Zoo Animals Songs

Do you need some fun songs about the zoo for your children?  Get your children singing and moving to these fun animal songs on YouTube.

This video is one of my all time favorites.  Your children can sing, move, and count too.

We're going to the zoo!  How about you?

This video gives movement examples for the children to do while they are singing.  Move, sing, and build vocabulary while having fun!

If you are talking about monkeys, you'll love this version of Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.  Check out these math and reading activities to do with Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.

One of the favorite animals my children love to watch at our zoo is the otter.  Jack Hartmann's song is perfect because you get to watch a real-live otter while you sing and move.

Remember to sign up by email at the top right corner of my blog to receive updates. Thanks for stopping by!

Giraffe Photo Credit: Dollar Photo Club (anyatikhonova)

Valentine's Day Songs on YouTube

Valentine's Day is on its way!  It's time for writing cards and sharing with friends.  Here are some fun Valentine's Day videos and songs to make your day more fun along with some activity suggestions for teaching rhyming words, sight words, following directions, and story problems. Don't forget to sign up by email in the top right corner of my blog to receive more ideas for having fun while learning too.

The first video is by Jack Hartmann.  Need I say more? Boogie! Shake! Cha cha! Monkey! Have fun dancing with your children.

 

This cute song is sung to the tune of Bingo. Listen and follow the directions.  FUN!



Valentine colors are everywhere! Work on the color sight words at the same time.  Also, can your children find the words that rhyme?  Can they say a word that rhymes with the colors of the valentines?



Who doesn't love this next song? My own children loved singing this song except we kept singing it faster and faster!  Let your children act out the motions too.



Five Little Hearts is great for counting and using for story problems.  Can your children make up their own version to this song?  Call 5 children up to the front and give them a red heart.  Let them act out the song.  Or give each child 5 hearts.  They can hold up the hearts in order just like the song.


Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to sign up by email for more blog post updates. See you soon.

Video credit:  Dollar Photo Club (Chasing Moments)

Subitizing with Stickers

Subitizing is crucial for children to develop number sense. Subitizing is the ability to know the amount in the set without counting. It's an instant recognition.  Compare it to learning sight words.  It is instant recognition of the total. Our young children need many opportunities with counting objects in many arrangements to master this skill.

Here is a fun way to work on subtilizing using foam or raised stickers. The children can touch/feel/count and also practice on subitizing.  I used 8 1/2 x 11 copy paper and large heart sticks found at the Dollar Tree for these cards.  You can also use laminated card stock or 4x6 index cards.

I first arranged the stickers into dice configurations and let the children practice telling me what they saw.  "What do you see?" is an open-ended question which allows the children to work on their own level and encourages higher-level mathematical thinking.  Let's look at the arrangement in the picture above.  Some children will recognize there are 6.  Some children will see 3 + 3= 6.

I also make subitizing cards using two different colors.  Children can work on many different levels this way.  Some children will be counting the set to know that is has 5 hearts.  Some children will be working on subitizing or "knowing" there are 5 hearts without counting.   Some children will begin to see that 5 can be a set of 2 and 3 as show below with the 2 different number combinations.

Materials needed:

• Paper
• Stickers

Easy, peasy!  Lots of learning happening!

Have fun subitizing!  Don't forget to sign up by email at the top right corner of the page.

Thanks for stopping by!

Counting to 100 You Tube Videos

Counting to 100 takes practice, repetition, and a LONG time!  Using music and movement helps keep young children engaged.  Here are some YouTube videos that will help your children count to 100.  You can use these all year and especially on the 100th Day of School.

This the the Macarena Count to 100 by Dr. Jean!  Love Dr. Jean :)

 

This is Counting Super Hero by Harry's Kindergarten.

 

This is Pump Up to 100 which will get your students moving.

   

This the the Big Numbers Song.



The is the Count to 100 Song.

 

Let's Get Fit and Count to 100 is from Jack Hartmann. Singing, moving, counting = learning.

  

Need some ideas for counting objects to 100 plus a FREE printable? Check out my 100th Day of School blog post.

 Don't forget to sign up by email in the top right corner of my blog to receive more ideas on teaching young children through music, play, and hands on learning.

 Thanks for stopping by!

Photo Credit:  Dollar Photo Club

100th Day of School Activities

Are you needing activities for the 100th Day of School? Counting objects to 100 requires a lot of hands on practice and understanding of one-to-one correspondence.  Understanding that the numeral 100 means 100 objects requires even more hands practice.  Here are fun ways to work within 100 by using paint sticks and borders.

 MATERIALS REQUIRED

• Dollar store border
• Lids

I purchased this border at the Dollar Tree in the teacher section.  The border has the numbers 1-10 on it and came with 14 different strips.  The lids are from pouches (baby, toddler food).  You can substitute milk jug lids instead.

LET'S LEARN

• Children can lay the strips out counting by 10's to get to 100 (10 strips).
• Children can put a lid on each number to practice one-to-one correspondence.
• Add 1-2 dice to make it a game.
• Each child rolls and adds that many lids to the 100 strips.  Game is over when they cover all of the numbers.
• Children can play the game as above but use 2 different colored lids. Each child uses one color.  When the number strips are full, the children count their lids to see who has the most.  
• For older children, they can tell how many more or how many less they have than their friend.

 MATERIALS REQUIRED

• 10 paint sticks for working within 100
• 12 paint sticks for working within 120
• Mod Podge
• Paint brush
• Scissors
• Copy of free printable (see below)

DIRECTIONS

• Copy the free printable (see below).
• Cut in strips as seen above.
• Paint the stick with Modge Podge.
• Lay a number strip onto of the painted stick.
• Put another coat of Modge Podge on top of stick.
• Let dry.
• READY TO LEARN!

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

• Children place the sticks in order to make 100.
• Have one child remove a stick.
• The other child has to figure out which set of 10 has been removed.
• Use the extra number strips to 120 (included in the free printable) after children master this skill. 

 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

• Set out number sticks.
• Children arrange them to make 100.
• Children use different manipulatives or counters to build 100.
• Children can put the sets of 100 objects in plastic bags to compare the sizes of the bags. 

ONE MORE ONE LESS (LEVEL 1)

• Remove a few counters as seen in picture below.
• Child says the number of one of the empty squares (5).
• Child tells what is one less (4) and removes that cube.
• Child tells you what is one more (6) and removes that cube.
• Play continues until all the cubes are removed.

Amazon links are included in this post.

TEN MORE TEN LESS (LEVEL 2)

• Bump it up even more if the children are ready.
• Remove a few counters as seen in the picture above.
• Child says the number of one of the empty squares (27).
• Child tells what number is 10 less than 27 (17) and removes the cube.
• Child tell what number is 10 more than 27 (37) and removes the cube.
• Play continues until all cubes are removed.

SUGGESTED COUNTERS

• Beans
• Pennies
• Nickels
• Dimes
• Bears
• Unifix Cubes
• Linking cubes
• Foam Counters
• Clear Color Counters

When your child has mastered working with the paint sticks to 100, you can added 2 more paint sticks to make the total go to 120.  Download your FREE printables HERE. 

SIGN UP BY EMAIL 

Don't forget to sign up by email in the top right corner of my blog to receive updates as I post new ideas for teaching young children to learn through play and hands on materials.

Thanks for stopping by!

Polar Bear YouTube Videos, Books, and Activities

Polar bears and winter are common themes during this time of the year.  If you need some video resources, online books, magazines, or a live web cam to help enhance your polar bear thematic unit, then this post is for you. I always use short videos as a hook when introducing new content to my students. Real photographs and short video clips engage young children and peak their interest and curiosity. They love to see the "real thing."

Here are some resources that I found on my search for great content videos on YouTube and the internet. I've included a link to an informational text article from a National Geographic Explorer along with links to other resources including an adorable art project that allows for your children's creativity to shine.  Remember you can sign up by email to received my future updates and blog posts.










This video talks about animal adaptations. The polar bear segment begins around the 7 minute mark and continues until the 11 minute segment. It compares and contrasts a polar bear vs. a brown bear. This would be a great way to use venn diagram to chart the differences. Young children could have a clipboard and paper to draw the differences while watching the video.

 


 

National Geographic for Kids has information about polar bears and a short video too. Click HERE.

Check out this  National Geographic Young Explorer Back Issue 2008 for an online magazine article that can be read to the children by clicking on the buttons.

The San Diego Zoo has a polar bear cam, video, and other information. Click HERE.




World Wildlife Fund has a wonderful FREE app that is about endangered animals.  They have information, videos, and more about polar bears.  Click HERE for a link to the app.

Polar Bear Polar Bear Turn Around is a cute poem featured on Twiggle Online Magazine. Click HERE.

The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett is currently a featured FREE book on WE GIVE BOOKS.org.

Read The Three Snow Bears to your students.  Discuss and list the experiences of the characters in The Three Snow Bears on chart paper.  Discuss and list the facts and details from the informational resources above on another chart. Use these charts to make a venn diagram comparing and contrasting polar bears in the literature to the polar bears in the informational text.

Whimsy Workshop has the most adorable tutorial for drawing a polar bear on her blog. Love, love, love!  Click HERE.

I hope this collection of resources make your planning over the next few weeks easier.  Have fun teaching about polar bears.  Don't forget to sign up by email so you don't miss any blog posts or resources.

If you are interested in online resources for penguins, visit my All About Penguins blogpost.

Thanks for stopping by!

Penguin YouTube Videos and Resources

If you need some penguin videos to help enhance your penguin thematic unit, then this post is for you. I always use short videos as a hook when introducing new content to my students.  Photographs and short video clips engage young children and peak their interest and curiosity.  They love to see the "real thing." So I thought I would share what I found on my search for great content videos on YouTube.  I also added 3 cute video songs along with a link to 2 free online books.  You can sign up by email to received my future updates and blog posts.

This series is one of my favorites. They recently added the "aliens" to explain about nature to their latest video. Not sure if I like that new feature, but the information is great. Click subscribe on their channel because most of the previous ones are around 2 minutes and are perfect introductions to many different animals.

 

And this one is from Pottery Barn!





This one has a cute song on it along with the video.  The last minute has advertisement for the CD.

If you don't know about SafeShare.TV, check out their site to share safe view videos on YouTube.  It will remove all of the ads and put a gray border around the video to put it in safe view.  Click HERE to see more about SafeShare.TV.

Also, WE GIVE BOOKS is a great resource for online books. Currently, they have these books Emperor Penguins and Penguins: See How They Grow.  Both are excellent nonfiction books to read with your children.

National Geographic Young Explorer has an article in one of their back issues about penguin chicks. Click HERE for the link.

My friend Vanessa Levin at Pre-K Pages has a great Pinterest board with ideas to use in your Penguin theme and winter ideas too.  Click HERE for a link to her Pinterest board. While you are there, be sure and follow her boards.  They are amazing!

If you are looking for some nonfiction recording sheets for K-2, check out Victoria Moore's FREE Penguin Palooza.

Don't forget to sign up by email in the top right corner to receive updates on new blog posts.

 Thanks for stopping by! I hope these resources will be helpful in the coming weeks.