Stir-Fry- Ten Minute Meal

Stir-Fry  (Ninth of 10 Ten Minute Meals)

Cook rice, linguine, or angel hair pasta with salt, while the stir-fry is cooking.  When it is cooked drain and add a little olive oil.

Stir-Fry

• Cut 1 or 2 chicken breasts or thighs into medium-size pieces. (Can use pork, or beef.)
• Start browning chicken in olive oil in a large frying pan.
• Add about  ½  of an onion, chopped and cover with a lid and cook over medium heat for 1-2 min.
• Add 2 or 3 thinly sliced carrots, cover and cook for about 2 more minutes.
• Then add broccoli,  sliced zucchini and/or any other veggies, cover and cook for about 2 more minutes.
• Add seasoning to taste.
• After about 2 minutes add 1 cup of cold chicken broth or water mixed with 2 T. of corn starch and 1 T. soy sauce.  Cook, stirring often, until sauce thickens.  (1 or 2 minutes) If it doesn’t thicken add a little more corn starch mixed with a little cold water.
• Serve on drained pasta or rice and dinner is ready.

Note:  It is also good served without pasta or rice.

Chunky Junk

Chunky Junk

( This is fun to make when teaching the “NG” sound as in SING, KING, JUNK.  If an “N” is followed by a “K” the “N” has the “NG” sound.)

1. Melt in the micro wave for 1 minutes:

• 20 marshmallows
• ½ cube of butter
• ½ cup of peanut butter

 2. Stir and melt for 1 more minute.

 3.  Mix in:

• 1 cup Oat O’s cereal
• 1 cup Crispy Rice cereal
• 1 cup pretzels
• ½ cup peanuts
• ½ cup raisins
• ½ cup chocolate chips
• ½ cup M & Ms

4.  Spread out in buttered pan.

 5.  Cool and enjoy.

Lesson plan for Money–Penny

Money—Penny  

Objective:  Learn about pennies and how they are alike and different to other coins.

Preparations:

•     Find pictures and/or books about Abraham Lincoln and the Lincoln Memorial.
•     Trace 4 to 5 in. circles on brown paper.
•     Have pencils and scissors.
•     Have coins and some paper money.  (pennies, nickels, quarters, dimes)
•     Have word cards for these words: Money, penny, nickel, quarter, dime, and dollar.

Lesson:

• Put the word card “Money” on the table.  
• Put all the money by the word “Money”.  Read and put out the other words cards.
•  Divide the money between paper money and coins.
•  Discuss the difference and put the paper money with the “Dollar” word card. 
• Divide the coins while discussing how they are the same and different and put them with the right word card. 
• Take everything off the table except the pennies.

Use pictures or a book about pennies to discuss Abraham Lincoln and the Lincoln Memorial.  Show how there is a statue of Abraham in the Memorial and on the penny there is a small statue in the Memorial.  Show other pennies without the Memorial on the back.

Activity:

• Give each child a brown circle to cut out. 
• Then trade the scissors for a pencil to draw on the penny. 
• First draw Abraham Lincoln.  Show how to draw it in small segments.  (Draw the back and the head, then the face, then the neck and front, then the one eye, one ear and the hair.)  Accept anything they draw and encourage their efforts. 
• Next write LIBERTY along the left side, then write the year on the right side.  
• Turn it over draw the Lincoln Memorial.  (Draw a skinny rectangle at the bottom, a skinny rectangle at the top, then connect with lines or pillars, and a circle with two lines for the statue in the middle.) 
• Write USA at the top.
• ONE CENT at the bottom.

Time – Years, Months, Days of the Week

Time – Years, Months, Days of the Week

(This is a good lesson for just after the New Year.)

Objective:  Help children understand how Time Words relate to them.  (This can be taught over 2 different lessons.)

Preparation:

•  Make a word cards for the words “time”, “year”, “months of the year”, calendar”, and “days of the week”.
•  Have the months of the year on a poster or cards by the calendar.  (Picture of my school calendar included.)
•  Prepare to sing “The Months of the Year”.  (Sing to the tune of “Ten Little Indians” or some other tune you like.)
•  Prepare to sing “Today is Monday”.  (Can use Eric Carle’s book or make a pocket chart.)
• Make up a “Days of the Week” book for each child.  Downloadable PDF link:   book days of the week.
• A “Months of the Year” book could also be made. 

Lesson:

• Discuss Year.  Then put the word Year on the Calendar.  Write the Year next to the word.   (Year  2016)
• Put up the word card, “months of the year”.  Sing “The Months of the Year to the tune of Ten Little Indians:    (January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December.  These are the months of the year.)
• Find each child’s month of their birthday.  Sing the song again with each child standing when their month is sung.  Sing slowly. Talk about the current month.
• Put word card for the Days of the Week on the calendar.  Sing or read “Today is Monday”.
• Talk about the days of the week and which day is today.

Activity: Have each child make a “Days of the Week Book”. 

Have each child draw something they do on each day of the week.  Sunday-church or family dinner, Tuesday-school, Saturday-daddy plays with me, etc.  School might be more than one day, so pick out something special that happens on a particular day.  Like Thursday is Popcorn Day.

Amphibians

Amphibian Lesson

Objective:  Help children learn some of the traits for amphibians and compare to other animals.  (You may want to organize your amphibian theme activities into 2 lessons.)

Preparation:

• Find drawings or pictures of frogs, toads and salamanders from books, magazines or old calendars.
• Cut sheets of legal size papers in half lengthwise and accordion fold it them into 4 sections. Have crayons, pencils or markers for the children to draw with.
• Gather materials: Paper plates; Green, red and white construction paper; Watercolor paint and glue.  (Optional second day activity.  Paint the paper plate green on the first day.)
• Find a book to read about the life cycle of a frog. Some excellent books are:     Tadpole to Frog by Jan Kottke    Fantastic Frogs by Fay Robinson   The Big Wide-mouthed Frog, by Ana Martin Larranaga

Lesson:

What is an amphibian?

1. Amphibians are animals that metamorphose from a water animal to a land animal.
2. Amphibians include frogs, toads and salamanders. Show pictures and discuss differences
3. Toads have dry, warty skin, while frogs have smooth, wet skin.
4. Frogs have tiny teeth on both upper and lower jaws, while toads do not have teeth.
5. Frogs have longer hind legs than toads. So frogs jump, while toads hop.
6. Salamanders have a long body and a tail. Frogs and toads are shorter and have no tail.

Define metamorphosis and discuss.  Change of physical form

Discussion questions:

1. What information about amphibians did you like the most?
2. What are the main differences between a frog and toad?
3. What is a tadpole?
4. What other animals change or go through metamorphosis? Butterflies
5. Where does a tree frog live? In the trees of the rain forest.
6. Where does a bull frog live? In freshwater ponds, lakes and marshes.

Read a book and discuss each stage of the life cycle:

1. Eggs.
2. Tadpoles have gills, similar to fish, covered and protected by a flap of skin. As they continue to develop, their hind legs form and grow. Then their tail begins to shrink and the front legs appear.
3. Soon the gills are gone, and the tadpole begins to breathe air at the surface, with his brand new lungs.
4. Soon after transforming into froglets or toadlets, they begin life out of the water and start eating insects.

Activities:

• The Frog Life Cycle Book  Accordion fold a half sheet of legal size paper into four pages. Label each page as follows: Eggs; Tadpoles; Tadpoles with legs; Adult or Frog. Write “Frogs” on the front for the title.  Have the child draw a picture to go with each stage.  Have the child write their names on their book.
•  
• Frog Puppet  Watercolor a paper plate green and let dry. Fold plate in half and cut out four long legs and glue them in the middle of the plate. Cut a red tongue to place between the legs. For eyes cut two place half circles and two white circles these are glued on for the eyes on the front of the frog. You can make the frog rib-bit by pressing down on the folded plate.

Lesson for the Letter Sound for Mm

Letter Mm

Objective:  To help children recognize the Mm sound in words, the letter Mm and other letters .

Preparation: 

• Have Phonics By Spelling books and music.  We have lesson plans with more fun phonetic sound ideas at our website. http://www.phonicsbyspelling.com/
• Have cookies for each child.
• Collect some pictures with the Mm sound as the beginning sound and letter, and some other pictures for others to compare.
• Copy the Nursery Rhyme “Three Little Kittens”.
• Have their name cards.
• Print and make Millie books for each child.  (Cut, fold and staple on the left.)  reader millie
• Have capital and lower case letters or  magnet letters . 

 Lesson:

Listen to at least 10 songs in Phonics By Spelling books including Mm.  Touch each letter, picture, and spelling.  Enjoy the chants.

Replay the “Mm Millie’s Yummy Cookie ” song.  Give each child a cookie.  (Or pretend to give each a cookie.)  Take small bites together.  Say “Mmmm” after each bite.  (Keep your mouth closed, and make sure there is no Uh at the end.)

Read the Nursery Rhyme “Three Little Kittens”.  

• Three little kittens lost their mittens,
•     and they began to cry,
• “Oh, mother dear, we sadly fear
•     Our mittens we have lost!
• “What! Lost your mittens,
•      you naughty kittens!
• Then you shall have no pie.”
•      “Meow, meow, meow!”
• Three little kittens found their mittens,
•     and they began to cry,
• “Oh! mother dear, see here, see here,
•     Our mittens we have found.”
• “What! Found your mittens,
•     you good little kittens,
• Then you shall have some pie.”
•     “Purr, purr, purr.”

Talk about words that have the Mm sound.  Review other sounds.  Do any of the words have the Ll sound?  Or Hh?   Etc.

Show pictures of things that have the Mm sound at the beginning, and some other pictures.  “Which pictures have the “Millie’s Yummy Cookie” sound?”  Use sticky notes to add some Mm words to the letter Mm wall card.  (me, my, mom, man)

Take the children’s name cards and see who has an Mm in their name.

Activities:  

Letter Matching:  With a small group, randomly give each child some letters (Capital and Lowercase).  Ask who has the Aa letters.  Put them together on the table.  Then ask for the Bb’s.  Continue until you have all the letters.  Then sing the alphabet song.  It is fun to sing the song differently by singing A, a, B, b, C, c, etc.  (You have to do the tune through twice.)  

 Millie book:  Give each child a book then read together each page and have them draw the picture that goes with each page.  Have them read the book to their family.