Thanksgiving on Thursday

This week, the children worked on some Thanksgiving coloring pages and a maze when they arrived.

I summarized the twenty seventh book, Thanksgiving on Thursday, and asked the children a variety of questions about the book.

When we arrived at the part in the book where the tree house spun, each child received a Dizzy Pill (which is actually a Tootsie Roll) to help make them less dizzy. After eating their Dizzy Pills, the children were instructed to spin around three times, as if they were in the spinning tree house.

When we got to the part in the book where Jack wrote in his notebook, I showed the notebook I made that has all of Jack's notes in it.

Our first craft was making corn...using popcorn! The children colored a picture of corn and then glued popcorn on.

When Jack burned the Thanksgiving turkey, I passed out a picture of a turkey to each child. They colored, cut out, and glued the turkey together.

For the last craft, I passed out a picture of a girl and boy pilgrim. The children colored and cut these out. I helped them tape the pilgrims to make finger puppets.

Good Morning, Gorillas

As the children arrived, they colored a picture of a leopard, completed a maze, and did a connect-the-dots activity.

I summarized the twenty sixth book, Good Morning Gorillas, and asked the children a variety of questions about the book.

When we arrived at the part in the book where the tree house spun, each child received a Dizzy Pill (which is actually a Tootsie Roll) to help make them less dizzy. After eating their Dizzy Pills, the children were instructed to spin around three times, as if they were in the spinning tree house.

When we got to the part in the book where Jack wrote in his notebook, I showed the notebook I made that has all of Jack's notes in it.

After discussing how Annie and the baby gorilla climbed up a tree, I passed out triangles made out of popsicle sticks. Prior to the meeting, I hot glued three popsicle sticks together to make these. The children colored the triangles with green markers to look like a tree. Then, I gave each child a brown rectangle, which they taped to the bottom of the tree as the trunk.

Our next craft was making the "I love you" symbol in sign language. Each child colored and cut out a picture of a hand and a heart. We glued the heart to the palm of the hand, and then folded down the middle and ring fingers on the hand. I also passed out a piece of paper with the alphabet in sign language on it and helped the children learn to sign their names.

Lastly, the children colored and cut out pictures of gorillas. Some of them taped their gorilla head onto a stick to make a puppet.

Stage Fright on a Summer Night

This week's warm up consisted of designing costumes for Jack and Annie to wear in their next play, as well as completing a word search.

I summarized the twenty fifth book, Stage Fright on a Summer Night, and asked the children a variety of questions about the book.

When we arrived at the part in the book where the tree house spun, each child received a Dizzy Pill (which is actually a Tootsie Roll) to help make them less dizzy. After eating their Dizzy Pills, the children were instructed to spin around three times, as if they were in the spinning tree house.

When we got to the part in the book where Jack wrote in his notebook, I showed the notebook I made that has all of Jack's notes in it.

Our first craft was making a bear out of a circle template I provided. The children colored, cut out, and glued the various sized circles together to form a bear, just like the one Annie saved in this week's book.

When we got to the part in the book where a man was collecting pennies for admission to the play, each child received their own penny box. Prior to the meeting, I glued four pennies to the top of each box. This was for them to keep at home and save their money in.

Next, the children decorated crowns, so they could be royalty like Queen Elizabeth. I passed out a crown template, which the children colored and cut out. Some of the kids decorated their crowns with stickers as well!

Many of the actors in Shakespeare's play wore masks, so we decided to make our own. I passed out a mask for each child to color and cut out. Then, I helped them tape the mask to a stick.

Earthquake in the Early Morning

As the children arrived, they colored a picture of a family putting together an earthquake survival kit. We talked about the objects that were included in the kit, and I recommended that each child have one at their house just in case.

I summarized the twenty fourth book, Earthquake in the Early Morning, and asked the children a variety of questions about the book.

When we arrived at the part in the book where the tree house spun, each child received a Dizzy Pill (which is actually a Tootsie Roll) to help make them less dizzy. After eating their Dizzy Pills, the children were instructed to spin around three times, as if they were in the spinning tree house.

When we got to the part in the book where Jack wrote in his notebook, I showed the notebook I made that has all of Jack's notes in it.

At the meeting, each child built structures out of plastic building blocks, which served as our bricks. Afterwards, I asked the children if they thought their buildings would stay standing if an earthquake hit. The general consensus was that they would fall. 

When Jack and Annie gave their boots to two boys they met, each child decorated their own boot. I passed out pictures of boots, as well as sunflower seeds and Alpha-Bits cereal to decorate with.

When Jack and Annie walked home, they heard birds tweeting in the Frog Creek woods. I gave each child pictures of three different birds to color and cut out. Then, I helped them hole punch the birds and attach the birds to a hanger with yarn. The children loved these bird mobiles because they could hang them in their rooms!

Twister on Tuesday

As a warm-up, the children colored a picture of a twister and completed a few activities related to the book.

I summarized the twenty third book, Twister on Tuesday, and asked the children a variety of questions about the book.

When we arrived at the part in the book where the tree house spun, each child received a Dizzy Pill (which is actually a Tootsie Roll) to help make them less dizzy. After eating their Dizzy Pills, the children were instructed to spin around three times, as if they were in the spinning tree house.

When we got to the part in the book where Jack wrote in his notebook, I showed the notebook I made that has all of Jack's notes in it.

For our first craft, we made trains out of graham crackers, mini marshmallows, candy corn, and whipped cream. This allowed the children to let their creativity soar. Plus, it was a delicious dessert!

When Jack and Annie learned the familiar poem, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," we made our own stars! I passed out wooden stars, which I made out of popsicle sticks prior to the meeting. The children decorated these stars with markers, stickers, buttons, and pom poms. I also helped attach some string to each star, so this craft doubled as an ornament for the holidays.

When Jack and Annie learned of the grasshoppers that attacked the prairie last spring, I passed out a clothespin for each child to color green. The children also received green pipe cleaners to form the grasshopper's front and back legs.

Revolutionary War on Wednesday

As the children arrived, they colored a picture of George Washington.

I summarized the twenty second book, Revolutionary War on Wednesday, and asked the children a variety of questions about the book.

When we arrived at the part in the book where the tree house spun, each child received a Dizzy Pill (which is actually a tootsie roll) to help make them less dizzy. After eating their Dizzy Pills, the children were instructed to spin around three times, as if they were in the spinning tree house.

When we got to the part in the book where Jack wrote in his notebook, I showed the notebook I made that has all of Jack's notes in it.

First, we made a three-cornered hat, like the hat Jack wore during his adventure. I passed out silver snowflake wrapping paper to each child to use in place of newspaper. Since it was snowing in the book, I thought this was the perfect paper for our craft! Then, I instructed the children step-by-step how to fold the paper to make a hat. I passed out markers and stickers as decoration for the hats.

Our next craft was coloring a picture of the dollar bill, which has George Washington on it! Then, I handed each child a picture frame, which I made earlier out of popsicle sticks. The children used the stickers and markers from the last craft, as well as buttons, to decorate their picture frames.

At the end of the meeting, I passed out pretzel sticks and marshmallows for the children to make snowmen out of. This was a delicious snack as well as an entertaining craft!

Civil War on Sunday

I summarized the twenty first book, Civil War on Sunday, and asked the children a variety of questions about the book.

When we arrived at the part in the book where the tree house spun, each child received a Dizzy Pill (which is actually a tootsie roll) to help make them less dizzy. After eating their Dizzy Pills, the children were instructed to spin around three times, as if they were in the spinning tree house.

When we got to the part in the book where Jack wrote in his notebook, I showed the notebook I made that has all of Jack's notes in it.

Our first craft was making a Civil War soldier. The children colored, cut out, and glued the soldier's body parts together.

When Jack and Annie brought canteens of water to the injured soldiers, we made our own canteens. Prior to the meeting, I stapled two small paper plates together and hole punched the top. The children used markers and stickers to decorate these plates. Then, I gave each child string and 10 beads to attach to the top of their plate/canteen. 

When Jack met his relative, the drummer boy, we made our own drums! I passed out a Styrofoam bowl to each child, and they decorated this drum with markers and stickers. Each child also received two popsicle sticks as drumsticks. The children enjoyed playing the drums after this craft was completed.

Dingoes at Dinnertime

As the children arrived, they colored a picture of a mother and baby kangaroo. Then, they drew their own rainbow handprint, like the one that Jack and Annie found in the cave.

I summarized the twentieth book, Dingoes at Dinnertime, and asked the children a variety of questions about the book.

When we arrived at the part in the book where the tree house spun, each child received a Dizzy Pill (which is actually a tootsie roll) to help make them less dizzy. After eating their Dizzy Pills, the children were instructed to spin around three times, as if they were in the spinning tree house.

When we got to the part in the book where Jack wrote in his notebook, I showed the notebook I made that has all of Jack's notes in it.

For our first craft, I passed out a picture of a dingo, which is a wild dog, to each child. Then, I scattered black and white beans along the tables for the kids to glue onto their dingoes.

Next, the children each received two Play-doh containers to make their own cave painting. Some made handprints and rainbow snakes like the pictures that Jack and Annie discovered in this week's book, while others made kangaroos and bird nests. The children also used the black and white beans from the last craft as decorations on their cave paintings.

Our last craft was decorating a rainbow, like the one that appeared after the magical rainstorm. Prior to the meeting, I cut multi-colored construction paper into tiny squares. The children glued these squares onto their rainbow to make a mosaic.