Activities

1. Activities Carol, here is the activity for the EC article and a few other activities.

2. Group Activity • 1. Read the article • 2. What does the research say about movement, play, and cognitive benefits ? • 3. Brainstorm with your table and give examples of activities for the whole child, using the physical and social-emotional as well as the cognitive.

3. DAP Curriculum • Should include: • Social • Emotional • Intellectual • Physical

4. Activity • Table Groups • 1. In what ways do you think increasing young children’s motor skills are developmentally appropriate? • 2. How might motor skills impact later learning? • Record your thoughts on the chart paper. • Give concrete examples of the motor skill and what type of learning it might impact. • Prepare to share with our whole group.

5. Bouncing Balls Animal Motions 1. Use animal pictures glued on tag board or construction paper. 2. Hand the pictures to different children and have one child dramatize the movements of their animal. 3. Let the other children guess what animal the child is imitating. (just movements no sounds) 4. Then have everyone do the same animal motions together. 5. Repeat until all the pictures have been dramatized. • The students will pretend to be large rubber balls • while saying this poem: • “I’m a big rubber ball” • ( squat on the floor) • “As round as round can be.” • (Bend arms, rest hands on hips) • “Watch me bounce….1….2….3!” • Jump up and then back to the squatting position.

6. I’m Stuck! Have the children use an imaginary paint brush to brush pretend glue all over their bodies. Call out directions: “Stick your elbow to your knee” “Stick you hand to your head: “Stick you hands to your feet” “Stick your nose to your elbow” etc. At the end of the activity have the children pour an imaginary bucket of water all over their body and their hands will wash the glue away. • Look at Me! • 1. Choose one child to act as the teacher. • 2. Ask this child to do a large motor movement (like twisting) • or exercise (touch toes). • 3. The other children watch and imitate the leader. • 4. You may go alphabetically so all children will have a turn by the end of the week.

7. Hokey Pokey Shape Song • You put your shape in. • You take your shape out. • You put your shape in, and you shake it all about. • You do the hokey-pokey and you turn yourself around. • That’s what it’s all about!! • circle triangle • oval diamond • rectangle Step Tango 3 steps forward; 3 steps backward; 2 steps right; 2 steps left; Reach as high as you can; Bend as low as you can; Clap your hands; Clap your hands.

8. Elephants At Work and Play A Finger Play • As 5 little elephants marched through the grass march fingers of right hand • They decided to stop and have a music class, The first blew his trumpet and announced he'd be teacher. make a trumpet of fists and blow • The next gave a call of the wild jungle animal cup hands to mouth, make a low eerie sound • The third and fourth elephants trumpeted a song, make a trumpet and blow twice • But the last little elephant just followed along, • march two fingers of left hand • Then he left the others as he didn't care to play, And he carried tree logs the rest of the day. • take pointer finger and middle finger on each hand • and place on top of each other with thumbs up

9. The Zoo At the zoo we saw a bear He had long, dark fuzzy hair   pretend to walk etc. like a bear We saw a lion in a cage. He was in an awful rage.   pretend to be a angry lion We saw the big, long-necked giraffe, And the silly monkeys made us laugh    everybody laugh But my favorite animal at the zoo Is the elephant--how about you? Caterpillar Let the words describe the actions Little fuzzy caterpillar In your warm cocoon The cold winter's over and you'll be hatching soon. Then you'll spread your wings On a warm summer's day And wave us all goodby As you fly, fly away.  • Tiny Tim • There was a little turtle,  His name was tiny tim.  I put him in the bathtub to see if he could swim.  He drank up all the water,  He ate up all the soap,  And now he is in the bathtub,  With a bubble in his throat.  Bubble, bubble,bubble,  Bubble, bubble, bubble,  Bubble, bubble, bubble,  Bubble, bubble, pop! Ten Fingers I have ten fingers    And they all belong to me,  I can make them do things Would you like to see? I can shut them up tight   I can open them wide    I can put them together   I can make them all hide   I can make them jump high   I can make them jump low   I can fold them up quietly   And hold them just so. Sammy  Snail Sammy Snail is slowly moving See him slide across the grass He leaves a silver path behind him We all know when he has passed. Sammy Snail is never worried Though he wanders far and wide For on his back his house he carries And when he's tired he pops inside. Hands The words describe the actions My hands upon my head I'll place. Upon my shoulders, on my face, At my waist and by my side, Then behind me they will hide. Then I'll raise them way up high, And let my fingers fly, fly, fly, Then clap, clap, clap them-- One - Two -Three! Now see how quiet they can be.

10. A Bunny A traditional finger play Once there was a bunny.   Double left fist and extend two fingers for ears. And a green, green cabbage head,     Double fist on the right hand. "I think I'll have some breakfast," the little bunny said.      Move bunny toward cabbage head. So he nibbled and he nibbled.      Move fingers on the left hand. Then he turned around to say, "I think this is the time I should be hopping on my way!"     Make hopping movements with the left hand. Johnny Johnny Jingles Johnny Johnny Jingles Jumped out of bed Brushed his teeth and washed his face, And combed his tousled head, He put his clothes on carefully His shoes he neatly tied, Then he went to breakfast, And sat by his mothers side. Ready for School Perform the actions that the words suggest When I get ready to come to school, I jump right out of bed, I wash my face, brush my teeth, Pull my clothes over my head, I run down stairs, drink my milk, And eat my breakfast so slow, Then I wave good-bye as I walk down the street I'm so happy (smile) that I can go. Family Let the words describe the actions Here's a ball for baby, big and soft and round Here is baby's hammer, see how he can pound. Here's the baby's music, clapping, clapping so Here's the baby's soldiers, standing in a row. Here's the big umbrella to keep the baby dry And here is baby's cradle, to rock the baby bye. 

11. Planning Your DAP for Motor Skills “Movement is the Key to Learning” I first became aware of this in my pre-school class. My kinesthetic intelligence flourished in a environment where movement was central to my teacher's curriculum. I remember a sort of paradise where everyone was happy, and the knowledge imparted is still in my memory bank forty years later. Oddly enough, it was when I became a teacher myself twenty years later that I remembered this concept and used movement and dance to save myself from drowning.” Anne Green Gilbert Teacher • Working in pairs or site groups: • Plan ways you will incorporate the ideas and activities presented in today’s session. • How will you incorporate the gross motor and fine motor skills? • Give examples of Music, Movement and Multisensory activities. • Record your ideas on the chart paper at your tables.

12. Group ActivityLanguage Development • Read the book at your table. • Choose 5 vocabulary words. • Create either a motion or movement • for each word. • Create a rhyme or song for only 1 word. • Choose another word to illustrate.

13. Books for Early Childhood(for more books go to www. ala.org/BookLinks) • The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle • Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See by Bill Martin Jr. • The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister • Corduory by Don Freeman • The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats • The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise • Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney • Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak • Stellaluna by Janell Cannon • Chicka, Chicka Boom, Boom by John Archambault • If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffee Numeroff • The Mitten by Jan Brett • Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells • Strega Nona by Tomie De Paola • Hailstones and Halibut Bones by Mary O’Neil • Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus • Rabbits and Raindrops by Jim Arnosky • Animals Born Alive and Well by Ruth Heller • The First Snowfall by Anne and Harlow Rockwell

14. Rhyming Beanbag • We Love Rhymes…Yes We Do!! • We Love Rhymes…Yes We Do!! • We Love Rhymes, Have You Heard? • Give a Rhyme for This Word__________

15. How Many WordsWord Awareness • Give each child a handful of unifix cubes. • Read a sentence between 4-6 words long that includes a child’s name. • Have the children place a cube in front of them for each word they hear. • Ask the children to link the cubes together and tap each cube as they hear the sentence again. • You should also have cubes for modeling and going back if necessary. • Example: Maria has new shoes.

16. How many Jumps? Phonological Awareness • Use masking tape on the floor or carpet squares or chalk squares outside. • Have students line up at the end of the squares. • As you say a word in syllables, have each child jump the squares of syllables (parts of words) • Continue so every child has a turn. • While one child jumps the others may clap the syllables. • Examples: • cat nap-kin pen-cil fan-tas-tic

17. Tap, Tap, TapConcepts of Print • Using a very familiar poem or chant, and write it on a large piece of chart paper. • Hand a pointer to one child. Ask the student to move from the beginning of the sentence to the first space. As he points to the space, read the word. • Then have the child move the pointer to the next space, and you read the word. • Continue until the entire sentence has been read. • (the other children will clap for each space) • Example: • Hickory__dickory__dock__the__mouse__ran__ up__ the__clock.

18. Musical Letters • 1. Lay a class set of upper case letter cards in a large circle on the floor. • 2. Play some music and have the children march around the circle until the music stops. • 3. When the music stops have the children sit behind a letter. • 4. Ask a child to come up with their letter and find the lower case letter that matches on the board a A

19. Where’s the Letter?Letter Knowledge and Recognition a • Place a selection of magnetic letters on the board and have matching letter cards throughout the room. • Have the students use imaginary magnifying glasses as they go looking for matching letters. • 3. Call out one magnetic letter at a time have and have the children find matching letters in the room.

20. The Letter GameLetter Matching • Using 1 color, print a letter of the alphabet on 26 pieces of construction paper. • Now using another color, print 1 alphabet letter on 26 pieces of construction paper. • Prior to circle time, place one color of letters around the room in plain sight. • During circle time, give each child one letter from the other colored alphabet. • Sing the “Alphabet Song” replacing the ending with: • We can sing the letter names. • Now let’s play the “Letter Game.” • 6. Have the children find their matching letter in the other color around the room. • 7. Come back together and ask each child to say their letter name .

21. Group Activity • When Should We Have • Conversations with Our Students? • What times of the day? • Where in the classroom? • What are barriers to having conversations? • What are ways your classroom team could help deal with some of these obstacles? • Who are the children that are the easiest to overlook?

22. Lesson Plan Activity • Work together as a group/table: • 1. Using ideas you’ve learned today • 2. Put together a short, 4-6 minute lesson on the skills assigned to your group. • 3. Use a variety of multimodal activities to teach your skill. • 4. Select a “teacher” or “teachers” to present the lesson to the large group.