Materials
paper cutouts for each child of a red dress, a blue car, a purple ball, and two yellow blocks
Instructions
1. Gather the children together and read books about the states, including the
children's home state (see list to the left for suggestions).
2. Provide each child with paper, markers, and crayons.
3. Ask each child to think of a state he or she would like to visit. Then have each
child finish the following sentence by naming that state: "I wish I could visit
_________."
4. Write their answers on their papers, and say each letter aloud while writing it.
Encourage the children to name the letters with you.
5. Have the children illustrate their ideas.
6. Punch holes in the papers and bind them together with yarn or silver rings to
make a book for the classroom library.
Poem
I Wish I Could by Laura Wynkoop
I wish I could sit on the seashore in Oregon,
And see maple trees in Vermont.
I wish I could travel all over the country
And go anywhere that I want.
Assessment
To assess the children's learning, consider the following:
l Can the children name single states they want to visit, and explain why they
chose them?
l Can the children name the letters in the states they chose?
