Preschool Activities to Accompany Mrs. Mc Nosh Hangs Up Her Wash

I love picture books that rhyme!
  
I find them particularly fun to read and the pace and length of them is generally a good fit for my more "wiggly" students.  

One of my favourite rhyming books for springtime is Mrs. Mc Nosh Hangs Up Her Wash by Sarah Weeks.  

It's silly and it's humorous and it's always a big hit with the kids.

I read the book to the class at circle time first.    

Then later in the same circle OR in my next circle, I present it using images on a magnet board.  

I give each child an image from the story.  Then I read the story from a typed page of the text that I keep on my lap. 

I could also read from the book on my lap, but I find it easier to use my typed out version.  Then I don't have to flip any pages.  

Each child places his image on the magnet board when it comes up in the story.  

There are 20 images required for the story and I have 20 kids in my class.  

If my class was larger, I would print multiple copies of certain images so that I would have one for everybody.  

As you can see in the photo, I just drew two clotheslines on my magnet board with a wipeable marker to set things up.  Quick and easy!  

I glued a button magnet to the back of each image and wrote the number corresponding to when the image appears in the story, as well.  

This time, I used a glue gun to attach the magnets. 

Even better glue for attaching magnets though is E6000. Especially if the kids are going to be able to play with them!

After reading the book, I put out the following activities to match the theme: 

*Ordering the Mrs. Mc Nosh Story Images from #1-20
Students can hang the images in order as I did when presenting the story.
They can do this on a magnet board or on a yarn "clothesline" tied between two chairs.

I provide a number line like the one below for those who need it for reference.  (Note - My new number line goes up to 20.)

* Sock Matching and Hanging on a Clothesline
I have a set of 9 different pairs of large striped sock images that students match and hang "to dry." 
Here's a sample of what one of the pairs looks like.

Count and Clip Cards
We use these cards for counting practise.  Students attach a clothespin to the number that corresponds with the images.

Sock Pattern Cards
Which sock comes next?  I added magnets to this activity to add to the fun! 

There's a variety of patterns including ABAB, AABB, and ABC to keep things interesting! 

*Cut and Paste 
I use these printables for students to colour and cut out pictures of things Mrs. Mc Nosh hung on the clothesline.  
They are also encouraged to use their imagination and draw their own items on the line!

If you'd like a set of these activities to go with the story Mrs. Mc Nosh Hangs Up Her Wash, take a peek at it in my shop HERE!  
It might become one of your favourite go-to Spring books, as well!

Picture Book About Feelings and a Freebie

Those first crazy weeks of school are upon us.  How are you holding up?

How 'bout your students?

I know my kids tend to have a lot more emotional highs and lows in those first weeks in the classroom. 

Everyone's getting used to each other, the teacher, the classroom, the routine!  Lots of new stuff!

Who could blame them?

So I thought a good book pick for this week's 

Picture Book Pick of the week would be one about emotions.

I'm linking this book pick up with Deanna Jump's 

Book Talk Tuesday series so you may want to take a peek there later, too!

My favourite book about feelings is called,

                   The Way I Feel by Janan Cain 

                   

This is a rhyming book with awesome illustrations.  

It touches on many common feelings such as 

happy

silly

and scared

as well as other more obscure feelings like

 like proud, thankful, and disappointed.

And it's the perfect length for the preschool to Kindergarten crowd.

(Even if I love a book, if I think it's too long for my wiggly group, it doesn't make the cut!)

The final page of the book assures kids that it's okay to have lots of different emotions.

It says, 
"Feelings come and feelings go
I never know what they'll be.
Silly or angry, happy or sad, 
They're all a part of me!"

After reading this book, we usually discuss emotions and how to deal with some of the trickier ones like anger.

I also give the kids a little exercise such as the one below.  

Since my class is preschool age, I scribe their ideas onto the worksheet and then they draw and colour the pictures.

I also created an 8 page Feelings Mini-book similar to this worksheet, but covering more emotions. 
You can see the mini-book and the full Freebie collection in the image below.

If you'd like to download a copy of this set, 
you can scoop it up {here.}  

Have a "happy" week!  :)  

Fun Picture Book for Back to School!

For this week's Picture Book Pick of the Week, I thought I'd choose a book with a back to school theme.

When you're finished reading my pick, stop by Deanna Jump's blog to see lots of other choices, too! 

My selection is The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten by Maureen Fergus and Mike Lowery.

This book offers a funny, indirect approach to teaching children how to behave when first starting school. 

And as we know, that's an area that usually requires some attention! :) 

Since I teach preschoolers, I'm just going to change the word "kindergarten" to preschool when I read it so that the story will relate better to my group!

The book opens with a little girl excited to start her first day at school.

The only one not excited about the day is the little girl's mother.

She's feeling a little sad that her daughter is going off to have adventures without her.

Luckily, the teacher decides that mom can spend the day in Kindergarten, too!

Mom is so excited that the first thing she does is BARGE to the front of the line-up to go inside.

Once mom gets inside, she starts running around leaving muddy footprints in her outdoor shoes!

Later when everyone is in the library, mom forgets to use her inside voice.

Then at snack time, mom drops crumbs everywhere and does not even bother to clean them up!

At craft time mom has trouble using the scissors.  So she slams them down on the table in a HUFF!

The story continues with mom breaking rules right and left and soon the little girl is FIT TO BE TIED!  

That's when the teacher tells her, that sometimes it takes  time to learn something new.  

She tells the girl not to worry and that her mom will get the hang of it before too long.  

And guess what?  Mom starts getting a lot better after that.

The story ends with the mom deciding that Kindergarten is lots of fun, but that it's probably a special place just for kids.  

Mom decides that she will stick to working hard in a place meant for people who are bigger - and a place where she will actually fit into the chairs.  

Mom pops her craft into her purse and her daughter tells her  that she's already great at the job of being a mom. 

(Ah, the feel good ending!  You always know it's coming!) 

This book will definitely be on my back to school story time list.  

How 'bout yours?

Another thing I'll be bringing into the classroom to start the year, will be the scrapbook worksheets below.

I'm offering this set for FREE from my Teachers Pay Teachers Shop right now.

Hop over if you'd like to scoop them up!

Picture Book Pick of the Week - Harry the Dirty Dog

I chose a book about cats for my last 

Picture Book Pick of the Week.

My dog was feeling slighted by this choice, so this week I decided to feature a cute book about his kind --

in particular, a book about a dog that likes to get dirty.  

A dog quite like my pet, Sammy.  
He especially loves to roll in anything stinky!  Sigh.   

The title of todays' book choice is 

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion.

I'm linking this post to Deanna Jump's
Let's Talk Books linky party.  
You may want to pop by there for more book ideas later! 

But on to the story!
Now Harry was a dog that didn't like to have baths.
So much so, that on bath day he'd hide his scrub brush by burying it in the yard!

One day he decided to leave his home to go have an adventure.
He went to all kinds of places.
And he got dirtier.. 

and dirtier...

...until he was no longer a white dog with black spots.
  Now he was a black dog with white spots!

Harry began to miss his family, but when he returned home, he was so dirty that no one knew who he was!

In a panic, Harry tried all kinds of tricks to get his family to recognize him.  
But nothing worked!

So Harry came up with a plan.
He dug up his scrub brush and ran upstairs with it.

The children saw that the "stray dog" wanted a bath.

So they obliged.  And guess what happened?

When Harry got out of the bath, his family recognized him!
Now Harry was happy to be all clean!

But he still hid his scrub brush under his pillow!

I read Harry the Dirty Dog when we were doing a pet unit (and of course showed the children a picture of my dirty dog at the same time!)

This book could also be great combined with a little lesson on hand washing and germs, a unit on health, or just for no reason at all! 
 Books about pets are always fun to read!

Since we're on the topic of dogs, I couldn't resist sharing the poster below ( originally posted by Q107 Toronto).  

I definitely see myself in this progression!

Does this sound familiar to anyone? :)

Mr. Pusskins - Picture Book Pick of the Week + Freebie

Do you love cats?

I know I do.  

Even though they tend to be moody and grouchy and very much "in charge" of the household. 

Or maybe that's just my cat?

Well, I do know of another fictional cat that's just like mine--   And he is featured in this week's 

 Picture Book Pick of the Week.

This week's choice is

  Mr. Pusskins by Sam Lloyd.

This book is funny and sweet with a pace just perfect for the Preschool and Kindergarten crowd.

In the story, Mr. Pusskins is treated like a little king by his owner Emily, but Mr. Pusskins appreciates nothing.

(Just get a load of his expression below!)

  Mr. Pusskins wants something better for himself and he thinks he can find it out in the big, wide world. 

He runs away to a life in the streets and finds a raucous gang of alley cats to "hang" with.

They have lots of fun.  For a while.  

Then Mr. Pusskins realizes that the alley cats

 aren't really his friends.  

They aren't kind and sweet like Emily.

  And Mr. Pusskins starts to feel cold and alone.

Mr. Pusskins misses his old life.  And Emily. 

So he finds a way to contact her.

The two get reunited!

The story ends with Mr. Pusskins having a major attitude improvement!

He appreciates his fine home and loving owner, and  

he becomes a happy and sweet cat.

At least most of the time.

I love the funny images in this book 

(especially those of Mr. Pusskins' grouchy face!)

 and I like the book's underlying message of learning to appreciate what you have.

It was a hit with my group and I can confidently recommend it for yours!

If you'd like to combine this book with a writing activity or a unit you may be doing on Pets, you may want to download this FREE worksheet.

Just click {here} to pick up your copy!

If you know someone else who might like this post, please pass it on to a friend!

I'm linking this book to Deanna Jump's 
Let's Talk About Books Series. 
Join up for more ideas!