READING CIRCLEREADING CIRCLE

Written and Illustrated by Ann Jonas

Theme: COLORS

—ScienceInvite youngsters to create their own color combinations with this

experiment. To prepare, fill each of three quart-size freezer bags one-third fullof water. Add red, blue, or yellow food coloring to each bag. Zip the bag,squeezing out as much air as possible; then seal the top of each bagwith clear duct tape. Lay the bags flat on a large sheet of white paper.Ask each child in a small group to predict which new color can becreated by combining two of the color bags. After he guesses,invite him to overlap the two color bags to check hisanswer. Then sing the song from “Reading Circle,”filling in the appropriate colors in the song andchanging the last line to “With our color bags.”Afterward, have each child use primarycrayon colors to illustrate the results of hisexperiment. Encourage him to share hisdiscoveries with his family.

Sing this colorful song to the tune of “London Bridge” as you inviteyoungsters to your reading circle.

Mix blue and yellow to make green,To make green, to make green.Mix blue and yellow to make green,In our color dance.

(Repeat the song, replacing the color words each timewith combinations that create different colors, such as

“Mix red and yellow to make orange.”)

Once your colorful little ones have joined your reading circle, askthem to listen to the story to discover new colors that can be createdfrom different color combinations.

A delightful mix of movement and color dances off the pages of this book asfour performers create a rainbow of colors with their scarves. Encore!

COLOR DANCE

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STORYBOOK CAFÉSTORYBOOK CAFÉ

4

Ingredients:

white bread

3 cups of milk, each tinted with either

red, blue, or yellow food coloring

sugar

It takes two to do the tango toast—two colors, that is! When

youngsters practice their color-combination skills on this snack,

they’ll dance with delight over the tasty results.

Tango Toast

Supplies:

3 basting brushes

paper plates

toaster oven

To make one slice of tango toast:

1. Paint a design with two milk colors on a slice of bread.

2. Sprinkle sugar onto bread.

3. Toast bread in oven.

4. Enjoy tasty tango toast!

ART SMARTSART SMARTS

PURPOSEFUL PLAYPURPOSEFUL PLAY

Create colorful dance scarves with this crafty idea. Half-fillthree clear plastic cups with water. Add red, blue, or yellow foodcoloring to each cup. (The more drops you add, the darker thewater color.) Put an eyedropper in each cup. To make a scarf,a child drops different water colors onto a thick white paper towelto mix and create new colors. After the towel dries, cut it inhalf lengthwise and tape the halves together to make along, narrow scarf. Invite students to use their colorscarves in “Purposeful Play.”

Everyone’s a star in this specialcolor dance. To prepare, cut out a classsupply of large circles from red, blue,yellow, green, orange, and purpleconstruction paper. Tape the colorsonto the floor to form a large ring.Give each child the scarf she madein “Art Smarts.” Then have her standon a color. To begin, chant “[Red andyellow], here’s your chance. Stepinside and do a color dance!” Thechildren standing on the namedcolors step inside the ring and wavetheir scarves as they dance to aselection of lively music. The remainingchildren circle around the colors whilethe music plays. When you stop themusic, repeat the chant using twodifferent colors. The children on thenamed colors then enter the ring whilethe former dancers move to a colorcircle. Continue the dance roundsin this fashion as student interest andenergy dictates.

Theme: COLORS

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Theme: COLORS

READING CIRCLEREADING CIRCLE

Written & Illustrated by Donald Crews

—Basic ConceptsSet your students on the right track when it comes to

color recognition. To make train cars, cover each ofseven shoeboxes with a different color featured in FreightTrain. Working with groups of seven students at a time,give each child a box; then sequence students accordingto the color sequence in the book. Instruct the child withthe black train car to lead the student train around theroom to find an item matching his car color. Have him putthe item in his box and then move to the back of the train.Invite the new train leader (the purple car) to follow suit.Once the black car returns to the front of the train, reas-sign the color cars; then send the train down the track foranother round of color collecting.

Use this choo-choo chant to steer youngsters to your readingcircle.

Red caboose moves down the track.Clickety-clack. Clickety-clack.

[Orange] train car moves down the track.Clickety-clack. Clickety-clack.

Big engine moves down the track.Shiny and black. Shiny and black.Toot! Toot!

(Repeat the second verse for each car color in the book—yellow,green, blue, purple, and black. Then sing the last verse.)

After your little ones have clickety-clacked their way to your readingcircle, invite them to take an imaginary ride on the freight train as youread this story.

All aboard! A black engine pulls a line of colored train cars through tunnels, past cities,and across trestles. Brief text and bold illustrations blend to create a colorful and excitingcross-country journey.

FREIGHT TRAIN

CHALK-GONE

ART SMARTSART SMARTSPURPOSEFUL PLAYPURPOSEFUL PLAYYour little engineers can choose colors for their own color trains

with this creative choo-choo art. To begin, make several tagboardrectangle tracers. Then fill a separate shallow tray with a paint colorfor each train car: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and black.Have each child trace a row of rectangles onto a long strip of paper.To make a train engine, have the child overlap and trace two rect-angles, as shown. Have him paint each car a different color and thenpaint color streaks between the adjoining cars to give the appearanceof a speeding train. Have him complete the train by painting blackwheels on the cars. Once their color trains have dried, encourageyour little ones to take them home and share them with family mem-bers as they invent new stories about where freight trains go.

Theme: COLORS

Youngsters can toot their ownhorns in this color-recognition ac-tivity. Appoint a child to be the trainengine. Ask him to call out a colorin his own clothing. Have the otherchildren check their clothes for thenamed color. Instruct all the chil-dren wearing that color to connecthands to form a train behind theengine. Then invite the engine topull his color-coordinated train carsaround a designated train track.When the train chugs back to thestation, appoint a different child tobe the engine; then invite young-sters to play again.

STORYBOOK CAFÉSTORYBOOK CAFÉ

Give youngsters a nutritious sampling of some “tooty-fruity”

flavors with this snack. Toot! Toot!

Fruity Freight Train

Supplies:

large napkins

plastic knives

Ingredients for each child:

6 graham cracker sections

whipped topping

watermelon cube

small chunk of orange

banana slice

To make one fruity freight train:

1. Spread whipped topping on each cracker train car.

2. Line up cars; then put a different fruit on each one.

3. Add two cereal wheels to each car.

4. Roll train down the track and into tummy. Chug-a-chug-a-yum-yum!

green grape half

blueberry

purple grape half

12 pieces of Cheerios® cereal

6

purple blue brown orange green yellow redblack

GRGROOWINWINGG CCOOLLOORRSS

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Theme: COLORS

READING CIRCLEREADING CIRCLE

Written & Photographed by Bruce McMillan

—ScienceWhat colors does your garden grow? To learn more about colors that grow in the garden, invite students

to create a garden mural. To prepare, visually divide a length of white bulletin board paper into eight equalsections. Label each section with a different color: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, orblack. Then assign each child a section of the paper on which to draw. Instruct her to draw a plant thatgrows food of her given color. Refer students to the book for ideas, but also encourage them to brainstormplant foods not pictured in the book, such as apples, lettuce, and eggplant. Label each child’s drawing withthe plant name. Then display the garden mural with a leafy border. Title the display “Growing Colors.”

Take a peek through Bruce McMillan’s camera to view a cornucopia of colorsgrowing in the garden.

Call your class to storytime with this song sung to the tuneof “London Bridge.”

Red and yellow, orange and green,Purple and brown, black and blue.Colors grow for me and you.Good and tasty!

(Repeat until all of your little ones have joined the circle.)

After youngsters gather together, share the sights and colors ofGrowing Colors.

GROWING COLORS

plum

grapes

blueberries

potato

peanuts

pepper

carrots

oranges

blackberries

eggplant

beans

apple

lettuce lemons

squashstrawberries

apple

tomato

apple

Theme: COLORS

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Theme: COLORS

STORYBOOK CAFÉSTORYBOOK CAFÉ

ART SMARTSART SMARTS

PURPOSEFUL PLAYPURPOSEFUL PLAY

Challenge youngsters’ categorizingskills with this Wheel of Color game. Toprepare, cut a large circle out of bulletinboard paper for every six to eight stu-dents. Visually divide each circle intoeight segments. Color only the tip of eachsegment with a different color from aneight-count box of crayons. Then placethe crayons in a bag. To play, a group ofsix to eight students sits around the colorwheel and passes the bag from child tochild. When a signal is given, the childholding the bag removes a crayon. Thegroup identifies the crayon color and thenrotates the wheel so that the correspond-ing segment is in front of the player withthe crayon. On the segment, she drawsan item that is commonly that color, suchas a yellow banana or a red fire truck.Afterward, she returns the crayon tothe bag and passes it for the next roundof play. When these wheels go roundand round, students will create a collec-tion of color categories to display forthe enjoyment ofclassmates andclass visitors.

When youngsters make these carrot drawings, they’lldiscover that some garden foods are good for more than justeating! Invite each child to spread fingerpaint on a largesheet of fingerpaint paper. Have her use a carrot like a pencilto draw designs, pictures, or letters in the paint. To erase thedrawing, have her simply smooth out the paint and thenbegin drawing again. When each child creates a drawing shewants to keep, have her set it aside to dry. Later, invite eachchild to share her drawing with the class. Then encourageher to take her carrot art home to share with her family.

Combine these common garden foods to create a cup of

colors with a crunch!

Garden Goodies

Supplies:

clear plastic cups

plastic spoons

To make one serving of garden goodies:

1. Layer vegetables in a cup.

2. Top with dressing.

3. Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

Ingredients:

carrot rounds

squash cubes

diced red peppers

celery slices

ranch salad dressing

Lunch

for

———————

Mouse

Mackie

X Lunch

for

———————

Mouse

Mackie

X

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Theme: COLORS

READING CIRCLEREADING CIRCLE

Assemble your class for storytime with a rollicking version of thissong, sung to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb.”

Sniffle, sniffle.Crunch, crunch, crunch.Munch, munch, munch.Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Sniffle, sniffle.Crunch, crunch, crunch.This little mouse is having lunch!

(Repeat until all of your little mice have joined the circle.)

Once your munchy mice have joined you, ask them to listen tothe story to discover all the different food colors eaten by Mouse.

Written & Illustrated by Denise Fleming

—Language ArtsYoungsters will develop an appetite for reading with these mini

versions of the story. To prepare, make a class supply of page 11.Then make a class supply of the mouse patterns (page 14) ongray construction paper. Give a copy of the booklet pages andthe mouse patterns to each child. Invite each child to illustratehis booklet pages and personalize the cover. Then have himcut apart the pages and stack them in order. Hole-punch atthe dot, through the entire stack. Insert one end of a half-length pipe cleaner through the holes, bend the end towardthe stem, and then twist together to secure. Next, have himcut out the mouse patterns and glue the cutouts togetherback-to-back. Punch a hole in the mouse on the dot. Insertthe loose end of the pipe cleaner through the hole and twistclosed. To use, a child “feeds” his mouse the food as hereads each page. When he reaches the last page, he turns themouse over and puts him down for his nap. Sweet dreams!

A very hungry mouse frolics across the table, lunching on a feast of colorful fruits and vegetables.With a festive flair, this tale leaves readers eager for Mouse to return for his dinnertime eating excursion.

LUNCH