We're Off on An African Safari!: I'm Going on a Safari" Chant

We’re off on an African safari to meet some of our animal friends! Some of those friends include roaring lions, stomping elephants and leaping gazelles. The children were so excited to jump into a jeep,  buckle their seat belt s and go trekking through the  beautiful African Savannah (grasslands). With a “camera” in hand, they “snapped some pretty cool photos and had lots of fun, too. 

The kids went “wild” over the following language arts activity which introduces and identifies the proper names of African wildlife titled I’m Going On a Safari in a chanting format. You will find the chant at the end of this post. 

How to Make the I’m Going On a Safari Chant

Supplies Needed 

Construction Paper or Card-stock 

Glue

Laminator (optional) 

Photos of African Animals (I especially liked the photos from Cahill’s Creations on the Teacherspayteachers.com site) 

Camera Coloring Page

scissors 

Word Processing System such as Word or Pages

Printer 

hole punch 

String or curling ribbon. 

1. Type the following chant into a word processing system. Cut out with scissors and glue onto  a sheet of construction paper or card-stock.
2. Laminate the paper with chant. (optional)
3. Find pictures of safari wildlife such as lions, elephants, hyenas etc. or go to the teachers pay teachers website. You can create a free account in order to receive the free download of African Animal Photographs from Cahill’s Creations. These can be found by typing in African Animals and refining your search to free items only or by clicking on the previously typed Cahill's Creations link above. 
4. Select and print the photos onto card-stock that correspond to the bolded words. Example: print out the picture of the zebras and the acacia tree. 
5. Type out words that identify each animal or thing such as cheetah, savannah etc. using a word processing system. Cut out the words with scissors. Glue words onto the correct photos. 
6. Laminate the photos (if desired). 
7. Search the internet for a camera coloring page onto card-stock. Print the coloring page out and color as desired. 
8. Laminate the camera coloring page. (optional) 
9. Punch holes on the sides of the camera and string a small piece of string or curling ribbon through the holes. Tie off so that the camera can be worn around your neck during the chant. 

*Tip: You could turn this chant into a flannelboard by placing velcro on the back of the pieces*

How to Teach “I’m Going On a Safari” Chant

*If you place the chant on your easel, you will need tape to affix the pieces*

1. The teacher should tell the children that they are going on an African Safari. She should ask the children questions such as Do you know what a safari is? What animals do you think you will see on a safari? etc. Give the children a few minutes to answer the questions. 
2. If the children incorrectly answered the questions, the teacher should tell  them that a safari is a special trip that people go on to see the animals of the African savannah (Grasslands). She should continue by showing the children a map of Africa and tell them that the Savannah is a place that is very dry or wet, depending on the season, and where tall grass grows. She should discuss that they will learn about all the exciting animals that live there!
3. The teacher should give instructions to the students before starting the chant. She should tell the students they are going to make believe that they are taking pictures of all the animals they see on their safari. She tells them that when she say s“I snap a picture” they should place their hands in the air mimicking a camera taking a picture. She will then place “their” picture of the animal on the board. After this has been told to the children the teacher begins the chant. 
4. The teacher should place the camera around her neck and begin to chant the verses. She retells the children to mimic the camera flashing when they hear the appropriate words. 
5. As she snaps her picture, she should place the photos of the animals on her easel using tape or velcro for a flannelboard. 
6. The teacher should continue until the chant is finished and all the photos have been placed on the board.

I’m Going On a Safari 

I’m going on a safari 

my camera’s with me 

I snap a picture and what do I see

lots of tall grass of the the African savannah can’t you see. 

I’m going on a safari 

my camera’s with me 

I snap a picture and what do I see

a cheetah walking near me. 

I’m going  on a safari

my camera’s with me 

I snap a picture and what do I see 

a zebra eating by an acacia tree.

I’m going on a safari

my camera’s with me 

I snap a picture and what do I see 

an elephant with a trunk as long as can be. 

I’m going on a safari

my camera’s with me 

I snap a picture and what do I see 

a gazelle sitting happily. 

I’m going on a safari 

my camera’s with me 

I snap a picture and what do I see 

a hyena drinking thirstily. 

I’m going on safari

My camera’s with me 

I snap a picture and what do I see 

a hippopotamus yawning sleepily. 

I’m going on a safari

my camera’s with me 

I snap a picture and what do I see 

a wildebeest roaming dreamily. 

Oh Goody!: Teacher Goodie Bags with A Teacher's Gift Poem

It's in the bag! Since I am so proud of all the children, I made a little bag of goodies that would surely make any child's summer bright. I can't believe that they are all graduating. It seems like only yesterday when we welcomed the students to our classroom.

The goodie bags were so easy to put together too! The items were all purchased from the mecca that is Hobby Lobby. They included a kaleidoscope, magnifying glass, rings  for the girls, bugs for the boys, bubbles and colored chalk. All of the gifts were placed in a clear, cellophane bag and tied together with brightly-colored, curled ribbon.

I attached the following A Teacher's Gift poem which I re-worded from an existing poem I found on the Internet. I included all of the gifts that were found in the goody bags in the verse. The clip art sun was found on the massively marvelous free clip art site clker.com and the font used was SchoolHouse Printed A on Mac operating systems.

I have included a card I created using an incredibly cute stamper and crayons that is attached to the bag also.


The first poem is for the girls. The second poem is for the boys 

A Teacher’s Gift 

Chalk to add “color” to your summer fling. 

A magnifying glass to explore everything. 

A ring to add a little bling. 

Bubbles to play with as you dance and sing. 

and a kaleidoscope for some extra zing! 

Have a Great Summer, 

(Your name here)

A Teacher’s Gift 

Chalk to add “color” to your summer fling, 

A magnifying glass to explore everything. 

A creepy crawly for a spooky thing. 

Bubbles to play with as you dance and sing. 

and a kaleidoscope for some extra zing. 

Have a Great Summer, 

(Your name here) 

We're having bucket-loads of fun!

Hey there skater boy!

Wizardly Wonders: Four-Year--Old Graduation Name Tags

 It takes heart, courage and of course a brain for our littler pre-kindergartners to memorize all their  music and lines for the upcoming presentation of the Wizard of Oz!  It is especially important because it is their final farewell as preschoolers. They are off to elementary school and officially recognized as the "big kids".

As we prepare for graduation day, the final touches such as name tags needed to be created. I designed the following  magical name tags that will be placed on the backs of chairs for our little Broadway stars in the making!

The striking images represent key attributes/associations of the main characters in the story such as red slippers for Dorothy and an elfin mug for those squeaky voiced munchkins.

Each of the images were found at Clipart Panda. I love using this site because of its ease of use and crisp, expressive illustrations. Not to mention the price point: free!
 

 

Can you guess which image belongs to each character or thing that happened in the story? 

 

Great Barns of Fire!: Tabletop Barn Made From a Cardboard Box

Barn to be wild!

close-up of scrapbook paper roof. 

Plumber's tape door close-up. 

Goodness, gracious great barns of fire! Check out this bodacious barn my crafty diva mom created for our farm unit. She was so sweet and surprised me by making it when I was was lesson planning. It's nice to have the best mom in the world, right?

Bottle Feeding Compound Word Puzzles!

Hey Baby! Our Baby unit is nothing to cry about (pun totally intended)! Below you will find a language activity that will bottle-feed phonological awareness knowledge to young students about the importance of the usage of compound words! 

Subjects: Language Arts: Identifying and matching compound word pairings. 

Math: Creating baby bottle puzzles through use of matching animal shapes and parts of a whole. 

How to Make: Create a bottle shape using an electronic die cut machine such as the Cricut or a coloring page. Using a word processing program, write easy compound words such as rainbow leaving space in between the two words for easier dissection of the words using scissors. Cut out the words in strips using scissors. Dissect the two sections of the word by cutting in between the two words. Glue the two words onto the bottles leaving space in between the words. Cut the bottles in half using scissors. Glue small die cut shapes to both halves of the bottles to make it easier for your students who have not yet begun to read. 

How to Play: During circle time, explain to the students that compound words are two small words that are put together in order to make a new word. Give examples of compound words such as sun + flower. Continue the lesson by putting half of a compound word bottle in the middle of the circle. Then place two of the ending compound words next to it. Ask the students which compound words go together such as fire (fighter) or (case). Help the students who find this activity challenging by asking them to match the animals found on the bottles. Continue the game until each student has had a turn or the students’ attention spans have waned. 

Extension: Have older students create a compound word word list.

Preschool Paydirt: Great Preschool Teacher Websites

Perusing the web for perfect preschool educational resources can be time-consuming and often results in a jumble of useful, yet unused websites that sit on your favorites bar for all eternity. The websites listed here give the user mostly free, printable, frugal and fun ways to educate even the youngest students. The sites include printable games, math mats, bulletin board ideas, songs, fingerplays, assessment forms and lots more. I bet with just one click you'll be hooked.

http://www.kidsparkz.com/index.html
http://meandmarielearning.blogspot.com/
http://www.perfectlypreschool.com/

http://www.teachpreschool.org/www.teachpreschool.com

http://www.kidscanhavefun.com/

http://www.pre-kpages.com/

http://www.preschooleducation.com/

http://www.preschool-plan-it.com/

http://www.dltk-kids.com/ (crafts for kids) 

http://dltk-teach.com/ (preschool-grade school learning activities)
http://www.filefolderfun.com/ (Amazing printable file folder games)