April 16th: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

 

This week, I chose to read "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault. This book is one of my childhood favorites. I always loved the crazy story of all the letters climbing up the coconut tree. I asked the kids if they remembered talking about onomatopeais when we read the Rattletrap car. There were more onomatopeias in this book like Boom, Skit Skat Skoodle Doot, and Flip Flop Flee. As I read I asked them about the letters, why they all fell out of the tree, and why they thought a full moon was called a full moon.

After we read, we played a modified version of "Mother May I?" When I gave the kids a command, they had to say "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, will there be enough room?" before they could proceed. For example, I would say: Take 3 bunny hops forward or take 2 giant steps forward and they would have to reply "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, will there be enough room?" before they took their turn. If they forgot to say that, they couldn't go and had to go back to the beginning. The kids really liked that game and we played two rounds.

After the game, I told each kid to pick their favorite color of construction paper, write in bubble letters the first inital of their name, and cut it out. I wanted each of them to have a little letter similar to the ones in "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". Here are some of the letters the kids did:

Once everyone had their letter cut out, I drew a coconut tree on the board and had each kid tape their letter to the tree. It looked really cool with lots of different colored letters on the board. I reminded the kids about how, in the book, once all the letters were in the tree, it was too heavy and they all fell down. Then, I knocked all their letters off the tree on the board, ripping some. While this may seem heartless, it was for a purpose. I then passed out bandaids and told them to help take care of their letters. They bandaged up their letters and made sure they were all okay :)

For our snack this week, we had fruit. I thought this snack went well with the fruit tree from "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom".

April 9th: Dr. Seuss Day!

Today, we read two Dr. Seuss books, "The Cat in the Hat" and "Oh say can you say!". As a kid, Dr. Seuss books were my favorite, so I picked two I had at home to read to the Bookmunchers this week. Most of the kids had read "The Cat in the Hat" before, but "Oh say can you say!" was a new one full of exciting tongue twisters. I asked them if they knew any tongue twisters already. One girl quickly replied "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck as much wood as he could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood". I was very impressed with the tongue twisters they knew and could say right off the bat.

After we read both books, I drew a picture on the board of a rainy day, like the one that was in "The Cat in the Hat". I asked all the kids what they usually do on rainy days. Then, I drew a stick figure person of each of them in the house doing what they usually do on rainy days. Some were watching TV, others listening to music, one kid was sleeping, and a few were playing outside in the puddles :)

Then, I passed out little slips of paper with a word from "The Cat in the Hat". For example, box, wall, dress, fun, or fish. I asked them to come up with as many rhymes for that word as they could. After they finished, we gathered in a circle and each kid read all their rhymes as fast as they could.

 

These are some pictures of the slips of paper the kids wrote on. They each came up with lots of rhymes for each word. We talked about how in "The Cat in the Hat", every phrase rhymed with each other, which made it more fun to read and listen.

 

 

Next, I laid out strips of colored construction paper and asked them each to choose one of their favorite color. Then, I told them they would be making their own alliteration sentences using their names. Similar to the alliteration phrases in "Oh say can you say!", each kid would have to come up with a sentence using their name and other words that started with the same syllable. For example:

 

 

Claire cooked a casserole

Therese tickled a turtle

Megan made a marshmallow museum

Emerson entered the elevator

 

The kids had fun using their own names to create sentences with alliteration. They were able to help each other think of words and share their ideas at the end.

 

For our snack this week, we had grapes and mini pancakes. Each snack was based off of the food mentioned in "Oh say can you say!".

 

Green Grape Cakes

As he gobbled the cakes on his plate,
the greedy ape said as he ate,
the greener green grapes are,
the keener keen apes are
to gobble green grape cakes,
they’re great!

 

What would you rather be when you grow up?

A cop in a cop’s cap?
Or a cupcake cook
in a cupcake cook’s cap?
Or a fat flapjack flapper
in a flat flapped-jack cap?
OR…
If you think
you don’t like cops’ caps,
flapjack flappers’
or cupcake cooks’ caps,
maybe you’re one
of those choosy chaps
who likes kooky captains’ caps
perhaps

 

 

April 2nd: Mickey and the Magic Cloak

 

This week, we read our Disney book. From Walt Disney Productions, Mickey and the Magic Cloak is one of Mickey's earliest adventures. I had this book at my house and since my younger sister Therese liked it, I thought it would be good for the group. Before we read, I asked the kids if they knew when it was written. I gave them a hint: "It was written when your parents were probably around your age". One of the younger girls guessed 1850. Well, it wasn't quite that early but this Disney tale, published in 1975, is one of Mickey's first adventures.

After we read, we talked about Mickey's journey, the magic cloak, and the Old Woman of the Woods. I asked them what characteristic Mickey had that gave him the courage to save Minnie from the Wizard Malgar. After telling them it started with a B, they all guessed BRAVE! I asked them if they had ever been on special mission and had to show bravery.

After our discussion, I passed out activity sheets that I had made. I asked them to draw on the page one place they would go if they had Mickey's Magic Cloak. Then, I asked all of them to sit on the floor in a circle with me and share what they had drawn.

These are some of the pictures and places the kids would go if they had Mickey's Magic Cloak :)


When we got together to talk about everyone's picture, I told them we'd be doing it a little bit differently than our normal sharing. This week, I had brought a "magic" cloak and they would each have the opportunity to wear it! I called it the Pink Cloak game. They were all very excited about my shiny pink cloak, even the boys. Similar to Mickey, they each got to pretend they were going on their own adventure. I told each kid as they were in the middle of the circle to put the cloak on, close their eyes, and say out loud the place they had drawn on their paper. They all had fun wearing the magic cloak and imagining going to those special places.

 

 

After everyone had the chance to wear the pink cloak, we had our snack. Disney-based fruit snacks! My mom couldn't find any with Mickey Mouse so we had Toy Story fruit chews instead. We talked about how Disney has changed since 1975, when Mickey and the Magic Cloak was written. I asked them what their favorite new Disney movie was. Some of their new favorites are Brave, The Croods, and Wreck-it Ralph.

March 26th: Amelia Bedelia

One of my favorite books as a kid, Amelia Bedelia, is what we read today. Written by Peggy Parish, these hilarious classics are full of fun twists. Through this book, I was able to talk to the kids about what the words literal and idiom mean. We discussed the literal meaning of some phrases and I told them to notice how Amelia Bedelia always takes things literally. When she was told to draw the curtains, instead of closing them, she literally drew a picture of them. Amelia Bedelia books are funny, thoughtful, and spark the imaginations of children. Before we read, I asked them to name some of the idioms they had heard. I told them an idiom is a word or phrase that says one thing but means another. I was happily surprised that they already knew lots of idioms, they just didn't know those phrases were idioms. It brought a smile to my face when one little boy said "I broke my ankle". I knew that wasn't really an idiom, but I didn't have the heart to tell them that. I let them write their idioms on the board and then we read the book.

After we read, we pointed out all the idioms in Amelia Bedelia. This is a list I made:

Dress the Chicken
Draw the Drapes
Dust the Furniture
Prune the Hedges
Change the towels
Put the lights out

Then, I passed out activity sheets and the kids enjoyed doing word searches and mini quizzes.

After they had filled out the worksheets, they each showed me all the words they found in the word search. Then, we went back to the list of Amelia Bedelia idioms from the book and I passed out slips of paper with an idiom on each one. I told the kids to get in groups of 2 or 3 and come up with a charade based on each idiom. The kids had fun acting out scenes like dressing the chicken and changing the towels.

This week's snack would have to be the best yet! I brought in two whip cream topped lemon meringue pies, like the ones Amelia Bedelia made!

 

 

The kids were so excited and demanded 2 pieces...giving in to them wasn't the best idea.