Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

Show of hands…who loves Chicka Chicka Boom Boom? This is such a classic beginning of the year read aloud that’s full of possibility for lessons and activities and making the first days of school fun! But true story….I ordered a copy of the big book from Scholastic a few years ago and when it arrived, the pages were printed in the wrong order. So they sent me a new one and the pages were all glued together. Finally my third copy was a charm! Here are some of our favorite Chicka Chicka Boom Boom ideas! Or as the kids say…Chicken Chicken Boom Boom!

Chicka Chicka Boom BOOM!

The Mister blows up 26 balloons (yeah, he rocks!) and we put 26 letters in the balloons. The letters were printed on colored paper and rolled up. So, print the letters, cut out and roll them up super small. Insert them into the balloon and then blow up the balloons and tie them!

Then pop the balloons and match lowercase and uppercase letters and identify the letters and sounds!

SUPER FUN! SUPER LOUD! (Watch the video below!)

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Predictable Chart

Our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom predictable chart is a great shared reading activity that builds fluency and helps us with letter and name recognition. To prep, make the chart on chart paper (labels included in our Read It Up creation). Use sticky notes for uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and names.

We read the chant and I place a sticky note on the chart and they read the letters.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Letters, Numbers, And Words Sort

This is a great activity for the beginning of the year because sorting is a higher order thinking skill for our students and it gives us some early insight into our students’ understanding of letters, numbers and words! Each studetn chooses a card from the bowl, the class identifies it as a letter, number or word. We identify the letter (and sound), the number and we repeat the word and glue it to the chart! Then the students do their own sort!

THIS ACTIVITY IS INCLUDED IN OUR READ IT UP: CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM RESOURCE!

Letter Hunts

This velcro CCBB tree came from Lakeshore Learning but I also found it on Amazon! CLICK HERE TO GET THIS TREE AND THE LETTERS!

Throw the letters in a a bag or basket. Pass the bag around. The students grab a letter. Identify the letter and sound and even a word for the letter and they place it on the tree!

Go on a letter hunt! Fill a bucket with sand. I found PINK and ORANGE sand from Crayola so we used that. But any sand will work. Bury magnetic letters in the sand. Students dig out a letter, identify the letter and the sound. Then we put the letter on the board in ABC order!

This year, for our letter hunts, we will be using our AlphaPals letter pillows! They’re giant, they’re soft and FUN! They’re the perfect addition to your Chicka Chicka Boom Boom lessons!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Interactive Lesson

This is always one of my favorite lessons to kick of the school year because the kids crack up while we do this lesson. It’s a highly engaging and EASY lesson to practice letters and sounds. And it’s a great way to bring the story to life in the classroom!

I made my costume using brown sweatpants and a brown hoodie. The hat is a plastic safari hat with fake palm leaves glued on. The letters are felt sticker letters from the Target Dollar Spot.

Place the letters in a bag/bowl. Students come up, choose a letter, the class identifies the letter and the sound. The student gets to add the letter to the coconut tree! The chant goes: “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! Will there be enough room? Here comes (letter) up the coconut tree!”

And in the middle of this lesson, in August, in the south, the fire alarm will sound. You will be forced to stand outside, in the heat and humidity, while wearing a sweatsuit with cars driving by for 30 minutes. Just so you know…

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Math

Read Chicka Chicka 1, 2, 3 and make a fun numbers and counting game! Make a giant palm tree out of construction paper. Write numbers 0-10 on the tree. Then make a giant ten frame from construction paper and duct tape. Laminate. Or make a giant ten frame using tape or Sit Spots Tape Gather 10-20 paper plates. Students toss a bean bag onto the tree. Identify the number and make the ten frame.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Five Senses

Grab a coconut. I found mine at Kroger for about $3. You’ll also need a hammer and a screwdriver to open the coconut! True story. Use the coconut to talk about the five senses. Pass the coconut around and have students describe the coconut. Then we taste coconut and graph whether we like the taste of coconut. For the taste test, I use coconut water and coconut shavings!

And then you can use the coconut for a science lesson on sink or float!

We graph our results! The labels and recording sheets are included in our READ IT UP creation!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Art Projects

We made sandpaper and feather Chicka Chicka Boom Boom trees! Super fun. And there’s always one who puts the tree on backwards….always!

We painted Chicka Chicka Boom Boom trees with our hands and arms! SUPER FUN!

Of course we had to make a CCBB hat! DUH!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Snacks

Graham crackers, apple slices, whoppers and letter animal crackers!

Pudding, Whoppers, Laffy Taffy, Chocolate Icing, Pirouette Creme cookies from Pepperidge Farms.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Math And Literacy Centers

We also made a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom sensory bin using pink and orange rice, plastic coconuts and plastic palm trees. The cards are included in our ABC and 123 resource!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Freebies

For more information and ideas, check out these posts:

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Greg Smedley-Warren

Howdy, I am Mr. Greg. I have been teaching for 11 years. I spent a year teaching fifth grade, two years in second grade and am now in my 9th year in Kindergarten. Kindergarten is my passion and my calling but honestly, that wasn’t how it started. Read the whole story >

Introducing Centers – SmorgieVision

4 comments

Carol Beaumont August 27, 2014 at 1:14 pm

Hi Greg, I'm Carol Beaumont, one of your attendees at the blog panel session in July at the TPT Conference. I have enjoyed reading your kindergarten adventures (I am a sixth grade teacher) and your post today reminded me of the “cussers” at our school. A new kindergartner entering our school last year came to school and his parents filled out the emergency card. On the place where parents write the language that is spoken in the home, the parents wrote “English and Profanity”. Nice. And yes, this little guy had some inappropriate words flying around the classroom. Have a great day at school and take care, Carol of The Teacher Team http://theteacherteam.com/

NiseyT August 28, 2014 at 2:43 am

Love reading all about your daily adventures! We are going to do the popping of the balloons and matching the letters tomorrow. Thanks for the video tutorial. Good luck with your cussers.
Denise

Linda Bland August 30, 2014 at 3:51 am

What do you do when they cuss? How do you handle it?

Mom0067 August 31, 2014 at 3:50 pm

Thank you so much for all you do. You are an inspiration. I just typed a whole comment, but it didn't show up. I just wanted to say bless you for ALL that you do. You are amazing. I am starting my 14th year of teaching Kindergarten, but I am following right along with you. Because you are awesome!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!