Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!

Mrs. Smith
Sep 28, 2019
3 min read

This week we dove into our “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” unit based on the book by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault.

Here is a look at the corresponding activities for the week!

Interactive Read Aloud

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is such a fun story to read over and over again. We read the story every day this week and the children LOVED it every time! The students quickly learned the pattern and chimed in! "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, will there be enough room?!" During our interactive read aloud we read the story together and placed magnetic letters on the whiteboard as we heard them in the book. We also discussed what happened in the story. What are the letters doing? Why did they get hurt? Why did the coconut tree fall down?

Where’s That Crazy Coconut?

The kiddos had a blast playing this math game that reinforces number identification. To play the game I placed number cards in order in a pocket chart. Then I hid the "crazy coconut" behind one of the numbers. The students took turns coming up to the chart. They pointed to a number and said the number out loud to the class. If they named the number correctly they got to take the number off the chart. And of course, with bated breath, we all waited to see if the CRAZY COCONUT was behind the number that was chosen. The 'winner' was the person who finds that crazy coconut behind their number.

Journals - Young Authors at Work!

During journals the kiddos practice telling a story and drawing a picture to match. The children dictate their story to an adult, and the adult types up their words. Dictated stories are an excellent way to introduce a young child to writing stories when he or she is too young to write. During journals we tell the kids the topic or the specific question and then ask them to begin their story. We type the words as they speak. We do not correct the child's grammar or pronunciation as we go. Sometimes we ask questions to encourage the child to give more details. When the child says that their story is over we read it back to them. We ask, "Does that sound the way you want it to sound?" "Do you want to change something or add anything?" We make any chances if necessary and then we print and glue their story onto their picture. You will see all of their stories at the end of the year!

This week the journal question was - “Can you tell me what happens in the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom?” Below are some of the kiddos responses:

"Oh no! Because it was too heavy. They let them up and they fell onto the ground. And then “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom”! G is out of breath." -L

"All the letters fall down. They are climbing up Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The coconut fell." -Z

"The letters fall down! They are shaking the tree. There are leaves." -B

"All of the children fall down. All of the ABC’s. J and K were about to cry because I and H were climbing up the coconut tree. And the sun goes down. There's the moon and A was out of bed." -A

"Everybody kissed their mom and papa. These letters went up the tree and fell down because they couldn’t find their momma and papa." -E

STEM: Can you build an alphabet tree? How many letters does it hold?

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Craft

Hanging Monkey's

This week we introduced a new game. During the game the players attempt to hang their monkeys from the tree as carefully as possible without causing it to collapse. The first player to successfully hang all of their monkeys is the winner. If the tree collapses the game is over and the players start again. The game promotes fine motor development as well as reinforces counting, color and number recognition!

Letter Match

The children worked on both fine motor development and letter recognition using stickers and craft sticks. The children were instructed to peel the stickers and then stick them on top of the matching letter.

Zoo Phonics

This week we learned all about Francy Fish and Gordo Gorilla! What sound does Francy Fish make? What does Gordo Gorilla like to eat?

Reading Buddies

Reading buddies is one of our favorite activities during the week. It not only creates such a wonderful community for the children but it helps our Pre-K kids grow as readers. The Pre-K kids are also helping the Sixth Graders improve their reading fluency. It also has a positive impact on writing, speaking and spelling!