(by 18 people)
The Wood Mouse Nest; a Great Place to Learn...
Whitefoot the Wood Mouse welcomes everyone to his nest where learning never ends. He has dozens of mouse related activities to teach young children across the curriculum.
Whitefoot welcomes homeschoolers, teachers, parents and children to turn into mice, scurry through the tunnels and sniff out learning opportunities in every corner.
In this mouse unit study your little mice will write and share their stories, sing, play, experiment and create works of art. From bulletin boards to a reading nest you can find ideas to create the feel of a cozy little mouse house in the classroom.
Scurry on in and see what the mice are learning...
Whitefoot the Wood Mouse Table of Contents
- Wood Mouse LEARNING CENTERS
- Snack Time for Little Mice
- SCIENCE: The White Footed Mouse
- Rat Laughter
- Wood Mice in the Sensory Table
- MOUSE MATH
- Whitefoot Gathers the Corn
- SOCIAL STUDIES: The Mouse People: A Native American Tale
- MOUSE LITERACY BAG
- Cat and Mouse Games on eBay
- Have you read The Adventures of White Foot the Woodmouse?
- Whitefoot the Wood Mouse is on the The Isle of Squid
- Follow Whitefoot the Wood Mouse and his friends on Twitter
- Evelyn's Hands-On Learning Blog
- Meet the Author
Whitefoot the Wood Mouse by Thornton Burgess
The central character in our Mouse Unit Study
WHITEFOOT THE WOOD MOUSE by Thornton Burgess is the central character in this Mouse Unit Study.
I read this story in the early afternoon after lunch, recess and silent reading, to bring the focus back to the Woodmouse Theme. Though White Foot the Woodmouse is a fictional story it actually teaches a lot about the habits and habitat of mice. We keep chart paper handy for writing down mouse facts as we discover them.
Whitefoot the Wood Mouse: In Easy-to-Read Type (Childrens's Thrifts)
Book Description
Whitefoot the Woodmouse had been running and jumping all around the inside of the little sugar-house. He loves to run and jump, and he had been having just the best time ever. Finally Whitefoot ran along the old bench and jumped from the end of it for a box standing on end, which Farmer Brown's boy sometimes used to sit on. It wasn't a very long jump, but somehow Whitefoot misjudged it. He was heedless, and he didn't jump quite far enough. Right beside that box was a tin pail half filled with sap. Instead of landing on the box, Whitefoot landed with a splash in that pail of sap!
Whitefoot had been in many tight places. Yes, indeed, Whitefoot had been in many tight places. He had had narrow escapes of all kinds. But never had he felt so utterly hopeless as now. The moment he landed in that sap, Whitefoot began to swim frantically. The more he tried to climb out, the more frightened he became!
Creating a Mouse Habitat for White Foot and his friends
Unit Study Mice love to go into the Mouse Nest to Read
WHITEFOOT"S MOUSE NEST: Wood Mice (also known as Deer Mice) live in nests near the ground or up in the trees. You can turn your reading loft into a tree with a mouse nest below and another above (see below). Line the den with grass colored blankets or towel and pillows. Run rope lights around. Set up a CD player to listen to the Mouse's Song Add some fiction and non-fiction books about mice (see suggestions below). Finally add a couple of stuffed mice to cuddle with and read to. This SILENT READING CENTER has been transformed into a Mouse Nest.WHITEFOOT"S TREE: My lens River Otter Unit Study talks about how to turn the reading loft into a tree with a den underneath. This den can become the mouse nest. Check out the sections on Grandforest Tree, Bulletin Boards, Plants, Classroom Pets, Extra Display Space etc.
WHITEFOOT"S TUNNELS: Mice scurry through small spaces to avoid their enemies. You could make a few tunnels for your little mice to scurry through between centers. For example between the BLOCK AREA and the CIRCLE TIME AREA I put two low bookshelves with a space in between. I put a tunnel made from a cardboard box between them.
Tunnels for your Classroom of Little Whitefooted Mice
Scurry from Center to Center to learn more Beginning Reading Skills
You can buy an ant farm here as well as tunnels for all your little mice. Tunnels encourage dramatic play and reinforce the information that you are teaching the children.
Wood Mouse LEARNING CENTERS
Mouse Theme Work Stations
What Are Learning Centers?Learning Centers are typically designated areas within the classroom that provide students with exciting and interesting experiences to practice, enrich, reteach, and enhance their learning. These types of centers are filled with manipulatives, art materials, books, and other instructional tools. Students visit the centers to complete an assignment or learn through different activities. In well-designed learning centers, students participate in activities that help them see curriculum subjects in real-life, hands-on ways. Working both independently and in small groups, students are provided with time and space to complete a project or learn about a subject in a more in-depth fashion.
A learning center is governed by rules that students are well aware of and requires students to be responsible and accountable for their own learning. The power of learning centers lies in the fact that students who "didn't get it the first time" or need information presented in a different light receive a more individualized lesson than a whole-class lesson could ever provide. Centers provide time for you as the teacher to spend time with students individually or in small groups, helping students learn curriculum materials in their own way and style.
Instructor Magazine
Below you will find dozens of ideas for centers that you can set up around the room that relate to the Mouse Theme. Invite the children to become mice and scurry quickly over to the center of their choice.
For more teaching ideas see Beginning to Read.
W is for Wood, M is for Mouse
Glue seeds on the letter shapes.
.JPG)
Learn the Letters: Whitefoot the Wood Mouse teaches children how to glue lentils onto a piece of cardstock that has outlines of capital and small letter "L".They can run glue between the lines and then put lentils on the glue. There is a mouse on the picture. The children then glue a lentil on the mouse's paw to show that it is eating lentils.
At the bottom are the words "L Mouse eats lentils." Another day someone would make "S Mouse eats sunflower seeds."
After drying slip it into a large Ziplock bag with holes punched in the top. Post it in ABC order under the ABC letter line.
I have these Mouse Letters hung low enough that the kids can use theme as an ABC Center. They can spell words with the letters and then put them back in ABC order.
Letter Mouse Activity
Practice Matching the Capitals with the Small Letters
On the ears of the mice are capitals and lower case letters. The job is to match up the male and female mice.
ABC Center: A couple of children play Concentration with a set of mouse cards. One card has a capital letter and the other a small letter. Capital and small letters are in the upper left hand corner for self checking.Whitefoot the Wood Mouse suggests that the mice could be made from notepads shaped like mice and laminated.
Mousetrap Words
Hight Frequency Words or Mouse Unit Study Words
Mousetrap Words: Write "__eek" or "__eak" on mouse shaped notepad pages. Write letters on clothespins (mouse traps) to complete the words. Children trap the mice (attach a clothespin) to form words.
peek, week, seek, or weak, squeak, beak, peak.
Whitefoot the Wood Mouse's Lunch Box
The Letters of the Mouse Unit Study
The Hungry Wood Mouse (To the tune of I'm a Little Teapot)
I'm a little hungry mouse
Can't you see?
Foods that start with
__________are for me.
Would you please pack me
a great big lunch?
What do you think I'd like to munch?
Make the outline of a lunch box out of construction paper and attach it to a pocket chart. Provide pictures of foods. Children fill the lunchbox with foods beginning with the letter you are studying. To make it self checking, write the word on the back of the picture of food and attach a letter to the poem chart.
Mouse Squeak: A sight word game
Farmer Brown and his boy love to eat popcorn out in the back yard. When Bowser the Hound is sleeping Whitefoot the Woodmouse likes to sneak over and nibble the popcorn that accidentily gets spilled.SQUEAK!: A Sight Word Game
Suggested Grades 1-3
Objective Through this game, students will learn to recognize and read sight words.
Materials
coffee can decorated to look like a mouse
sight words written on mouse shaped on cards
3 cards with the word Squeak! written on them
MethodIn pairs mice take turns drawing out the sight word cards from the can and try to read them.
If they can read the word they get to keep the card. If they can't the partner tries reading it, and if he/she reads it correctly he/she keeps the card.
If neither students can read the word, it goes in a "don't know it yet" pile on the floor.
When a Squeak! card is pulled out of the can the student who drew it has to return all their cards into the can. The Squeak! card is placed in a seperate pile on the floor.
The game is played until all the cards are drawn, and the student with the most cards, wins.
Variations:
1. Play with the whole class and have them yell or whisper "bang" when the bang card is drawn.
2. Include jump cards instead of bang. Student jumps when the "Jump" card is drawn.
3. Squeek, chatter, wiggle, etc. depending on the theme you are studying.
4. Draw mice on board with a "Squeak" word in each. Call each child and give them a word. Child goes to board, finds word, and erases it.
5. Scatter "Squeak" word cards around floor. Tell each child a "Squeak" word. Child locates word and "squeaks" to it.
6. "Squeak" Memory- Child must find matching "Squeak" cards.
7. "Squeak" Word Hopscotch- create a hopscotch board on a plastic shower curtain or tablecloth using a permanent marker. Child throws a beanbag on to a word, reads word, and hops to it.
8. "Squeak" Spelling- Program mouse shaped cards with "Squeak" words leaving out a letter. (i.e.- "w_" for we). Children use letter tiles to fill in blank.
Predictable Books that feature Mice
Look for Big Books, books with cassettes and books in Forein Languages
Whitefoot the Woodmouse loves to listen to stories just like all the little mice in you classroom.
Seven Blind Mice is about putting together all the information you have gathered to make a conclusion.
The Napping House is a cumulative story that is fun to emulate when writing a class book. It is similar to The House that Jack Built.
Mouse Paint teaches how primary colors mix to form secondary colors. I like to follow up by allowing the children to mix colors in the art center.
Seven Blind Mice is about putting together all the information you have gathered to make a conclusion.
The Napping House is a cumulative story that is fun to emulate when writing a class book. It is similar to The House that Jack Built.
Mouse Paint teaches how primary colors mix to form secondary colors. I like to follow up by allowing the children to mix colors in the art center.
Non-fiction Mouse Books
Non-fiction books help your little mice to learn facts about these common rodents . Whitefoot the Woodmouse recommends that you make tapes of these books for your little mice to listen to in the listening center.
Town Mouse/Country Mouse
WRITING: Whitefoot the Literary Wood Mouse
Reading and Writing about Mice
PREDICTABLE BOOK: After all your little mice have read a lot about mice you can start a predictable chart with:Mice are Nice!
Mice can _________.
For example:
Mice can scurry. (Mrs. Nature)
Mice can collect nuts. (Susie)
Mice can make tunnels. (Gabriel)
Mice can _________.
Continue on until each of the children has written a sentence. Then have the children type their sentence on the computer. After printing they should illustrate their sentence. When all have finished ask a parent volunteer to bind all the pages, with a title page and index. Read the book several times in class and then let each of the children take it home to share with their parents. Once it has made the rounds, put it in the classroom library.
Whitefoot the Wood Mouse's favorite Poetry
Eighteen Smart Mice
Adapted from Three Fine Mice by Susan Traugh
(Sung to Tune of "Three Blind Mice")
Eighteen smart mice, eighteen smart mice,
See how they learn, see how they learn.
They all sat down and did work so well.
They learned to read and they learned to spell.
Their math they finished before the bell,
Eighteen smart mice.
Eighteen nice mice, eighteen nice mice,
See how they share, see how they care.
A new mouse came to their school one day.
They asked her to come and join their play.
Then showed her where to put things away,
Eighteen nice mice.
Eighteen happy mice, eighteen happy mice,
See how they smile, see how they smile.
They joined Mouse Tales and read a Brett book.
At each other%uFFFDs homes they did take a good look.
And from this great project, friendship they all took,
Eighteen happy mice.
Adapted from Three Fine Mice by Susan Traugh
(Sung to Tune of "Three Blind Mice")
Eighteen smart mice, eighteen smart mice,
See how they learn, see how they learn.
They all sat down and did work so well.
They learned to read and they learned to spell.
Their math they finished before the bell,
Eighteen smart mice.
Eighteen nice mice, eighteen nice mice,
See how they share, see how they care.
A new mouse came to their school one day.
They asked her to come and join their play.
Then showed her where to put things away,
Eighteen nice mice.
Eighteen happy mice, eighteen happy mice,
See how they smile, see how they smile.
They joined Mouse Tales and read a Brett book.
At each other%uFFFDs homes they did take a good look.
And from this great project, friendship they all took,
Eighteen happy mice.
The Old Cat is Sleeping
A poem to chant and act out.
The Old Cat is SleepingSubmitted by Carla
Have one child be the old gray cat and have all of your children pretend to be the mice while saying the following poem:
The old gray cat is sleeping , sleeping, sleeping,
The old gray cat is sleeping in the house
The little mice are dancing, dancing, dancing (children dance)
The little mice are dancing in the house (continue dancing)
The little mice are nibbling, nibbling, nibbling (children nibble)
The little mice are nibbling in the house!
The little mice are resting, resting, resting (children sit or lay)
The little mice are resting in the house (continue sitting)
The old gray cat comes creeping, creeping, creeping (Cat begins to creep)
The old gray cat comes creeping in the house (Continue Creeping)
The little mice go scampering, scampering, scampering (Children run around)
The little mice go scampering in the house (Children run until caught then that child is the cat)
http://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/mice/games.htm
Write a Mouse Story and Have it Published
IlluStory Make Your Own Story Kit
Whitefoot the Wood Mouse says that now that you know so much about mice you can write your own story.
Most educators now use the Writing Process to teach children how to write. For more information on the Writing Process see Teaching From the Heart.
Most educators now use the Writing Process to teach children how to write. For more information on the Writing Process see Teaching From the Heart.
IlluStory Make Your Own Story Kit
Amazon Price: $14.95 (as of 10/12/2008)
Mouse Whiskers
Make kid sized whiskers to try it out!
Take a bike helmet. Tape together enough plastic straws to nearly the diameter of the tunnels in your playground. Attach the straws with Gorilla Tape to the top of the helmet. Use spray paint and decorate to look like a mouse's head. Children can take turns going through the tunnels with their eyes closed using their whiskers to feel the sides of the tunnel.
Snack Time for Little Mice
Do you have a creative aide or volunteer parent to help the kids make these cute little mice?
Hard-Boiled Egg Mice
Makes 2 mice.
Egg Mice with chive tails, radish ears, and olive eyes... Hard-boiled eggs get transformed into whimsical critters (that like to be served wedges of cheese and some salt and pepper, please).
Ingredients:
1. 1 Egg
2. 1 Black olive
3. 1 Radish
4. 2 Fresh chives
5. 1 Tiny Swiss cheese wedge
Directions:
1. Place the egg in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 1 minute, then turn off the heat. Cover the saucepan and let the egg sit in the hot water for 12 minutes.
2. Once the time is up, run the egg under cold water to cool. Then ask your child to roll the egg on all sides to crack the shell. Peel under running water.
3. Slice the egg in half lengthwise. Place the halves yolk side down on a plate. (Alternatively, you can slice off a bit of the bottom of a peeled, hard-boiled egg so it can sit flat on a plate.) Slice tiny black olive "eyes" and radish "ears." Then make small slits in the egg halves for the eyes and ears and push in the olives and radishes. Add chive tails.
4. Serve the pair of egg mice with a wedge of Swiss cheese for a playful lunch.
From The Readable Feast 2007
Makes 2 mice.
Egg Mice with chive tails, radish ears, and olive eyes... Hard-boiled eggs get transformed into whimsical critters (that like to be served wedges of cheese and some salt and pepper, please).Ingredients:
1. 1 Egg
2. 1 Black olive
3. 1 Radish
4. 2 Fresh chives
5. 1 Tiny Swiss cheese wedge
Directions:
1. Place the egg in a small saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil for 1 minute, then turn off the heat. Cover the saucepan and let the egg sit in the hot water for 12 minutes.
2. Once the time is up, run the egg under cold water to cool. Then ask your child to roll the egg on all sides to crack the shell. Peel under running water.
3. Slice the egg in half lengthwise. Place the halves yolk side down on a plate. (Alternatively, you can slice off a bit of the bottom of a peeled, hard-boiled egg so it can sit flat on a plate.) Slice tiny black olive "eyes" and radish "ears." Then make small slits in the egg halves for the eyes and ears and push in the olives and radishes. Add chive tails.
4. Serve the pair of egg mice with a wedge of Swiss cheese for a playful lunch.
From The Readable Feast 2007
M is For Mouse Cookies
Cooking Center with Mouse Word Cookies
In the cooking center children can make "Mouse Treats", a no bake cookie recipe with peanut butter, oatmeal, nuts and seeds. They mix it together and can shape it like play dough. After making long snakes they form letters to spell the letter "M" for mouse. They bake the letters in a toaster oven. We will eat the M's during snack time and say "mmm".
SCIENCE: The White Footed Mouse
Background Information for the Teacher
<
The White Footed Wood Mouse is an American woodland mouse with white feet and underparts. P. leucopus is its scientific name. It is a grayish or brownish rodent and is found over a large geographical area covering much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States and parts of southern Canada and northern Mexico. (See Map) Also known as the wood mouse, it is semi-arboreal, omnivorous, and inhabits brushy and woody regions.
Size: The tail is nearly half the total length and the ears are average to large in size.
Weight: 10 to 43 g.
Measurements: Adult measurements (in mm). Total length, 130 to 205; length of tail, 45 to 100; hind foot length, 17 to 25; ears, 13 to 14; skull length, 24.0 to 29.5.
HABITAT
Northern populations of this species reach highest densities in brushy fields and in woodlots dominated by deciduous trees but typically have low densities in grassy fields and in mature, mainly coniferous forests. They are good at hoarding food.
Nesting: Wood Mice usually select nest sites off the ground, but there are reports of nests at or near ground level in rock piles, logs, stumps, under trees, and in ground burrows, including those of woodchucks. Nests built by white-footed mice consist of a variety of materials, including grass, leaves, hair, feathers, milkweed floss, shredded bark, and moss.
Activity: White-footed mice are considered semi-arboreal because of their climbing in trees and possession of various arboreal adaptations. Their tail is used as a prop and balancing organ during climbing. The Wood Mouse is more adept in crossing gaps and moving along narrow branches, can climb smoother tree trunks, and remains longer on an elevated platform with no pathway to the ground than various short-tailed, terrestrial species.
Young Wood Mice probably begin exploration of the area surrounding their birth site between 16 and 25 days of age, and females abandon litters 20 to 40 days after they are born. Most juveniles initially disperse within a radius of about 100 meters of their point of origin, but longer movements approaching 1 km also occur. Adults may make long distance movements during exploration or changes in location of home range. Wood Mice can cross bodies of water by crossing on ice or by swimming. Individuals have well-developed swimming abilities and pass between islands up to 233 m apart.
Breeding: The female is pregnant from 22 to 23 days. They give birth to 3-5 babies.
This information comes from White-footed mouse
The White Footed Wood Mouse is an American woodland mouse with white feet and underparts. P. leucopus is its scientific name. It is a grayish or brownish rodent and is found over a large geographical area covering much of the eastern two-thirds of the United States and parts of southern Canada and northern Mexico. (See Map) Also known as the wood mouse, it is semi-arboreal, omnivorous, and inhabits brushy and woody regions.
Size: The tail is nearly half the total length and the ears are average to large in size.
Weight: 10 to 43 g.
Measurements: Adult measurements (in mm). Total length, 130 to 205; length of tail, 45 to 100; hind foot length, 17 to 25; ears, 13 to 14; skull length, 24.0 to 29.5.
HABITAT
Northern populations of this species reach highest densities in brushy fields and in woodlots dominated by deciduous trees but typically have low densities in grassy fields and in mature, mainly coniferous forests. They are good at hoarding food.
Nesting: Wood Mice usually select nest sites off the ground, but there are reports of nests at or near ground level in rock piles, logs, stumps, under trees, and in ground burrows, including those of woodchucks. Nests built by white-footed mice consist of a variety of materials, including grass, leaves, hair, feathers, milkweed floss, shredded bark, and moss.
Activity: White-footed mice are considered semi-arboreal because of their climbing in trees and possession of various arboreal adaptations. Their tail is used as a prop and balancing organ during climbing. The Wood Mouse is more adept in crossing gaps and moving along narrow branches, can climb smoother tree trunks, and remains longer on an elevated platform with no pathway to the ground than various short-tailed, terrestrial species.
Young Wood Mice probably begin exploration of the area surrounding their birth site between 16 and 25 days of age, and females abandon litters 20 to 40 days after they are born. Most juveniles initially disperse within a radius of about 100 meters of their point of origin, but longer movements approaching 1 km also occur. Adults may make long distance movements during exploration or changes in location of home range. Wood Mice can cross bodies of water by crossing on ice or by swimming. Individuals have well-developed swimming abilities and pass between islands up to 233 m apart.
Breeding: The female is pregnant from 22 to 23 days. They give birth to 3-5 babies.
This information comes from White-footed mouse
Classroom Pets: Mice or Hamsters
Hamsters are slower and gentler than mice.
When studying mice it is important to have a rodent of some kind in the classroom. I prefer to have as many animals as possible. Whether you have a mouse, a rat, a hamster, a gerbil or all of them class pets provide a real life experience for the children.Classroom helpers can feed and care for the mice, and during center time they can observe the differences and simularities between mice and other rodents. If I had to choose just one classroom pet, however, it would not be a mouse. Mice run very fast when they escape. I would prefer a hamster because hamsters are slower and more gentle.
During center time couple of children can feed the class pets. As each pet is fed they can put a check mark on a chart to indicate that that job has been accomplished. Then they have time to observe the animals, draw and write about their observations. Later they might report back to the class any important or interesting observations or add the information to a class log.
The Song of the Deer Mouse
by John Sankey
The Song of the Deer MouseSeveral times, I have read of someone who kept a pet deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) who reported that it 'sang' to itself, with a beautiful musical sound.
The spring of 2000 was unusually early - I had bees at my crocuses 23 March, a week before my prior earliest record. Then, 7 April, we had a quick reversion to winter. A young deer mouse from the colony that lives under my shed found its way into the house, and made it under a door into a closet an inch ahead of my Puss. I rescued it, and installed it in an old aquarium with food and water until warm weather returned. (A photo of an adult member of the colony is on my mammals page.)
It promptly began to sing to itself! And, once it got accustomed to a microphone placed a few centimeters from its favorite resting spot, I got a recording.
As you can hear, it's as musical as described. It can be heard about 3 m away in a quiet house. It must be analogous in use to a cat's purr, to bond to its nestmates - it would clearly be counterproductive out in the open.
John Sankey
All materials presented on my site, except those specifically credited to other authors, are Copyright © John Sankey, 1939-2006, under the Berne convention, solely in order to protect the right of all to continue to use them freely. Anyone may copy, link to, or distribute any of them as much as they wish, as long as this notice of copyright and permission to further copy is distributed with all copies. That's the only restriction I put on them - that they remain absolutely free to all. No one may restrict their further use in any way, by collection copyright, physical copy prevention, or any other means.
The courtesy of a reference link or credit is always appreciated.
John Sankey
http://www.sankey.ws/peromyscus.html
Listen to a Real Mouse!
Just click on this link to hear the actual sounds of a mouse and don't forget to leave a note below.- Listen to it sing!!
- When you are finished click the back button to get back to this lens.
Classroom Pet Pole
Loading poll. Please Wait...
Rat Laughter
Can rats laugh? Set this video up in your classroom theater and then let the kids graph their answers as they leave the theater.
Rat Laughter
Can rats laugh? From Tierney Lab: http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/18/what-happens-when-you-tickle-a-rat-see-for-yourself/ Posted for http://thegoodreverend.blogspot.com/2007/03/humans-arent-only-ones-doing-it-rats-do.html
Runtime: 1:14
118551 views
10 Comments:
Natural History of Deer Mice
Wood mice are also known as Deer mice are common nocturnal mammals. Adults are brownish gray. Juveniles are gray. Both have dark eyes and white feet and undersides. They have four toes on the forefeet and five toes on the hind feet. Their tracks are commonly found on the fine beach sand of river bars and in soft mud. Tracks are usually in groups of four with a trail width less than two inches. In firm sand, sometimes a whole print will show up clearly. Mice make nests lined with the softest materials they can find. Nests are located beneath rocks and logs, in burrows, or in trees. Three or four litters of four babies each may be born per year.Mice will also gnaw on old bones and antlers to get the calcium. When you find a bone, look very closely at it and you may see tiny paired tooth marks where mice have scraped it. Mice eat seeds, mushrooms, fungi, berries, herbs, insects, larvae, and carrion. They are good climbers and will climb to escape danger. They are active year-round.
Capture and Observe a Mouse
Havahart 1020 Two Door Cage Trap for Mice and Rats 10 x 3 x 3
Amazon Price: $14.49 (as of 10/12/2008)
Get a closer look...
Safely capture wild mice or other rodents for observation
There is nothing more exciting than being able to observe wild animals. Help the children set out a Haveahart Trap. Bait it with pieces of cereal. Check often until you find a little creature inside. Take turns observing your creature. Put on a timer for pairs of children to observe the animal in the trap. Put a thick towel on the table so that the trap makes a softer landing when picked up and put down. Demonstrate how to handle the trap. Have observation sheets, graphs, charts, and field guides available. Have a list of pairs of children and have the children check off their names when their 5 minutes is up and get the next two children. As each pair comes to the table they set the timer for 5 minutes.EXPERIMENT: Which cereal or seed attracts a creature fastest? Do different foods attract different animals? Does the time of day matter.
Wood Mice in the Sensory Table
Sensory Table: My kids love experimenting with things in the rice table. When we are studying mice I put in a bale of alfalfa (for hamsters), some plastic mice and some sunflower seeds. The children make mouse nests, tunnels and storage rooms. They gather seeds and store them. These are the same seeds that we feed the birds.
Nesting Boxes for White-Footed Wood Mice
Click on this link to see how to make a nesting box for wood mice that can double as a Bluebird Nesting box.
- Nesting Boxes for White-Footed Wood Mice
- Don't forget to come back to find out about Mouse Math.
White-Footed Wood Mice Nest in Bluebird Houses
The Bluebird Connection
If you have checked out my link Bluebirds: Classroom Meadow Theme you may already have built fence posts and bluebird houses in your classroom. You can easily adapt activities mentioned in the Bluebird lens to the Wood Mouse Theme. Mouse Toys and Games
These can be set up in the Game Center
MOUSE MATH
Place Value, Counting to 100 and Volume
PLACE VALUE: Just as mice gather for the winter have your little mice gather collections of 100 things for counting. (Look for activities for the 100th Day Celebrations.)MICE EAT RICE, SEEDS AND GRAIN: Count out 100 grains of rice, 100 peanuts, 100 pumpkin seed. Compare the volume of each of these. Cook the rice to see it's volume after cooking. Shell the peanuts to compare the volume after shelling. Cook the pumpkin seeds and compare the volume. Make a bulletin board showing the relationships using by gluing on the rice, peanuts and pumpkin seeds and enough (1 cup) paper cups to show how many cups it makes cooked with an equals sign between. The border could be made with grass or hay (see Rice Table) and colored and cut out mice that the kids have made at the art table.
WHAT ABOUT POPCORN? Compare volume before and after cooking. Mice use their keen sense of smell. What about Those mice in the classroom next door? Did they smell the popcorn cooking? (Share)
SCAVENGER HUNT: Go on a walk through the field looking for seeds. Try to collect 100 seeds from various different plants. Draw a picture of the plant and a seed in your nature journal. Can 100 of these seeds fit in a one-cup measure?
Mouse Math Books
Make a Mouse Maze
Block Center: In the block area children an make a maze out of blocks. When they get the maze constructed they can carefully place the mouse in and watch to see which treat it gets to first. By putting a piece of Plexiglas on top of the maze they can watch the mouse as it goes through the maze without it's escaping. They could put two mouse treats in different corners, for example a sunflower seed and a piece of cheese. Then they would add a picture of cheese or sunflower to the graph on the wall near the Blocks.
Mouse Tunnels
Hickory Dickory Dock The Mouse Went Up the Clock
READING CENTER: Make a chart of Hickory, Dickory, Dock and laminated it. A couple of children can use pointers to read the chart. The pointers are made from 18" dowels the diameter of a pencil. Add an eraser mouse on one end and a leather cord tail on the other. The children pretend that the mice are reading as they recite the poem and point to the words.
Hickory, Dickory Dock from the Children's Museum of Cleveland encourages children to use reading to explore mathematics.
The Mouse rhyme comes to life with an over-sized, child-friendly clock. Children can slide a mouse up a track on the clock, while trying to tell time with egg timers, hourglasses, digital and mechanical clocks.
Whitefoot Gathers the Corn
Whitefoot the Wood Mouse is gathering corn for the winter. For each child set out 5 pieces of popcorn, a Math Mat with a picture of a corncob on one side and a mouse hole on the other.
Tell the children to place the 5 kernels of corn on the corncob.
Ask: How many kernels of corn are on the corncob? (5)
How many kernels are in the mouse hole? (0)
How many kernels are there all together? (5)
Write the number sentence 5+0=5
Now help Whitefoot take one kernel of corn into his mouse hole.
How many kernels are on the corncob? (4)
How many kernels are in the mouse hole? (1)
How many kernels are there all together? (5)
Write: 4+1=5
Continue to 0+5=5.
Xcell Gourmet Popcorn Kernels
Amazon Price: $4.99 (as of 10/12/2008)
From Kernel to Corncob (Scholastic News Nonfiction Readers: How Things Grow)
Amazon Price: $6.95 (as of 10/12/2008)
Stuffed Mice
Put these in the Mouse Nest, Dramatic Play Center or in the Mouse House (Doll House).
You can never have enough stuffed animals in your classroom. They serve to draw the children's attention to you as you transition between activities, they are great for game pieces and even better to cuddle up to when reading a book.
The Mouse Pole
Give each of your little mice a mouse shaped page from a post-it pad, have them write their name on it and stick it to a graph. Later you could have them survey their families and friends for homework. Use this information for math and social studies discussions.
Loading poll. Please Wait...
SOCIAL STUDIES: The Mouse People: A Native American Tale
Iktomi & the Buffalo Skull
Iktomi, the Plains Indian trickster, interrupts a powwow of the Mouse People and gets his head stuck in a buffalo skull. Asides and questions printed in italics may be addressed by the storyteller to listeners, encouraging them to make their own remarks about the action.
Amazon Price: (as of 10/12/2008)
Why Blackfeet Never Kill Mice
Social Studies Connections
.- Why Blackfeet Never Kill Mice
- CHILDREN'S NATIVE AMERICAN STORIES: The Blackfoot Nation has always been a lover of nature and a close observer of her many moods. The habits of the birds and animals, the voices of the winds and waters, the flickering of the shadows, and the mystic radiance of the moonlight - all appealed to him. Gradually, he formulated within himself fanciful reasons for the myriad manifestations of the Mighty Mother and her many children; and a poet by instinct, he framed odd stories with which to convey his explanations to others. And these stories were handed down from father to son, with little variation, through countless generations, until the white man slaughtered the buffalo, took to himself the open country, and left the red man little better than a beggar. But the tribal storyteller has passed, and only here and there is to be found a patriarch who loves the legends of other days.
Jan Brett's Web Site has lots of Mouse related Activities
Links to coloring pages, cards, and activities. Don't forget to click on the back button to return to this lens.
- Jan Brett Web Site
- Look through Jan Brett's site for pictures to color and masks to make. There are also sets of animal cards that can be made into Go Fish or Concentration Cards. Don't forget to click on the back button to return to this lens.
MOUSE LITERACY BAG
My child took these BOOK BAGS home in Kindergarten. She loved them so much that I have started making some for my next class. They are theme related bags with books, activities, and journals to share with their families. When I have enough I plan to let the kids take these home instead of traditional homework.
Fill a canvas bag with a few goodies for your little mice to take home to share with their families. Each bag could include:-The Adventures of Whitefoot the Wood Mouse by Thornton Burgess (fiction)
-A Mouse's Life by John Himmelman (Non-fiction)
-FEED THE MOUSE MATH MAT (see the link below)
-A Stuffed Mouse
-M is for Mouse Game (see below)
-Marble Run (Science)(see below)
-Sometimes we may be able to send the children home with the class mouse for the night.(Science)
-Go Fish cards that are shaped like mice with mouse theme related words on them to match with the pictures with word cards. (Oral Language)
They will finish by writing about their experiences in the journal which will be put in the class library after each of the children has borrowed it.
For more Story Bag ideas please check out Take Home Literacy Bags
Links to Activities you can add to your Mouse Literacy Bag
- FEED THE MOUSE MATH MAT
Click on this link and scroll down to click on the links to the mat, cookies and numbers. The directions are there as well.
Directions for make the math mats:
Print out the mat, numbers and counters. Cut out the numbers and counters. Laminate or cover everything with clear contact paper.
Directions to use the mats:
Give each child a mat. Place a number card in the square. You can attach velcro to the back of the numbers and the maths to hold them in place if you like.
Now the child counts out the correct number of cookie counters and puts them on the mat.
Math mat designed by Cathy Irwin.
Don't forget to come back here to this page for more great ideas.
Items to Add to Your Mouse Literacy Bag
Tic Tac Toe
This is a great game to add to the Woodmouse Literacy Bag.
More Mouse Literacy Bag Ideas
Mouse Bags
Just add a couple of books, a stuffed mouse, and a few activities with a journal and letter to the parents and you have a fun, hands-on creative Story Bag. They may not even know it's homework.
POUNCE ! , Fun Game that Enhances Math Skills!
"Fun" and "Math Game" were never two terms that I put together as a student. This is different! Great for All Levels!
More Details
Yes, it's true!
"Fun" and "Math Game" were never two terms that I connected as a student. That has now changed!
While walking through an exhibit hall, I noticed a crowd pulling and jumping around a stand. What I saw was incredible.
The owner held a cat shaped bowl high in the air. He called out, "Seven!" , and rolled two dice. Meanwhile, six players each held a long heavy cord tail to a different colored mouse. All of the mice had their noses touching. The dice rolled a five and a four.
People were nervous.
Next roll, a two and a one, tension mounting.
Next roll, five and two - ZOW!!
Tails were pulled and cat came down.
The cat cap caught two poor mice whose owners weren't as quick on the mental addition. They were "out" (but not for long!).
The game continued with different amounts called by the "cat keeper" until one mouse remained. That mouse became the cat, and everyone started playing again.
I brought the game home and tried it with my kids. They LOVED it! They called multiplication facts ( up to 36) , first prime number when added, as well as the addition problems. I saw great potential for math skill enhancement as well, and I'm sure you will, too.
If you don't have kids or grand kids, it's just plain fun anyway. All pieces fit inside the cat for easy storage. Complete with cat, two dice, and six mice, all boxed in a "cheese".
More Details
Yes, it's true!
"Fun" and "Math Game" were never two terms that I connected as a student. That has now changed!
While walking through an exhibit hall, I noticed a crowd pulling and jumping around a stand. What I saw was incredible.
The owner held a cat shaped bowl high in the air. He called out, "Seven!" , and rolled two dice. Meanwhile, six players each held a long heavy cord tail to a different colored mouse. All of the mice had their noses touching. The dice rolled a five and a four.
People were nervous.
Next roll, a two and a one, tension mounting.
Next roll, five and two - ZOW!!
Tails were pulled and cat came down.
The cat cap caught two poor mice whose owners weren't as quick on the mental addition. They were "out" (but not for long!).
The game continued with different amounts called by the "cat keeper" until one mouse remained. That mouse became the cat, and everyone started playing again.
I brought the game home and tried it with my kids. They LOVED it! They called multiplication facts ( up to 36) , first prime number when added, as well as the addition problems. I saw great potential for math skill enhancement as well, and I'm sure you will, too.
If you don't have kids or grand kids, it's just plain fun anyway. All pieces fit inside the cat for easy storage. Complete with cat, two dice, and six mice, all boxed in a "cheese".
Pounce
Amazon Price: $11.98 (as of 10/12/2008)
Cat and Mouse Games on eBay
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
Wood Mice in the News!
Thank you to the Wheelers for including the Whitefoot the Wood Mouse in their Directory.
Internet Directory of Unit Studies
Encouraging, uplifting, interesting and perhaps ev more...2 points
Teacher Community
My Proboards Forum
This is a forum exchanging ideas about teaching. We discuss centers, math manipulatives, "Read the Room", "Write the Room", Story Bags, Interactive Bulletin Boards, Lapbooking, Creative ways to teach ESL through Lemmi Sticks and lots, lots more. Click here to join in the fun.
More Teaching Ideas and Themes
-
Bluebirds: Classroom Meadow Theme
-
Summer nears and the bluebirds start nesting along the fenceline. The children are fascinated with the way they fly back and forth to build their nests. They become the focus of our next Unit Study, Bluebirds of the Meadow. As your little bluebirds...
-
River Otters: Playful Friends of the Woodlands!
-
Learn about River Otters through games and hands-on learning centers. Decorate you classroom with a Woodlands Riverbank Theme. Learn the habits of River Otters, the food they eat and how they raise their young. You will find suggestions for both fic...
-
Literacy Bags Make Homework Fun!
-
Literacy Bags are a fun way to help children share what they are learning with their families. Children take these literacy bags home, read the stories, do the activities with their families and then write about their experiences in the journal. Soo...
-
Unit Studies Headquarters
-
Unit Studies: Fun, Active, and Creative Learning Join our group to share your ideas for making learning fun, active and creative for all. Reading each of the lenses in this group will help each of us discover new ideas and inspire new lenses. Please...
-
Lemmings: Falling into the Sea of Knowledge
-
When the winds start to howl and the snow begins to blow you can capture your student's attention with this innovative Arctic Unit Study focusing on lemmings. Your little lemmings will be excited to learn with a theme that includes little furry crea...
Have you read The Adventures of White Foot the Woodmouse?
Which ideas intriged you?
Please let my know by leaving a comment here. Tell me about your favorite animal or teaching idea. Don't forget the stars at the top and if you lensroll this page or add it to your favorites please let me know so that I can reciprocate.