Cows - Milk 

     Cows are my favorite animal, so I couldn't let the school year go by without incorporating this theme!  Many of the activities are original and many were collected from various sources mostly in the public domain.  I do not always save the original site so if you know of something that I should credit please notify me and I will do so.

     A story is read each day to the class.  Generally, lots of discussion results after the story!

     I use the theme poems throughout the unit where they seem to fit the best.

Unit Vocabulary Words

cow, bull, calf, barn, milk, dairy, drink, moo, white, chocolate

Day 1

Vocabulary – cow, bull, calf, barn, milk, dairy, drink, moo, white, chocolate.  Talk about each word, spell each word, allow children to share their information about the words.

Discussion -  on a large cow shape, label the parts 

Art - make Cool Cud Cows   visit http://www.geocities.com/thelearningleapthemes/makeminemilk.html

Save the cows to display on the cow bulletin board.

Day 2

Vocabulary - write words on cow shaped paper

Art - children help with adding detail to the barn and fence background.  Talk about: things found around a barn, why farmers need fences, different kinds of cows, etc.

Game - play Pass the Cow -  like hot potato with a puppet or stuffed animal.

 Day 3

Vocabulary - write words in shaving cream sprayed on the table.  Teacher dictates the letters.

Discussion -   concept web –list cow facts (see below) on the spokes

Movement - Have you ever seen a cow move this way and that?  One child is the leader, others follow his actions.  

Cooking - Make cow crackers - Spread a graham cracker with white frosting.  Dot the frosting with raisins - looks like spots of the Holstein cow!

Day 4

Vocabulary - make cow shaped word puzzles; cut apart; students cooperate to put together

Game - cow bowling - use 2 liter bottles, attach cow clip art pictures to the front.  Children will bowl down the cows!

Cooperative Book - children complete a blackline master at follows:

____________'s cow can ____________.  Children draw a picture to illustrate.  (Note that other pages will be added throughout the unit.)

Day 5

Vocabulary - form letters out of white playdough (milk colored) to spell vocabulary words

Discussion -   concept web –list milk facts (see below) on the spokes.  Some facts may be the same as the cow facts.

Cooperative Book - children complete the blackline master as follows:

___________ can drink milk when he/she is _______________.  Children draw a picture to illustrate.  Ex.  Mrs. Brown can drink milk when she is at the beach. (Note add the pages to the previous book pages.)

Day 6

Vocabulary - write the words in ABC order on cow shaped paper.

Art - Spilled milk pictures.  Use black or dark blue construction paper, students trace stencils with white chalk to make their spilled milk pictures.

Cooking - Make milk shakes.  Use milk, ice cream, flavoring, put all in a blender and blend well. 

Day 7

Vocabulary - use cow shaped vocabulary puzzles to review words.

Art -  Milk carton barn – use a 1 pint milk carton, red & black paint, assorted construction paper scraps     Children paint the carton red.  When dry paint the ‘roof’ black.  Add details with construction paper scraps (doors, window, grass, flowers, etc.

Movement - pantomimes - teacher pretends to: milk a cow, feed a cow, drink a glass of milk, buy milk at the store, etc.  children guess what she is doing.  Children can also act out pantomimes.

Day 8

Vocabulary - spell words with magnetic letters or trace letter shapes to spell the vocabulary words.  Children can color the outlined letters they make.

Game - pin the tail on the cow

Cooking - Use cow shaped sugar cookies, spread with white frosting, add spots with brown frosting.  Enjoy the creation with a cold glass of milk!

Poem - Students copy the poem onto a piece of paper, illustrate the picture of a cow and milk.

The Cow
The cow is big. The cow says "moo."
The cow makes milk for me and you.  

Books -

It Looked Like Spilled Milk by Charles G. Shaw

Blossom Comes Home by James Herriot

The Milk Makers by Gail Gibbons

Baby Calf

Cows in the Parlor by Cynthia McFarland

Dairy Cows on the Farm by Cliff Moon

Milk & Cookies

One Fine Day

Socks for Supper

Playhouse for Monster

Dragon's Milk

"Not now!" Said the Cow

Until the Cows Come Home by Patricia Mills

Poems -

Cow Poem
Cow loves to moo and chew it's true!
Moo--moo--moo!
Cow flaps her tail and fills a pail
Of her fresh milk for you.
Cow wears a bell so you can tell
When she's on the roam
And at day's end she joins her friends
And cow comes strolling home!

This Little Cow
This little cow eats grass. (hold up one hand, fingers erect, bend down one finger)
This little cow eats hay.  (bend down another finger)
This little cow drinks water. (bend down another finger)
And this little cow does nothing. (Bend down another finger)
But lie and sleep all day.

The Cow
The cow is big. The cow says "moo."
The cow makes milk for me and you.

Cow Facts

A cow gives nearly 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.

Cows are female cattle. Males are called bulls and babies are called calves.

Cows drink 25-50 gallons of water each day. That's nearly a bathtub full.

When the Pilgrims came to America, they brought cows with them.

A cow can live 25 years.

Cows eat about 100 pounds of grass a day and can drink as much as 300 pounds of water. And they have four stomachs to put it in!

The average cow with two milkings a day produces about 10 gallons of milk a day.

A cows spots are like humans finger prints, no two are exactly alike.

Milk Facts

A cow can't give milk until she's given birth to a calf.

Cows provide 90% of the world's milk supply.

A cow's udder can hold 25-50 pounds of milk at a time -- no wonder she's so eager to be milked -- and a cow gives nearly 200,000 glasses of milk in her lifetime.