E is for...

Another vowel--tricky to talk about with preschool age children.  Once more I choose to focus on the short "e" sound, since that is the sound they will use for most beginning words they will sound out such as "peg".  Our books were about an elephant and eggs.  We sang about eggs and elves.

Books

Where's Tumpty?  by: Polly Dunbar

Eggs 1, 2, 3:  Who will the babies be?  by: Janet Halfmann

Songs/Rhymes/Fingerplays

E-I-E-I-O

Chickens lay eggs,
This we know,
E-I-E-I-O
And from those eggs
Chickens grow
E-I-E-I-O

There's a chicken egg here
And a chicken egg there.
Here an egg, there an egg
Everywhere a chicken egg.

Chickens lay eggs,
This we know,
E-I-E-I-O!

There's an Elf on the Floor

There's an elf on the floor, on the floor
There's an elf on the floor, on the floor.
Who could ask for any more
Than an elf on the floor?
There's an elf on the floor, on the floor.

There's an elf on my leg, on my leg
There's an elf on my leg, on my leg.
Oh, he isn't very big,
This elf on my leg
There's an elf on my leg, on my leg.

There's an elf on my tummy, on my tummy
There's an elf on my tummy, on my tummy.
Oh it's really very funny,
There's an elf on my tummy
There's an elf on my tummy, on my tummy.

There's an elf on my arm, on my arm
There's an elf on my arm, on my arm.
He doens't mean any harm,
There's an elf on my arm
There's an elf on my arm, on my arm.

There's an elf on my face, on my face
There's an elf on my face, on my face.
Oh, what a big disgrace,
There's an elf on my face
There's an elf on my face, on my face.

There's an elf on my head, on my head
There's an elf on my head, on my head.
Did you hear what I just said?
There's an elf on my head!
There's an elf on my head, on my head.

There's an elf on the floor, on the floor
There's an elf on the floor, on the floor.
Who could ask for any more
Than an elf on the floor?
There's an elf on the floor, on the floor.

Humpty Dumpty

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the kings horses and all the kings men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

As we did our animal good-byes I had the children tell me whether the animal came from an egg.  They thought I was teasing when I told them dinosaurs came from eggs!


Enrichment Activities

• Humpty Dumpty Puzzle (from Literacy Centers & Activities for Nursery Rhymes, Volume 1, p. 48)
• Egg sort (sounds)  I filled twelve plastic eggs with six different small objects.  Children shake the eggs and find the ones that sound the same.
• Practice writing the letter E (Four straight lines)
• Lacing Cards