Eric Carle

Yesterday was my last day of school.  It was challenging to teach a morning and an afternoon pre-k class AND pack up the room at the same time!  One thing that made it very pleasurable for me was revisiting my favorite Eric Carle books.  The carousel above shows some of my favorites that I've used in both kindergarten and pre-k.

I have found that the entire "Very..." series of books is so marvelous because every single book has something special about it that the kids adore.  From the cricket sound in The Very Quiet Cricket to the flashing fireflies in The Very Lonely Firefly, these books really capture the imaginations of young readers.  The Grouchy Ladybug is a great book for introducing and teaching time.  I really wanted my students to have an opportunity to manipulate clocks as we read the story aloud to them, so I made these ladybug clocks with movable hands:

Grouchy Ladybug Clock

My kids really enjoyed retelling The Very Hungry Caterpillar, so I downloaded Hungry Caterpillar Sequencing cards, laminated them, and put magnets on the back.  They really enjoyed using the book in combination with the cards to retell the story.

As you all know, I love using music in my classroom.  I have found two songs, based on Eric Carle books, that are really neat to use for sequencing:  "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" by Greg & Steve, and "Polar Polar, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?" by John Archambault and David Plummer.  For the "Brown Bear" song I made rectangular cards that the kids held and sequenced by standing in a line.  When it was their turn, they stood up to display their card, so they had to be listening to the song.  One year, we performed this song for the parents and passed a microphone down the line.  The children got to sing their own part.

Brown Bear Cards

For "Polar Bear, Polar Bear", I made 2 of each of these necklaces for the students.  The students stood up when it was their turn and made the animal sound.  The "Polar Bear" book in the carousel at the top of this post also plays sounds for each animal.

Polar Bear Polar Bear Necklaces

I found an excellent resource for Eric Carle information and materials: The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.  Their web site sells a lot of fabulous games, fabric, furniture, puzzles, and more.  I especially like their Hungry Caterpillar puzzle (my kids really love it!) and the Very Books Block Puzzle.  Check the site out if you get a chance.

I would love to hear about your favorite Eric Carle art projects, games, or activities!

The Caterpillar and the Polliwog

"The Caterpillar and the Polliwog" by Jack Kent

The Caterpillar and the Polliwog by Jack Kent is perfect for spring time.  I read the story several times using background music ("Waterfall Sounds - The Soothing Sounds of Ponds and Waterfalls" by Nature Sounds & Backgrounds).  The sounds really help the children to imagine that they are actually at a pond.  On the track you can hear insects, frogs, birds, water splashing, etc.  I use the props (see below) to retell the story and to give every child in my class a part to play.  I made multiples of some animals (such as fish and birds) so that I could bring the total up to 20.  Of course, you could always print extra props as needed.  Beside the sound effects, I place a large, blue tablecloth (as a "pond") on the rug and the children sit around it in a circle.  I fill a spray bottle with water and occasionally spray the children to heighten the experience of being at a pond.

The video for this (from "Owl Moon and Other Stories" by Children's Circle) is so adorable!  My children really loved watching the polliwog turn into a frog as he was waiting to see what would emerge from the chrysalis.  The thing I like the most about this video and book is that the characters have real personalities.  The polliwog is so curious, and the caterpillar is sort of prideful, and a little braggy.  The snail is indifferent, while the fish is very wise and confident.  When my children acted out the story, they really captured these traits.

Story Props Caterpillar and Polliwog

This guided reading book, which I just found in my files, matches really well with this lesson.  Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Frog Life Cycle Book

As I was shopping at Michael's Art & Craft a few days ago, I found some really neat punchers to make butterfly and flower shapes from construction paper.  They worked great as manipulatives to make patterns, and then the students glued them onto sentence strips.  Next, I made this butterfly strip as a way to quickly assess whether my children understand how to make a pattern.
Pattern Butterfly Long

This post would not be complete if I didn't mention a few songs to go along with the butterfly and frog activities.  "Butterfly Addition" and "Butterfly Subtraction" by Miss Jenny work really well with these butterfly headbands that I found at Target for just a dollar each.  Can you believe that my kids were mad today if they didn't get a chance to be the butterfly?  I told them that they would definitely get a turn on Monday.

Butterfly Song Activity

I Know a Smart Woman

Ok, so if you're anything like me, you've eaten a couple of extra chocolates this Valentine week.  It's ok.  Don't feel guilty.  Let's get back on track, though, and focus on songs and activities that cover healthy foods!  There's a great song by Mar Harmon called "I Know a Smart Woman" that's in the same family as "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly."  The twist is that this woman eats foods that are healthy, like bran, fruit, cheese, veggies, and lean meats.  The song is so cute, and so valuable for teaching the difference between healthy foods and unhealthy foods.  When I first bought the song I made and used these pictures to feed to my Old Lady puppet:

Smart Woman Pictures


Then I found plush toys on Childcraft's web site that match the song exactly!

Plush toy props for "I Know a Smart Woman"

Either one of these (the printed pictures or the plush props) could go in your Library Center or Listening Center.  The kids really like this song!  The cool thing is you can buy it for 99 cents on iTunes.  If you don't have iTunes, you can download the whole album from Songs For Teaching.

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

Cover of the book "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" by Paul Galdone

I have been working with Wolf Trap performing artists for about three years now.  They have taught me how to use music, dance and drama so effectively with my children!  I just want to share a little about our retellings of the classic story The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone.  We read the book several times.  We also use this great song by Greg & Steve called "Three Billy Goats Gruff."  It's so bluesy and catchy; I just love it!  It really helps pre-k and kindergarten kids to get into the character voices.  The tables in my classroom are very sturdy, so we have one child pretend to be the troll underneath the table, and then I assist the "billy goats" (children) across the "bridge" (table).  This really helps them to be part of the story, and they all beg to be the billy goats.  Needless to say, we do this several times so that everyone in the class gets a turn.  I also place the song and paper puppets in Listening Center so that children can independently hear and act out the story during center time.  Here is what my props look like:
Three Billy Goats Props


I put the storytelling props from Childcraft in my Library Center.  Since they're plush toys, they're nearly indestructible.  I've had this set for at least 10 years.  My kindergarten and pre-k kids are simply adorable when they play cooperatively with each other to retell the story using these props.  The nice thing about this set is that it's only $14!

Plush "Three Billy Goats Gruff" props

Here are a couple of my pre-k students' pictures and retellings of the story.  My students barely spoke any English at the start of the school year.
Three Billy Goat Sample Retellings