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Farm Literature Suggestions
Farm Animal
Families
After reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" by Bill Martin Jr., teach
students the names for farm animals and their offspring. Using a
format
similar to that in the story, chant the following question and
answer.
Encourage students to join in.
Mama cow, mama cow, what do you see?
I see my little calf standing by me.
Repeat with the following substitution:
~~horse and foal
~~sheep and lamb
~~pig and piglet
~~goat and kid
~~chicken and chick
Ham It Up
When you ask for volunteers for this dramatic activity, you're
sure to have pigs aplenty!
In advance, cut a giant hand shape from
bulletin board paper. If you'd like for youngsters
to have props
for their dramatics, prepare five sets of paper snouts and tails.
To do so,
cut ten 2-inch circles from pink construction paper.
Draw nostrils on five of the circles for snouts,
and spiral-cut
five circles for tails. Put a loop of masking tape on the back of
each snout and tail.
During a storytime, invite five volunteers to stand on the giant
fingertips.
Have each child wear a snout and tail if he desires.
As you read the story,
have each pig take a bow when you read the
text that introduces him.
Then encourage the pigs to act out the
remainder of the story as read.
For a variation, invite a group of
five piggies to perform the actions for the following poem:
Five Little Piggies
Five little piggies standing in a row.
Five little piggies have curly tails to show.
Five little piggies have snouts for noses.
Five little piggies stand on their "toeses."
Five little piggies jump up and down.
Five little piggies turn round and round.
Five little piggies wink and blink their eyes.
Five little piggies all wave goodbye.
Mrs. Wishy
Washy
Using the big book favorite of Mrs. Wishy Washy, create
animal story props to accompany this story.
Make a mud puddle from
brown bulletin board paper, a headband of each farm animal in
story,
and a head kerchief with a rag for Mrs. Wishy Washy. To
make headbands, draw or color
each farm animal picture and glue
onto sentence strip. Laminate all items.
Share the story several
times with the students, then allow the children to recreate the
story
by letting each animal "roll" into the mud puddle, Mrs. Wishy Washy scrub them, etc;
Who Took the Farmer's Hat?
Written by
Joan L. Nodso
The Arts:
This book helps the reader to see that given a little
imagination, an object can be used
for more than one thing. Provide each student with an object,
such as a small empty box,
and other art supplies. Ask them to create something with their
box. You could also ask them
to identify an object at home or in the classroom that could be
used for more than its one
intended purpose. For example, a milk carton could be used for
holding paintbrushes.
Language Arts:
Write the name of each animal on a paper plate. Attach a
piece of string
or yarn long enough so that the plate can be slipped over a
student's head.
Assign selected students the characters. One child is also the
farmer.
Begin telling the story, having characters read their lines when
it's their turn.
Science:
Have children discuss why the wind was able to carry the
hat away.
Are there other objects that the wind could/couldn't carry away?
Perhaps you could make a list of “coulds” and “couldn'ts.”
Rosie's Walk
Written by Pat
Hutchins
Invite children to
invent new ways that the fox can try—and fail—to catch Rosie.
Suggest that children use two different pieces of paper—one to
show how the
fox tries to catch Rosie, and one to show what happens to him
when he fails.
Children can write a sentence below each illustration, describing
the action in the
drawing. Encourage children to share their work with one
another, reading the
sentences aloud and talking about what's happening in the
pictures.
Bind the children's work into a class book. You could call it
Rosie Takes Another Walk.
Observation:
How do children's drawings show their understanding of
the main idea of the story?
It's All About Milk
Conclude your milk
studies by reading aloud No Milk! by Jennifer A. Ericsson.
After discussing the story, ask students whether or not they
think it would be a big
deal if the cow in the story--or any cow, for that matter--were
never able to give milk again.
Why or why not? As students discuss the question, prompt them to
brainstorm a list of foods
that are made from milk. Record their responses, and then read
the list together. After seeing
the list of dairy foods, do any of your students want to change
their opinions? Summarize
the discussion by explaining that all foods that are made from
milk are called dairy products.
~ Suggested
Literature ~
Pre-K Fun Theme Pages are
for educational reference only!
No copyright infringement is intended.
I do not claim any of these as my own ideas.
They are shared from friends and fellow group
members.
Thanks for sharing all your great ideas!
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