Here Comes the Bus

Sometimes, after the eighty-billionth time of hearing, reading, or singing something, we get find ourselves tiring of a particular song or book.  This is how I feel about the song The Wheels on the Bus...  However, when a recent student in my Emergent Literacy course created her curriculum web with this topic in mind I found my attention renewed!  Here is a poem she wrote to extend the theme.

“Here Comes the Bus”


Hey look, here comes the bus
We have to hurry, so it won’t leave us.

We hop on board and everyone sits down
We watch out the windows as we pass through town.

The bus shakes a lot as it goes down the street
You have to hold on or you’ll fall off of your seat

We reach the park and get off the bus, one by one
We head for the playground to have some fun

We play for a while, and then get back on the bus
The driver says hello again, he remembered us.

We ride all through town again, on our way back to school
We tell the driver thanks and the bus ride was real cool.

The driver smiles and says, “Have a nice day.”
We smile and wave as the bus goes away.

Author ~ Sharon Coleman

Fractured Fairy Tales

It is fun to take stories we already know and have fun with them.  Last night, we did this in class.  A few nursery rhymes were rewritten; renditions to Fred the Moose were shared; a nerdy poem; and a few fairy tales.  Here is the story of Peter Pan - all grown up...

Do you remember the story of Peter Pan? The boy who lived in Neverland and didn't ever have to grow up?  Well... Tinkerbell's biological clock started ticking.  So Tinkerbell and Peter Pan packed their bags and moved to Always Always land where they could grow up and start a family.

In order for that to happen, Peter Pan had to get a job, so he went for a job interview at a Pirate Supply Company.  Little did he know was the CEO of Pirates Arrr Us.  -  Now, Peter was a little nervous to interview with his former arch nemesis.  However, Tink had thought to tuck her last little bit of fairy dust into Peter's brief case.  Peter was offered a job on the sales floor and immediately went right to work.

Shortly after that, Tink and Peter were blessed with the arrival of a baby girl, Tinker Pan.  Little Tink had a happy childhood - she had lots of uncles who dote on her.  (We are happy to report the Lost Boys became the Found Men!)

They lived happily ever after. - No, really, this time!

Written by: Melynda, Andre, Laura, Leah, Ethan, Justin, and Elisa
 

What is fluffy, white, and floats up high?

  Clouds, of course! 
  Charle$ $haw's book, It L00ked Like Spi1t Milk, is a great story to share with emergent readers.  Anyone can make their own story book with either of the following activities. First, take a piece of blue construction paper and pour a small amount of white paint into the middle of it.  You can either fold the paper in half, rubbing your hand over the top of the paper OR you can take a straw and blow the paint around the paper. (This is what I do.)  Next, have the artist tell you what their painting looks like to them. You will write "it looked like spi!t milk...but it wasn't spi1t milk" on the first page of your new book.  On each succeeding page you will write the words "it looked like ______(fill in what the child tells you their picture looks like to them)...but it wasn't ______(write the same word)."  Continue this step with each page the children made.  Your final page will say, "it was just a cloud in the sky!"

  Additional activities you can do to support this theme are to: look at clouds and discuss them together; make white felt pieces similar to those in the book and have children sequence and/or match them on a felt board; play with shaving cream (be cautious with this activity); dance around like clouds in the sky on a breezy day; say the following rhyme and riddle. 
  * Clouds
    Clouds in the sky all fluffy and white,
    Hide the sun that shines so bright!
    They float about the sky so blue,
    And form so many great shapes too!

  *Clouds Riddle
    What's fluffy, white, and floats up high?
    Like a pile of cotton in the sky?
    What doesn't seem to make a sound
    As the wind pushes them all around?
    What brings in the rain?
    What brings in the snow?
    And sends it showering on us below?
    When you look up in the sky,
    What are those things you see float by?
               CLOUDS!

It's been awhile

Life has been busy!  It was my intention to update this blog last week while visiting my daughter, however, the camera was left in my car.  Look for many good things to come!

Class Quilt

Last night was the first night in our Creative Activities class.  I always dislike the necessary but BORING step of going over the syllabus - that part is never fun...  Much needed rain prevented us from going outside to break up the night with 'get-to-know-you' activities.  We did complete a class quilt showing alikes and differences.

This semester looks to be quite exciting! A fun group of students!!  - Long live Fred the Moose!

The New Year Begins

I have enjoyed the brief break from school by visting with four of our six children and three of our grandbabies.  (We were fortunate to be able to see another child and our other two grandbabies over the Thanksgiving holiday!)

I leave for an intense weekend in Dallas for the program I am a student in and will hit the ground running when I return home, as Creative Activities begins, this time on a Monday.  Emergent Litracy (lecture and practium courses) begin in Febuary and Active Learning and Play in April.

This is the time of year my husband and I do not get to spend a lot of time together, as he teaches, as well.  We try to make the most of our time off - usually by catching up on shows, renting a movie and being in the same room together as we grade papers.  (At least he is not teaching an online class this semester, that was time consuming, to say the least...)