week. Story symbols can help children develop top to bottom and left-to-right orientation. They’re also an engaging way to develop small motor skills. These stories should be told multiple times so children can practice the pre-writing strokes and feel more competent. You might want to do the same story every day for a week as you invite the children to recall what will come next.

*Make a tape of the story to put in a listening center.

Hint! Demonstrate these stories on the board or a large chart so children will be able to copy what you do on white boards or clip boards.

A SPRING WALK
Let’s put a green dot at the top of the page to show us where to start. And let’s put a red dot down here at the bottom to show where our story will stop. Pick up your pencil and let’s use it to tell a story.

It’s a beautiful spring day, so let’s go for a walk.
The grass is growing nice and tall.
The sun is shining in the sky.
The clouds are rolling around.
The insects buzz up and down.
The little rabbits hop around.
The kites are flying in the air.
All of a sudden, the wind starts to blow.
The wind is blowing in every direction.
Better run home as fast as we can!
Home at last!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljc0J0SF95WHZnS2s/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-QVa-3lEUAVH8PGiEnjcAWw


Here's another story about a walk in the zoo. Can you guess what the different symbols represent?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljY0FscXBmekxxSDg/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-bLTeh9uOhcHpY2Jj5KMJxQ

"SPRINGING" WITH SKILLS

The sun is shining so let's go outside and learn!

I Want to Go Out and Play Book
(Writing an opinion)
Give each child a sheet of paper and ask them to draw a picture of why they like to go outside. Ask them to write (or dictate) a sentence about their drawing. Make a cover that says, “I Want to Go Out and Play.” Put their pages together, hole punch, and insert book rings.

Sit and Write
(Descriptive writing)
Each child will need paper, a clipboard or cardboard to write on, and a pencil or crayon. Have children spread out in a comfortable area and write stories, poems, or descriptions of what they see.

Alphabet Walk
Divide children into groups of four and give each group a sheet of paper with the letters of the alphabet. (They will also need a pencil and a clipboard to write on.) Challenge groups to find as many objects as they can for the letters in the alphabet. For example: A-acorn, B-bird, C-cloud, D-dirt, etc.

Shape Hunt
Cut circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles out of construction paper and put them in a bag. Children choose a shape and then try to match it up with a similar shape on the playground.
*Have children lie on the ground and make shapes with their bodies. Take photos to make a class book.

Bounce and Count
How many times can they bounce a ball and catch it? How many times can they toss a ball with a friend and not drop it?
*Have each child silently count the steps from the classroom to the playground. Compare their answers.

Worm Measurement
Cut yarn or string into different sections (3”-12”) and place them in a bag. Explain that you have “worms” in your bag and they will all get to choose one. Have them walk around the playground and find objects that are longer, shorter, or equal to their worm. (Exchange worms after a few minutes.)

HUNTING FOR SPRING

I hear spring calling, don’t you? 

Come out and play! 

Go outside and learn!

Spring Hunt
Make a worksheet with signs of spring that children could find on your playground. Divide children into groups of 2 and attach a copy of the spring things to a clipboard. Partners can color in the objects that they find as they walk around the playground. 

Scavenger Hunt
Here’s a spring hunt for older students. Divide them into groups of 4 and give each group a clipboard with the items below. Have them record their answers. When you return to the classroom groups can share their results and compare answers.

Spring Scavenger Hunt 

Can you find a sign of spring? 

Can you find something older than you? 

Can you find something younger than you? 

Can you find something rough? 

Can you find something that feels soft? 

Can you find something living? 

Can you find something dead? 

Can you find something smaller than your fingernail? 

Can you find something bigger than you? 

Can you find something green? 

Can you find something yellow? 

Can you find something that smells good? 

Can you find some trash? Pick it up and throw it away! 


Spring Acrostic

After a spring walk, have children write the word spring vertically down the left side of their paper. Can they write a word (or sentence) for each letter that is a sign or symbol of spring? 
 Hint! With younger children do this as an interactive writing activity.

Web
Have children make a web of spring using words or drawings.

Spring Words

How many words can they write from the letters in “spring”?

GREEN

The world is turning GREEN this time of year. Here are some ways to celebrate the color with a poem, reading, math, science, and art.

Green by Dr. Holly
Green grass,
Green trees,
Green pickles,
Green peas.

Green grows
And green makes
Green lizards,
Green snakes.

Green leaves
Pop out in the spring;
Green is such
A lovely thing!

Color Recognition (Visual Skills)
Sing this song to the tune of “Do You Know the Muffin Man?”
Do you see the color green, the color green, the color green?
Do you see the color green somewhere in the room?
Each child gets up and touches an object that is green. (Adapt the song for other colors, beginning sounds, etc.)

Hint! Cover a cardboard roller from a pants hanger with green paper to make a green pointer!

Remember (Listening Skills and Model Writing)
Read the poem to the children one time. Ask them to recall the different objects in the poem that are green. Write their responses on the board. Read the poem a second time and see how many more objects they can remember. Read over the list together.

If I Were Green (Oral Language)

Have children close their eyes and pretend they are green. What are they? Write this sentence at the top of a sheet of paper and run off a copy for each child. “If I were green I would be ________.” (Younger children can dictate their responses, while older children complete their own sentences.) Put their papers together to make a class book.

“Eye” Can Graph (Math Comparisons)
Pass a small mirror around the classroom. Encourage each child to look at their eyes and describe what color they are. Make a bar graph by cutting out eyes from construction paper. Let each child color in a section by the color of their eyes. What color do the most people have? What color do the least number have? Have children go home and look at their parents’ eyes. Are they the same color as their eyes?


Natural Green (Science Investigation)
Ask the children to think about all of the things in nature that are green. Write their list on the board as they call out objects. “Are all of these the same shade of green?” Take the class on a nature walk and have each child collect one “specimen” that is green. Bring their objects back in the classroom and compare. Are they all the same? Have children describe their differences. Can they sort the objects? Did they collect plants or animals? What animals are green? What time of year do you see the most green?

Green Collage (Creativity)
Provide children with green paint, green crayons, green markers, and green paper. Invite children to create a “green collage” on a piece of cardboard or a paper plate.

Scratch and Sniff Green (Word Recognition)
Give each child a heavy piece of paper. Write the word “green” on their paper with school glue. (An adult will need to do this for younger children.) Let each child take a spoonful of lime jello and sprinkle it over the glue. (Model how to shake it around and then dump off the excess.) After it dries, children can “scratch and sniff” the word green.

DO THE DINOSAUR BOOGIE

Grrrr! Let's do the dinosaur boogie so the kids can growl, wiggle, and release all that energy. Jumping up and down is a great way to get oxygen going to the brain and as the children dance they will be developing motor skills and self-regulation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS1cPJhQPmM

Dinosaur Boogie
Pterosaurs had wings and could fly. (Stretch out arms.)
He’d swoop in the swamp then up in the sky.
The ancestor of birds they say,
I wish it were here today.
Tyrannosaurus Rex, king of the swamp.
He growl and snarl, and then he’d go chomp. (Clap hands.)
He ate meat, he was a carnivore.
They’d all hide when he would roar.

Chorus:
Do the dinosaur boogie start - bounce around. (Bounce.)
Hands like claws, make a growling sound –Grrr! (Make hands like claws.)
Stomp, stomp, stomp the ground. (Stomp feet.)
Then wiggle and turn around. (Dance and turn around.)
Let’s do the dinosaur boogie…

Brontosaurus was the largest of all. (Point up high.)
He moved slowly so he would not fall.
He ate plants, he was an herbivore. (Pretend to pick a leaf and eat.)
He ate and ate and then ate some more.
Triceratops had three horns on his head. (Put 3 fingers up on head.)
I’d like to see one, but now they’re all dead.
Where, oh, where, did the dinosaurs go? (Hold up palms and shake head.)
I guess we’ll never know!
(Chorus)

Vocabulary
What does carnivore mean? Herbivore? Are you an omnivore?
Apatosaurus is another name for brontosaurus.

Art
Give children paper, paint, markers, and other art media to create original dinosaurs.


Research
What can you find out about dinosaurs on the internet? What happened to dinosaurs?

Writing
Students could do informative writing about dinosaurs or creative writing about what they would do if they were a dinosaur.

CLIP BOARDS

“Ownership” is important to children. They like their own space and materials. Yes, you can buy clipboards, but don’t you think that children will find it more meaningful if they get to decorate their very own clipboard. 

What? 9” x 12” piece of corrugated cardboard, 1” butterfly clip

Why? writing, science observations, sight words, surveys

When? Learning center, independent, partner work

How? Attach a butterfly clip, insert paper, and let the writing begin!

Use the clip boards for:

Observations (weather, nature walk, clouds, etc.)

Surveys (favorite food, ice cream, animal, sports team, etc.)

Write the room (2 syllable words, seasonal words, nouns, shapes, letters, etc.)

Read the room (check off words they find, shapes, letters)

Note taking (write or draw pictures as they listen to a book or watch a video)

Interviews (parents, grandparents, friends)

What I learned (record what they learn as you do a unit of study)

Lists
And here's a LIST of lists children can make on clipboards.

List of what they are thankful for.

List of their favorite books, songs.

List of their favorite foods.

List of their favorite subjects at school.

List of their favorite animals/pets.

List of their favorite sports or games.

List of what they can do if they finish their work early.

List of things that make them happy.

List of how to be a buddy/friend.

List of “cheers” and “goals.”