Bb is for Bear and Buttons

Bears, buttons

My favorite story to begin with is Corduroy by Don Freeman.  Remember Corduroy lost his button on his overalls and he began searching everywhere.

 Paperbag Puppets for retelling

Button sorting

Over the years, I have requested buttons from my families to fill my tins and tubs.  With the generosity of many, the children have a lot to sort through.  At first, when given free exploration time, they enjoy the feel and sound of the buttons randomly examining them.  Some then sort by color, size and shape.  Buttons continue to fascinate them.  They begin to look for details that others may not have noticed before. 

I love the story The Button Box by Margarette S. Reid.

Grandma has a button box.  There are buttons with two holes and four holes and some with shanks.  So many different kinds of buttons and ways to sort them. 


Other bear stories:

Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.  The more you read it and use choral reading, the children will be able to imitate and practice reading by looking at the pictures with memorized phrases and rhythm.

Our first Show and Tell experience is with bringing their own teddy bear.  Students who don't have their own bear can borrow a bear from parents, siblings, grandparents, neighbors, etc.  I also have a large tub filled with bears who love to be a friend for the day.

Where's My Teddy? 
by Jez Alborough 
My Friend Bear by Jez Alborough

 


Any version of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" or better yet, TELL the story.  Ham it up and the kids will love it.

Count and pattern with color sorting bears.

Use bear pattern cut outs and make matching cards with letters to match capital to capital, capital to lowercase, letters to initial sound pictures, numerals to sets, colors to color words.
 
Go on a bear hunt with Dr. Jean .

Have you ever watched "Cosmic Kids Yoga"?  I just found that Jaime has a bear hunt story with yoga positions. 

I use the yoga stories, peace out and meditations when they come in from recess to calm down and focus.


Raffi's song of "Teddy Bear Hug" is a great calm song to listen to while the children bring their bears in the room to start the day.

You've gotta do the Teddy Bear game with your bears,
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn around.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, touch the ground.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, show your shoe.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, that will do. (bow with your bear)
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, climb the stairs.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say your prayers.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, turn out the light.
Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say good night.  (Cuddle your bear and give him a kiss on the nose.)

Letter Identification

• Clip cards from Making Learning Fun. These cards show a bear with a capital letter and students put a clip on the cave with the lowercase letter.  You can make these self-checking by putting a dot on the back of the card for the correct match. 
•  Print cards with button shape.  Write letters on cards to match letters and beginning sounds.

 

Hand-in-hand we grow!