Arthur Turns Green by Marc Brown — Through this Arthur adventure kids will learn ways to save energy at home. Make a class poster like Arthur does on your favorite Earth Day topic.
The Berenstain Bears Go Green by Stan and Jan Berenstain — The town dump is ruining the Bears favorite creek. This book can spark a great conversation about the problem with pollution and what kids can do to prevent it.
Earth Day–Hooray! By Stuart J. Murphy — One of Murphy’s fabulous Math books, this one focusing on place value and counting, it’s a cute story about some friends who want to plant flowers in a nearby park.
Emeraldalicious by Victoria Kann — Perfect for any fan of the Pinkalicious fan. In this book, Pinkalicous and her friend discover their beloved park has been destroyed by litter. Printable activities.
Fancy Nancy: Every Day is Earth Day by Jane O-Connor — Fancy Nancy’s overzealous attempts at trying to get her family to “go green” has some disastrous outcomes. Make a list of the Rhyming words from the book, or make a poster of all the rules Nancy shares with her family such as “Get clean, but stay green.”
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein — This tear jerker gets to heart of how meaningful trees are to us.
A Leaf Can Be by Laura Purdie Salsa — This is a great book for a science based writing activity. Have kids explore different types of leaves outside, then write what leaves can be.
Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel — Michael Recycle is a Superhero who teaches people about how to take care of the planet. Kids can create their own Earth Day Superhero by drawing or writing about her. What’s her name? Her symbol? What super power does he possess that can help planet earth?
Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme by Marianne Berkes — A sing-song, rhyming story, with beautiful illustrations that toddlers up to primary school will love. There are non-fiction facts and learning activities listed in the back.
The Rainforest Grew All Around by Susan K. Mitchell — A fun and rhythmic take on the song, “And the green grass grew all around.”
The Tree by Dana Lyons — Beautifully illustrated, thought provoking and told from the perspective of an 800 year old Douglas Fir. It also gives information about the Pacific Rain Forest. Shared writing or journaling activity: Write a story from the perspective of a tree, an animal that’s about to lose his tree home or a body of that has been destroyed by pollution or littering.
The Umbrella by Jan Brett — As always Jan has tons of activities and printables to go along with her beautiful books. Check out her rainforest coloring pages.
Grover has several alter egos. Super Grover, Dr. Grover, Marshall Grover, etc. Play dress up and pretend like Grover does.
Video:
In this video Grover reads this story aloud is hilarious. It’s great for early readers too because the text is highlighted and they can follow along. **This a fabulous story for helping increase fluency as Grover’s emotions are all over the place. You can also down the app for $4.99 and if you have a subscription to Sesame Street ebooks it’s there too.
This can be a one week unit, or a multiple week unit, depending on your child’s interest and how many activities you want to do.
How to Begin: Exposure
Read to them. Most Nursery Rhymes can be found online, but they will absorb more if they can hold a book–especially one with colorful illustrations.
Watch Nursery Rhyme videos.
Learn finger plays, acting out the rhymes, looking at pictures of the rhymes, etc.
Spend a little time each day reading new or favorite Nursery Rhymes and choosing activities to go with them.
Expanding Vocabulary: Throughout the week, constantly pull words from Nursery Rhymes and give your child real world, hands on experiences with those words. Show them photos, let them hold or touch the objects, taste new foods, etc. Possible vocabulary words: Pail. Candlestick. Tarts. Curds and Whey (cottage cheese). Fiddle. Kettle. Wool. Posies. Cupboard. Fleece. (also see Crafts for ways to strengthen their connection to word and object) This is also a great time to make sure they know the names of animals, vegetables and other every day objects.
Fine and Gross Motor:
Build a wall, knock an egg off of it: Humpty Dumpty. Act out the rhyme with toy horses, etc.
Walk crooked: The Crooked Man. Tape a crooked line on the carpet, or draw with chalk outside. Have fun walking crooked, sitting crooked, talking crooked, doing everything crooked.
Be the cow: Hey, Diddle Diddle. Draw a paper moon and let your child pretend to be the cow. Then use paper plate and plastic spoon to act out the rest.
Make a Pumpkin House: A fun fall activity. Since an adult needs to do a lot of the work, you can make this a more child-centered activity by asking your child for a lot of input. What does a house need? Where should the door go, the windows, what goes inside, etc. (A quick search of “pumpkin house” on Pinterest gives lots of cute examples.) Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater
Vocabulary Painting:Instead of a paintbrush, let your little one paint with objects found in various Nursery Rhymes. A swatch of wool, flowers, etc. OR, paint on scraps of fleece or wool, bricks, wooden spoons, etc. instead of paper.
Personal Skills:
Lace up a pair of shoes or boots: There Was An Old Woman
Helping around the house: Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush
Science:
Gardening: Plant or pick flowers Mary, Mary Quite Contrary; Oats, Peas, Beans, and Barley Grow
Baking: Pat-A-Cake, Little Jack Horner, etc.(also see baking ideas under Lunch)
Finger play/subtraction: Ten Little Children, Five Little Ducks, Five Little Monkeys
Play with magnet, felt, wood or die cut numbers. One, Two Buckle My Shoe; One, Two, Three, Four, Five
Count potatoes: One Potato, Two Potato
Make a paper plate clock and talk about time. Hickory Dickory Dock
Dramatic Play:
Pretend to be Jack jumping over the candlestick.
Act out the motions to I’m a Little Teapot.
Pretend to be Jack and Jill, walking up a hill with a pail. Roll down the hill together. *Make sure this is a small, safe hill with no obstructions at the bottom, no large rocks or twigs.
Act out One, Two, Buckle My Shoe–up to 10. Gather a shoe with a buckle, several sticks, a stuffed hen.
Act out: Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear
Finger play: The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Turn an old boot into a home for Little People or other small dolls. There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe.
Grab a bunch of stuffed animals and act out Ten in the Bed (just make sure your little one plays the little one in the rhyme)
Make or buy animal masks and re-enact rhymes such as Hey Diddle Diddle, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Old MacDonald, This Little Piggy, Little Bo Peep, Three Little Kittens.
Lunch: Read to them while they experience new or familiar food.
Visit a local Zoo, Petting Zoo or Farm. (Mary Had a Little Lamb, Hey Diddle Diddle, etc, Baa Baa Black Sheep, etc.) Before you go, together make a list of the animals you read about in various Nursery Rhymes and see which ones you can find at the zoo.
As teachers we are expected to focus on the positive. Begin parent teacher conferences on a positive note. State class rules in positive sentences: say Walk instead of Don’t Run, say Keep Your Hands to Yourself instead of Don’t Hit. If we focus on the positive, the kids will focus on the positive. If we teach them the right way to do things, they won’t learn the wrong thing to do.
So why are we told to teach “No Bullying” instead of Be Kind to Others and Stand Up For Your Friends?
In my classroom, I choose to focus on kindness, feelings and language development. At this age I hope to prevent bullying–instead of creating it–by building character, strengthening self esteem and teaching appropriate ways to handle disagreements.
I recognize that bullying is a real problem, and it’s a very serious problem. However, this is a site dedicated to 4, 5, and 6 year olds. Children who are still learning how to make friends, how to be a friend, and how to handle anger. What can seem like “bullying” is often a small child who is frustrated or upset and doesn’t know the appropriate way to communicate those feelings.
The annual Anti-Bullying Week that over took our school every spring filled me with horrible dread because every year it created more problems than solutions.
When I taught the Anti-Bullying curriculum the first thing I had to do was teach my class what the word “bully” meant. It broke my heart because it stabbed away at their innocence. Instead of teaching them how to be kind and be a good friend, I had to teach them about mean children and what name we called them.
Once they learned that term, for the rest of the year if they had a argument, if they didn’t get their way or got their feelings hurt they called each other bullies. And so did their parents.
When adults are calling 5 year olds bullies, it’s time to re-evaluate what’s going on the schools and the media. I have had parents call a child they’ve never met a bully because that child got in a disagreement with their child over what game they wanted to play at recess. I’ve had parents report a kindergartner to the principal for being a bully because they took a book away from another child without asking. What child hasn’t done that? Now bad manners makes children bullies? How is that fair to the kindergartner who doesn’t have the language skills to ask for the book? Or the second language learner who doesn’t have the vocabulary to express his frustration?
Labeling a 5 or 6 year old, who do not always understand their emotions and are still learning the right ways to express themselves, with such a derogatory, inflammatory name is not only unfair, but a type of bullying itself.
Kids need to be given the language and vocabulary to express how and what they feel. Simply saying “Think about what you’ve done,” “Say you’re sorry” or “You know better” does nothing without the child having a clear understanding of what they’re feeling and why. It is our job as teachers and parents to teach help them understand what they feel, teach them the words to express those feelings–especially to their friends–and validate those feelings.
Those are the lessons I teach my students. Not, ‘this is a bully and this is what a bully does,’ because all that does is give them permission to call another child a name.
So, a few years ago I stopped participating in Anti-Bullying Week. Instead, I did a week on friendship, acceptance, diversity and understanding. And as always, we read books and did mini-lessons on feelings and appropriate ways to express those feelings. I taught the kids to accept one another, respect others and stand up for each other. And I never once used the term “bully.” They learned much more from a unit focused on positive behaviors than one that taught negative language.
All of this being said, I have had to deal with a couple of kindergartners and 1st graders who did “bully” other children. I have had classes who already knew the word “bully” and I have had kids in my class bullied by older children in the hallways or bathrooms. These were fortunately rare situations which were dealt with as they came up.
While I don’t condone involving small children in “Anti-Bullying weeks” or teaching No Bullying units, I do believe we need to teach them to stand up for themselves and for their friends. We need to teach them to accept differences and to deal with their emotions without hurting others. Using open discussions, role-playing, reading and writing activities and giving children the right words to say to express their anger or frustration all help with these lessons.
Kids will deal with bullies their whole lives. They will learn and use that term, they will get teased, they will see their friends get teased. But we have to consider the age and emotional maturity of these kids. Why introduce them to something negative before they experience it? Why not give them the tools and confidence to deal with situations in a positive, productive manner before they need it, and without the name calling.
Resources:
Our role-playing, discussions and mini-lessons on feelings, manners and expressing ourselves appropriately came from a school adopted program called R-Time. Used school-wide it was a great at promoting healthy, positive relationships and it gave them the vocabulary to talk out problems and feelings–which is exactly what the little ones need! Check out their site (and sample activities): http://www.rtime.info/usa/
Books to Help Teach Friendship, Acceptance, Getting Along,
Five Minute Dance Party is always a favorite reward or brain break. The kids earn dance parties with class points, or from having an awesome day. They love dancing, it’s free, it gets them moving, gets the wiggles out, helps them focus and it’s fast and easy to do if you have little dance videos queued up and ready to go. Read here, here and here to see why dance, movement and music are important to child development.
My class from several years ago dancing to Hap Palmer’s Let’s Dance
Feet stay on the floor (For some reason kids think donkey kicks are good dance moves.)
No running
Stay in your Dance Space (No 1st grade mosh pit.)
Dance alone, no dancing together. (This prevents a lot of falling and knocking each other over.)
Non-dancers must sit in a chair.
Some of our favorite dance music
Most of the time we dance to songs from CDs or the iPod, but some of the kids didn’t know how to dance and that made them very shy. We started watching Dance-Along videos on YouTube and it really helped the shy ones pick up some easy dances and boosted their confidence.
Yo Gabba Gabba–Dancey Dance
These are each about 2 minutes so we often watched 2 or 3 of them, or the same one several times.
*Some of these have dancers holding hands and touching elbows, etc. So if you have a “no touching” rule just warn the kids ahead of time, or assign partners.
There are tons more on Sesame Street’s YouTube page or SesameStreet.org — just type “dance” in the search box.
High School Musical Dance Along
(My kids NEVER got these harder dance moves down, but none of them cared. And it was so cute to see them try.)
For calmer, more focused and directed dances, try these:
Hap Palmer:
Other great Hap Palmer songs (on CD) include Paper Clocks, Tap Your Sticks, Shake Something, Turn Around and Let’s All Clap Our Hands. I love these CDs and his soothing, calm voice.
Parade of Colors–No movement on this video. Each kid holds a colored card and they all have to listen to the song and follow directions.
A list of books organized alphabetically by theme, including units such as FAIRYTALES, BEARS, OCEANS and COWBOYS, and behavior management issues, including INTERRUPTING, TATTLING and FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS.
Topics include: Diversity, Learning Differences, Being True to Yourself, Holidays, Rhyming, Fluency, Honesty, Manners, Math, Perseverance, Writing and many more.
When possible I’ve linked the book that comes with a CD.
If you can get a book with a CD, do it.
CDs are great for teachers when they lose their voice, they’re an awesome way for
children to increase their fluency because they’re hearing a variety of voices.
It also helps them with word-to-word correspondence.
*Scroll to the bottom for a list of fiction books boys love*
Chapter Books To Read Aloud *For classics I try to find abridged or updated versions, the originals can be wordy, have outdated language and are difficult for the little ones to understand.
I’m Going to Build a Supermarket One of These Days by Bill Martin (out of print, but if you can find it, it’s such a fun book–great for teaching kids to think outside of the box and awesome for GT lessons)
Did you know that many of your 2nd language think they’re the only ones in the class that don’t understand you? Getting them to realize they’re not the only one, goes a long way in helping them feel comfortable and safe in your classroom.
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes I love the part at the end where Mr. Slinger writes Lilly a note that says, “Today was difficult. Tomorrow will be better.”
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (A bit hard for K and 1st, but any book boys love, carry around, and obsess over–I’m going to let them have) (a series)
