SKIP COUNT BY 3!

A great way to help kids learn their 3 times table is to teach them skip counting by 3's. See how fast they learn skip counting by 3's when you teach them this simple rhyme. You may even want to create a little dance to go with the rhyme. Remember, the more senses a child uses to learn something, the more he will be able to retain.


Skip, skip, skip, count by 3.
Skip, skip, skip, count with me!

3, 6, and then there’s 9.
Now repeat, that’s just fine!

12, 15, then 18.
Don’t be mean, count 18.

21, 24, 27.
Count straight up, up to heaven.

30, 33, 36.
Just for kicks, get in the mix.

Skip, skip, skip, count by 3.
Skip, skip, skip, count with me!

Fun with the Letter Qq !

Glitter Graphics

Mother Quail and her baby quails

Choose one child to be the mother quail and let the others be her babies. With everyone singing the quail song, the mother walks around the room and each time she tags someone they get in line behind her making a long chain.
(Tune: Down by the Station)
Out in the forest
Early in the morning,
See the mother Quail
Walking to and fro.
See a baby quail
Get in line behind her.
Quickly, quickly, off they go!

Move with Q

Set some boundaries with cones or lines for a movement exploration exercise. Remind the children that each person is surrounded by an imaginary bubble that can break if anyone gets to near. It's fun to use a drum or whistle that means everyone must freeze like a statue.

Move QUICKLY around the room.
QUIETLY, now tip toe QUIETLY.
Chop the stone in your QUARRY. Work hard in the QUARRY.
Walk like a proud QUEEN with your head up high.
Jump like a QUARTER that's being tossed.
QUIVER or shake like a leaf blown by the wind.
QUACK around the room.

Q PUZZLE HUNT

Each child colors and cuts out a Q object like a quail, queen, or quill. Everyone glues their object onto a large poster board and then it is laminated. Make a giant Qq puzzle by cutting out 20 large puzzle pieces. Hide the pieces around the room. Have the children find the parts and place them together to solve the puzzle.

QUARTER RUBBINGS

Make a large Qq or quarter on a poster board. This is a good time to introduce or review the quarter. The quarter (also called a quarter dollar) is worth 25 cents or 25 pennies. Have one or more children count out 25 pennies. One quarter can be written 25¢ or $0.25. The front of the quarter pictures a left-facing profile of George Washington, the first President of the United States of America.

The front reads, "LIBERTY," "IN GOD WE TRUST," and the year the coin was minted or made. The small initial by Washington is the mint-mark, showing the location that produced the coin (D means Denver, Colorado, S means San Francisco, California, and P means Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).

The back of the quarter pictures the presidential coat of arms (an eagle with outstretched wings). The back reads, "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "E PLURIBUS UNUM," and "QUARTER DOLLAR." E PLURIBUS UNUM is Latin and means one out of many.

Let the children make crayon rubbings of the quarter using different color crayons. The children then cut out the rubbings and glue them to the giant poster board. This, too, could be used as a puzzle.

Bird Songs, Facts, Books, & Activities

Birds Action Song

The first verse remains the same: children walking around in a circle holding hands singing "Here we go round the Mulberry Bush".

2nd verse:
This is the way we scratch for worms.
(children move their feet in a scratching motion)
3rd verse:
This is the way we peck our food.
(children peck)
4th verse:
This is the way we sit on our eggs.
(children squat down and wiggle)
5th verse:
This is the way we flap our wings.
(bend arms at elbows, put thumbs under armpits, and flap)
6th verse:
This is the way we fly away.
(children can "fly" anywhere they want within a set boundary, but return to circle at end of verse)

WHY BIRDS HAVE BRIGHTLY COLORED FEATHERS

When we observe the regal display of color on a male peacock, with his feathery fan-like tail spread out, his beauty fascinates us. Like thousands of other species of birds, this stunning specimen is staking claim to his territory and trying to attract a mate. His shimmering green and blue plumage shows other birds that he is a strong and healthy male peacock ready to defend his territory.

TERRITORY MARKING
Using visual and auditory cues, each bird species has evolved a spacing method to let other birds know where his territory boundaries end. His vivid color sends a message of dominance and ownership. This is extremely important to his survival. When birds are too densely populated in a particular area, they may starve. If they are too widely spread out, they might never find each other to mate and reproduce. The red shoulder patch on red-winged blackbirds provides an excellent example. The patch is coverable and is shown to males and females of the same species but never to predators. Males who had their patch experimentally covered tended to lose their territories more often than did uncovered birds. Similar results have been shown in other species such as scarlet-tufted malachite sunbirds, confirming that the brilliant badges function primarily in male-male competition over territories.

ATTRACTING A MATE
In most species the female is a “plain Jane” with brown or gray markings, while the male is dressed for success like a “dapper Dan.” The reason for this difference is job related. The female needs to be camouflaged in the nest to feed and nurture her young. The male needs to stand out in a crowd to attract a female and win her love. His intense and dazzling plumage shows her that he will contribute strong, healthy genes to their offspring. In fact, during mating season, some males will exhibit breeding plumage, which is more lustrous and vivid than at other times during the year. House finches are monogamous and males exhibit orange or red in their crowns and elsewhere in their plumage. The extent and brightness of the color in individuals is directly related to carotenoid pigments that are picked up from high quality seed. Extensive field studies have shown that artificially brightened males were much preferred by females, and that naturally brighter males were better at providing food to the female and her chicks.

Activity for home or school:

For most birds, nest-building supplies consist of whatever nature has lying around — wood, grass, twigs, feathers, and fur. You can provide the birds in your neighborhood with easy-to-obtain nest fodder by stuffng a mesh onion bag with materials such as pet fur, colorful strands of cloth, bits of stuffing, hay, colorful yarn cut into short lengths, hair from your brush, or feathers from an old down pillow. (Avoid anything synthetic or sharp.) Snip a few large holes in the sack so birds can poke around, then hang it in a tree, ideally near a feeder so it will get noticed.

In the coming weeks, be on the lookout for birds visiting the sack, then watch what trees they return to — from the right viewpoint, you might even get to see your building materials being incorporated into the birds' nests.


Books for the classroom:

"The Backyard Bird Watching For Kids" by George H. Harrison

This book provides a fascinating opportunity for children to learn how to attract birds to their own backyards. And there's no better teacher than "Mr. Backyard Bird Watcher" himself, expert birder and author George H. Harrison. This book will kindle in readers a healthy, enduring interest in birds and other wild animals.
72 pages. For kids 5-12

"Are You My Mother?" by P.D Eastman

Soft and cuddly as a stuffed animal or a favorite quilt, this padded-cloth book, will delight a small child and the person who reads it out loud. Suitable for infants and children up to about five years old.

A baby bird falls out of the nest and explores the surroundings in search of its mother. This book goes beyond being merely illustrated--it's a real experience. A child can hold the small cloth baby bird and at the end tuck it under the found mother's wing. Highly recommended for a small child in your life.

MATH DOUBLE TALK

Try this fun rhyme to teach adding doubles. Kids love to say it like a rap song.

1 plus 1 is 2 That's so true, I said 2.
2 plus 2 is 4 Yes, that's more, I said 4.
3 plus 3 is 6 That's the mix,I said 6.
4 plus 4 is 8 Don't be late, I said 8.
5 plus 5 is 10 Come on men, I said 10.
6 plus 6 is 12 It's time to shelve the number 12.
7 plus 7 is 14 Don't be mean, it's 14.
8 plus 8 is 16 It's so keen, It's 16.
9 plus 9 is 18 Have you seen? It's 18.
10 plus 10 is 20 Come rhyme with me, up to 20.

HOW WHALES EVOLVED

A whale is not as small as us.
Most whales are bigger than a bus!
Whales are not like fish in the sea.
Whales breathe air like you & me.
Whales can't walk upon the ground.
Whales must swim to get around.
A whale is a mammal just like me.
But its home is in the deep blue sea.

How could a whale have evolved from a mammal that lived and walked in the forest to an animal that lives and swims with its flippers in the sea? When most animals were developing limbs and climbing out of the oceans, the whales were developing fins and walking into the oceans. Whales evolved from warm-blooded, air breathing mammalian ancestors that lived on land, had large brains, and gave birth to their young alive, to an efficient swimming and eating machine that lives in the great oceans of the world.

NATURAL SELECTION
In nature, nothing is more constant than change. Animals adapt by producing anatomical, physiological, and behavioral traits that promote survival and reproduction. Adaptations evolve in response to interactions with other organisms and with the physical environment. Animals that adapt better, survive better, and leave more offspring with a copy of their genes than others in the population.

HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
About 57 million years ago, certain animals lived near the sea and would hunt just off the shoreline for fish. Because the sea was not very deep they could do this easily. As the hunt required further excursion into the deeper waters, the proto-whales who were best at swimming reproduced in greater numbers than those who weren’t. Gradually, their front legs became smaller and were useful as flippers, while the hind feet became larger and helped better propel the animal through the water. Later, the back legs changed into the horizontal extension of the tail, known in the modern whale as the fluke. They further evolved adaptations for diving and hearing under water. The transition from land to sea presented difficulties for which adaptations developed over many generations. Smooth skin and loss of protruding ear parts and hind limbs streamlined whales for swimming. The nostrils moved to the top of the head to facilitate breathing and an insulating layer of blubber replaced hair for warmth. The body, supported by water, was able to reach its enormous size.

ANCIENT FOSSIL PROOF
Whale fossils show the intermediate stages in the evolution of early whales to be of four distinct types. These fossils are evidence that whales evolved from a terrestrial animal.

A 52 million year old fossil found by Dr. Phil Gingrich, consisted of a very primitive whale skull with teeth and ear structures akin to those of terrestrial mammals, yet it had other features, which defined it as a whale. While it fed on fish, it could not dive deeply and probably spent much time on land.

A 50 million year old fossil shows a whale that was adapted to life in water as well as land. This transitional whale had large hind legs like a land dweller, and may have used them for walking as well as swimming. Its spine was long and flexible, with a tail not yet modified for propulsion. The most extraordinary feature of this animal was his enormous hind feet, which must have provided the major propulsive force in swimming.

A 45 million year old fossil shows an animal that had leg bones large enough to support the body on land. It is believed these whales spent most of their time in water, feeding on fish, but reproducing on land.

A 40 million year old fossil, Basilosaurus, burst onto the scientific scene with a bang. It was an advanced form of whale with a long flexible spine, forelegs modified into flippers for steering and stabilization, and a modified tail for propulsion. The hind legs were very tiny, and unable to support the animal’s weight. It was not able to walk on land.

Dr. Castello Banfi found 5 million year old, practically complete, 33-foot long fossil in 2007 in Itlay. We’re all anxious waiting for the exciting findings of his investigations.

REMNANTS FOUND IN TODAY’S WHALE
Inside the fin of a modern whale, you can still find the bones of an arm and hand. Today’s whale is equipped with a pelvis bone, which has long ago lost its function. And unlike fish, modern whales have lungs and nostrils called blowholes, and must surface occasionally to breathe.

When climates change due to geologic processes, animals have to adapt or face extinction. Whales certainly changed in a most unusual way. By reversing the water to land adaptation, and becoming an efficient mammal for ocean life, it is remaining one of the most fascinating evolutions of all time.