History of the Jack O'Lantern (Reading Class)

History of the Jack O'Lantern

The Irish brought the tradition of the Jack O'Lantern to America. But, the original Jack O'Lantern was not a pumpkin.The Jack O'Lantern legend goes back hundreds of years in Irish History. As the story goes, Stingy Jack was a miserable, old drunk who liked to play tricks on everyone: family, friends, his mother and even the Devil himself. One day, he tricked the Devil into climbing up an apple tree. Once the Devil climbed up the apple tree, Stingy Jack hurriedly placed crosses around the trunk of the tree. The Devil was then unable to get down the tree. Stingy Jack made the Devil promise him not to take his soul when he died. Once the devil promised not to take his soul, Stingy Jack removed the crosses and let the Devil down.

Many years later, when Jack finally died, he went to the pearly gates of Heaven and was told by Saint Peter that he was too mean and too cruel, and had led a miserable and worthless life on earth. He was not allowed to enter heaven. He then went down to Hell and the Devil. The Devil kept his promise and would not allow him to enter Hell. Now Jack was scared and had nowhere to go but to wander about forever in the darkness between heaven and hell. He asked the Devil how he could leave as there was no light. The Devil tossed him an ember from the flames of Hell to help him light his way. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed out Turnip, one of his favorite foods which he always carried around with him whenever he could steal one. For that day onward, Stingy Jack roamed the earth without a resting place, lighting his way as he went with his "Jack O'Lantern".

On all Hallow's eve, the Irish hollowed out Turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and beets. They placed a light in them to ward off evil spirits and keep Stingy Jack away. These were the original Jack O'Lanterns. In the 1800's a couple of waves of Irish immigrants came to America. The Irish immigrants quickly discovered that Pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve out. So they used pumpkins for Jack O'Lanterns.

Special Thanks to:
Source:

http://www.pumpkinnook.com/facts/jack.htm

Nursery Songs (Kinder Class)

Heads and shoulders knees and toes...

Heads and shoulders knees and toes,
knees and toes
Heads and shoulders knees and toes,
knees and toes
Eyes and ears and mouth and nose
Heads and shoulders knees and toes,
knees and toes

Ive got boils on my toes, on my toes
Ive got boils on my toes, on my toes
My ears are full of wax
and Ive got a runny nose
Ive got boils on my toes, on my toes


If you are happy and you know it...

If youre happy and you know it clap your hands
If youre happy and you know it clap your hands
If youre happy and you know it and you really want to show it
If youre happy and you know it clap your hands

If youre happy and you know it stamp your feet
If youre happy and you know it stamp your feet
If youre happy and you know it and you really want to show it
If youre happy and you know it stamp your feet

If youre happy and you know it turn around
If youre happy and you know it turn around
If youre happy and you know it and you really want to show it
If youre happy and you know it turn around

If youre happy and you know it say hello (hello)
If youre happy and you know it say hello (hello)
If youre happy and you know it and you really want to show it
If youre happy and you know it say hello (hello)

If youre happy and you know it say goodbye (goodbye!)
If youre happy and you know it say goodbye (bye!)
If youre happy and you know it and you really want to show it
If youre happy and you know it say goodbye


I love you and you love me

We are friends
When I want to play you play with me
When you want to play I play with you
So we are friends

I love you
Do you love me (yes)
We love each other
I love you and you love me


I'm a Rainbow

I'm a rain cloud and I bring rain
Falling pitter patter on your head today

I'm the sun when I come out to play
I bring my friend with me

Rainbow
I'm a beautiful rainbow
When the sun and the rain show
I show my face too

Rainbow  
I'm a beautiful rainbow
When the sun and the rain show
I come out to play


One, two, three, four, five...

One, two, three, four, five,
Once I caught a fish alive,
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go ?
Because it bit my finger - Ow !
Which finger did it bite ?
This little finger on the right.

Three, ten, nine, two, six,
Once I caught a great big fish,
Five, seven, eight, one, four,
Then I threw him out the door

Why did you throw him out ?
Because he was a smelly trout.
How badly did he smell ?
He had no nose so I couldnt tell.


Hello, hello

Hello, hello,
Hello, good day, yoohoo !
I am Siwa
How do you do ?

I'm very well,
I hope that you are too
I'm Goula Goula
You know that I love you

Hello, hello,
Hello, good day, yoohoo !
I am Kwala
How do you do ?

I'm very well,
I hope that you are too
I am a wolf  
And I say hou hou hou

Hello, hello,
Hello, good day, yoohoo !
I am Boowa  
How do you do ?

I'm very well,
I hope that you are too
I am a pig
And I'm scared of the wolf hou hou oink hou oink hou

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Special Thanks to:
Source:
http://boowakwala.uptoten.com/kids/boowakwala-homesongs.html

Children Songs and Nursery Rhymes (Kinder Class)

Five Fat Peas


Five fat peas in a pea pod pressed
(children hold hand in a fist)
One grew, two grew, so did all the rest.
(put thumb and fingers up one by one)
They grew and grew
 (raise hand in the air very slowly)
And did not stop,
Until one day
The pod went POP!
(children clap hands together)




One Potato, Two Potato 

One potato, two potato,
Three potato, four,
Five potato, six potato,
Seven potato, more!

One, Two, Tie My Shoe Nursery Rhyme

1,2  Tie my shoe
3,4  Shut the door
5,6  Pick up sticks
7,8  Lay them straight
9, 10  A big fat hen.
Let's get up and count again!

One Little Flower,
One Little BeeOne little flower, one little bee. 
One little blue bird, high in the tree. 
One little brown bear smiling at me. 
One is the number I like, 
you see.

Monkeys On the Bed 
Action poemFive little monkeys jumping  
on the bed 
One fell off and bumped  
his head 
Mama called the doctor and  
the doctor Said, 
" No more monkeys  
jumping on the bed!"

Four little monkeys jumping 
on the bed, three little monkeys jumping on the bed, (and so on).

Five Cookies 
Action poemFive little cookies in the bakery shop. 
Shinning bright with the sugar on top. 
Along comes (child's name) with a nickel to pay. 
He/she buys a cookie and takes it away. 
(continue with four, three, two and one).



Ten Fingers 
A fingerplay

I have ten fingers    hold up both hands, fingers spread
And they all belong to me,  point to self
I can make them do things-
Would you like to see?

I can shut them up tight   make fists
I can open them wide    open hands
I can put them together   place palms together
I can make them all hide   put hands behind back

I can make them jump high   hands over head
I can make them jump low   touch floor
I can fold them up quietly   fold hands in lap
And hold them just so. 

Three Balls 
Action poem

Here's a ball     make ball with thumb and index finger
And here's a ball   make ball with other thumb and index
A great big ball, I see   put arms up and touch fingers

Shall we count them? 
Are you ready? 
One, Two, Three    make all three balls in succession 





Three Little Nickels 
A fingerplay

Three little nickels in a pocketbook new,
   hold up three fingers
One bought a peppermint, and then there were two,
   bend down one finger
Two Little nickels before the day was done,
One bought an ice cream come, and then there was one
   bend down another finger
One little nickel I heard it plainly say,
"I'm going into the piggy bank for a rainy day!" 
 

Turtles 
PoemOne baby turtle alone and new. 
Finds a friend, and then there are two. 
Two baby turtles crawl down to the sea. 
They find another, and then there are three. 
Three baby turtles crawl along the shore. 
They find another, and then there are four. 
Four baby turtles go for a dive. 
Up swims another, and then there are five.

Birds 
PoemThere was one little bird in a little tree, 
He was all alone, and he didn't want to be. 
So he flew far away, over the sea, 
And brought back a friend to live in the tree.



Here is a Beehive
A fingerplay

Here is the beehive, where are the bees?
     clench fist and bring out fingers quickly one by one
Hidden away were nobody sees
Watch and you will see them come out of their hives,
One, two, three, four, five,
Buzz, buzz, buzz.  

Five Little BeesOne little bee blew and flew.
He met a friend, and that made two.Two little bees, busy as could be--
Along came another and that made three.
Three little bees, wanted one more,
Found one soon and that made four.
Four little bees, going to the hive.
Spied their little brother, and that made five.
Five little bees working every hour--
Buzz away, bees, and find another flower.


Five Little Birdies
A fingerplayFive little birdies, flying around our door,
 five fingers one hand up in the air, as verse is said other hand bends down each fingerThe blue one flew away and then there were four.Four little birdies sitting in a tree,
The yellow one flew away and then there were three.
The little birdies didn't know what to do,
So the red one flew away, and then there were two.
Two little birdies sitting in the sun, 
The Brown one flew away, and there was one.
The little green birdie felt so all alone,
He/she flew away and then there was none.
Later on that very day,
five little birdies came back to play.


Ten In A Bed
Action poemThere were ten in a bed and the little one said, 
"Roll over, roll over."   rolling motion
So they all rolled over and one fell out.
There were nine in the bed and the little one said, 
"Roll over, roll over."
So they all rolled over and one fell out....

  This is repeated until you get to the number one.  Each time "roll over" is said, rolling motion is dramatized.

There was one in the bed and the little one said, 
"Good night!" 



Counting  Apples
A fingerplay

Five red apples
Hanging on a tree    five fingers held up
The juiciest apples you ever did see!
The wind came past
And gave an angry frown     shake head and look angry
And one little apple came tumbling down.
Four red apples, etc. 

Monkeys 
In A Tree 
Action poemFive little monkeys 
Sitting in a tree 
Teasing Mr. Crocodile-- 
"You can't catch me." 
"You can't catch me." 
 Along comes Mr. Crocodile 
As quiet as can be-- 
SNAP!!! 
Continue until all monkeys 
are gone

Away swims Mr. Crocodile
As full as he can be!!!

Squirrels
Counting poemFive little squirrels sitting in a tree. 
The first one said, "What do I see?" 
The second one said, "Some nuts on the ground." 
The third one said, "Those nuts I found." 
The fourth one said, "I'll race you there." 
The Fifth one said, "All right, that's fair." 
So they shook their tails and ran with glee. 
To the nuts that lay at the foot of the tree.

Dinosaurs
Subtracting NumbersFive enormous dinosaurs 
Letting out a roar-- 
One went away, and 
Then there were four.

Four enormous dinosaurs
Crashing down a tree--
One went away, and 
Then there were three.

Three enormous dinosaurs
Eating tiger stew--
One went away, and 
Then there were two.

Two enormous dinosaurs
Trying to run--
One ran away, and then there was one.

One enormous dinosaur, 
Afraid to be a hero--
He went away, and
Then there was zero.

Working in TwosSequence for reciting is: first child, second child, both together.

I'm the shoe brush
I'm the shoe
Polish one and polish two
Brush, brush, brush.

I'm the dustpan
I'm the broom
We can see a dusty room
Sweep, sweep, sweep

I'm the candle
I'm the wick
It's getting dark now
Light up the wick, tsk, task, task.

I'm the letter
I'm the stamp
We stick together if we're damp. 

Special Thanks to:
Source:

http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/preschool-rhymes.htm

Animals: Animal Language

Little scientific work has been done on the "language" of animals. Partly because most animals are not very gabby, partly because they are shy, until lately the only available collections of animal noises have been the dubious data supplied by bird-and-barnyard imitators.

In London recently a book was published which went a long way toward filling the gap.* Written by Popularizer-Professor Julian Sorell Huxley, and containing two discs (four sides) recorded by Ludwig Koch, the book shows that a greater variety of animal sounds exists than most scientists ever suspected.

To get his records Koch needed patience, ingenuity and a complicated apparatus. For a year an enormous van had to be moved back & forth between two big British zoos to catch the llama's hollow mating cry, the spotted hyena's angry laugh, the binturong's exhibitionist catcall. Koch spent some sleepless nights.

He recorded not only exotic sounds which the average zoo-goer never hears in a hundred visits but also such familiar noises as the rhythmic bleating of sea lions, broken by short, harsh, discordant barks, which sound like a few bars from Ravel's Valse. More sophisticated listeners preferred the grotesque beauty of the West African red river hog's grunt, the resonant, whuffing snort of the white-tailed gnu, the whistling whinny of the panda.

Most of this animal language has a surprising range. The lion alone makes six distinct sounds, all the way from a hunting call to a grumble of satisfaction after the kill, when it roars "as gently as any sucking dove."

Special Thanks to:
Source:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,771291,00.html

Thomas A. Edison (Reading Class)

THOMAS A. EDISON Born in 1847 - Died in 1931

Thomas Alva Edison was called Alva, or Al by his family. He was a very curious child. He was always asking questions. Even his mother, who had once been a schoolteacher could not answer all his questions. He would experiment to try to find the answers. Once he tried to hatch some eggs by sitting on them. Another time he accidently burned down the family's barn.

The teacher told someone she thought there was something wrong with Alva; that he was "addled" * . He told his mother and they took him out of the school. He only went to school for 3 months in his whole life. Afterwards , he was taught at home.

He wanted to experiment. To make money for his experiments, he went to work at age 12 selling newspapers and candy on a train. When he had some spare time on the train, he would do experiments in the baggage car.

When he was 16 he went to work for the telegraph * office sending messages.

He became nearly deaf due to an injury to his ears. He later said he didn't mind being deaf because it helped him to concentrate.

When he was 22 years old he went to New York. He only had $1 in his pocket. He hunted for a job during the day, and at night he slept in the basement of a gold company. He watched everything around him very closely. Some equipment broke down and Edison was able to fix it because he had been watching it work before he went to sleep each night. The owners gave him a job. He improved the machine so much the company paid him $40,000 for his invention. He started the American Telegraph Works in New Jersey.

He built a laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. It was here with his employees he made many of his inventions. He would work night after night, and sometimes he would fall asleep at his workbench. His wife wouldn't see him for days at a time.

He and his team worked to make a light bulb which would burn for a long time without burning out. They tried 1,500 materials and nothing worked well. Finally he tried a new material in the filament * that burned nearly 200 hours.

After he had made the light bulb, he worked to make a power system so people could use the bulb. In 1882 he flipped a switch and 85 houses in New York City had electric lights for the first time.



Thomas Edison was probably the world's greatest inventor. He had a patent on 1,093 inventions. In addition to the electric light, he also invented the phonograph * , a camera to take motion pictures, a cement mixer, the automatic * telegraph, and he improved Alexander Graham Bell's telephone.

Special Thanks to:
Source:
http://gardenofpraise.com/ibdediso.htm

Why do we Yawn? (Reading Class)

Why do we Yawn?

Do you think that a great big yawn means you are really bored? Well, if you do, then you cannot possibly be further from the truth. Until recently many researchers used to think yawning is essential to increasing the oxygen intake to the lungs. A few on the other hand insisted that yawning is similar to stretching as it increases blood pressure and heart beat rate.

While both research findings are correct, new studies show that yawning actually perks you up instead of doing the opposite (as many of us seem to think). Scientists point out that we have a tendency to yawn before a big event - athletes yawn before a race, pilots yawn before take-off and you yawn before an exam.

Humans are not the only ones affected by the yawning bug. Animals have been observed to yawn before feeding time while wild animals have a tendency to yawn before a fight.

The act is also highly contagious so if you spot someone with his mouth open, chances are, you too will follow suit. New findings highlight something totally unthinkable - yawning might be a primitive handover from our ancestors signalling a need for change. Or in other words, the act essentially prepares the brain for change.

Believe it or not but even a baby in the womb yawns as it shifts position, however children do not begin to copy other people's yawns until the age of four or five. Studies show that this period of growth is crucial to the learning process as the child improves his/her social skills.

Strangely enough contagious yawning is also linked to intelligence in children (who show the first signs of contagious yawning) surpassing other slow learners.

Hundreds and thousands of years ago, the campfire served as the main gathering point for all the members of the group. Researchers claim that as the people sat around the fire, warming themselves, they would yawn if the leader yawned, as a mark of respect. Those who were more supportive of the leader were more inclined to yawn.

Come to think of it, there might be some truth in it. Have you ever noticed yawning is more contagious if the yawner is someone you like or who you are close to?? It's true and there is ample documentation of the fact.

Despite all these advancements scientists still haven't figured out why we yawn before bed-time, but then again, that is our way of demanding a change -enough of TV, its time to go to bed!

Special Thanks to:
Source:

http://www.pitara.com/discover/5wh/online.asp?story=112

Interesting facts about coca cola (Reading Class)

Interesting facts about coca cola
Before there were diet drinks and bottled waters, there was Coca-Cola. Born at the end of the Civil War, Coca-Cola is the invention of Dr. John Styth Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist who made a caramel-colored syrup — the basis of Coke — in his backyard in 1886. Pemberton’s local druggist mixed carbonated water with the syrup and served it as a soda fountain drink for five cents a glass.

Pemberton’s associate, Frank M. Robinson, suggested the name Coca-Cola, thinking two “C”s would make for attractive advertising. In 1893, the name “Coca-Cola” was registered with the U.S. Patent Office.

While the company changed ownership several times, the progress of Coca-Cola didn’t slow down. In 1894, the first factory to manufacture Coke’s syrup opened in Dallas, Texas, and by 1897, Coca-Cola was being drunk in every state and territory in America. Today, hundreds of millions of Cokes are drunk each day in more than 185 countries around the world.

Despite its popularity, Coca-Cola and other soft-drinks come under attack by parents concerned over children’s eating habits. Although tasty, soft drinks don’t provide the basic nutrients needed by growing children or by adults. Unfortunately, many people don’t develop good eating habits and their diets are based on sodas and the greasy foods often consumed with them, such as French fries.

Special Thanks to:
Source:

http://www.strange-facts.info/interesting-facts-about-coca-cola