Kindergarten Activity: In the Tall, Tall Grass

In the Tall, Tall Grass by Denise Fleming has always been a favorite of mine to use with kindergarten students. It follows the perspective of a caterpillar on a journey in the tall, tall grass. I found it especially helpful to reinforce the Action Sequence, Stage 2, of narrative language development, shown below from Braidy the StoryBraid manual.

The pictures below show a center activity that proved very popular with the students. The icon templates were obtained from pages 140-141 of the Braidy the StoryBraid manual.

1. I made a pocket folder for all the materials to be stored in out of green construction paper, folding it in half and cutting the “grass” along one end.
   
   
2. I cut out the star icon from page 140 of the manual and wrote in the tall, tall grass on the icon. I attached a long piece of yarn.
   
   
3. I then followed the caterpillar’s backyard adventure and drew the characters and actions of each character on the beads found on page 141 of the Braidy manual. I colored them in and cut them out, labeling each one with the character name and the action.
   
   
   
4. All pieces were laminated.

THIS ACTIVITY WAS READY FOR THE TEST!! I read the story for enjoyment to the children. They especially enjoyed all of the vivid illustrations, rhyming words, and finding the caterpillar throughout the story. Using the Setting Icon and Action Beads as shown, we referenced the book to sequence the caterpillar’s trip from morning until evening! I retold the story using these materials and Braidy Doll to the children.

The book and activity were then placed in a center for the children to do with a partner, sequencing and retelling the story with one another.

This activity was easily adapted using various settings that the children were familiar with: the playground (getting in line, playing on the jungle gym, throwing a ball) and lunchroom (getting lunch, sitting with a friend, bringing up the tray) or our school day schedule, for examples. The children were given a piece of yarn, three beads and a setting icon, and drew themselves and actions and then assembled the project with tape. The objective was to develop temporal organization involving Characters, Settings, and a sequence of Actions.

Enjoy this activity for spring and STAY TUNED… Maryellen will be presenting a short video soon using this book with children!