Lesson Plans for Elementary School Students
Reading Lesson Plan: Happy Rocks
Students are given small, smooth stones with a happy face sticker stuck on one side. It sits atop a poem, on their desk, on the first day of school. Who doesn’t like to get a present? Students LOVE getting this tactile gift. This is a “feel good” gift. It feels good in the hand and inside their head. Students feel welcomed by their new teacher in their new classroom. A great start to the year!
Objectives:
- welcome student with a gift to put them at ease
- reading verse
- making new friends
Materials:
- small, smooth stones that fit in a small hand
- smiley-face stickers to attach to stones
- poem for each student (I print 12 on one page, keep an original, then copy and cut out for each student.) (see verse below)
Method:
- Go to a beach or gravel pit and find 30 or more stones that are tiny and smooth, and fit in tiny hands.
- Attach smiley-face stickers securely to one side of the stones.
- Print out a poem for each student and place beneath the stone on each student’s desk for the first day of school.
- Welcome the students, then read the poem together and encourage students to take their stones home.
- Talk about how to make new friends: inviting them to play with you, including them in your group of friends in activities, talking to new students, choosing them for teams, etc.
(verse to put under stone on student’s desk)
Happy Rock
Don’t be worried.
Don’t be sad.
This happy rock will make you glad.
Hold it in your hand today,
And any time you feel that way.
Squeeze it, rub it, hold on tight.
Everything will turn out right.
We’ll learn lots.
We’ll have fun.
You’ll make friends to play and run.
By Mrs. Z.
Worksheet (run as portrait page):
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Happy Rock Don’t be worried. Don’t be sad. This happy rock will make you glad. Hold it in your hand today, And any time you feel that way. Squeeze it, rub it, hold on tight. Everything will turn out right. We’ll learn lots. We’ll have fun. You’ll make friends to play and run. By Mrs. Z. |
Happy Rock Don’t be worried. Don’t be sad. This happy rock will make you glad. Hold it in your hand today, And any time you feel that way. Squeeze it, rub it, hold on tight. Everything will turn out right. We’ll learn lots. We’ll have fun. You’ll make friends to play and run. By Mrs. Z. |
Happy Rock Don’t be worried. Don’t be sad. This happy rock will make you glad. Hold it in your hand today, And any time you feel that way. Squeeze it, rub it, hold on tight. Everything will turn out right. We’ll learn lots. We’ll have fun. You’ll make friends to play and run. By Mrs. Z. |
Happy Rock Don’t be worried. Don’t be sad. This happy rock will make you glad. Hold it in your hand today, And any time you feel that way. Squeeze it, rub it, hold on tight. Everything will turn out right. We’ll learn lots. We’ll have fun. You’ll make friends to play and run. By Mrs. Z. |
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Happy Rock Don’t be worried. Don’t be sad. This happy rock will make you glad. Hold it in your hand today, And any time you feel that way. Squeeze it, rub it, hold on tight. Everything will turn out right. We’ll learn lots. We’ll have fun. You’ll make friends to play and run. By Mrs. Z. |
Happy Rock Don’t be worried. Don’t be sad. This happy rock will make you glad. Hold it in your hand today, And any time you feel that way. Squeeze it, rub it, hold on tight. Everything will turn out right. We’ll learn lots. We’ll have fun. You’ll make friends to play and run. By Mrs. Z. |
Happy Rock Don’t be worried. Don’t be sad. This happy rock will make you glad. Hold it in your hand today, And any time you feel that way. Squeeze it, rub it, hold on tight. Everything will turn out right. We’ll learn lots. We’ll have fun. You’ll make friends to play and run. By Mrs. Z. |
Happy Rock Don’t be worried. Don’t be sad. This happy rock will make you glad. Hold it in your hand today, And any time you feel that way. Squeeze it, rub it, hold on tight. Everything will turn out right. We’ll learn lots. We’ll have fun. You’ll make friends to play and run. By Mrs. Z. |
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Happy Rock Don’t be worried. Don’t be sad. This happy rock will make you glad. Hold it in your hand today, And any time you feel that way. Squeeze it, rub it, hold on tight. Everything will turn out right. We’ll learn lots. We’ll have fun. You’ll make friends to play and run. By Mrs. Z. |
Happy Rock Don’t be worried. Don’t be sad. This happy rock will make you glad. Hold it in your hand today, And any time you feel that way. Squeeze it, rub it, hold on tight. Everything will turn out right. We’ll learn lots. We’ll have fun. You’ll make friends to play and run. By Mrs. Z. |
Happy Rock Don’t be worried. Don’t be sad. This happy rock will make you glad. Hold it in your hand today, And any time you feel that way. Squeeze it, rub it, hold on tight. Everything will turn out right. We’ll learn lots. We’ll have fun. You’ll make friends to play and run. By Mrs. Z. |
Happy Rock Don’t be worried. Don’t be sad. This happy rock will make you glad. Hold it in your hand today, And any time you feel that way. Squeeze it, rub it, hold on tight. Everything will turn out right. We’ll learn lots. We’ll have fun. You’ll make friends to play and run. By Mrs. Z. |
Tags: reading