MR. TURKEY AND MR. DUCK

I don't know why children enjoy doing this old finger play, but they do.  I think it's the "music" of the words.  

Mr. Turkey and Mr. Duck
Mr. Turkey went for (Start with hands behind your back.)
A walk one day (Bring right thumb out in front of you.)
In the very best  
Of weather.
He met Mr. Duck (Bring left thumb out in front.)
Along the way
And they talked (Have thumbs look at each other.)
Together.
“Gobble, gobble, gobble.” (Wiggle right thumb.)
“Quack, quack, quack.” (Wiggle left thumb.)
“Good-bye.” (Bow right thumb.)
“Good-bye.” (Bow left thumb.)
And they both walked back! (Wiggle thumbs behind your back.)

Gobble, Gobble
Gobble, gobble. (Teacher says.)
Who is that? (Children respond.)
Mr. Turkey (Children and teacher say together.)
Big and fat!

He is big and fat and he (Spread arms wide.)
Gobble, gobble, gobbles. (Wiggle from side to side with hands on hips.)
He spreads his tail and he (Fan arms behind you.)
Gobble, gobble, gobbles. (Wiggle from side to side with hands on hips.)
But when Thanksgiving Day is here, (Point finger.)
Then it’s our turn to
GOBBLE! GOBBLE! GOBBLE! (Pretend to spoon food in your mouth!)

Turkey Handshake

One child makes a fist and sticks out her thumb to make the head and body of a turkey. The other child opens his palm, spreads the fingers apart, and puts it next to their partner’s fist to make tail feathers.

Turkey Soup 

Make turkeys from lunch sacks by making strips from the middle of the bag to the end as shown. Have children paint or color the strips. Cut on the lines to make tail feathers. Fill a zip baggie with 1 cup rice. Put it in the bag. Twist the sack around the bag of rice to make the body. Add a head and dangly feet. Attach the recipe for turkey and rice soup and send home for a table decoration.
                             
TURKEY AND RICE SOUP!

remains of turkey
3 quarts water
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 ½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 cup rice
1 cup frozen peas

Place turkey in a large pot with 3 quarts water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer 30-45 minutes until the meat falls off the bone. When it cools, debone the turkey and strain the broth. Cook the onion, celery, and carrot in the broth for 30 minutes. Add turkey meat, rice, and peas and simmer 30 minutes more.

How to Cook a Turkey 

Let each child dictate how to cook a turkey. Write down exactly what they say! Type their recipes up and run off a copy for each child to take home and share with their families.

CUT, DRAW, AND TELL PUMPKIN STORIES

I must have told this story thousands of times over the past 40 years. The wonderful thing is that it's "old" to me, but most of the teachers and children have never heard it before. You'll need to practice a few times before doing it for your class, but I guarantee you'll hear, "Do it again! Do it again!"

Pumpkin House Cut and Tell Story
Materials: orange paper, scissors
Directions: Place the orange paper and scissors in your lap. As you tell the story cut out the different parts with the scissors. At end of the story, the children will be delighted with the pumpkin house!
Hint! You can also tear out the paper with your fingers.

Once there was a little old lady who lived in a funny orange house near name of your school. Her house was shaped like half a circle with the chimney at the bottom.

This little lady had a cat named child’s name in your room. This cat had a long, curved tail, so the old lady had a special door cut just for the cat’s tail.

The little lady always wore a pointed hat. She had a special door built for herself, too, so her hat would not fall off every time she went in and out the door.

The little lady had two pet birds. Their names were child’sname and child’s name. She had a window cut just for them so they could fly in and out and in and out.

It was getting close to Halloween, so all the children inteacher’s name classroom went to her house and knocked on her door. The little lady came to the door and said, “Close your eyes.” SURPRISE! It’s a jack-o-lantern!
                               
Here's a link so you can download the directions.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljYUVocVhRRTFHVGs/view?usp=sharing

And here's the video where you can watch me do yesterday's finger plays and tell the story.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2I-TttXTm8

Pumpkin Man Tell and Draw Story
Materials: large sheet of paper, marker 

Directions: Explain that you will need everyone to help you tell this story. Demonstrate the movements below. When you say the words in the story, then the children should make the motions.


“Knock” – pretend to knock on a door

“Rock” – move body back and forth

“Spin” – twirl hands around each other

“Come In” – make motion with hand


Draw the body parts on the paper as you come to them in the story.

Once there was a little old lady who would just sit all day and rock and spin and wait for somebody to come in.
 One day as she sat there rocking and spinning she heard a knock at the door. 

“Come in,” she called. In came two big, black boots. (Draw boots on the board.) “I can’t talk to you big, black boots,” said the little old lady. So she just sat there and she'd rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door. 

“Come in,” she called. And in came two bony legs. (Draw two skinny legs coming out of the boots.) “I can’t talk to two bony legs,” said the little old lady.
 So she just sat there and rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door.
 

“Come in,” she called. And in came a funny body. (Draw a pear shaped body on top of the legs.) “I can’t talk to a funny body,” said the little old lady.
 So she just sat there and rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door. 

“Come in,” she called. And in came two wiggly arms. (Draw wiggly arms coming off the body.) “I can’t talk to wiggly arms,” said the little old lady.
 So she just sat there and rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door. 

“Come in,” she called. And in came two big hands. (Draw hands at the end of the arms.) “I can’t talk to two big hands,” said the little old lady.
 So she just sat there and rock and spin until she heard a knock at the door. 

“Come in,” she called. And in came a big pumpkin head. (Draw a pumpkin head on the figure.) “Well, I can talk to a pumpkin man,” said the little old lady. And she did! 


                                

Adaptations: End by singing “Do You Know the Pumpkin Man?” to the tune of “Do You Know the Muffin Man?”

JACK O' HAPPY

Spiders and pumpkins and black cats - oh, my! Halloween is more than a month away, but over the next few days I'll share some "treats" with you that I've gathered over the years. Many of these rhymes and projects are like "lost artifacts" so I hope you'll keep them alive!
This is one of my all time favorite finger plays and it never goes out of style!

Jack O’ Happy
This is Jack O’ Happy. (Hands circle head and smile.)
This is Jack O’ Sad. (Hands circle head and frown.)
This is Jack O’ Spooky. (Open mouth and eyes wide.)
And this is Jack O’ Mad. (Make a mean face.)
This is Jack in pieces small. (Hold up palms.)
But in a pie he’s best of all. (Circle arms in front as if holding a pie.)

You can download a book for the children to read and color. Or, better yet, download the version with just the words so the children can make their own illustrations.
                          
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SnEagA4jljWmZCbk1sWk1vSWs/view?usp=sharing

Five Little Pumpkins
(Tune: “Five Little Ducks” – Happy Everything CD)
Five little pumpkins sitting on the gate. (Hold up 5 fingers.)
The first one said, “Oh, my it’s getting late.” (Hold up thumb.)
The second one said, “There are witches in the air.” (Hold up index finger.)
The third one said, “But I don’t care.” (Hold up middle finger.)
The fourth one said, “Let’s run and run and run.” (Hold up ring finger.)
The fifth one said, “I’m ready for some fun.” (Hold up pinky.)
Ooooo! Went the wind, and out went the light. (Blow through hands, then clap.)
And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight! (Roll hands behind back.)
                                         
*My students loved to hold paper pumpkins or stick puppets and act out this rhyme.

*It's also easy to make a flannel board activity for children to use as they say the rhyme.
Note!  You can easily change the word "witches" to "leaves in the air."

Pumpkin Pumpkin
Pumpkin, pumpkin
round and fat - (Stretch arms out in front to make a circle.)
turned into a jack-o-lantern
just like that!  (Arms around head and make a silly face.)

Pumpkin Paint – Mix equal parts of flour and salt. Stir in orange tempera paint. (Obviously, if it’s powdered, you will need to add some water, too.) Add a spoonful of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice to the paint and stir. Children can paint a pumpkin, pumpkin pie, or whatever they want. Their painting will be textured and smell good, too!
                        
Pumpkin Seeds – Before carving your pumpkin, have the children estimate how many seeds they think it will contain and write down their estimations. Have the children separate the seeds and count them. Who guessed more? Who guessed less? Who guessed the closest amount? Cook some of the seeds by rinsing them and frying them in a little butter and salt. Save some of the seeds to plant in the spring.

Paper Plate Pumpkins – Make pumpkins out of paper plates. Choose five children to hold the pumpkins as you say the rhyme. You could also cut pumpkins out of felt and use on a flannel board.
                                        
Pumpkin Play Dough – Make homemade play dough and add red and yellow food coloring to make it orange. Let the children knead in pumpkin pie spices. They’ll have fun making pumpkins, pies, and other characters.  
Hint!  Add pumpkin pie spice to make aroma play dough. 

                                 

Math Games - Make games where children seriate pumpkins from large to small or put pumpkins in numerical order.
        

COLUMBUS DAY

Add a little STEAM to Columbus Day with writing, art, social studies, math, and science.
                              

Sailor Hats - Make sailor hats out of newspaper. Fold in half. Bring corners down until they meet. Fold up top edge and then turn over and fold up the bottom edge. Let children decorate.

Globe – Point out where Columbus started in Spain and the islands he visited. How has travel changed since Columbus’s voyage over 500 years ago? Compare a map and the globe. Which one is two-dimensional? Which one is three-dimensional? What shape is the earth?

Sailor’s Chest - Make a sailor’s chest for each child out of construction paper similar to the one shown. Explain that every sailor had a chest (like a suitcase) that they used to pack everything they would need on a long journey. What would you pack in your chest? (Children could write items or draw pictures.)

Sail Away - Columbus didn’t have motors on his ships. What made them move? Have you ever seen a sailboat? Put a piece of paper on a table or on the floor. How can you make this paper move without touching it? Let the children practice blowing a sheet of paper across the floor. Divide the class into teams and have relay races to see who has the most “hot air.”

Columbus Day

(Tune: “Going Over, Going Under” – Happy Everything CD)
Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 (March and salute.)
The Nina, and the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, too.
Going over going under in the Atlantic Ocean’s thunder,
(Make hands go up and down.)
What a brave thing to do! (Thumbs in to chest.)

When Columbus set sail he knew the earth was round.
(Make a circle with arms.)
He was amazed at all the lands and the people he found.
Going over, going under, in the Atlantic Ocean’s thunder,
(Make hands go up and down.)
What a brave thing to do! (Thumbs in to chest.)

Columbus visited Bahamas, Cuba, South America, too.
(Hold up fingers – 1, 2, 3.)
On October 12 we remember him and his crew. (Shake finger.)
Going over, going under, in the Atlantic Ocean’s thunder,
(Hands up and down.)
What a brave thing to do! (Thumbs in to chest.)

*You can download a book to go with this song at drjean.org.

BOOK MAKERS

I was going to call this blog "bookies," but that might be a little misleading. If the directions are confusing I'll try and do "Facebook Live" tonight at 5 EST to demonstrate these. And, I might have a special guest!!!!

If you've ever been to my workshops you know I LOVE blank books and here's why!
1. They are open-ended and perfect for differentiated instruction.
2. Blank books are more engaging and creative than worksheets.
3. Blank books can be used across the curriculum.
4. These books can be adapted for any standards or content you want to reinforce.
5. There is "ownership" when children make books. It's empowers them to believe "I AM A WRITER AND A READER!"
6. Children can take these home and can talk to their parents about what they are learning. And for those children who don't have books in their home, this is a really good thing. 
7.  And last, but not least, with all the time spent on an electronic device, it is very satisfying for children to create something with their hands.  Paper feels good!

Snip Snap Book
Directions: Fold two sheets of paper in half. Make tears (or snips) about a thumbnail apart down the fold. (If you want to cut little snips with scissors you can, but I like using small motor skills.)  Bend one tab forward, then the next backward, and so on to bind the pages together.
                              
Use for: retelling a story/story elements
             letter book/vowel book
             number book/shape book
             coordinate with a unit or theme
             environmental print/cut out words they can read
             word families, opposites
             write the room
             writing original stories, journal
             note taking
             vocabulary/spelling words
                      Monday – write a word on each page
                      Tuesday – write the definition
                      Wednesday – illustrate or cut out a picture
                      Thursday – write a sentence
             “The Book”/ “A Book”
      

Hint! Fold paper lengthwise to make a tall book.

Cut paper in half to make a little book.

Use a colored sheet of paper on the outside and a white sheet on the inside.
                               
Note!  We made this book one morning in a seminar and a teacher remarked, "O.K.  I've learned enough.  I can go home now!"

Little Books
Directions:  Lay four to six pieces of paper on top of each other. Staple the four corners. Cut into fourths, and you’ll have four little books.

Use for: days of the week (seven sheets of paper)
             seasons (four sheets of paper)
             senses (five sheets of paper)
             planets, continents, etc.

Skinny Books
Directions:  Make long skinny books by stapling four times down the short side and cutting across horizontally.
                                        
Use for: writing names left to write
             practice pre-writing strokes
             repeating patterns
             writing numerals
             sight words or spelling words
             writing sentences

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Knock knock!

Who’s there?

Canoe.
Canoe, who?
Canoe tell us some knock knock jokes today?

These jokes are meant to make children smile and think, but they are also good for auditory discrimination and playing with sounds.

*Write one on the board each day and use it for choral reading.

*Fold over the end of a lunch bag as shown. Write the joke on the bag and the answer under the flap.

*Tape a 3" x 5" rectangle to the middle of a sheet of paper. Have children write the joke at the top and illustrate the answer under the flap.
                                   
Knock knock! 

Who's there?
Orange
.
Orange who?

Orange you glad it's Halloween?

Knock Knock!
Who’s there?
Olive.
Olive who?
Olive Halloween!

Knock knock!
Who's there?

Boo!

Boo who? 

I didn’t mean to make you cry.
                                   
Knock knock! 

Who's there?
Frank. 

Frank who?
Frankenstein!

Knock knock!
Who’s there?
Wanda.
Wanda who?
Wanda go for a ride on my broomstick?
        
Knock knock!
Who’s there?
Phillip.
Phillip who?
Phillip my bag with candy.

Knock knock!
Who’s there?
Ben.
Ben who?
Ben waiting for Halloween all year.

Knock knock!
Who’s there?
Who.
Who who?
Are you an owl?

Knock knock!
Who’s there?
Lettuce.
Lettuce who?
Lettuce have some candy, please.
                               
Knock knock!
Who’s there?
Justin
Justin who?
Just in time for Halloween!

Knock knock!
Who’s there?
Orange.
Orange who?
Orange you glad you visited my blog today?

NO JOKE! IT'S OCTOBER!

Jokes and riddles are a delightful way to develop children’s sense of humor as well as language standards (Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases…).

*You might want to choose one joke each day and write it on the board.  Invite the children to read it with you.  Ask children who "get it" to “think out loud” and explain their interpretation to classmates. This will enable children who “don’t get it” to scaffold to a higher level.

*Satisfy writing standards by asking children to write and illustrate jokes and riddles.  Peek-a-boo flaps and lunch bags work well for this.  Put their jokes together to make a class book.

*Encourage each child to learn a joke that they can share with their classmates. (Speaking and Listening Standards) Let children decorate craft sticks with their names and put them in a “Joke Can.” When you have a few extra minutes, choose a stick and let that child tell a joke to the class.

                                               
Note! “Bat” you’ll “scream” for some of these Halloween jokes! However, you can use riddles all year long. Non-holiday jokes are plentiful on the internet.

What kind of bats fly around the school at night?
AlphaBATS!

What do ghosts put on their cereal in the morning?
“Boo” berries and “boo”nanas.

What do you get when you take the inside out of a hotdog?
A “hollow” weenie.

What are the birds giving out for Halloween this year?
“Tweets!”

Why was the baby ghost sad?
He wanted his “mummy.”
                            
What did the boy ghost say to the girl ghost?
You sure are “boo” tiful!

How do you make a witch itch?
You take away the W.

What pants do ghosts wear?
BOO jeans.

What do ghosts serve for dessert?
I scream!

What did one jack-o-lantern say to the other jack-o-lantern
on their way to the party?
Let’s get “glowing”!

Why do witches fly around on broomsticks?
Because their vacuum cleaners are too heavy.

What did the little ghost say to his mom?
“I’ve got a boo boo!”

How do you make a skeleton laugh?
Tickle it’s funny bone.

Why did the vampires cancel their baseball game?
Because they couldn’t find their bats.

Where do baby ghosts go during the day?
DaySCARE centers.

Who did Frankenstein take to the party?
His ghoul friend.

How do you mend a broken jack-o-lantern?
With a pumpkin patch.
                                                   
What’s a ghost’s favorite party game?
Hide and go shriek!

What do baby ghosts wear on their feet?
BOOties.

I hope I got a little smile out of you!!!
This could go on and on….but I think you get the idea! How about a few knock knocks?