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!