- picture of a slide or ramp
- down
- slant
- slide (n., v.)
- up
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.1a: Observe and use appropriate ways of interacting in a group (e.g., taking turns in talking, listening to peers, waiting to speak until another person is finished talking, asking questions and waiting for an answer, gaining the floor in appropriate ways).
Head Start Outcomes:
Social Emotional Development/Self-Regulation: Follows simple rules, routines, and directions.
Language Development/Receptive Language: Attends to language during conversations, songs, stories, or other learning experiences.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 1: Observe and use appropriate ways of interacting in a group (taking turns in talking; listening to peers; waiting until someone is finished; asking questions and waiting for an answer; gaining the floor in appropriate ways).
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 12: Listen to, recite, sing, and dramatize a variety of age-appropriate literature.
EEC Infant and Toddler Guidelines:
PW50: The older toddler engages in a variety of physical activities.
Recite Together: “The Slide”
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: A ramp or an inclined plane, is a surface with one end higher than the other; An object placed on an inclined plane will roll, slide, or stay put
ELA Focus Skills: Concepts of Print, Fine Motor Skills, Speaking and Listening, Vocabulary
Educator Prep: Copy the words to the poem "Slide" on a sheet of chart paper and display for children to see.
Recite the following finger play rhyme with children. Have them do the motions to reinforce the concept of moving down a slide.
First, read the words of the poem aloud. Point out the spaces between words after you read.
- Read the poem again and demonstrate the movement of going up the ladder and then sliding down the slanted plane (slide).
- Then invite children to join in as you recite and act it out again.
The Slide
Up, up, up to the top, (walk fingers up your arm [ladder])
Up the steps I go.
Then down, down, down, (tilt palm and slide fingers down)
I slide, to the ground below!
Adaptation: With very young children, say the words line-for-line, for one child at a time.
Adaptation: You may want to have children use gross motor skills by asking them to act out the up and down motions with their bodies: mimic walking up the steps; mimic sliding down to the ground/floor.