Read Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells aloud to your class, then discuss the characters' feelings and things that make your students happy. This School Readiness Activity provides early language thinking experiences for preschool children that will prepare them to do well in the early grades.
Grades:
Describing Things that Make You Happy
Purpose/Skills
- To identify and describe feelings
- To build vocabulary
Materials
Drawing paper and markers or crayons
happy
why
how
describe
Literature Suggestion
Read Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells, or any book with happy characters.
Ask children what they do when they are happy. Have them tell you in words and then show you.
(Examples: smile, laugh, giggle, jump up and down, turn around in a circle, clap)
Procedure
- Read the book.
- Ask children what makes the characters in the story happy.
- Look at the illustrations and talk about the characters' feelings and actions.
- Ask children how they can tell how the characters are feeling.
- Ask children to describe a favorite thing to do at your program and why it makes them happy.
Ask for volunteers, but encourage every child to participate. - If necessary, prompt children by naming activities you've seen them enjoy.
Enrichment
Write children's names and the activities they mention on drawing paper and have children draw themselves and what makes them happy. Then add text to the pictures as children dictate what their pictures show.
Observation Assessment
- Proficient - The child clearly says a sentence or two about an activity and explains why it makes them happy.
- In Process - The child tries to talk about an activity, but gets distracted or starts to mumble, making it difficult for most people to be sure what the child is talking about.
- Not Yet Ready - Child does not yet focus on the activity, cannot describe the activity, or speaks inaudibly.
