Wild, Wild West

Books:






	The Little Cowboy and The Big Cowboy - Margaret Hillert

Poems & Songs:

I'm a Little Cowpoke

[tune: "I'm A Little Teapot"]

I'm a little cowpoke

Here is my hat.

Here are my spurs

and here are my chaps.

As soon as I get up

I work all day

I get on my horse

And ride away.

Cowboys All Dressed

Five little cowboys get up to dress.

The first one buttons up his vest.

The second one wears tall boots with taps.

The third one laces up his chaps.

The fourth one ties a big bow tie.

The fifth one tips his hat. Good-bye!

Five Little Cowboys

Five little cowboys sitting on a gate.

The first one said, "Gee rodeos are great!"

The second one said, "There are buzzards in the air."

The third one said, "But we don't care."

The fourth one said, "Let's watch the horses run."

The fifth one said, "I'm ready for some fun."

Oooooo went the wind and off went their hats,

And the five little cowboys fell from where they sat!

Cattle Roundup

The dust begins to fly

As the cattle run by.

It starts with one mooo -

First one cow and then two.

The dust begins to fly

As the cattle runs by.

A cowboy brings two more,

And now there are four.

The dust begins to fly

As the cattle run by.

Spurred on by cowboy tricks,

Our bunch is up to six.

The dust begins to fly

As the cattle run by.

These cattle just can't wait!

The group now totals eight.

The dust begins to fly

As the cattle run by.

Two more run past the men.

Wow! The herd is up to ten!

Way Out West

[tune: "Old MacDonald"]

Way out West are buffaloes. Yippie-yippie-oh!

with a stomp, stomp here and a stomp, stomp there.

Here a stomp, there a stomp, everywhere a

stomp, stomp.

Way out West are buffaloes. Yippie-yippie-oh!

Way out West are prairie dogs. Yippie-yippie-oh!

with a bark, bark here and a bark, bark there.

Here a bark, there a bark, everywhere a

bark, bark.

Way out West are prairie dogs. Yippie-yippie-oh!

Repeat the song, substituting the names and sounds of other Western critters:

rattlesnakes - hiss,hiss

jackrabbits - twitch, twitch

coyotes - howl, howl

Counting Tumbleweeds

Ten little tumbleweeds by the corral gate:

The wind wooshed two away, and then there were eight.

Eight little tumbleweewds said, "Oh! Fiddlesticks!"

"We may as well dance with the wind," then there were six.

Six little tumbleweeds went out to explore;

Along came a whirlwind, and then there were four.

Four little tumbleweeds admiring the view;

Then came a gentle breeze; so there were two.

Two little tumbleweeds, round and round they spun

Until they were out of sight, then there were none.

Yah-hoo!!

[tune: "She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain"]

Oh, a cowpoke sings a riding song. Yah-hoo!

When a cowpoke goes a ridin'

Oh, a cowpoke sings a riding song. Yah-hoo!

Additional Verses:

Oh, a coyote sings a howling song. Ah-ooo!

Oh, a pony sings a bucking song. Neigh-ay!

Oh a dogie sings a roaming song. Mooo-ooo!

Oh, a rattler sings a sliding song. Hiss-sss!

Ten Little Cowboys

Ten little cowboys

standing in a row -

When they see the foreman

They bow just so -

They ride to the left, and

They ride to the right.

And then they shut their eyes

And sleep all night.

Here We Go!

[tune: "Go In And Out The Window"]

We're in a covered wagon.

We're in a covered wagon,

A-rollin' down the trail!

We're in a covered wagon.

We're in a covered wagon,

A-bumpin' down the trail!

We're in a covered wagon.

We're in a covered wagon,

A-rockin' down the trail!

Way Out West

Way out West

where the stars are bright,

I sing a song

by the campfire light.

I ride my horse

on the wide prairie

we gallop along -

my pony and me.

I watch ten cows

that snort and moo.

I sing them to sleep

when the day is through.

Cowpoke Charade

I'm a little cowpoke dressed in blue.

These are the things I like to do:

Put on my hat. Pretend to put on a hat.

And put on my vest. Pretend to put on a vest.

Buckle my belt.

So I look my best. Pretend to buckle a belt.

Ride my pony. Pretend to hold reins and ride a pony.

Rope my steer. Pretend to twirl a rope overhead.

When night is near. Pretend to sleep.

Reading & Language Arts:

Cowboy Hat Roundup. Program a set of cowboy hats with an intial consonant or vowel. Program another set of cowboy hats with a clipart picture beginning with the letter sound. Children match the hats. Put this game in a center.

Come and Get It! Three-scene sequencing sheet. Breakfast is ready. Put the pictures in order to tell a story. (Teacher's Helper, April/May/June 1998)

Chuck-Wagon Chow worksheet. Sequence the pictures in order to tell what happened first, second, and then when Cookie made breakfast. (Teacher's Helper, April/May/June 1998)

chuck-Wagon ABC's.Write the alphabet in order on the covered wagon.

After reading Armadillo Rodeo by Jan Brett, ask students to brainstorm some Wild West things they liked from the story. Have each child illustrate his favorite thing on a programmed hat pattern. Write the child's dictation about his item on the hat's brim.

Story Recall Roundup. Recall the story Armadillo Rodeo. Color the pictures that show what Bo saw in the story.

Program brown boot cutouts with a different color word on each. Then, cut out a matching boot from all the different color construction paper needed to match the color words. Children will match the brown boot color word to the appropriate colored boot.

Western Adventure Booklet. Howdy Cowgirl and Howdy Cowboy booklets. [Pattern pages can be found in The Mailbox, Pre/K, April/May, 1993.] Add a child's school picture to the back of the booklet and cut away the face part of each page to create the wild western adventure booklets. Cute!

Boot-Scootin' Bingo Program a boot with a bingo grid. Add sight words and a yee-haw (free) space!

Math:

Rootin'-Tootin' Boots worksheet. Add the numbers. Write the sum in the square. (Addition to 10) [ Teacher's Helper, April/May/June 1998]

High Noon worksheet. Write the time beneath each clock. Telling time to the hour. [Teacher's Helper, April/May/June 1998]

Match times on a cactus with the written time on a coyote. Add this to a Math center.

Roundup Time worksheet. cut and paste the times to match the correct clocks. [Teacher's Helper, April/May/June, 1998]

Buckaroo Mouse worksheet. Add the math sentences. Write the sum in the square. Addition to seven. [Teacher's Helper, April/May/June, 1998]

If you have access to an Ellison cow die-cut, you can create a Math counting activity. Cut out white cow, then add black spots to them. Program half of the cows with numbers. Laminate. The students count the spots on the cow and match it to the cow with the correct number. [ Idea from The Virtual Vine]

Branding Graph. Have children pick a cow brand from several that are posted on a chart. Have them secretly draw their favorite brand from the chart onto a construction-paper cot cutout. Make a graph of the brand choices. Discuss the results.

Sort brands on cows and put them in the correct corral. Program 3 sets of different colored (brown, black, white) cows with different brands on them. Children will sort the cows into the correct corral (strawberry baskets) by their brand.

Cactus Counting. Make 10 large cactus cutouts on green construction paper. Program the cutouts with numerals 11-20. Provide 2-inch pieces of brown pipe cleaner to represent the cactus spines. Children will count and place the correct number of spines on each cactus cutout.

Science:

Desert Life Booklet.

1. The desert is hot and dry. Very little rain falls there. [cactus, sun, armadillo]

2. The desert may look lifeless, but many animals live there. [jackrabbit, tortoise, kangaroo rat]

3. Birds live there too. [elf owl, roadrunner, cactus wren]

4. Desert plants do not meed much water.[saguaro cactus, prickly pear cactus, barrel cactus] **This can be found in Teacher's Helper, April/May/June, 1998 **

Discuss the difference between ranch animals and wild animals. Have children complete All Around the Ranch worksheet. Students will classify animal pictures as ranch animals or wild animals. [Teacher's Helper, April/May/June 1998]

Armadillos

Horses

Cactus

Read Cactus Hotel by Brenda Guiberson. It tells about a saguaro cactus that has many different animals living in it. Then have your students make their own cactus from clay. The clay is made from 1 cup flour, 1 cup salt, 1 tsp. alum. Add water containing green paint to the dry mixture, stirring as you add. You can tell when it's ready to knead.

Each child fills a 4x4 black plastic pot (planter cups) with packed sand. Then they stick a tongue depressor in the middle of their pot. They mold their clay around the tongue depressor and shape it into a cactus. Then they use uncooked spaghetti for the spines. They stick tiny pieces of art tissue that they twisted onto the cactus to make a fruit flower. They can then discuss what kind of animal would live in theirs. The clay will dry in about a day or so. Cindy had this great idea at her website The Virtual Vine.

Wildlife Critter booklet. Duplicate the wildlife patterns (May - Monthly Idea Book) for each child. Make copies of the Wild West Critters cover for each child. White-out the working and decoration on an extra copy of the cactus pattern to create the booklet's cactus pages. Program the inside pages - Out in the West, there will be a ___________ for me to see. On each of the blank pages, children will add a critter pattern and write the corresponding animal name on the line.

Social Studies:

Discuss with your students that a cowboy's dress is determined by need and not by looks.

Hat - shields eyes from the sun; used to drink water from a creek or river; used as a pillow. also used to fan fires and to signal others.

Bandana - keeps dust out of his eyes; used to blindfold a horse so it does not get "spooked."

Boots - the high heels keep get in the stirrups; the high sides keep dirt off of feet and help protect legs against snakebites.

Spurs - used to urge a horse forward

Chaps - protect legs

Rope - used to lasso stray cows

Read the book Cowboys by Glen Rounds.Read and discuss new vocabulary in the book. Students will complete a booklet titled "My Cowboy Book," illustrating each page. (boots, hat, jeans, bunkhouse, corral, stampede, lasso).

[Idea from Kindergarten Crew Thematic Units]

Buckaroo Brands worksheet. Students will look at ach brand pattern. They will try to reproduce the branding design. [The Mailbox, Pre/K, April/May 1993]

The History of Cowboys. Information can be found at Jan Brett's Website. Share portions of the story, ...If You Traveled West In a Covered Wagon by Ellen Levin to show how people traveled in the days of the cowboys. Follow-up the story by making individual covered wagons. (See Craft activities).

Cowboys were essential to the Old West's cattle industry. A very important duty of the cowboy was to take part in the roundups each spring and fall. During a roundup, cowboys from several different ranches would work together and drive all the cattle in the open range to a central location. There they would read the brands on the cattle and sort them according to their markings. Any new calves would be branded with their mother's markings.

Arts & Crafts:

Decorated Cowboy Boots. Decorate a boot pattern that has been Xeroxed on various colors of construction paper. Personalize and color part of the design as desired. Make sure to add child's name. Trace some of the lines with glue and sprinkle glitter onto the glue.

Cut out horseshoe, cactus, horse, etc. shapes from sponges and let children spongepaint western pictures.

Cactus Collage.

Step 1. Paint a strip of glue at the bottom of a piece of construction paper; then sprinkle sand onto the glue.

Step 2. Use colored chalk to draw and color a cactus base.

Step 3. Sponge-paint several cactus arms that touch the base.

Step 4. Glue toothpick spines to the cactus collage.

[May - Monthly Activities]

Yarn-tailed Horse.Cut out large horse shapes on paper and decorate them with yarn tails and mane. Paint the horse shape. Could use brown grocery bags for these.

Individual Covered Wagons. Make miniature replicas of covered wagons. To prepare, gather the following materials: individual serving-size cereal boxes, brass fasteners, tagboard, 4"x9" strips of white construction paper, brown paint, yarn, and a hole punch. Cut four, 2-inch circle from the tagboard for each child. Cut off the front panel of each ceral box. To make holes for wheeles, punch four holes in each of the cereal boxes - at least 1/2 inch from the bottom and sides of the box.

1. Paint the outside of the boxes brown. Allow to dry.

2. Staple an end of a paper strip to each side of the cereal box.

3. Poke a brad through the middle of each wheel.

4. Connect the wheels to the wagon by inserting the brads through the holes and loosely opening the metal arms.

5. Tape one end of a length of yarn to the front of the wagon.

Self-Made Cowboys. Give students pictures of a cowboy hat, a belt, and boots. The students put the cowboy hat on the top of the paper. (Paper is hotdog style!) Tell them to put the top of the hat so it will touch the top of the paper. Next they put the cowboy boots. The bottom of the boots will touch the bottom of the paper. Now they put the belt where they "think" the middle of the paper is. They draw the rest of it. (From asako3@email.msn.com)

Cowpokes. Draw a self-portrait or a portrait of a cowboy or cowgirl on the back of a 7-inch paper plate. Glue a decorated hat cutout (pattern on p. 47 - The Mailbox, Pre/K, Aug/Sept 1992) to the portrait and a decorated bandana cutout below it.

Design an authentic western belt with shiny belt buckle. Draw and color designs on a 1-inch strip of poster board to fit around the waist. Also decorate and trim a 3-inch square of poster board for the buckle. Staple the buckle to one end of the belt before stapling the belt around their waists.

Sand Painted Lizards. I found this western art idea at KinderNet. There is a lizard pattern there that you can use also for the project. Here are the details. You will print the lizard pattern off her site. Then, students can sprinkle the various sections on the lizard with colored sand.

Sunset Cowboy. Another wonderful western art project from KinderNet. Students use waterpaints to paint bands of sunset colors and add western details. Very Cute!

Snacks:

Beenie Weenies

Trail Mix

Tasty Tumbleweeds

Ingredients for one snack:

1 T. peanut butter

1 T. honey

2 T. powdered milk

2-3 T. shredded wheat

small paper cup

craft stick

sheet of waxed paper

Wash hands. Use the craft stick to mix together the peanut butter and honey in a small paper cup. Add powdered milk little by little until the dough is no longer sticky. Turn the dough onto a sheet of waxed paper; then roll the dough into a ball. Sprinkle shredded wheat onto waxed paper. Roll the dough in the wheat.

Just For Fun!!:

Make a memory game using cowboy theme stickers.

Barrel Racing. Set up 3 chairs in a triangle in the center of the room... then show the kids how to run, gallop, trot around them.

Hobby Horse. Use a long wooden stick and an old sock to make a puppet horse head. Give children yarn and buttons for embelishment.

Bring in bales of hay and real saddles for children to "ride the horses."

Spray paint rocks with gold spray paint. Put them in the water table or sand table. Add shovels and gold pans for children to pretend to pan for gold.

Take pictures of the cowboys and cowgirls with their real cowboy hats, vests, yardstick horses, etc. Frame the pictures with craft sticks painted rustic. Add a caption or western-themed erasers/buttons/craft foam pieces for decoration.

Make yardstick horses for children to do the barrel racing and take pictures with. Mrs. Hicks has pictures and patterns at her website to make your own! Check it out a Mrs. Hicks Chicks Cowboy Unit.

Make Cowboy Vests from brown grocery bags. To make a vest, remove the bottom from a paper bag, and cut down the center of one of the widest panels. With your hand, press the bag flat and cut to produce extra deep armholes. Trim away what will be the neck front at an angle. Staple seems at the shoulders. If desired, trim to round the neck opening at the bag's back. Snip the bottom edge of the bag to make fringe. Decorate the front of the paper bag vest with crayon. Add asheriff's badge using a star pattern from yellow construction paper. Personalize the star and glue it to the vest.

Transform your circle time or reading area into a western-themed campfire with an easy-to-make prop. Prop several tree trimmings against the top of the oatmeal container. Use craft glue to join the sticks to the top of the container rim. After the glue has dried, arrange torn tissue paper into flame shapes and place them inside the oatmeal container. Surround the stick-covered can with rocks. Sing western songs around the pretend campfire.

Design a Wanted Poster for each child.