The Grand Finale

1. The Grand Finale By Room 11 Teachers: Jennifer M. Casey Danean E. Cooper Kendra M. Miranda

2. The Theme • The Teeny Weeny Tadpole by Sheridan Cain • Vocabulary Focus: Tadpole Frog Lily pad Leaping Jumped Paddled Downstream

3. Goals • What are your literacy goals for the week? • Phonological awareness and/or Fluency • Vocabulary development • Reading comprehension • Alphabetic Principle

4. Blocks • Write “The Teeny Weeny Tadpole” on a sentence strip. Write letters to this sentence (both upper and lower case) on blocks. Ask students to put the blocks in the correct order. (Print Awareness, Alphabetic Principle).

5. Dramatic Play -Flippers, lily pads, goggles, other book-related props. Ask children to retell story using these props. (Comprehension) -Life cycle puppets-(Comprehension-story retell, expanding vocabulary).

6. Toys and Games -Match game with rhyming words. (Phonological awareness).

7. Art - “T is for Tadpole”. Glue “T” collage items to letter T (toothpicks, tape, tissue paper). (Alphabetic Principle).

8. Library Read Aloud other frog-related books. For example: Froggy, In the Small, Small Pond. Point out capital and lower case letters, where to begin reading, encourage them to make predictions, comprehension of the story, etc. while reading. (All areas).

9. Discovery -Life cycle sequencing and vocabulary cards using vocabulary related to the book. (Vocabulary) -Real tadpoles in jar. Have students observe the changes. Have them record what they see in their Tadpole Journal by drawing pictures. Teachers write their dictation (allowing students to understand the relationship between a written and spoken word). This also will make connections to the text, and build background knowledge. Encouraging students to think about what will happen to the tadpoles encourages them to make predictions.

10. Sand and Water -Plastic animals from story in sand. Ask children to sequence them as they were in the story. (Comprehension). Or, ask them to retell the story using the animals (Story Retell). - Go fishing for tadpoles in water. Students try to catch tadpoles with letter “T” (either upper or lower case) and they throw back other letters after identifying it. (Alphabetic Principle and Print Awareness).

11. Music and Movement -Lily pad rhyming jump game (Phonological Awareness). -Throw a bean bag frog. “The frog jumps on the bat.” When you throw the bean bag to the child, they have to answer with “The frog jumps on the word that rhymes with bat”

12. Cooking Make cookie dough, following the recipe printed on chart paper (with pictures that correspond with the words). Make frogs out of the dough using cookie cutters and decorate. (Print Awareness) (or) Lily Pad pancakes following recipe.

13. Computers -Use Book Builder software to create a class book. At circle, teacher starts story with “Once there was a teeny weeny tadpole…” Then choose a child to finish the sentence. Write the child’s sentence on a piece of paper, ask them to illustrate it. Continue to have other children add onto the last sentence. (Print Awareness) -Tadpole book by Gina Stefanini from Public Library on Read with Me eBooks. The coaches on this book focus on making predictions (Comprehension).

14. Outdoors Take a walk to a nearby pond. (Use a map to find the pond. Use pictures and words to help children find their way.) Talk about vocabulary words. Discuss what you see. (Vocabulary and Print Awareness). -Letter T Scavenger Hunt. Letter “T” hidden around playground (or) have children find “T” objects ex. Tree (Phonological Awareness and Alphabetic Principle).

15. Family and Community -Ask family members to find magazine cutouts for “T” words (ex. tea) and glue to a tadpole picture. (Phonological Awareness). -Ask family members to come to help out with activities and read other frog stories to the class. -Send home newsletter about what we are learning for example the vocabulary words that we are learning, songs that we are singing, etc.) and ask families to encourage children to discuss what they are learning, etc.