Ideas for pre-K through grade 4.9

13 SOCIAL STUDIES Ask the children to tell what they think when you say, "family." Probe for a variety of ideas. During the discussion, present other ideas about the family. Then guide the children in exploring why families are important. Consider why their class is like a family. Invite the children to bring in snapshots of their families. Make and label a display of the photographs.

ABC'S AT WORK

14 LANGUAGE ARTS Read "Ready to Read," Poetry 3, to the children. Show them a page in a book that you have read to them. Ask a child to point to a word on the page. Copy the word in large letters on display paper. Read the word aloud. Help the children read it. Help them note that different letters of the alphabet make up the word. See if individuals can identify the letters. Explain the importance of the ABC's in words and tell how you are able to read words. Invite individuals to select words from sources such as, books, labels, signs, etc., for you to copy.

Grade 1.0 through Grade 2.6

STRAIGHT AND CURVED

15 PERCEPTION On lined chart paper, write the alphabet in capital letters in sequence, leaving about two inches of space between each letter. Display the chart. Help the children identify the letters. Ask a child to point to a letter that has all straight and/or slanted lines. With the class, confirm that the lines are straight (or slanted). Have the child circle the selected letter. In like manner, do the procedure for a letter that's curved or has curved lines. The child who points to it, underlines it. Continue the activity until all the letters have been circled or underlined.

CONVERSATIONS

16 LANGUAGE ARTS Select a storybook that contains conversations. Aloud, read a portion of what one of the story characters says. Invite a child to repeat the comment in his or her own words. Then, ask another child to respond to that comment with his or her own ideas. Continue the activity, presenting other parts of the same conversation

PAIRED MATE

17 SOCIAL STUDIES Divide the class in half. Write the names of one half on cards and drop them into a bag. Have the half whose names aren't in the bag take turns pulling a card from the bag until each child has the name of another. Each child gets together with the person who has his or her name. They tell about themselves. Suggest or model kinds of information they may share. Later, guide each child in introducing his or her paired mate to the class using what was learned about that classmate

HOW TO

18 Prior to reading the book, The Tickleoctopus by Audry Wood (Harcourt Brace, 1994), explore with the child why someone may not know how to smile and play. Help the child consider how he or she learned to smile and play. After the book is read, probe for the child's reaction to it. Discuss how the little boy in the story learned to smile and play.

BODY TURNS

19 MOTOR COORDINATION Have the children stand with their feet slightly apart. Model these actions for them to imitate: (1) Twist your waist to the right (turning only your upper torso to the right). (2) Twist your waist to the left. (3) Repeat the twists. (4) Twist only your head to the right and left, and repeat the twists. Establish a beat to which the children can perform the twists. Perform with the group until they do the actions smoothly.