Not only is Eric Carle's classic early childhood tale Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? perfect for story time, it has many practical learning applications for the classroom as well! Here are a few of our favorites:
Student Welcome Books
- Compile student pictures and names to help your kids get to know each other (e.g. Teacher, Teacher, who do you see? I see Mason looking at me, etc.).
- Take pictures of learning centers to help your students get familiar with the classroom layout (e.g. Teacher desk, teacher desk, what do you see? I see a student desk looking at me. Student desk, student desk, what do you see? I see the library looking at me. Library, library what do you see? I see the reading corner looking at me, etc.).
- Draw or take pictures of important classroom procedures/rules for students to familiarize themselves with (New student, new student, what do you see? I see the sign-in sheet looking at me. Sign-in sheet, sign-in sheet, what do you see? I see the homework bin looking at me, etc.).
- Take two weeks, assigning one of the nine classic colors presented in the book to each day. Have your students (and the rest of the hall if you can) wear the assigned color to school that day to strengthen student color recognition skills. On the tenth day, have students wear their favorite color for review!
- Use the story characters to create a color matching game. Print the colored animals onto card stock, paint clothespins with corresponding colors, then invite your students to clip the proper clothespin on the proper card.
The Five Senses
Expand on Eric Carle's theme and have your students create simple books (or create a book as a class) that include all of the following: What do you see?, What do you hear?, What do you Smell?, What do you feel?, and What do you taste?
Speech & Vocabulary
Most kindergartners have Carle's classic memorized by this time. Use this opportunity to read the book aloud as a class, recording your students voices for them to hear later. Reading along and out loud will give your students confidence as readers, strengthen speech skills, and help them review important vocabulary.
For more great ideas, visit the full post at Teachers.net!