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!
We kicked off CCBB with this awesome activity from Julie Lee at Mrs. Lee’s Kindergarten.
The Mister blew 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 and make slits to slide a sentence strip through. The label sentence stips vertically with uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and names.
We read the chant and I slide letters through the opening and they read the letters. Last year to make this a little easier to prep and use, we used Post It Notes instead of the sentence strips!
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!
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.
We also taste the coconut milk and taste the coconut meat! We graph our results!
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 Snack
Graham crackers, apple slices, whoppers and letter animal crackers!
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Math And Literacy Centers
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Freebies
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4 comments
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/
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
What do you do when they cuss? How do you handle it?
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!!!!!!