Dinosaur ROAR! Lessons

 

My students and I love, love, love this book, especially if you read it with a lot of animation: read slowly on the slow dinosaur page, fast on the fast dinosaur page, pat your belly on the fat page, pretend the spikes hurt your finger on the spiky page etc.

 

We love the book so much, that I created a week's worth of lessons around it.  Of course, you don't have to read the book to enjoy the lessons.  Head over to TeachersPayTeachers or Teacher's Notebook to see a preview or buy the unit.  I also included a freebie from the unit below...

 What kid doesn't love dinosaurs!  Enjoy!

From: Mrs. Kilburn's Kiddos

We also had a lot of fun completing some non-standard measurement activities.


Julie Lee from Mrs. Lee’s Kindergarten completely inspired me to make this farm animal station activity (she always has the best station activity ideas ):



I copied the clip-art of the different animals on various colors of construction paper and then had students complete and color their worksheets to match.  The clip-art is from DJ Inkers.  If you would like copies of the worksheets then you can download them here:

• cows for barn measurement activity
• How far is it to the barn math
• Farm animal measurement
• farm animals for measurement

Oozy Foamy Ghost

From: Three Ghost Friends

Oozy, Foamy, Overflowy Ghost

My kids discovered a recipe for Elephant Toothpaste on Steve Spangler Science website and wanted to do it right away. I thought it would be fun to turn this cool science experiment into a fun ghost activity that your kids will love this Halloween. We did this for the WOW factor, but if you are interested in the science behind the experiment make sure you check out his site.

Supply List:

1 Clear large plastic container that is ghost-shaped. (I used a mayonnaise container.)

1 cup of hydrogen peroxide solution (many of the science websites call for a 20-volume hydrogen peroxide liquid that is a 6% solution and is available at beauty supply stores.  We just used the bottle we  had at home that was purchased at the pharmacy.)

2 teaspoons of dry active yeast

4 Tablespoons of warm water

Liquid Dish Soap (We used Dawn)

Food coloring (if you want a colored ghost -- Hey I know a good eBook for that!)

Small cup for mixing yeast and water (we used a yogurt container.)

Black Sharpie Marker

Safety goggles

Funnel

Measuring spoons

Mixing container that is pourable

Tray to collect overflowing foam

Three Ghost Friends eBooks or paperbacks

Procedure:

Here are some of the supplies we used! Hopefully, you have them in your house and you won't have to go buy these items at the store.  But, if you don't, you will find that they are all relatively inexpensive.

First, I drew a ghost face on the mayonnaise container.

Then, we poured 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide into the container. If you want to add food coloring you would do that now. We chose not to because we wanted a white ghost.

I had my oldest son squirt a bunch of Dawn dish soap into the container. You need around 2 Tablespoons.

My youngest son mixed the 2 teaspoons of dry active yeast with the 4 Tablespoons of warm water. 

We used a fork to break up the bits of yeast, and help it dissolve into the warm water..

Meanwhile, my son swirled around the Dawn dish soap and hydrogen peroxide. (Notice, he is not wearing safety goggles. We forgot and should have had them on because hydrogen peroxide can irritate skin and eyes.)

Next, we moved outside and placed our ghost container in a tray to collect the overflowing foam.

The funnel helped get the yeast and water mixture directly into the container without spilling.

The foam started growing immediately! 

My kids yelled and screamed with excitement at this point!

Very cool!

The ghost looks like it is yelling,  "OH NO!"

Where did the ghost go?

BOO! There it is! 

Exploding Chain

From Frugal Fun For Boys:

Build a Chain Reaction with Popsicle or Craft Sticks

Did you know that you can build an exploding chain reaction by weaving together popsicle sticks or craft sticks?  I saw this post on Pinterest from Mom Trusted, and I knew that the boys would want to try this!

The chain stays together as long as you hold down the end that you are building onto.  Release the end and…

There is a video of our chain reaction in action at the end of the post!
The post on Mom Trusted said that the chain was pretty easy to build.  We found that it was actually kind of tricky to get started.  I didn’t want to be defeated by this silly project, so I was determined to get it right!  We put it aside for awhile, and when we came back to it, Aidan and I figured out the chain right away.  Getting started is the hard part – once you master than, the chain is not so bad.
Here’s how to build one:
We found that wide craft sticks work better than the skinny sticks.
Step 1:  Arrange 4 craft sticks into this pattern.  Make them look exactly like this.

Step 2:  Add another stick to the top to secure the end.  This stick must go diagonally across to hold down the ends of the top horizontal stick and the right vertical stick.  If it won’t hold them both down, slide those two sticks out farther until they are successfully held down by the stick you added.
This next photo also shows the first chain stick added.

 Step 3:  Build the chain by adding craft sticks, one at a time to each side.  Each stick should go over one stick, and under one stick.

If a video would help, you can check out the post at Mom Trusted.  They have a great instructional video posted as well as a video of some kids who built a chain reaction with 1,000 sticks!  That one is totally worth watching.

Monster Ideas

From PreKinders:

Monster Activities

Monster Song

[Music]
Play the song “The Mice Go Marching” from Hap Palmer’s album “Rhythms on Parade”. Children will tiptoe during the “mice” part and stomp during the “monster” part.

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Monster Eyes

[Fine Motor]
Add wiggle eyes to the play dough (mixed in) and have the children pull out the “monster eyes”.

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Monster Masks

[Art]
Children use several collage materials of their choice from our art center to create a monster mask on a paper plate.

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Bugs That Go Bump in the Night

[Art]
Before reading Bugs That Go Bump in the Night, remove the surprise from the envelope at the end of the book. At the end, show children the empty envelope and ask them to make something scary to put inside.

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There’s a Nightmare in My Closet

[Art]
Fold a piece of brown construction paper (hamburger fold). On the inside, staple or glue a half-sheet of white drawing paper to the right side. On the front, write “There’s a Nightmare in My Closet”. Have the children draw a nightmare on the white paper on the inside of the “closet”. At large group, my students often like to talk about their nightmares and things that scare them. I think they like to get it out “in the open” and hear what other children have to say about their nightmares.

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Go Away Big Green Monster

[Literacy]
I made a set of “Big Green Monsters” for the children to use in small groups. I traced the pages of the book, Go Away Big Green Monster, to make patterns for cutting out the pieces from felt. As the story is read, the children add each piece of the monster’s face, then take them away. I also have the children retell the story as they manipulate the pieces.

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Slime

[Science]
Read the blog post: Slime Science

Spider Web

From: Little Lessons for Little Ones

Read: The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle

Craft: Raised Salt Painting - inspired by the blog One Perfect Day.   As you read the book this week you will notice that the spiderweb is raised in the book!  This art activity will mimic the art in the book.  Put your paper on the cookie sheet.  Depending on your child's age, either you or they squirt liquid glue on the page, trying to make it look like a spiderweb.  Next you pour salt all over the paper.  After you have covered the paper, shake it off onto the cookie sheet so you can save it and use it on another project.  In spare cups, make colored water using water and food coloring.  Using an eye dropper, squirt a few drops of colored water on the salt and watch as the color travels on its own down the line of salt/glue!

Supplies:

• book
• black or white construction paper
• liquid glue
• salt
• food coloring
• water
• eye dropper(s)
• cookie sheet
• plastic cups

Exploring Pumpkins

From: PreKinders




We had several pumpkins of different sizes and colors for the children to observe, touch, and make observational drawings. After several weeks, these were cut in half for the children to observe the inside. Tweezers were placed in the science center with the pumpkins for children to pick out the seeds.

Pumpkin Letter Activities

From: Pre-K Pages

Halloween Letter Matching

Setting: Small Group, ABC/Literacy Centers

Objective: Visually discriminate letter shapes, matching

Materials: laminating film, scissors, orange construction paper, pen, magnetic letters

Directions: Fold each sheet of construction paper in half and cut it in the shape of a pumpkin. Use a pen to trace magnetic letters onto each pumpkin mat. Laminate the pumpkin mats and give one to each child in your small group. Have students match magnetic letters to the correct outlines.

Pumpkin Beginning Sounds

Setting: Small Group, Literacy Centers

Objective: Letter Sounds

Materials: Orange construction paper, scissors, laminating film, Sharpie marker, alphabet items from Lakeshore Letter Sound Teaching Tubs, pumpkin container

Directions: Select certain sounds your students need to work on and place the items from the Lakeshore Letter Sound tubs in your pumpkin container. Cut large pumpkin shapes from the construction paper, write your letter sounds on each pumpkin with the Sharpie marker and laminate the pumpkins for durability. Seat students around the table, place the pumpkin container in the middle. Students will take turns selecting items from the container, identifying the beginning sound, and placing the item on the mat with the corresponding beginning sound.

Leaf Letter Fishing

From PreKinders:

Leaf Letter Fishing

Setting: Small Group, Literacy Centers
 
Objective: Alphabet Recognition
 
Materials: leaf cut-outs, ABC stickers OR Sharpie marker, paper clips, recording sheet, Do-A-Dot markers- one per child, fishing poles
 
Directions: Laminate your leaf cut-outs and write one letter on each leaf using the Sharpie marker or place one letter sticker on each leaf. Place paper clips on each leaf and put leaves in a tub or container of some sort in the middle of the table. Students use their fishing poles to “catch” the leaves and stamp the matching letters on the recording sheet with their Do-A-Dot markers. The recording sheet has a large leaf outline on it with all the letters of the alphabet written inside. Students use Do-A-Dot markers to mark the letters they have caught.

Fishing poles: 12 inch dowels, string, hot glue gun, round magnets

Tie the string to the end of the dowel and use the hot glue gun to secure it to the dowel. Next, hot glue the round magnet to the end of the string.

Leaf Counting

From PreKinders:

Leaf Counting

[Math]
I used leaf craft punchers to cut out the pieces from construction paper. Print out the numeral sheets. Have children count out the correct amount of paper cutouts to glue onto the numeral.

• Numeral Sheets: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Toothpick Punch - Fall Edition

From PreKinders:

Toothpick Punch with Pumpkin

Toothpick Punch with Leaf

To do this activity, cut squares of construction paper (I cut mine 6×6 inches). Draw a simple pumpkin or leaf shape with a Sharpie.

I placed a stack of these papers in the fine motor center, along with toothpicks and a carpet square. Children place the paper on the carpet square and use the toothpick to punch holes all along the black lines. When they are done, they can hold their paper up to the light and see the light shining through the holes.

Kids enjoy it and it’s great fine motor practice!

Paper Towel Art - Fall Edition

From PreKinders:

Paper Towel Art

To do this activity, draw a pumpkin or leaf shape on a plain white paper towel using a permanent black marker, like a Sharpie. It must be permanent ink, not a regular black marker. I just free-handed the shapes when I drew them. Use liquid watercolor (mine is Colorations from Discount School Supply), or food color. Pour the watercolor into a paint palette or small dish. Children will use medicine droppers to squeeze drops of watercolor onto the paper towel.

The watercolor will spread outside of the outline, but that’s okay. The point is to have fun while exercising the fine motor muscles.

Tip: place paper underneath the paper towel to soak up the extra watercolor because it will bleed through onto the table.

Magic Mixture - Apple Dunking

From National Geographic:

YOU WILL NEED

• An apple
• Half of a lemon
• Shallow bowl
• Water
• Knife (ask a parent for help)

HERE'S HOW
Peel and slice an apple. Cover one slice with water in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle a second slice with the juice of half a lemon. Leave another slice exposed to the air. Wait about an hour, then compare. The slice with nothing on it turns brown.

WHY?
When an apple is cut open, chemicals inside the apple combine with oxygen from the air to form a brown coating. The coating keeps oxygen from getting deeper into the apple. Water protects the first slice from oxygen in the air so it stays white. Vitamin C in the lemon juice binds with oxygen, keeping oxygen away from the second slice, so it stays white the longest.

Text by Julie Vosburgh Agnone
Illustration by David Bamundo

Worm Farm

From Teach Preschool:

Egg Hunt