Teaching Heart
- The Kissing Hand Page!!!
 The
Kissing Hand
Lessons, printables, ideas, and more to match
this lovely story!
Click Here to Purchase
or to Learn more!
This is a must read
book for the first day of school. Great to read
to grades k-2 and even grades 2-4 would enjoy
this cute book about a racoon named Chester who
is ready to start his first day of school. In the
story the raccoon talks about his fear of going
to school. Most of the fears will be very
familiar to primary aged children who are just
getting back to school. Chester's Mom helps him
feel loved and secure by kissing the center of
his hand. She reminds Chester that her love is
always right there and if he should feel
frightened or scared or lonely he should simply
hold the hand to his face and he will feel her
love. Read this story through a couple of times
before reading it to your class. If you are a sap
like me, then your heart will warm up and a tear
will appear in your eye. I love this book!
Many teachers choose to
read this book to their class on the first day.
The children can relate to the little raccoon in
this book. On the first day of school there are
many mixed emotions everywhere. Some children are
so excited about starting school and some don't
every want to leave their parents or their home.
I always choose to read this to my class on the
first day of school. It is a great way to discuss
how the Raccoon is feeling. It also allows
children to see that they have a connection with
Chester. Many children will state to their
classmates that they too felt the way Chester
felt on the first day of school. As a class we
will often chart out our fears for the first day
and some of the things we are excited about.
Another activity that I like to do with my class
after we finish the story is to give them each a
piece of paper with a circle on it. I have them
write their name on the circle and draw how they
are feeling about the first day on the circle
face. I come around and look at the circles and
talk one-on-one with the students. I let them
know that it is ok to draw a sad face in the
circle and that it is ok to be a little bit
scared of the first day of school.
Below you will find
printables and activities I have used in my
classrooms. You will also find ideas from great
teachers and awesome websites to visit.
Updated - June 2013
Free To Print From
Teaching Heart
 Day and Night Activity!
This book is a perfect time to discuss
the term nocturnal.
*DAY NIGHT
SHEETS
Use the two sheets above as a group (or
individually) to discuss the things that
go on at night and the things that happen
during the day. You may wish to cut up
the ideas and invite a student up to
place the an idea under the correct
category
Racoon
Graphics Copyright - Digi Web
Studio www.digiwebstudio.com – Sheet created by C.
Galllagher @www.teachingheart.net 2012
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Have each student trace their
hand and then use a sponge heart to make
a kissing hand. Under the hand write the
sentence. __________ came to school and
______ felt ______________.
Here is a sheet
to do this project on.
You could make it into a book or just
send it home with the student.
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Print
Vocabulary Words From The Story!
You could use these in may different
ways.
Put in ABC or on a pocket chart.
To introduce the story.
Parts of speech activity. Read the part
of the book that contains the word and
decide which part of speech the word is!
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Here is a
pocket chart activity that I made for
number word matching.
Shana/MS/1st
gr.
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Above is the
book with the Read Along CD!
It has such a great song on it about the
Kissing Hand!
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Ideas
in our Kissing Hand Packet for Preschool
and Kindergarten...
 
Kissing Hand
Literature Extensions for Preschool and
Kindergarten.
Great for Back to School Time or anytime
of the year! Math and reading
activities, games, and centers!
Below is what you will find in this
set. Please see preview for
pictures of all items found in this set.
6—14.) A
to Z Puzzles to use in small groups or as
a literacy center.
15.—16)
Cut Up and Sort Day and Night
Sentences. Use during group
instruction.
17.) Count Up
and Match—Count the kisses and match
to the Raccoon with the correct number.
18.) Beginning
Middle End—As a class read through
the statements and circle beginning,
middle, or end.
19.) Take
Chester to the Kissing Hand Dice Board
Game—Roll the dice and race to the
kissing hand. Use foam shaped
hearts as markers.
20—21.)
Roll and Put together a Chester—Dice
game. Cut out shapes to form
Chester. Roll the dice and put
together Chester.
22.—24)
Dice Cover-Up Games
25.—26.)
Beginning Sound Cover Up
27.—28.)
Count by 1’s and a Count by 5’s
Puzzle—I suggest you print,
laminate, and cut these. Place in
puzzle center for students to use.
29.) Kissing
Hand handprint poem and page—student
places they handprint on the page and
glues a heart in the center. They
can take this home to share the Kissing
Hand.
30.) Kissing
Hand 10 frames— count, cut,
and glue
For Single
Classroom Use—Copyright 2013 By:
Colleen Gallagher Teaching Heart
$6.00
Beginning Sound Puzzles -
Great to add to a literacy center.
Includes puzzles A to Z !
Get the Kissing Hand Puppet for Fun!
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Poems to use with this story
The Kissing Hand
It's my first day of Kindergarten
And I'm thinking of you.
I made these precious handprints
So you will think of me, too.
It's my first day of school
And "The Kissing Hand" is what
we read.
It's about a raccoon
Who did just as his parents said.
Like the raccoon's first day at school
I was scared and a little shy.
But because of what you said
I was brave and I got by.
All through the year
I'll make more things for you.
So as I change and as I learn
You can witness my growth, too!
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Raccoon,Raccoon
Raccoon,raccoon(make a mask around your
eyes with your fingers)
Up in a tree(both arms raised)
Raccoon, raccoon,
You can't see me.(cover eyes)
Raccoon, raccoon,
I can see you.(one hand on your eyes, one
pointing to imaginary raccoon)
Eating fish and corn(eating motions)
And bird's eggs too.
Raccoon, raccoon,
Hunting at night(hands shade eyes as if
squinting in the dark)
Raccoon, raccoon,
Sleeps in daylight.(sleeping motion
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Poem:
Raccoon, Raccoon
by Pam Miller
Raccoon,
raccoon, (each time you kind of make a
mask around your eyes withyour fingers)
Up in a tree, (both arms raised)
Raccoon, Raccoon, You can't see me.
(cover eyes)
Raccoon, raccoon, I can see you (one hand
on your eyes, one pointing out to
imaginary raccoon)
Eating fish and corn and birds' eggs too.
(imitate eating motions)
Raccoon, raccoon, Hunting at night,
(hands shade eyes as if squinting in the
dark)
Raccoon, raccoon, Sleeps in daylight.
(the usual sleeping motion we all do)
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Great Ideas
Make
your class a special treat. Buy a hand heart
cookie cutter and some Sugar Cookie dough. Make
each student in your class a cookie to eat after
reading the story. If you cannot find a cookie
cutter with the heart in the hand, buy a hand
cutter and place a candy heart or hershey kiss in
the center. I found my hand cookie cutter at a
Gourmet Chef Store.
At
Amazon you can purchase a racoon puppet. It can
be used as a treat for students that keep a neat
desk. The racoon puppet will pick a favorite desk
to stay in for the day.
Learn More About the
Puppet
Before
school starts, send each parent a large piece of
construction paper. Ask them to trace each
family member's hand on the banner and write
theirname next to their hand. They can decorate
their banner with crayons, markers, ribbon,
colored glue, paint, stickers, photos, etc.
Ask them to send their banner in with their child
on the first day of school. The children
willhave a great time looking at the banners.
This also provides them with a sense of
familiarity. Adapt this activity for the first
homework.
Purchase
enough heart shaped stickers for each student in
your class. When you meet the parents of your
students before school starts, read them the book
and give them each a sticker to use with their
child on the first day of school.
Racoon Books/ Resources
Math
Game - Pocket Chart
Place the Racoon with
the number in the pocket chart. The student must
put the correct number of kisses (lips) next to
the Racoon.
Teaching Heart
Mailringers Share Their Ideas!!!
Read
The Kissing Hand to the kids on the first day.
After you finish, say something like, "I
wonder how many kisses would fit on your
hand????" They'll immediately start kissing
their hands, some will say "infinity",
etc. Have them try to think of another kind of
"kiss" that they can actually count.
They may (or may not--mine didn't) come up with
Hershey's Kisses. Give each child a worksheet to
take back to their tables, where there's just a
handful of kisses (enough for each child to have
one). On their paper, they should trace their own
hand (some will need help). Also on their paper
(you've already set this up before xeroxing it),
there's a sentence that says, "I think
_____kisses will fit on my hand." After
putting one kiss on their traced hand, as a
reference, they should write their estimate.
Then, discuss with them how they'll figure out
how many actually fit on their hand. Someone will
probably say, "trace them". Then YOU
need to model how to trace the kisses so they
touch each other. You will need to put out a few
more kisses at each table, because their warm
little hands start melting the kisses! When
they're done, have the kids discuss how they'll
count the kisses without skipping any or
recounting them. Hopefully, someone will say,
"put a mark in each one as you count
it." Some of mine alos wrote the actual
number in each circle. Then, each child should
write a sentence at the bottom of their paper
telling how many kisses actually fit on their
hand.
For homework, have a
worksheet ready for each child to take home,
which will be tracing their mother's (or
grandmother's, or father's,whomever--think ahead
on this one, if you know the families!), and
estimating how many kisses will fit on that
person's hand. I didn't explain myself well
enough, so I actually had a few parents go out
and buy candy kisses that night and complete the
homework with actual numbers of kisses, but that
was what I wanted the kids to do during math the
2nd day of school. ONLY the estimating is done at
home--you can send a kiss home in a ziploc bag
for them to use as a reference only.
This was a fun way to start the year, even with
kids I knew well.
Good luck!
Melissa/VA/K-1 looping
In
the midst of telling the story of the Kissing
Hand to my Kindergarten, my daughter Jodi popped
in for a visit. She was leaving for
college. I opened her hand and kissed her
palm, with a little explanation as to why I was
doing this very unusual gesture. The
Kindergarten was delighted to see this in
action. Jodi said that it did warm her
heart.......she added that Kindergarten teachers
have a way of doing strange things....ha Just
wanted to share. Barb
I
made these up this summer for my Kissing Hand
unit and just converted them to pdf to share with
others. Hope the files aren't too big. An
alternate idea I use with my students is to give
students a dab of my special smelling lotion to
rub on their hands. I tell them that whenever
they are feeling lonely or sad they can smell
their hands and it will remind them of how much
they are loved. I use this with my personal
children on days that they have tests or special
projects in school as well (which is where the
class activity stemmed from). My students will
often ask for a dab of my lotion on days that
something bad has happened to them or they are
just feeling yucky. It is really neat to see them
perk up after getting a wiff. :-) -- Shana/MS/1st
gr.
Here is a pocket chart
activity that I made.
Shana/MS/1st gr.
Hi,
I teach Head Start and every year I read the
Kissing Hand to my children, I had some children
that didn't want to leave their mom so I took a
picture of mom and child, traced the child's
hand, and cut the picture to fit on the palm of
the hand and then laminated it, and made a
necklace for the child, so when the child go
tlonely for mom all she/he had to do was lok at
the picture and this really helped
marilyn White
Compare
this story to the Kissing Hand.
Amazon
Products!
Heart in Hand Metal
Cookie Cutter
Click To Learn More or Purchase
or use Hershey Kiss and
this Cookie Cutter
Links to Good Ideas
Other Sites With Free
Printables
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