ME - a unit for getting to know ourselves and others Predictable sentences: * I sleep with my _______. (teddy bear, dog, stuffed bear, etc.) * I am special because ________. * My birthday is ____________. * When I was born ___________. * I can __________________. * My favorite book is ___________. Explain to the students that everyone has responsibilities. Have them think of their responsibilities at school and at home. Have the children draw/write about how they are special. Graph the students' eye color. Sing "Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?" to get to know each others names. Whistle For Willie This boy is trying to learn to whistle for his dog. This story is great to teach about perseverance. It also shows that you must practice and try something to gain a skill. * After reading this story, ask the students to think of something that they want to do, but can't yet. Encourage them to practice the skill until they can do it. Quick as a Cricket This story shows many different charcteristics of a boy by comparing him to different animals. Birthdays! Birthday Discussion Topics: The best birthday gift would be... The perfect birthday cake would be... At my birthday party I would... My best birthday was... Graphing Questions: How old are you? What flavor birthday cake do you like? What's your favorite flavor of ice cream? How old do you wish you were? Would you rather have a birthday cake or cupcakes? Have you ever had a surprise birthday party? Do you like to pop balloons? What month is your birthday in? Sing "Months of the Year" from We All Live Together--Vol. 2 by Greg & Steve Ask the children to stand up when the song says the month that they were born in. When the song repeats, have the children sit down when they hear their birthday month. Names Names are important to everyone, especially children as trying to decide who and what they want to be. Names are the best to teach phonemic awareness. Each child know his/her name and is pretty familiar with it. Soon all of the children become familiar with each other's names. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes This is a great story about a child and her name. At first Chrysanthemum loves her name and thinks that it is perfect. When she goes to school, the other children think that Chrysanthemum is a silly name. All of the children learn a lesson about names in the end. I start off this unit with this story. * Ask the students to guess who has the longest name. Then ask who has the shortest. Allow the children time to think about this and then graph the students' names to show who has the longest and shortest names. Ask the students several other questions about the graph. (Whose name has 6 letters? Whose has 9? Whose has more than 10? etc.) * Use a Venn Diagram to compare the students' names. Select two names to start. Put the letters that the two names share in the middle of the diagram and the letters that they do not have in common in the outer circles. After a few examples, let the children make their own diagrams with a partner. * Have the children ask their parents how they chose their child's name. Find out what their names mean by looking it up in a baby naming book or on a website. (http://www.babynames.com http://www.babynamer.com) * Ask the children if they know someone else with the same first name as themselves. Point out the last names help us know Peter Smith from Peter Jones. * Put the children in alphabetical order by their first names. * Tell the children that in some cultures people given a name that describes a characteristic of the person. Running Deer--fast like a deer Wise Fox--smart like a fox Cooper--makes barrels Johnson--John's son Allow the children to come up with their own names like this. * Ask the children to write words that they know (or words from around the room) that start with each letter of their name. For example: Kyle- Key, keep, king, kiss Yes, yellow Leaf, let, little, light Egg, eagle, Emily, Easter *Make a book of pictures (from magazines or that the kids draw) using each letter of the child's name as the beginning letter of the pictures on that page. For example, Angel's book would have an "A" page with pictures of alligators, apples, and axes, then an "N" page with pictures of necklaces, nests, and needles. Then she would have a "G" page, then an "E" page and last an "L" page. The Old Woman Who Named Things by Cynthia Rylant This is a story about an interesting old woman who named things that she could not outlive. When a puppy comes to her gate. She will feed him, but she will not give him name. The pup stops coming by and the old lady starts to rethink her naming rules. Songs: Good Morning! (tune: If You're Happy and You Know It) by Victoria Smith Good morning, (first name/last name). How are you? Good morning, (first name/last name). How are you? How are you this special day? We're so glad you came to play. Good morning, (first name / last name). How are you? Everyone's Important (tune: Have You Ever Seen A Lassie?) ________ is important, important, important. ________ is important to me and to you. In work and in play He/she does his/her best each day. ________ is important to me and to you. A Porcupine Named Fluffy Concepts that can be taught using children's names: * Directionality -- left-to-right progression of print across the line * The difference between a letter and a word * Letter recognition & letter formation * Phonemic Awareness & sound-symbol relationships * Consonants and vowels * Initial, medial, and ending sounds * Rhyming words * Word chunks (those little words that are found in bigger words, like /at/ in Pat) The First Thing My Mama Told Me This story is about a girl that loves her name. The children should practice writing or copying their names using many different materials, such as: * shaving cream (Just spray it right on the table. This is a great way to get the kids to help you clean!) * playdough * markers * crayons * colored pencils * paint with a brush * fingerpaint * sidewalk chalk * pipe cleaner Write the letter of each child's name. Cut the letters apart and put them in a Ziplock bag. Have the child put the letters in order. Make a name chart to use at Shared Reading or for your studnets' to refer to during writing time. This idea is one of many from: