My adoptive mom retired in the mountains in the South of France. Her little house is secluded, but with tons of little lizards crawling everywhere. A few years ago, she sent me some dried up to share with my classroom!
Let’s sing together our song “Rise and Shine – Welcome to School Today” by Dr. Jean https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyAD2OoFuoY and our greeting song “Hello to all the children of the world”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nYjGy_ZUG8
My favorite Closing Song sung on “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” tune with movement:
Twinkle, twinkle little stars! Time is over and we say goodbye. (Open and close hands)
We had fun with all our friends. Let’s come back and do it again! (Arm moved up and back)
Twinkle, twinkle, little stars! What a wonderful bunch you are! (Blow kisses)
For the writing/reading process, have your child trace or copy (advanced skill) daily his/her name on paper/dry eraser board/ mini blackboard (kindergarten handwriting page) starting at the top of each letter (you could draw an emoji 🙂) either in all uppercase letters or just first letter in capital/uppercase and the rest in lowercase. If your child is starting to write on paper, you can write your child’s name with a highlighter and your child can use a crayon to trace it.
I realize that you might have to survey other members of your family for the question of the day so that your child have enough tally marks to count or have your child put more than one tally mark.
What happens when a lizard loses its tail?
EXPLODES / REGROWS A NEW TAIL / JUMPS / EATS AN INSECT
Make the Letter Y :
- 1 big line and 1 little line for capital Y/ 2 little lines for Lowercase y. Your child use a finger to trace the letter starting at the top, going diagonally down, and then jump back up, going diagonally the other way. (In order to start learning letters, your child will need a set of big curves, little curves, big lines and little lines in wood. You can purchase them at https://www.lwtears.com or make them your self. Here is a picture: http://cdn.lwtears.com/images/uploads/1_787_large.png)
- Wet-Dry-Try on small chalkboard (Handwriting Without Tears) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6p4LUEGbwM
- Play dough with small chalkboard (recipe: https://www.thebestideasforkids.com/playdough-recipe/) or you can purchase the Roll-A-Dough Set from Handwriting without Tears https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spjVLDXDixI
For writing Number 10 Shape: start at the top, go straight down and start at top and go around back up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW3lD7VgHY4 Encourage your child to trace with pointer finger. More practice https://twistynoodle.com/number-10-count-and-trace-coloring-page/
A whole week activity:
For the phonetic part, have a big yogurt container with a lid filled with small objects or pictures that have the letter Y (yacht, yawn, year, yell, yellow, yes, yesterday, yo-yo, yogurt, yolk, you, your). You might want to add a picture of a xylophone, so that your child can say Xylophone does not start with Y! Here is a book of Y word pictures: https://www.first-school.ws/t.asp?t=http://www.first-school.ws/images/alpha/ap1/y.gif Also, you can add new objects/pictures starting with the letter Y every day and let your child explore the container all through the week.
Science
What types of reptiles you can find here, in Montgomery County, Maryland? Review what your child knows about reptiles. As an outdoor science activity, go for a walk in the woods to find out. You can have an adult turning over logs or rocks. Be careful to never put your hands under a log or a rock to avoid any bite or accident. Use one of your closed shoe to move any object. Here is a list from the Department of environmental Protection in MC https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/water/streams/amphibians-and-reptiles.html
What did you find? Did you see any lizard? Did you know there are four species of lizards: the Easter Fence Lizard and three species of skinks. Let us look closer at lizards around the world https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCGw4JuCw_M
If you have a nature journal, have your child make a drawing about lizards that you can date and label. Did you know a gecko is a lizard?
On the tune of “Oh, my Darling Clementine”, we can sing: what’s the weather, what’s the weather, what’s the weather like today? Is it cloudy, is it rainy, is it sunny, is it cold? (You can also change the weather words).
Let your child check the weather and tell you about it. You might want to ask your child to do a weather drawing that you can label.
Language Art
Before reading a book, ask your child to look at the cover and tell what your child thinks the book is about?
Lizard Literature:
1. The Lizard’s Song by George Shannon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCoS3qGArgc.
2. The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer https://m.youtube/watch?v=hZrtzCA9pmY
After viewing a book, help your child sequence the story: what happened first, next,… at the end. Brainstorm with your child what you know about lizards. Discuss how your child and your family can see lizards (outside, zoo, pet store, …). One theme covered is Sharing. Brainstorm with your child how you and your child share.
For an advanced activity, have your child fill in a simple story map. Take a sheet of paper and divide it into 3 equal size parts. Write “Beginning”, “Middle”, and “End” and encourage your child to make a drawing about the beginning, the middle and the end of the story.
“I had a reptile” Song (“Oh, my darling Clementine” tune).
I had a reptile.
I had a reptile.
It had very scaly skin.
It had lungs to breathe the air out,
And lungs to breathe air in.
It has cold blood,
And lays Egg.
And it even had a shell.
I had a reptile.
I had a reptile.
And I kept it very well.
“Ten little Lizards Line-Up” Song (“Ten Little Indians” tune) and Movement (fingers count)
One little, two little, three little lizards,
Four little, five little, six little lizards,
Seven little, eight little, nine little lizards,
Ten little lizards in a line.
Lizard Poem with Movement
Lizard in the dessert, (Faning with your hand pretending it is hot). Lizard on the ground, (Touching the ground).
Lizard climbing rocks, (Moving hands up pretending to climb).
And scampering all around. (Putting hands together and moving them quickly right and left)
Math
For the Lizard Memory Game, you need to print twice this lizard sheet https://www.themailbox.com/magazines/copier-friendlybr-lizard-patterns/lizard-cards and have your child color with crayons 2 blue lizards, 2 green lizards, 2 yellow lizards, 2 brown lizards And 2 lizards orange. Next, cut rectangles with colored lizards or along the straight lines. You might want to cut rectangles of construction paper/cards to glue at the back of the lizard pieces to avoid seeing the color through. You are ready to play the game! Put all the cards face down and take turn trying to turn over two lizards of the same color. Enjoy!
Which lizard is the fastest? This is a counting game. You need a die (2 dice for advanced), a sheet of paper, a marker and 2 little rocks for lizards. Draw a straight line on sheet from bottom to Top. Put an x on the line every inch or so and number them from 1 to 10 (1-20 for advanced). Now, to play the game, take turn rolling the die with your child. Each player puts a rock on the number corresponding to the number of dots on the die the player rolled, and advancing the rock by the number on the die rolled. The first to reach 10 is the winner!
Spring is in the air in March! The calendar is a daily activity to do with your child that develop number and pattern recognition. Here is the link to print a calendar to update daily with your child. The set has a weather component, if you like. https://www.themailbox.com/magazines/march-calendar-set/march-calendar-set-4
Daily counting of tally marks and show your child a number card or write the number down to show your child. The numbers of the tallies will be different every day. Extend the concept by comparing numbers: which has more? Which has fewer? Which are the same?How many more (count with fingers)?
Art
For Lacing Letter Y Art Project, you need (1) construction paper, (2) scissors, (3) template https://twistynoodle.com/my-letter-y-coloring-page/, (4) glue, (5) yarn, (6) tape, (7) hole puncher, and (8) black marker.
Directions:
1. Cut Y template out of construction paper.
2. Hole punch 1 to 20 hole around the letter Y.
3. Cut long piece of yarn: attach 1 end to letter Y and lace in and out punched holes with the other end made stiff with a piece of tape.
4. Glue letter Y on construction paper.
5. Label “Letter Y for Yarn”.
6. If you have a Letterland Binder, add it to other crafts.
For Colorful Lizard Art Project, you need (1) template https://www.themailbox.com/magazines/lizard-pattern/lizard, (2) dot paint or tempera paint with bottle cork, (3) scissors, (4) glue, (5) construction paper, (6) markers. As an option, use cut up pieces of construction paper or tissue paper to glue on template.
Directions:
1. Cut and glue template on construction paper sheet.
2. Dit paint or paint with bottle cork/ glue paper.
3. Draw eyes, tongue, nails,… and any other detail with markers.
Small Motor Skills
Lizard Coloring Page https://twistynoodle.com/lizards-2-coloring-page/.
Lizard Book https://twistynoodle.com/lizard-book-minibook/.
Letter Y Placemat https://twistynoodle.com/letter-y-placemat-coloring-page/
Gross Motor Skills
Outside time with climbing, jumping, bicycling, running, walking are great ways to develop the whole child.
Clap your hands Song and Movement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3c8fzbsfOE. You can engage your child to do other movements too.