Rainforest

World Rainforest Day is celebrated on June 22. It was started on June 22nd, 2017 by Rainforest Partnership. It was launched to raise awareness and encourage action to protect the world’s rainforests.

There are two types of rainforests (temperate rainforests and tropical rainforests). Tropical rainforest are located about 10 degrees north and south of the equator. An example is the Amazon rainforest. Temperate rainforest are located in only certain areas around the world. Two examples of a temperate rainforest are the Hoh Rainforest and the Valdivian rainforest. The Hoh Rainforest is located in Washington state in the United States. The Valdivian temperate rainforest is located in Chile and parts of Argentina. Learn more about rainforest from the below websites.

These are some of the photos I took at the Hoh Rainforest. We visited this rainforest on June 25, 2015. At the time I did not know that World Rainforest Day is celebrated on June 22nd.

It looks like the above photo is of an eagle soaring high in the skies. It might be a bald eagle or some other type of eagle. View other animals at Olympic National Park: Animals.

Watch a live stream video at World Rainforest Day or on World Rainforest Live Stream | YouTube.

Facts
Rainforest | mbgnet.net

Rainforest and Amazon Facts | National Geographic

Rainforest Animals and Plants
11 Amazing Rainforest Animals

Animal Facts Encyclopedia: Rainforest Animals

The Animal Spot Rainforest

Tropical Rainforest Animals and Plants with Pictures and Names

Rainforest Books
Over In The Rain Forest This book uses the common song, "Over In The Meadow".  A great way to introduce different animals that live in the rain forest and to reinforce numbers (1-10).

The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry

The Umbrella by Jan Brett

Coloring
The Umbrella Coloring Mural

Dramatic Play

Play different rainforest sounds or animal sounds (or music).

Pretend you are in a rainforest. Hear the rain falling from the sky (Play an audio). See the tall tree ... See the ... flying above you. Can you hear the sound it is making? (Play an audio of that animal.)  Hear the wings flapping. Pretend to flap your wings. Walk like a ... The ... monkey is going from tree to tree.  Pretend you are moving from tree to tree. Oh, it grabbed a ... What color is the ...? Pretend to eat a ...  Shh.  Here comes a ...  Be very quiet. Don't move. Oh, there he goes. You can walk now.

Basically, use your imagination.

Drama
A Rainforest Adventure: The Play

Virtual Resources
Amazon Interactive | eduweb

NATURE: Amazon Rainforest: An Interactive Experience

Virtual Rainforest by Gerald R. Urquhart

Videos
Explore the Rainforest! | Ecology for Kids

Rainforest Animals for Children – Jungle Animal Sounds and Rainforest Wildlife | Kiddopedia  - This video has animal sounds and information about 40 different animals.

Virtual Field Trip - Amazon Rainforest | YouTube

Story Videos
A Trip to the Rainforest

Resources
Characteristics of the Tropical Equatorial Rainforest -- There is a video on this page.

Rainforest Alliance

Sea Turtles

World Sea Turtle Day is celebrated on June 16.

June 16th is World Sea Turtle Day!

Turtles and Tortoises Located on this blog.

This was posted on the Turtles, Sea Turtles, and Tortoise page (now Turtles and Tortoises) on May 25, 2020. I have created a separate page because there is so much information out there about sea turtles.

Sea Turtles Fact Videos
Happy World Sea Turtle Day | Nature | PBS
Sea Turtles 101 | National Geographic
Turtle Time! | What Sam Sees | National Geographic Kids
Videos | National Geographic

Sea Turtles
The Leatherback is the largest sea turtle.

Find a Species: Sea Turtles | NOAA.gov
What is the largest sea turtle? | NOAA.gov
800-pound endangered sea turtle nests on Melbourne Beach - Leatherback Sea Turtle
Leatherback Turtle

Information About Turtles
Sea Turtle Conservancy
Turtles of South Africa | Oceans Africa

Interactive
Sea Turtle Lifecyle | SWOT

Educational Resources
Educational Initiatives: Educator’s Guide & Lessons | Sea Turtle Conservancy

Online Games
Education: Kids Corner: Games | Sea Turtle Conservancy
WaterLife: Sea Turtles and the Quest to Nest | NOAA.gov

Books
I'll Follow the Moon by Stephanie Lisa Tara
The Life Cycles of a Sea Turtle by Bobbie Kalman
One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies
Sea Turtle Journey by Lorraine A. Jay
Sea Turtles by Gail Gibbons

Read Aloud Books
One Tiny Turtle | Ms. Shelly's Read Aloud
Sea Turtles by Gail Gibbons 

Read Alouds

Authors Reading Their Books
Abiyoyo - Read by Pete Seeger on Reading Rainbow

From Head to Toe - Read by Eric Carle

The Very Hungry Caterpillar read by Eric Carle

Where's Spot? - Read by Eric Hill 

Diane Alber Read Alouds

Actors and Actresses Reading Books
Hop on Pop Read by Martin Freeman

Karen Grassie Story Time - Karen Grassie is the actress who played Caroline Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie. She was the mother.

Strega Nona - Read by Mary Steenburgen

Oh, the Places You'll Go! Read by Liv Tyler

Books Read Online
Chester's Way read/signed by Vanessa Marano & Katie Leclerc written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes

Dr Seuss on the Loose!

Harry the Dirty Dog read by Betty White written by Gene Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham

The Hula-Hoopin' Queen read by Oprah Winfrey written by Thelma Lynne Godin and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

The Kissing Hand read by Barbara Bain written by Audrey Penn, illustrated by Ruth E. Harper and Nancy M. Leak

Little Owl's Night by Divya Srinivasan - Animated

The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and The Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood | Reading with Miss Sara and Friends

Little Owl's Night - Animated

One Tiny Turtle | Ms. Shelly's Read Aloud

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
Owl Babies Picture Book Animation

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

Sea Turtles by Gail Gibbons

Stellaluna read by Pamela Reed written and illustrated by Janell Cannon

The Tale of Peter Rabbit read by Rose Byrne written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter

The Rainbow Fish read by Ernest Borgnine written and illustrated by Marcus Pfister

Story Times 
Ms. Shelly's Read Aloud
 
Reading with Miss Sara and Friends

StorylineOnline

World Book Day Storytime Online 

Oceans

June is National Ocean Month.

Virtual Field Trips
Oceans of Fun Virtual Field Trips - Find various videos about different animals. There are some that includes crafts.

Ocean Books
Commotion in the Ocean by Giles Andreae

Ocean Craft
Under the Sea Craft
Make lots of fish, and other sea animals (octopus, whales, sharks, etc). Tape or hang them in a box. You can glue blue paper in the box or paint it blue.

Information
Birch Aquarium - Including facts, teacher resources, coloring pages, and more.

Celebrate the Ocean | NOAA.gov

Gateway to online Natural History Notebooks by the Canadian Museum of Nature

National Aquarium

National Aquarium Virtual Tours

Oceans of Fun

SeaWorld - Including Teacher Resources (Classroom Activities, Teacher Guides, and Saving a Species (which includes videos)

Shedd Aquarium

Interactive Links
Deep Sea | Neal.fun

Story Maps and other GIS-related projects Marine, Ocean, and other resources

Whales in the Sea: Aquarium of the Pacific

Games
Interactive Games | SEA (Sea.Earth.Atmosphere) | NOAA.gov

Lessons
Lessons | NOAA.gov

Coloring Pages and Teacher Resources
Birch Aquarium - Including facts, teacher resources, coloring pages, and more.

Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration: Education Links - Wetland Curriculum, Activity Books, Extra Resources (Teacher Resources), and more

Endangered Species: Save Our Species Coloring Book | EPA.gov

Kidzone: Ocean Themed Math Pages

Ocean Animals Coloring Pages

Oceans of Fun

The Keiki Page Presents The Color Box - This is the official site of Tammy Yee. She is an author and illustrator of children's books.

South Florida Water Management District: Education Center

Crafts and Activities
DLTK's Ocean Crafts and Activities for Children

Preschool Themes
Some of the activities can be used with older children.
 
Ocean | Perpetual Preschool

Ocean Life | Preschool Education - Arts & crafts, games & outdoors, music & songs, and snacks.

Sea Animals Theme | Everything Preschool

Ladybug Theme

Ladybug, ladybug, ladybugs everywhere! We all know this cute insect as a ladybug. It is called a ladybug, a lady beetle, or ladybird (in Britain). If you have plants or weeds, the you have one happy bug. They are hunting for bugs to eat. Having these fun ladybugs around is excellent for the environment, your health, and the health of the ones around you. If you let nature take over then there will not be all the bad pesticides that harms everything. Save your environment (and yourself and others) by having ladybugs in your garden.

Here are some photos I took.

March 22, 2020
Ladybug on a Little John Bottlebrush

March 31, 2020

March 15, 2011 

Ladybugs on a Brittlebush

BOOKS

Ladybug Non-Fiction Books
A Ladybug's Life (Nature Upclose) by John Himmelman
Are You A Ladybug? (Backyard Books) by Judy Allen
Creepy Beetles! (Hello Science Reader! Level 2) by Fay Robinson
The Ladybug and Other Insects (A First Discovery Book) Scholastic by Pascale de Bourgoing and Gallimard Jeunesse
A Ladybug Larva Grows Up (Scholastic News Nonfiction Readers) by Katie Marsico
Lady Bug (Life Cycles) by David M. Schwartz
Ladybugs (Minibeasts) by
Ladybugs: Red, Fiery, and Bright by Mia Posada
Spotted Beetles: Ladybugs in Your Backyard (Backyard Bugs) by Nancy Loewen

Ladybug Fiction Board Books 
Five Little Ladybugs by Melanie Gerth
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
The Little Ladybug by Jourdan Devant
Ladybug, Ladybug by Ruth Brown
Ladybug on the Move by Richard Fowler
Little Ladybug Finger Puppet Book by Chronicle Books
Mr. and Mrs. Ladybug's Morning Walk by Mahogony Lee
The Curious Little Ladybug by JoAda Marie Niklas
The Very Lazy Ladybug by Isobel Finn
Ten Little Ladybugs Board Book by Melanie Gerth

Facts
Ladybugs | National Geographic
Ladybugs | National Geographic Kids

PATTERNS
Pattern Station: Ladybugs | Preschool Express

CRAFTS

Ladybug Rock Craft
Wash a smooth rock.
Let dry.
Paint the rock red.
Let dry.
Paint a face on it.
Paint black spots on its back.
Let dry.

3D Paper Ladybug Craft With Template | Easy Peasy and Fun
Bugs and Insect Crafts | DLTK

SNACKS

Healthy Snacks

Healthy Ladybug Bread
Take a biscuit or flat roll and spread strawberry cream cheese on it. (Daiya Cheese has a dairy-free version). Place raisins on the cream cheese to make a head and spots on its back. Enjoy!

Cracker Ladybugs
Spread dairy or non dairy strawberry cream cheese on a cracker. If dairy-free or gluten-free, use safe crackers. If desired, you can use a toothpick and make a line down the middle of the ladybug. Put some raisins or chocolate chips on the frosting.

FOOD ALLERGY TIPS: If you are doing this is a school, church, daycare, or other setting, please follow the below instructions.
WASH YOUR HANDS AND DRY ON A CLEAN TOWEL OR PAPER TOWEL.
USE A CLEAN KNIFE.
DO NOT CROSS-CONTAMINATE THE UTENSILS.

Non Healthy Snacks

Ladybug Graham Crackers
Use graham crackers. (This won't look the shape of a round ladybug but using frosting and raisins or chocolate chips will make it look more like a ladybug.) Frost 1/2 a graham cracker with white/red/pink/orange/yellow frosting (or other colors; especially if there are food restrictions and/or if you want to talk about a certain type of ladybug).  You can use colored sugar instead of colored frosting. If desired, you can use a toothpick and make a line down the middle of the ladybug. Put some raisins or chocolate chips on the frosting.

Note: Natural food dye is always the best option.

Math: Count the spots on your ladybug.

Ladybug Sugar Cookies
Make round sugar cookies. Frost the cookie with red/pink/white frosting (or other colors; especially if there are food restrictions and/or if you want to talk about a certain type of ladybug). Note: Some ladybugs are pink or white. If desired, you can use a toothpick and make a line down the middle of the ladybug. Put some raisins or chocolate chips on the frosting.

Note: Natural food dye is always the best option.

Math: Count the spots on your ladybug.


MATH

Printables Games
Ladybug Addition Math Games | 123Homeschoo4me

VIDEOS
Wing folding/unfolding in Ladybugs | YouTube

ONLINE GAMES

Easy Games
Lady Bug Maze | A Kid's Heart
Ladybugs Maze | Primary Games

Challenging Games
Ladybug (Match the Colors) | safekidgames - "Catch these little critters as fast as you can! Connect all the ladybugs of the same color as quickly as possible."

Giving and Receiving: Eric Carle Visit - Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

On this episode, author and illustrator, Eric Carle visits.

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Talks About Giving and Receiving 1721

Story Corner: Eric Carle Reads - Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

This is a clip from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood where Eric Carle reads From Head to Toe.

The full episode is located at the below link. It shows more detail how Eric Carle creates his artwork for "From Head to Toe".

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Talks About Giving and Receiving 1721

Ms. Shelly's Read Aloud

Find various books at: Ms. Shelly's Read Aloud

Turtles and Tortoises

World Turtle Day is celebrated on May 23rd.

Learn more at:
World Turtle Day
Happy World Turtle Day! | SeaLife Melbourne

Let us remember to be kind to turtle by helping preserve these precious animals.

Sea Turtles Located on this blog.

Turtles and Tortoise Fact Videos
Turtle vs Tortoise | BBC Documentary | National Geographic - This documentary is just under an hour long.
Videos | National Geographic

Box Turtles

All about box turtles | Welcome Wildlife

Crafts and Activities
Animal Crafts - Turtle Craft | Danielle's Place
Tic-Tac-Toe Turtle
Turtle Crafts and Activities for Kids | DLTK

Fun and Games
Education: Kids Corner | Sea Turtle Conservancy - Games, Activities, Artwork, and Heroes
Find the Pictures Hidden in the Sea! | NIEHS.gov

Counting
How Many? | A Child's Place
Turtle Dot-to-Dot 1-21 | afunk

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Mr. Popper's Penguins is one of my favorite books. I read this book in January of 2014. It has the funniest situations in it. It sure made me laugh (and cry from laughing so hard). I enjoyed it so much that I bought it from Amazon.com.

(Note: This post was originally posted on my Desert Blossom Learning blog. I have added it to this page too.)

Other labels: Mr. Popper's Penguins, penguin theme, penguin theme unit

Spot & Eric Hill

Spot's First Walk is one of my favorite books that I enjoyed reading to my children when they were younger (a long time ago). It is written by Eric Hill.

Fun with Spot - Includes an interview with Eric Hill, Eric Hill fact file, and Fun & Games,
Here is the actual link of the interview with Eric Hill in 2007. Want to learn how to draw Spot? You can see Eric Hill draw spot at 2:33 in the interview.

Read Aloud
Eric Hill reads 'Where's Spot?'

Spot's First Walk - Reading with Miss Sara and Friends

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear Book Ideas

One of my favorite children's book is called, The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear. It was written by Don and Audrey Wood. It was illustrated by Don Wood. Don Wood was born on May 4 in the United States. To read more about this author, visit: Don Wood: Scholastic.

The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear Book Ideas

Literature
Recommended grades for this book are Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade. Of course, adults enjoy reading this book too. :0)

Read the book or have it read to you by visiting the below YouTuber.

Read Aloud
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and The Big Hungry Bear | Reading with Miss Sara and Friends - YouTube
Note: Her YouTube channel was created in March 2020. She has the comments turned off.

Snack Ideas
Eat strawberries like the mouse did in the book.

Crafts
- Draw a mouse eating a strawberry. Add any detail to your drawing.
- Draw yourself eating a strawberry with or without the mouse.

Language Arts
- Look for different parts of speech in the book. You can list them on the board, white board, etc. For example, the below words you will find these words in the title of the book.
- Create an activity for the age of the children.

The following words are adjectives: little, big, hungry, red, ripe
The following words are nouns: mouse, bear, strawberry
The following word is a conjunction: and
The following word is a determiner: the

For Grade 1, the typical course of study includes adjectives and nouns.

Skill: Use and identify common, proper, and possessive nouns
- You can talk about common nouns that are found in this book (mouse, bear, strawberry, etc.).

- What type of noun is the word...?

Resources:
Core Standards: ELA: Language: Grade 1

Other grades are listed at World Book Typical Course of Study for the different subjects.

Science
I will add ideas to this section at a later time.

* Research on the below nouns that are found in this book.

Strawberries
Mouse
Bear

Math
I will add ideas to this section at a later time.

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Another one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books is called Oh, the Places You'll Go!. This is a perfect book for everyone to know the places will go. It is great for those that are graduating in 2020 during this time of the COVID-19. You can go many places, just do it.

Hop on Pop

I love Dr. Seuss children's books. Hop on Pop is one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books. It is read by Martin Freeman.

Owls

There are many type of owls. Some owls are nocturnal (which means they are active during the night). Some owls are diurnal (which means they are active during the day). Three diurnal owls include the Northern hawk-owl, Burrowing Owl, and the Snowy Owl. There might be other owls that are active during the day but you will need to research to find those owls.

Owls
AllAboutBirds (CornellLab)
Owls | Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Owls | Oregon
Living With Wildlife: Owls | Washington

Barn Owl
AllAboutBirds: Barn Owl

Barred Owl
AllAboutBirds: Barred Owl
Wikipedia: Barred Owl

Burrowing Owl
Burrowing Owls - Athene cunicularia Facts, photos, and owl calls (sounds).
All About Birds: Burrowing Owl
Wikipedia: Burrowing Owl

Great Horned Owl
AllAboutBirds: Great Horned Owl

Horned Owl/Eagle Owl
Owl hooting - YouTube

Snowy Owl
Coloring.ws: Snowy Owl
All About Birds: Snowy Owl
Wikipedia: Snowy Owl

Spotted Owl
AllAboutBirds: Spotted Owl

Owl Cams
Great Horned Owl Cam - AZGFD
Watch Live Barred Owls! Wild Birds Unlimited Barred Owl Cam | Cornell Lab - YouTube

Owl Documentaries
Experiment! How Does An Owl Fly So Silently? | Super Powered Owls | BBC - YouTube
Great Horned Owl on the Hunt | Nat Geo Wild - YouTube

Reading or Story Time
Children enjoy reading books or have books read to them.

Here are some books you can find online or at your local library.

Owl Babies by Martin Waddell (A popular children's book.)
[Read Aloud] Owl Babies by Martin Waddell - YouTube
Owl Babies Picture Book Animation - YouTube

Little Owl's Night Board Book by Divya Srinivasan
Little Owl's Night - Animated - YouTube

Guardians of Ga'Hoole Book Series by Kathryn Lasky

DVDs
You can even watch the movie, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole.

Owl Crafts
Felt Owl Pattern
Flying Owl and A Home for Mr. Owl: Summer Reading 2012 Storytime Brainstorming
Harry Potter Party Owl Balloons
Paper Plate Owl Craft: Mommy Savers
Snowy Owl Winter Craft - This uses a shower sponge (loofah) for the owl's body using white craft paint. You use construction paper for the owls eyes (yellow, white, and black), black for the beak and feet, and brown for the branch the owl is sitting on..  

Coloring Pages
abcteach: Owl Coloring Pages
AFUNK: Owl Coloring Book
Coloring.ws
CyberSleuth Kids: Owl Coloring Page
Owl Coloring Page @ Preschool Coloring Book

Masks
Zoomboomafoo: Moonface the Barn Owl Mask 

Puppets
Colorful Shape Owl Craft for Kids
Paper Bag Animal Puppet - A Fun Owl Craft for Kids 
Snowy Owl Paper Bag Puppet Craft

Raccons

A raccoon is a nocturnal animal. They love to hunt for food at night..

Books
Raccoons and Ripe Corn by Jim Arnosky
The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn  
A Pocket Full of Kisses by Audrey Penn

eBooks
I wrote two Corn eBooks
They are for the alphabet and numbers 0-25.
You can use it with the book Raccoons and Ripe Corn by Jim Arnosky.

Raccoon Facts, Photos

Procyon lotor (Linnaeus); Raccoon
 
Raccoon Activities
AFUNK: Raccoon Coloring Book
First-School: Raccoon Theme Preschool Activities and Crafts

Dr. Seuss

Theodor ("Ted") Seuss Geisel (known as Dr. Seuss) was born on March 2, 1904 in Massachusetts.

I will be adding more resources to this post.

Storyline Online

StorylineOnline

Strega Nona Book Ideas

Strega Nona was written and illustrated by Tomie dePaola.

Language Arts
Watch: Strega Nona read by Mary Steenburgen

Social Studies & Geography
Research to find to find which country Calabria is located in Italy.
Locate it on a map.
Learn more about Italy.

Monte Bean Life Science Museum BYU

The Monte Bean Life Science Museum is located in Provo, Utah at Brigham Young University (BYU). We went to this museum in 2008. There are lots of resources at this museum.

Here are some educational resources you can find online for this museum. On the Activities page, I listed only the activities that you can do without visiting the museum.

Audio Tour

Activities: Scavenger Hunts, Animal Paper Airplanes & Coloring Pages, and Intro to Africa Coloring Book, etc.

Alphabet Animals
Go on a virtual animal hunt for this museum or use the web to find different animals that begin with that letter of the alphabet. When searching for that animal on the Monte Bean Life Science Museum website, listen to the Audio Tour for the different animals or watch the Exhibit Videos. Write down the animal on the paper. Enjoying having fun while learning about the animals.

Discovery Reading Videos: Listen to various children's books on this page.

Exhibit Videos: This includes Education Videos, Conservation Kids Videos, Tanner Lecture Videos, etc. located at the bottom of the page.

Lichens of BYU Campus