Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Chicka chicka boom boom! My kids can’t get enough of this book! Even my older ones don’t mind reading it! (Warning it has a very catchy rhythm to and you may find yourself muttering “chicka chicka boom boom” to yourself for the rest of the day!) 

Confession: I stole the following idea from Speech Lady Liz. Thanks for the super idea!

It is a very simple idea that I implemented when we came back from Christmas break. (You know, when the students have to come to school for 2 days at the end of the week and nobody is ready to buckle down just yet.) First, read the book with your students. Then, talk about which sound/letter they are working on in speech. Next, have the students make their own coconut with their letter/sound on it to put on the coconut tree! My students absolutely loved this activity! I told them once they have reached their goal they can take the coconut off the tree and take it home! Having the tree up in the room is a great visual reminder for the kids, since we make our coconuts they ask me if it is time to take theirs off the tree yet. It can also be used with language kids, just write their language goal on the coconut!

I wanted an activity that encouraged my students to take responsibility for their sounds and that would promote self-correction. One of my professors used to tell a story of when she started working at a school in the middle of the year, and none of the speech students knew what their sound was! If the child does not know what sound they need help with they will not be thinking of how to use their “good speech” when they leave your room!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Hello to our favorite readers! We hope winter break treated you well, and that you are sufficiently back into the swing of things! We apologize for being MIA for so long, but, well you know how it goes…

We wanted to share with you a great sequencing activity for little ones. If you go here you can download pictures that go along with Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar (there are also some other neat activities on this website as well). These make for a fun sequencing activity! Read through the story with your student and then have them glue the pictures in order as they re-tell you the story, and if they more visuals to help them remember just look through the book again. This helps to build language skills, and this book provides so many topics to explore.

First, the book offers some new vocabulary such as tiny, caterpillar, stomachache, nibble, cocoon, and so many more! Always talk about the book you are reading and try to explain words that may be new or unfamiliar to the kids!

Compare and contrast the caterpillar what the caterpillar looked like in the beginning of the story and at the end. And of course compare the caterpillar and butterfly.

Some questions to ask the student:

·         Why was the caterpillar hungry?

·         What did he eat?

·         What do you like to eat?

·         What does the caterpillar look like?

·         How does he change?

·         What do you think will happen?

·         Were you surprised by the end?

·         Do you grow like the caterpillar did?

·         Why did he have a stomachache?

·         Have you ever had a stomachache?

·         How did it feel?

And don’t forget about all the categories in this story! Colors, fruits, numbers, sweets, etc.

Some fun activities that go along with the book include drawing the story out, act it out, go on a nature walk to look for caterpillars and butterflies, go to the grocery store and look for the foods that were in the book, make a chart of all the food you eat in a day, or go to a butterfly exhibit.

This book is one our favorites for so many reasons! It is so important for parents to set aside time to read to their little ones every day! What are your favorite books to read with your kids?