Lesson Plan Week of August 20: The Letter B

This week is all about B.

And, boy, did I have a hard time narrowing down what I wanted to do.  There are so many B words!  And I wanted to do B is for Boy, but thought it would get too complicated with the girls.  I think I'll make that a different lesson for when we are reviewing the alphabet.

On a couple of the days, I veered away from my set "Academics, Crafts, Storytime" path that I followed last week, and did a more of a book-based inclusive lesson.  I've become very interested in the Five in a Row concept, too, which I've just discovered as I've been browsing around the internet.  I love a good book and I love the concept of Literature based lessons.  I think that after the Alphabet is established, Five in a Row would be a great curriculum to follow (kind of like Michelle at Delightful Learning did with two of her children)

Anyway, I'm way off track.  Back to the B's.

This week we are going in alphabetical order and starting our week with balls and balloons and a focus on circles.  Tuesday we will read one of our newest favorites, Big Red Barn, and do some barn activities.  Wednesday we will do lots of printables and a paper bear activity as we read Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?  Thursday and Friday we will look at a couple of modes of transportation, the boat and the bus. 

I've got lots of stuff planned.  Feel free to use whatever you need.  And enjoy.

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MONDAY

MATERIALS

• Flag, Bible and display boards, as needed

• B is for Ball Sign

• B is for Balloon Coloring Page

• Items for Paper Plate Balls Activity

• Paper Plates

• Paints and Brushes

• Black Hexagons, cut from construction paper, if desired

• White stripes for a football, cut from construction paper, if desired

• Crayons, markers, colored pencils

• Scissors

• Glue

• Same and Different Ball Worksheets

• Items for Balloon Pingpong or Badminton

• Paint Stirring Sticks or Jumbo Craft Sticks

• Paper Plates

• Hot Glue or Packing Tape

• Round Balloons

• Items for Hot Air Balloon Shapes Activity

• Instructions and Template

• Crayons

• Scissors

• Glue

• Light blue construction paper

• Cotton balls

• Drawing Circles Worksheet

• Books

PREPARATION

• Gather flag, Bible, and display boards as needed

• Print out "B is for Ball" and "B is for Balloons" signs

• Gather items for Paper Plate Balls Activity

• Cut out hexagons and stripes, as desired

• Print out Same and Different Ball Worksheets

• Gather items for Balloon Pingpong/Badminton

• Make paddles beforehand

• Gather items for Hot Air Balloon Shapes Activity

• Print out the Template and Instructions

• Print out the Drawing Circles Worksheet

• Gather any books

LESSON PLAN

ACADEMICS & CRAFTS

• Pledges

• Sing the Alphabet Song

• Introduce the Letter B

• Point to the letter B on the alphabet chart

• Say the B sound and have your child copy you.
• Make sure that you are saying "buh", not "b-uh".

• Ask your child if they know of any words that begin with the letter B.

• Introduce B is for Ball and B is for Balloon

• Show the "B is for Ball sign" and the "B is for Balloon sign. 
• Invite your child to color the balloon sign, if desired

• Talk about balls, and how a balloon is a special kind of ball that floats through the air.  Point out that the word BALLOON is BALL with a OON on the end.

• Talk about the shapes of balls and balloons (usually circles, some exceptions).  Also talk about size and colors.
• If you have an assortment of balls in your house, get them out and look at them.  Discuss their features.

•  Focus on B is for Ball

• Make Paper Plate Balls
• Paint or color paper plates.  Add shapes, lines, and other distinguishing features.  The balls can be exact or made-up.

• Complete the Same and Different Ball Worksheets

• Focus on B is for Balloon

• Play Balloon Ping Pong or Badminton

• Complete the Hot Air Balloon Shapes activity

• Shapes Practice

• Script:  Since balls and balloons are usually circle shaped, we are going to practice tracing circles.

• Complete the Drawing Circles Worksheet

STORYTIME

TUESDAY

MATERIALS

• Flag, Bible, Display Boards as needed

• B is for Barn Sign

• Big Red Barn book, by Margaret Wise Brown

• Items for Big Red Barn and Handprint Farm Animals Activity

• White paper, sturdy enough to paint on

• Red, green, brown, yellow and blue paint

• Paintbrushes

• Cotton Balls

• Glue

• Goggly Eyes

• Black and Orange markers

• Items for Animals in the Barn Activity

• Red Construction Paper

• Barn Animal Stickers or Printed Pictures
• Pictures can be printed from here (scroll down to the Farm Mini Word Wall printable) or here (printables at the bottom of the page)

• Color the Farm Animals by Number Worksheet

• Crayons, Markers, or Colored Pencils

• Farm Animal Cut and Paste Worksheet

• Scissors

• Glue

• Crayons, Markers, or Colored Pencils

• Bonus:  Counting Farm Animals Worksheet

PREPARATIONS

• Gather flag, Bible and display boards, as needed.

• Print "B is for Barn" sign

• Procure the book Big Red Barn, by Margaret Wise Brown

• Gather the items for the Big Red Barn and Handprint Farm Animals Activity

• Gather the items for the Animals in the Barn Activity

• Prepare the barn:  Turn a piece of red construction paper sideways.  Fold each in until they meet in the middle, like a pair of barn doors.  Use a black marker to draw doors, windows and other features of a barn.  If desired, cut the top of the barn into an arch or a peak.

• Purchase barn animals stickers or print out barn animal pictures, either onto label paper or onto regular paper

• Print the worksheets

LESSON PLAN

• Pledges

• Sing the Alphabet Song

• Review B is for Ball and Balloon

• Introduce B is for Barn

• Tell your child that today we are going to learn about another B word, BARN.  Discuss with them what they know about barns.  Talk about where a barn is usually found (a farm), what kinds of things might be found there, what kinds of animals, anything that sparks interest.

• Show them the "B is for Barn" sign.  Allow them to color the sign, if desired.

• Read the book Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

• Complete the Big Red Barn and Handprint Farm Animals Activity

• Follow the directions here

• Complete the Animals in the Barn Activity (adapted from here, under "Folded Barn)

• Using your red construction paper barn, open the doors and allow your child to place the barn animals inside the barn.

• Complete the worksheets, as desired

STORYTIME

WEDNESDAY

MATERIALS

• Bible, flag, display boards as needed

• B is for Bear sign

• Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?  by Nancy White Carlstrom

• Printables from Home School Creations, as desired

• I plan to use:
• Tracing Lines
• Memory
• Did Eat and Didn't Eat
• What Comes Next Patterns

• Find the Bear Game from Home School Share pack

• Items for Weather Bear Paper Doll Craft

• Templates here

• Velcro Tabs

PREPARATIONS

• Gather Bible, flag and display boards as needed.

• Print the "B is for Bear" sign

• Procure the book Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom

• Print desired worksheets from Home School Creations

• Print, cut out and laminate, if desired, the Find the Bear game from Home School Share pack

• Print and cut out the Weather Bear Paper Doll Craft

• Attach velcro tabs

LESSON PLAN

• Pledges

• Sing the Alphabet Song

• Review B is for Balls, Balloons, and Barn

• Introduce B is for Bear

• Show the "B is for Bear" sign.  Allow your child to color it, if desired.

• Chances are that your child has a teddy bear or two in his collection.  Gather them up and talk about them.  Compare size, colors and anything else that your child finds interesting.

• Allow your child to snuggle their bear while you read the story, if desired.

• Play Find the Bear (from here)

• Print off and cut out the bear faces from this pack.  Color and laminate, if desired.

• Hid them around the room/house and have your child find them.  Then, have your child hid them and you find them.

• Read the book Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom

• Do any and all desired printables from this pack

• I plan to do:
• Tracing Lines
• Memory
• Did Eat and Didn't Eat
• What Comes Next Patterns

• Play with the Weather Bear Paper Doll 

STORYTIME

THURSDAY

MATERIALS

• Bible, flag and display boards, as needed

• B is for Boat sign

• Items for Shape Boat Craft

• A piece of paper to draw a sea on, plus three other colors of your choice

• Colors to draw or paint for a sea

• Scissors

• Glue

• Items to Play in the Water

• A water table, the kitchen sink, the bathtub

• Water ;)

• Things to play in the water with
• You can find lots of directions to make boats here
• Or, check out the Dollar store for some fun new toys

• Shapes Worksheets

PREPARATIONS

• Gather Bible, Flag and Display Boards as needed

• Print out "B is for Boats" sign

• Gather items for Shape Boat Craft

• Using desired colors, cut out a semi-circle, a long rectangle, two triangles and three circles, per directions

• Gather desired items to play in the water

• Print off desired shapes worksheets

LESSON PLAN

• Pledges

• Sing the Alphabet Song

• Review B is for Ball and Balloon, Barns, and Bears

• Introduce "B is for Boats"

• Show the "B is for Boats" sign

• Make a Shapes Boat

• As you're making the boat, discuss with your child the different shapes that are being used to make the boat

• Play in the Water

• Using a water table, kitchen sink, bathtub or whatever else you can come up with, allow your child to play with boats in the water.

• While playing in the water, sing some boat songs!

• This website has lots of ideas for making boats, or you can pick some up inexpensively the dollar store, or maybe at some end-of-summer-clearance sales.  Of course, shop your house, first :)

• After a heavy week filled with printables and crafts, this will be a fun thing for the kids to do.  They get some great sensory play, and we are reinforcing the lesson as they play with boats!

• Please provide constant supervision during this activity as children have been known to drown in just a little bit of water.  And be prepared with towels. :)

• Work on Shapes Worksheets, if desired

STORYTIME

FRIDAY

MATERIALS

• Bible, flag and display boards, as needed.

• B is for Bus sign

• Wheels on the Bus (Raffi Songs to Read)

• This story pattern to illustrate the story, if desired (from here)

• Items for Make Your Own Wheels on the Bus Craft

• A piece of yellow construction paper

• A piece of black construction paper

• A piece of light blue or white construction paper

• Glue

• Scissors

• Four brads

• Items for Let's Play Bus Stop

• Laundry Basket, box, play bus

• Something to decorate your "bus" with, if desired, such as yellow streamers

• Passengers for your bus

• Items for Bus Cookies

• Graham Cracker

• Yellow frosting

• Circle cookies for the wheels

• Square cookies for the windows

• Teddy grahams or animals crackers

• Items for Bus Lacing Card

• Bus from the story pattern printed onto cardstock

• Clear contact paper, or laminator

• Hole puncher

• Shoelace or yarn for lacing

PREPARATIONS

• Gather Bible, flag and display boards as needed

• Print "B is for Bus" sign

• Gather items for Make Your Own Wheels on the Bus Craft

• Using the yellow construction paper, cut two rectangle, one about 2/3rds longer than the other.  This will be your bus body.

• Cut two wheels out of black construction paper

• Cut small squares out of the light blue or white construction paper for windows.  Cut a longer rectangle for the windshield.

• Cut two short skinny rectangles for the wipers.

• Gather items for the Let's Play Bus Activity

• Gather items for Bus Cookies Snack

• Make yellow frosting

• Gather items for the Bus Lacing Card

• Print this bus out on cardstock.  Cover it with clear contact paper, or laminate it.

• Punch holes around the perimeter, according to your child's needs.

LESSON PLAN

• Pledges

• Sing the Alphabet Song

• Review the letter B

• Introduce "B is for Bus"

• Show the "B is for Bus" sign

• One of my children's favorite things to do is to ride on a bus, tram, something other than the boring car.  Talk with your child about any of their experiences.

• Some children may be getting ready to ride the school bus when they start school.  Use this lesson to introduce that concept to them and maybe help alleviate some fears.

• Read the book Wheels on the Bus (Raffi Songs to Read) with your child. 

• Listen to the song while you read it. 

• Use this story pattern to act out the story.

• Make Your Own Wheels On The Bus Craft (adapted from here and here)

• Using your bus pieces that you cut out, have your child glue the pieces on the bus.

• Attach the black wheels with brads so that they will turn.

• Attach the long skinny wipers with brads so that they will swish.

• Tape a yellow rectangle to each side of the door.  Fold them back so that they will open and close.

• If desired, attach the people from the story pattern to craft sticks and use them as puppets behind the bus.

• Use the bus to act out the song.  You can also make the bus first, then read the story.

• Let's Play Bus Stop

• Use something as your bus.

• Set up passengers all around.

• Go ahead and pick up your passengers.

• Make Bus Cookies

• Bus Lacing Card, if desired.

STORYTIME

Click here for a printable PDF of the Materials List

Click here for a printable PDF of the Preparation Guide

Click here for a printable PDF of the Lesson Plan


******************See how our week went here

Jason cutting out his Hot Air Balloon

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