A Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Literature Unit
Filled with ideas to match the book!

All Graphics Copyright C. Gallagher 2004

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Chicka Chicka Boom Boom as a sticker book!
Inside you'll find an alphabet of colorful
vinyl stickers that can be

used over and over to re-create the story.Click Here to learn more!

An abbreviated, board-book version
of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom - Click
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What a fun DVD!
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Lots More Learning Fun!
(Scholastic Video Collection)


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I love the Chicka Boom Boom Song found on this CD.
When I read the book, I sing it as it is in this song!
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Other Coconutty Songs

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Literature Notes)

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Many ideas to match this book can be found on the
CDROM below. Click the CD to learn more!!!!!!!!

Primary Teacher Timesavers
For Teaching Reading & Literature

Click Here For Free Samples From This CD!

 

My Preschool Teacher Friend Amy made these cute Chicka Boom Boom Puzzles with popsicle sticks & a picture of the book cover she printed off the internet. This is how she made them:

I used Elmer’s glue for the book puzzles.  I painted a thin layer on the printout and then I lined up my craft sticks.  I laid the picture on the craft sticks and smoothed it out.  I let that dry and then I took a craft knife and cut vertically where the craft sticks are joined together.  It was easiest to flip the puzzle over and cut on the side without the picture.

 

Many Ideas To Match the Book

Here are many ideas that teachers have shared on various mailrings or chatboard. I have compiled them in an easy to read format so that they may be used by many! I add to this section as I see new ideas. If you have an idea or link that I do not have, please send it my way and I will add it to the page!!! Thank you to the teachers who have an idea featured below!

Wow, there is a million things you can do. My favourite was to get stalks of celery (top left on), spread either Cheez Whiz or peanut butter and sprinkle Alpha Bits Cereal on top. This can be done with a simple recipe for the children to follow (therefore, sequencing, and following instructions, cooking...). You should also try doing a search on Google, for I have seen many good ideas on there for that book. Have
fun! - Posted by
BC K. teacher on 6/25/02

I have the kids trace their hands and cut them out for the
branches. I just give them a brown trunk and they cut out a
couple of coconuts. They glue it all onto a sheet of paper.
I have the letters of their names written on small squares of
different colored paper. They put the letters of their name
in order climbing up or down the tree. They are very colorful
and look great hanging up. Terri/K/PA on 8/22/02

I use brightly colored copy paper for the backround, have the kids
tear the paper for the tree trunk and leaves, and use neon dot
stickers (that you can get for garage sale items) for their
names. The stickers come on sheets; I cut off the number of dots
that they need for the letters in their name, and write the
letters in scambled order on the dots. Then, they place the
stickers in order coming down the tree trunk. Those who don't
know how to spell their name yet use the name tags on their desks
for a guide. The kids enjoy the stickers, and the bright colors
are reminiscent of the book -- it looks great on a bulletin board,
and later as a class book!

Another Idea for a door or BBoard. Make or buy a cocconut
tree. Use the ellison to cut out letters (I used fun foam and
it looked real good.) and place randomly. Post a sign: CHICKA
CHICKA BOOM BOOM LOOK WHO'S IN MY ROOM. You could then write
the children's names on animal cutouts (birds, monkeys,etc.)

My favorite book!! I make a bulletin board that I leave up all
year. I make it to look like the cover of the book. I have
orange border and I added pink dots, or is it pink border w/orange
dots...hmmmmm can't remember right now. I roll brown paper to
make the trunk and cut large leaves out of green. I die cut all
the letters of the alphabet and scatter them around the tree. I
add the title Chicka Chicka Boom Boom in green and purple. I have
the kids trace and cut out their hands from green paper and attach
them to a brown trunk (mounted on another paper). I give them the
letters of their name on small squares of different colored paper.
They put them in correct climbing up/down the trunk. I also do
the celery snack. Last year and the year before we made Chicka
Chicka t-shirts at the end of the year. The kids made handprints
with green fabric paint on the shirt. I had adults sponge paint a
trunk and add coconuts. The adults then scattered the letters of
the kids' names on the shirt. On the back, the adults wrote Chicka
Chicka Boom Boom w/dot letters. We used these for our field trip
t-shirts and our end of the year program. I saw 2nd graders still
wearing them to school this past year! We also have made coconuts
bye attaching a white circle inside a larger brown one. The kids
wrote/traced their names on the white circle. We then added
crushed shredded wheat to the brown and real coconut to the white.
Messy, but cute! I've gotten most of these ideas of this site.
I know I have a file at school w/some more, but I can't remember
all of them. Scholastic has a wonderful tape to go w/the book.
It's always my kids' favorite K song! You'll have fun w/this
theme!!!! - Posted by Terri/K/PA on 6/25/02

I have the children tear a tree out of brown and green bulletin
board paper and then I give them a few brown pom-poms to make
coconuts. Then we take sand from the sand table and they add a
sandy beach to the bottom. Then the next day they cut out the
letters of their name from magazines and run them up the tree.
They turn out so cute and they make a great bulletin board. - jmoe k NC

I'm doing it. I take a piece of bulletin board paper and have the students paint a border around the edge. Then they will paint dots around. In the middle of the paper the chicka tree will go and they will glue pre-cut letters on the paper (the letters of their name) In the end we'll make it into a BIG book for our literacy night.
MP

Innovate the story of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by changing the letters in the alphabet with the children in your classroom. You can do it together and have the children illustrate the pages. Have the children draw or glue in pictures of themselves climbing the coconut tree. The teacher can supervise or simply add the finishing touches. The children love the final copy and will ask to read it everyday!

For this book I used a piece of poster board and made a palm tree out of construction paper. I then cut out 52 brown coconuts and wrote a lowercase letter on 26 and uppercase on the others. You get the idea. Using velcro, the can match the uppercase letters to the lowercase that are glued on the tree. I strongly suggest laminating, the coconuts tend to fall off after a while.

I used tempera paints and sponges to paint a palm tree onto my chalkboard that is magnetic.Then let students place the magnetic letters in the tree either in ABC order or match upper and lower case. I also would build a child's name with the magnets and sing "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom ,Look Who's in Our Room" and have them identify their name. I started out using sponge letters to stamp onto the tree then had students match the magnet letters to them, later I washed those off and had the students just use the magnets. - Wendy Robertson

Hi! For science I have a 4 day deal that I do with the children. Day 1: WE pass around and discuss a real coconut - what's inside, how it feels, etc. Day 2: I open the coconut up with a hammer in front of the children and we pour out the milk and we feel and smeel the inside of the coconut. Day 3: We taste the real cononut and the shredded coconut and graph our favorite. Day 4: WE make a coconut fruit salad : 1 cup of cherries, 1 cup of mandarine oranges, 1 cup of pineapple chunks, 1 cup of sliced banana, and 1 cup of shredded coconut, mix and eat! I also use science journals and everyday we wirte and draw about the acitivity we did in science. - Beth Davis

After talking about the letters in the book, I teach the kids
the word "initials." We look at our name cards with first and
last names written on them, then I help each child recognize
which letters are their initials. I have a set of letter
stencils in which I duplicated many of the more commonly used
letters (S, T, etc.) I help each child go through the pile of
stencils and find the two letters that are their initials (you
could just use the first letter in their first name, but I find
that some of the kids really get a huge kick out of knowing
their initials!) They trace these letters on construction
paper and decorate them - sometimes just with markers, other
times I throw out my "junk" (cotton balls, sequins, ribbons,
seeds, fabric scraps, etc.) and let them go to town!
Tina/K/MN

I use the book at the beginning of the year, but I also use it
when we finish our alphabet. We made T-shirts this year with
fabric crayons. There was a tree on the front and it said CHICKA
CHICKA BOOM BOOM and on the back it said WE KNOW OUR ABC’S We
all wore these proudly on the week we finished our alphabet! They
were adorable! Also (and I can't take credit for this idea) one
teacher on the mailring does a bulletin board at the beginning of
the year that says CHICKA CHICKA BOOM BOOM LOOK WHO'S IN MRS.
BARTON'S ROOM and you put up the letter each child's name begins
with. Hope these help! - Posted by Karen

I can't take credit for this idea because it was on the mail-ring months ago. You use small
plastic drink bottles(like what bottled water comes in) and you let the children put
alphabet pasta, beads, glitter, beans, and whatever else you think they'll enjoy inside the
bottle. They can decorate the outside of the bottle with alphabet stickers. They could even
make a little grass skirt out of construction paper or art tissue to tape around the bottle.
These Chicka boom boom bottles can them be used when you retell the story. When you
read the words "Chicka Chicka" the children shake their bottles. When you say "boom
boom" they tap the bottles on their hands. My class had a great time making and playing
with these. They couldn't wait to take them home.
Tammy in Louisiana

All right, I'm a first grade teacher and we happen to like this
book too. This a chant that I do with the kids. I say a line and
then the kids echo it back.

I said a boom Chicka boom.
(echo)
I said a boom Chicka boom.
(echo)
I said a boom Chicka rocka Chicka rocka Chicka boom.
(echo)
A ha!
(echo)
Oh yeah!
(echo)
One more time!
(echo)

Then we do it over in a different voice. After they get the idea,
the kids decide what voice to use. ( ie. baby,giant, mouse,
whispery, deep, etc.) This is so much fun!!

I also chart it and we change the beginning sound of boom to an
"F" using a sticky paper. Then we read it as - I said a foom
chicka foom. And on and on. Have fun!!
.
Re: Chicka- Challenge!!!!!!
Posted by Gisha on 7/02/98

Language Arts

Take a picture of each child in the class. On each page, instead of having letters go up the coconut tree, replace them with the children's names. Eg. (John told Angle and Angie told Tracy, "I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree." Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! Will there be enough room?) Paste each child's picture to teh coconut tree on the same page as their name. The children have a lot of fun with this activity because they actually become part of the book. Colleen:)/k-3 www.teachingheart.net

Our Book Of Names Program 26 pages with the words "I have letter ____ in my name. . . " Write one letter for each page.  When you are working on a particular letter, take out the page with the same letter on it.   Have any child with the letter in their first name write it on the page.  If you can, photcopy small pictures of each child so you can put their picture beside their name each time they write it. For example: I have letter Mm in my name . . . TammyMatthew Emily

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Click the link above and search fopr palm trees. You can buy some cheap and festive palm trees through this site.

Chick Boom Boom Dice Game - Get a large palm tree cutout for three students. Give each student a cup of coaco puffs cereal (Coconuts). The students take turn rolling the dice and putting the correct number of cereal on their tree.

Some ideas from Primary Teacher Timesavers for Teaching Reading and Literature (k-3) CDROM

Click here to learn how to get the great goodies below & SO MUCH MORE For Teaching With Literature!

Chicka Chicka Coconuts Count
Picture story problems for students to complete. Count the coconuts that fell from the tree. (k-1)
Coconut Word Building -
students cut apart given letters and complete four activities with the letters. (1-3)
ABC's on Coconut Trees -
Here are cards with a coconut tree and a letter of the alphabet on them. They can be used for many activities. Print, laminate, cut, and use as you wish. One idea is to place a letter in a pocket chart as you read. You may also make a set for each student in your class. The students could put the letters in ABC order. (k-1)
Chicka Mini Counting Book (free to print!)
Print these pages for your students. Includes a title page and word bank page. The student must count the coconuts that fell from the tree and write the number word in the sentence. When the student has finished writing the words in the blanks, they may cut the pages and staple to form a mini book to read to an adult at home or a friend at school. (K-1)
Lowercase & Uppercase Match-Up File Folder -
Everything you need to put together a file folder game. You may also choose to place magnets on the back of the pieces and use as a center on a magnetic board. The student places the correct tree top on the trunk (k-1)

 

Many ideas to match this book can be found on the
CDROM below. Click the CD to learn more!!!!!!!!

Primary Teacher Timesavers
For Teaching Reading & Literature

Click Here For Free Samples From This CD!

 

Helpful Links To More Ideas, crafts, and printables.

Other Favorite ABC books
These would be great books to read with your Chicka Boom Unit
Click on the book to learn more!

Don't miss out on these excellent
resources to compliment your ABC lessons or Chicka Boom Unit!
Click on a book to learn more at Amazon!

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