"L" is for "Little Shepherd" and "Lightning Strikes"

LITTLE SHEPHERD


Author: Cheryl C. Mandrinos www.ccmalandrinos.com
Artist: Eugene Ruble


In the hills outside Bethlehem, Obed guards his first flock of sheep. When the angels appear to tell of the Savior’s birth, he is hesitant to follow the others to see the new King. When Obed returns to his sheep, he realizes it is a night of miracles.



LIGHTNING STRIKES

Author: Kevin McNamee http://www.kevinmcnamee.com/
Artist: Eugene Ruble


“Lightning Strikes, I count to ten. I don’t hear thunder until then.” Science and Math come together to educate and entertain. This fun, rhyming counting book will help teach children to count backwards, and to understand the principles of lightning and thunder.





KATHY STEMKLE'S WEBSITES:
Moving Through all Seven Days link:http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/moving-through-all-seven-days/7386965# http://www.helium.com/users/406242.html http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/237923/Kathy_stemke_dancekam.html
Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/kathystemke
Follow me on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=6147172660&topic=4910#!/kathymarescomatthews.stemke?ref=profile
Follow me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/kathy-stemke/13/269/285
 

MONEY SKILLS!

Recognizing, counting, spending, giving, and saving money are important life skills that should be taught to young children. Educating, motivating, and empowering children to become regular savers will enable them to keep more of the money they earn and do more with the money they spend.

Here is a song and a rhyme that children love to say that will help them identify the different coins and bills we use as money.

COIN RHYME

Penny, penny,
Easily spent.
Copper brown
and worth one cent.

Nickel, nickel,
Thick and fat.
You're worth five cents,
I know that.

Dime, dime,
Little and thin.
I remember,
you're worth ten.

Quarter, quarter,
big and bold.
You're worth twenty-five
I am told.

THE DOLLAR SONG (to the tune of "Ten Little Indians")

10 little, 20 little, 30 little pennies.
40 little, 50 little, 60 little pennies.
70 little, 80 little, 90 little pennies.
100 pennies make a dollar!

2 small, 4 small, 6 small nickels.
8 small, 10 small, 12 small nickels.
14 small, 16 small, 18 small nickels.
20 nickels make a dollar!

1 tiny, 2 tiny, 3 tiny dimes.
4 tiny, 5 tiny, 6 tiny dimes.
7 tiny, 8 tiny, 9 tiny dimes.
10 dimes make a dollar!

1 big, 2 big, 3 big quarters.
4 big, 4 big, 4 big quarters.
1 big, 2 big, 3 big quarters.
4 quarters make a dollar!

MONEY PUZZLES

To help the children identify money, you can make simple puzzles for them to put together. For instance, just find an image of the front and back of a quarter on line. Glue the front and back together, then laminate for durability. Simply cut the sheet into large puzzle pieces for a fun activity. It’s a good idea to make the dime a small puzzle and the quarter a large puzzle.

QUARTER RUBBINGS

Make a large Qq or quarter on a poster board. 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.

COUNT OUT MONEY (activity found on www.makinglearningfun.com)

Once your children have learned the value of each coin, place some money amounts on index cards in a bowl. As show in the picture above a child picks out $.45 for Cracker Jacks with a circle large enough for a quarter, and two circles large enough for two dimes. When they are ready, eliminate the circle clues, and have them count out the money on their own.

MONEY STORE is great fun. Let your child arrange empty food cartons or boxes to create a store. Either you or your child can put a price tag on each one. For young children the items may cost 1cent to 5 cents each, while older children can handle 10 cents to a few dollars. After shopping at the store they pay you with play money. At first, allow them to buy just one object. When they’re ready, increase the number of items.

MASH POTATOES

Parents should emphasize the importance of money by their example. Explain the difference between a “need” and a “want” using this game. You explain to the children that Mashed Potatoes represents something we “need” to survive as it provides nutrients for our bodies, and that Gravy represents something that may make the mashed potatoes taste better, but it isn’t something we “need” to survive. Therefore it is a “want.” You have then shown the difference between a “want” and a “need.”

The next step is to create flash cards or cut out pictures from magazines and have the children yell out MASHED POTATOES for something that represents a “need” or GRAVY for something that represents a “want.”

SET GOALS

Teach the children to set goals by earning and saving money for a particular purpose. Ask them what items they may want to save for. (toy, gift for someone, charity) This helps the children learn the value of money.

SAVING

Talk about the benefits of a piggy bank or savings account. Make a piggy bank. Use a large plastic jar, four empty thread spools, a milk bottle top and some construction paper. Glue the spools on one side of the jar for the pig's legs. The milk bottle top should be glued onto the plastic jar lid as the pig's nose. Use the construction paper to make pig ears and a curly tail. A grown up can cut a slot in the top of the pig for the money to be put in. Explain that the bank pays them for the use of their money by giving interest. Parents should encourage saving, but allow them to use some of their money on special occasions. Point out the increases in their savings account as interest is paid to them.

USING UNIFIX CUBES

Preparation: Glue uppercase and lowercase letters and digits 0-9 (or more) to each cube and cover with clear nail polish for durability. Make several sets of each. Make sets of opposite words, rhyming words, sight words and punctuation cubes.
1. These are great for practicing the alphabet. You can link them together using all uppercase, all lowercase or uppercase A-lowercase a.
2. Put each child’s name in a zip lock bag for name practice.
3. You can build words with them.
4. They are great for word families too. Have (a-t) linked together and ask what letter can go in front to make a word.
5. Link together word opposites like, big-small, or long-short.
6. Link together words that rhyme like red-bed, or tall-fall.
7. Practice reading sight words that are on the cubes. Make a tower of correct and incorrect words. Try again on the incorrect words. Try to make a giant tower with all the sight words correct.
8. Build sentences with word and punctuation cubes.
9. Have the children cover the outline of a large letter on an 8”-11” paper.
10. Count the red cubes.
11. Great for measuring objects. How many cubes long is your pencil?
12. You can make color patterns for the children to copy. Example: Red, red, blue, blue, red, red, blue, blue. As students are creating patterns using connecting cubes, teachers can ask them to describe different patterns that they find in different sequences of cubes. Have the children create and describe their own patterns.
13. Practice ordering numbers 0-9.
14. Link the even numbers together. Link the odd numbers together.
15. Start with one cube, next to it put two cubes, then three cubes. (This works best when you make towers that lay flat on their backs)
16. Race to Make a Staircase- Object of the game is to build a staircase. (1 tower of 1 unifix cube, a tower of 2, a tower of 3, ...until a tower of 6. You stand them next to eachother so they look like stairs. This is a partner game. Player 1 rolls the dice and builds a tower of that many cubes. Player 2 does the same. They keep going until someone comletes a staircase of 6. If a player rolls a number they already have, they lose that turn.
17. Race to Make 30. Similar object--using unifix cubes, make a long tower of 30. Each player rolls the dice and adds that number of cubes to the tower. This tower has to stay flat on the ground. Keep going until 30. Partner game.
18. Practice adding or subtracting with the cubes.
A. The teacher will give each child 2 unifix cubes.
B. The teacher will ask the students to write down how many unifix cubes they have on paper (2).
C. The students should then write a + sign below the number 2, like this:

+2
+

D. The teacher will then pass out 3 more unifix cubes to each student.
E. The students will be asked to write down how many unifix cubes they were just given. They should write this number below the number 2 that they just wrote, so that it looks like this:

+2
+3

F. Students should now draw a line under their 3.
G. Now the students should count how many unifix cubes they have together and write this number just below the 3, like this:

+2
+3
----
+5

Number Writing and Recognition

There are only ten digits that repeat themselves to make all numbers. It's essential for children to learn how to write and identify these digits. Children will enjoy reciting the following poem that explains how to write each digit. You can tape large numbers on the floor, have the children walk on them the way they would write them, as they recite this poem.

NUMBER PRINTING POEM

Number 1 is like a stick
A straight line down
that's very quick!

For number 2
go right around
Then make a line
across the ground!

Go right around
What will it be?
Go round again
to make a 3!

Down and over
and down some more
That's the way
to make a 4!

Go down and around
Then you stop
Finish the 5
with a line on top!

Make a curve
Then a loop
There are no tricks
to making a 6!

Across the sky
and down from heaven
That's the way
to make a 7!

Make a "S"
And then don't wait
Climb up again
to make an 8!

Make a loop
And then a line
That's the way
to make a 9!

Make a 1
and then an "o"
10 are all your fingers
you know!

GOLF TEE NUMBERS
Use golf tees and foam board to practice forming numbers.

NUMBERED MUSICAL CHAIRS
Have the children walk around a line of chairs. Place a number on each chair. When the music stops, everyone sits on a chair and holds their number up. The children take turns identiying the numbers.

PINE CONE NUMBERS
Place poster board pine cones with numbers on the back onto a small Christmas tree. The children take turns grabbing a pine cone and identifying the number. For added fun everyone can jump in place to match the pine cone number. If you want an activity that can be done in their seat, the children can count out a number of objects to match the pine cone number. To take this activity to the next level, have a child pick two pine cone numbers for the class to add together.