nletters

LETTERS: Ff, Gg, Hh
Share your ideas too. E-mail me at stormie@preschoolbystormie.com

From Stormie:

Fingerplay/ Creative Drama:

Four Little Freckled Frogs

Four little freckled frogs sitting on a speckled log,

Eating the most delicious flies, Yum, Yum!

One jumped into the pool where it was nice and cool,

Now there's three freckled frogs.

(Keep repeating the verse till there's one frog left):

One little freckled frog sitting on a speckled log,

Eating the most delicious flies, Yum, Yum!

She jumped into the pool, where it was nice and cool,

Now there are no freckled frogs.

As a fingerplay, fingers are frogs sitting on the other arm (log). Children can pretend to eat flies, rubbing their stomachs when saying "Yum, Yum," then their finger frogs can pretend to jump in the pool. If you have time, instead of fingers, let the children themselves take turns being frogs and acting out the rhyme. I used four frogs because our number this month is four but you can have as many frogs as you wish. And oh, don't forget to discuss "freckled" and "speckled."

Snacktime:

1. Flies on Frogs (pear halves with raisins atop)

2. Fig bars

New Fun With Old Rhymes: Here's a verse from the old folk rhyme "We Are All Nodding"

We are all fiddling, fid, fid, fiddling

We are all fiddling at our house at home

With a turning in and a turning out

And it's this way, that way, round about

We are all fiddling, fid, fid, fiddling

We are all fiddling at our house at home

Show the children a picture of a fiddle (or a real one). Stand in a circle with the children and everyone pretend to play a fiddle. When you come to "turning in," everyone can move toward the center of the circle, then back out when "turning out" -- all the while, still fiddling. For "this way, that way, round about," you could fiddle to the left, then fiddle to the right, then turn around while still fiddling. Point out the "Ff" words. Point out words that rhyme. Is "fid" a word? Probably not. But for our purposes of teaching letter sounds, it's just fine.

Take-Home Textured F: Nothing seems more perfect for this month than an F cutout covered with feathers. Save money by using feathers from a big un-used feather duster instead of buying those expensive feathers in bags (you can buy big feather dusters at Wal-Mart or dollar stores). Tip: Have children "paint" the glue on their F first, then lay the feathers on top of the glue. Otherwise, feathers get stuck to "gluey" fingers. By the way, I refer to these as pretend turkey (not Indian) feathers.

From Kristen Cook, Payson, Utah

Instead of using our fingers for "Four Little Freckled Frogs," I made hand puppets: I found a picture of a frog (coloring book), copied it 4 times, colored them, numbered them, laminated them, and glued each to a tounge depressor. The children used their own arms for logs when acting out the rhyme. A follow-up "take home" project would be to allow the children to create their own frogs and glue them onto a craft stick "log."

From Karen:
Funny Feet Day: Stormie, for the letter Ff, we had a "FUNNY FEET DAY." Some of the ideas included having the children come to school in mismatched shoes and/or socks, colorful toenails, temporary tattoo's. The children really enjoyed this and we took pictures of their "funny feet." Also, we made bare-footprints on the letter "F." We also made "Fall trees" using footprints as the leaves, in orange, yellow, and red paint.

From Mel R. in Virginia:
F Stickers: Children can also cover their large F cutouts with fish and/or frog stickers.

Here is a great idea from Annemarie in Michigan:
F Take-Home Project: Children color a large F cutout with a fusia colored crayon, then they make fingerprints on the F. Once the fingerprints are dry, they put fall leaf stickers all over their F's.

From Keri Cottrell, Vancouver, Washington:
Ff Feely Bag Game: Gather items whose names begin with the letter F and hide them in a bag. The children reach in and identify an object by feeling it and before pulling it out of the bag. Examples of F things are: toy frog, silk flower, small toy fire truck. (You can play this game with other letters too.)

Art Center Activity: "Golf Ball Painting":

In advance, drop golf balls into bowls of paint. During free choice, children lay a piece of paper on the inside of a large box lid, then spoon the paint-coated golf balls onto the paper. Help them to move the lid from side to side, enough to cause the balls to move, painting their paper. Note: You can incorporate other themes for the month (triangle, brown, purple, etc.) into this project. Or, use green or gray for G.

Snack: Seedless grapes; grits; granola bars or mix

Fine Motor: Put out a Geo-Board.

Can you giggle or grin for Gg? If you're doing the letter G in November, have children gobble like a turkey for Gg.

Creative Drama: Set up a pretend "Gas Station" for dramatic play.

Take-Home Textured G: Children glue gold glitter or aquarium gravel on a green G cutout.

From Tammy Terry, in Blanchester, Ohio
Children glue gold metallic ribbon onto a letter G cutout. (To include another learning concept, cut the ribbon into pieces that are the shape of the month).

From Ganine Phillips, in Roy, Utah
Hi Stormie. I wanted to share a letter G idea that went over really well with my preschoolers. We talked about the two sounds of letter g using the words "green" and "gingerbread." We read the The Gingerbread Man and made gingerbread boys and girls. Then we frosted them and sprinkled them with green frosting and sprinkles. We had a ball!

Free Choice Game: "Hh's For Hugs":

Before school starts for the day, hide several small paper houses around the classroom that have the letter H or h on them. Tell the class that if they find a house with an H or h on it while playing, they are to bring it to you for a great big hug and a happy face print on the back of their hand!

Instruct them to help a friend find an H or h after they find one for themselves, so that everyone gets a turn. During group time, discuss all the "Hh words" from the morning's activities.

Gross Motor:

1. Lay hula-hoops on the ground/floor and have children jump in and out of them.

2. Play that old game of "Drop the Hanky." For all you "youngsters" out there, it's played just like Duck, Duck, Goose: A child walks around the outside of the group of children with a hankerchief in his/her hand. S/he drops it behind the person s/he wants to have chase her/him.

Everyone wear a special hat to school for the letter Hh. Read "Olive and the Magic Hat" by Eileen Christelow: Olive, an opossum, tries various ways to get back her father's birthday hat that she caused to accidentally fall on Mr. Foxley's head -- who thinks it's magic and wants to keep it. (This is also a good book to read on a birthday.)

Music: Introduce children to the harmonica.

Language: Place books about "horses" in the classroom library on letter Hh day.

Science: Health: Let's find our heartbeat!

Take-Home Textured H: Children paint glue on an H cutout, then lay hay over it.

Another idea from Annemarie in Michigan:
H Take-Home Project: Children glue magazine pictures of houses and put "happy face" stickers on an H cutout.

Other Favorite H Books:
From Stormie:
The Happy Hippopotami, by Bill Martin, Jr.; illustrated by Betsy Everitt: Children (and you) will love all the silly things these hippos do at the beach.

From Julaine Nelson:
Hands, by Lois Ehlert (Publisher: Harcourt Brace & Company): I found a great book for the letter H. It is shaped like a work glove and compares a father's, mother's and child's hand and what they do with their hands. There are lots of possible learning activities in it such as woodworking, painting, gardening, and crafts and sewing, as well as comparing hand sizes and classifying jobs by gloves that are worn.

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Notes from Stormie:
*I offer "Wacky Animals ABC Cards" in the "Teaching Aids" section of "Stormie's Stuff for Teachers.
*If you would like to begin collecting ALL my current classroom ideas (each on a 4 x 6" index card), as well as new ones that I create, you can do so by ordering my "Activity Cards." Click here to check them out.

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