At the end of the first week of school, before we kick off our alphabet unit, I love to introduce letters to my students with a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom day!
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is a popular story all about letters of the alphabet. We start the day by reading the story and students get to take turns sticking letters on the coconut tree. They think it’s hilarious because I am the coconut tree!
Activity
Then, we do a write the room type activity. I hide coconut tree letter cards all around the room. Students have a clipboard and a recording sheet. They search around the room to try and find as many letters as they can. When they find one, they color it on their paper. This activity is actually from my sensory bin bundle, but I also to love to use it this way too.
Snack Time
After this activity, students get to make a fun coconut tree snack! All you need is green apple slices and graham crackers for the tree and Whoppers for the coconuts. Some years I’ve been able to find alphabet cookies at Walmart and add these as well.
Craft
Finally, we finish up our day with a coconut tree name craft to create our first hallway bulletin board display. Students cut out and build their tree, then add alphabet stickers to spell their name.
This craft is from Julie Shope on TPT. You can grab it HERE!
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom day is one of those days my students continue to talk about all year long. It’s a great way to get them excited to learn the alphabet. And of course, the best part is getting to make their teacher look silly for the rest of the day.
You can also find all of the materials I use for this day, all in one place in my Amazon Storefront.
