Rats for Lunch

First, let me say, no animals or children were harmed in the making of this post.  No, we did not eat real rats.  Yes, I know, rats are gross.  Please read on, I promise it is worth while. :-)

It all started 10 years ago, when my youngest was in first grade.  We were very lucky to have Mrs. D as his teacher.  She did a lot of fun things, one of which was to fill those short waits that inevitably happen, by reading poetry, especially Jack Prelutsky's.

One day my son came home reciting the refrain to his favorite poem, Rats for Lunch: 
     Rats for lunch, rats for lunch,
     Yum, delicious, munch, munch, munch.
     One by one or by the bunch,
     Rat, oh rat, oh rat for lunch!



What kind of person talks with 6 year olds about eating rats?!  The kind that know how much children like the ridiculous and silly - like Jack Prelutsky, and Mrs. D.

 

I happened to have the book this poem came from, and tried it out on my preschoolers.  Yes indeed, the poem is a winner!



Later that year I happened upon a large gummy rat at the grocery store, which, of  course, we bought for Mrs. D. to share with my son's class.  What's better than reading about "roasted rat in salty slime"?  Why, eating a candy rat while you read it, of course!

 

When I also found "bite size" gummy rats, a new tradition was born for my daycare kiddos.  Every now and then I would break out the gummy rats for desert, and we'd recite the poem and chew on a rat.  The book of poetry went out on my classroom bookshelf, and was a very popular choice. 



"Rat for Lunch" was a gateway to more poetry, as the children realized the joy that could be hidden in the pages of poetry books.  We found many class favorites, and many of the kiddos memorized some just from hearing them read so often.





Children forget a lot of details of their early years.  You probably only have scattered memories of being a child, small moments or snippets that have stayed with you.  You may be thinking that this rat activity was a weird mix of cute and disgusting, and nothing more.  Three to five year olds don't memorize poems, let alone remember them years later.  Do they?

Last fall, soon after my family found out that we would be relocating and that I would need to close down my school, I was thrilled to have a visit from two of "my" kiddos, now in eighth grade.  They toured the school with me, noticing changes, revisiting old favorites, remembering.  One of them asked about "that book with a big pizza on the cover".  I knew immediately that it was Jack Prelutsky's A Pizza The Size of the Sun, and as I got it out the two of them spontaneously broke into poem, reciting their own secret friendship code: one of those poems.

Do young children remember poems and books that we share with them?  Can their early experiences with us color their lives even after they move on to the next adventure?  M. and H. do, and I am forever grateful for having been blessed with that knowledge.

Paula

P.S.  If there is someone who influenced your life and left an indelible mark of joy, please take a moment to let them know.  There are few things as wonderful as hearing from an old student or old friend who wants to share their happy memories with you! 

2 year bloggiversary FREEBIE!

It's hard to believe it's only been 2 years since I started this blog, so much has happened in that time!  May also marks my TeachersPayTeachers anniversary.  I've learned so much in that time, and have found another way to be involved in early childhood education, without having a class of my own.  I don't get near as many hugs, and I definitely miss the funny things children say, but this new direction is rewarding too.

To thank you all for your support, I've created one of my Sentence Picture Match activities for FREE.

This reading activity makes an excellent center!  There are 12 sentences and pictures for students to match, 2 vocabulary posters to help with the sports words they may not be familiar with, a follow up worksheet, and a leveled list of the sight words used.  My target audience is first and second grade, but depending upon reading level and interest level, you could certainly use it with other grade levels too.  You could also use this with your own children, to keep them reading and learning during the summer, or any other time.  Please feel free to share a link to this item with your friends, but let them download it for themselves.

I have one favor to ask.  If you do download this fun free item, please take 30 seconds to leave me feedback and/or a rating.  Simply go to your "My Purchases" tab on TpT, scroll down, and check a few boxes.  It's so easy, and means so much to me.

Thank you for a fun and interesting couple of years!  I hope you stick around with me to find out what the future holds.  Have an awesome day,

Paula

Unicorns

Children love to pretend.  Let's be honest, a lot of adults like to pretend too, we just show it in different ways.  Movies and books with a little magic or fantasy are popular because pretending is... well... fun!


Which brings me to unicorns.  Yes, they're pretend, but unlike dragons, I've found children seldom are confused about that.  Over the years a lot of children I've taught have thought that dragons were real, a kind of dinosaur perhaps, extinct now, but still real.  That hasn't been the case with unicorns, the children know them as a lovely pretend.

 A few years ago I created a unicorn sensory play box, filling it with some popular flying pony toys, a plastic unicorn toy, white pompons (clouds), sparkly pompons (they must be magical!), rainbow colored foam stars, a painted rainbow, and some colored cups for scooping and sorting the colored bits. Between the soft texture of the pompons and the bright rainbow colors, the children were always drawn to play in our unicorn box.

I have a much loved, favorite unicorn book too, The Midnight Unicorn.

  This book is by Neil Reid, and the pages have embossed, shiny highlights, which adds another dimension to the reading experience for the children.  

 After we read the book, the children make their own unicorns to ride on, just like the girl in the story.  Ours are cardboard, with a paint stirrer handle - a modified hobby horse.  The teachers precut and assemble the unicorns, and the children choose the color of their mane (2 strands of yarn, folded in half then looped through holes), add facial features (one eye and one nostril on each side, a REALLY hard concept for most children), and decorate their unicorns.

The best part is riding them around.  Sometimes we keep them inside, but sometimes we play with them on the playground, or even take them for a ride (a neighborhood walk). 

I've also seen an awesome paper mache unicorn, which would be amazing to make with your own children, but isn't practical for a classroom.  I don't think I could make these unicorn poop cookies with many groups of children, but boy, would I like to!  I am going to make some for my own teenaged boys - because some things never stop being funny.

We listen to The Unicorn Song, I like this particular version because there are pictures to go along with the lyrics, and at this age, that's important to the kiddos.  With older children you might prefer one of the versions that shows the lyrics on screen, but this one works for us.  :-)

The children love to make our footprint unicorns too.  I found a foot print horse idea on funhandprintartblog.com/ , and added the unicorn horn and rainbow background.  First we paint our feet white, and print them onto colored paper (it makes them stand out better).

 Once dry, the children add the mane and horn...

...create a rainbow background by ordering 1" wide strips of tissue paper, and assemble it.  Ta-da!

Recently I posted a unicorn reading center to my TeachersPayTeachers store:

 

I wish I had made it before I retired, because I know my kiddos would have loved working with it, After all, who doesn't like to pretend?  The good news is, I'll be seeing some of my kiddos soon... guess what I think I'll take them?  I may even make the unicorn poop cookies!

I hope your day is magical!

Paula

Post Script.  I decided to take colored sugar cookie dough  with me when I visited the kiddos, so that we could make unicorn poop cookies together.  "Kids" from 4 - 16 got in on the action, and so did the parents.  What a blast!  We all had fun fashioning the "poop", and they tasted amazing! 

While they were baking we did the Unicorn sentence picture match activity.  My former student, now a kindergartener, did an awesome job with the game, and was talking about showing it to her friends. 

As a teacher, I can't think of a nicer compliment!