Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Activities and Projects
Alphabet and Number Lessons for Kindergarten and 1st Grade Students
Jun 21, 2009
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault [Simon & Schuster, 1989] is a children’s story about what happens when the letters of the alphabet climb up a coconut tree. This simple story with repetitive phrases is a favorite of elementary teachers and can be used to teach and review letter identification, upper and lowercase letters, ABC order and numbers.
Make Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Counting Coconut Tree Books
Kindergarten and first grade students can create their own Chicka Chicka Boom Boom books after reading the original story. Kids can either rewrite the story with numbers climbing and falling from the coconut tree or create a counting coconut book.
To make a coconut nut tree counting book teachers give students 11 pages with a coconut tree on each one for the students to color. The students then cut coconut shapes out of brown paper. Starting on the second page the kids glue a coconut on each page to represent the numbers one through ten. The teacher helps the kids label the number of coconuts on each page.
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Letter Bulletin Board
Primary teachers cover a bulletin board with orange or pink paper and attach a large coconut tree to the center of the board. The teacher explains the concept of initials to the class and has the students each identify their initials.
The Kindergarten and first grade students trace, cut out, and decorate their first initial. All of the students’ letter are then attached to the bulletin board with their photos.
Uppercase Lowercase Letter Match Game
Primary kids can practice identifying upper and lowercase letters after reading the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. To create the uppercase lowercase letter match game the teacher paints a coconut tree on a magnetic cookie sheet.
After the paint on the tree has dried the teacher paints lowercase letters going up into the tree. The students play the game by placing uppercase magnet letters on the corresponding lowercase letter on the coconut tree.
Make Handprint Coconut Trees With ABC Pasta Letters
Kindergarten and first grade students can demonstrate understanding of the story Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by recreating a scene from the book. Kids can make the coconut tree from the book by placing upside down overlapping handprints onto a piece of paper to create the leaves of the tree. They then paint a brown trunk underneath it.
Once the tree has dried the primary students decide which scene from the book they would like to recreate. Uncooked ABC pasta is glued onto the tree to represent the letters from the story. Popular scenes include when the letters begin to climb up the tree and when they all fall down.
There are many projects and activities Kindergarten and first grade students can complete after reading the story Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault. Students can practice numbers by making coconut tree counting books and learn what an initial is and create a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom bulletin board. Kids can use a magnetic Chicka Chicka Boom Boom match game to practice identifying lowercase and uppercase letters and use handprints and ABC pasta to recreate a scene from the story.
For more Chicka Chicka Boom Boom lesson plan and bulletin board ideas teachers can read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Elementary Lesson Plan and Kindergarten 1st Day of School Activity. The Very Hungry Caterpillar Kindergarten Lesson can also be to teach counting skills, the days of the week, and the butterfly life cycle.
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