Submitted by Becky Olson, Union Grove, Wisconsin

Idea posted October 14, 2002

My kindergarten students love starring in their own books. For our most recent creation, we made a counting book. I took appropriate pictures with a digital camera and printed them with the captions I made up. (You'll find the captions below.)

Before creating our books, we read the story BAT JAMBOREE. See the Picture Book category in the Idea Bank for the author.

Title page
Kindergarten Jamboree
A Musical Counting Book
by Room 107
A Music Room Production
October 2001
Page 1 (Picture - 1 student playing rhythm sticks)
"If you come to the music room
Any fine day,
You might just be in time to hear
1 student play."
Page 2 (Picture - 2 students playing rhythm sticks. Add another student to each picture.)
"When 2 children play sticks
We all have such fun,
Knowing 2 is a number
That's bigger than 1."
Page 3
"3 children are tapping,
Oh, my, what a noise!
And all of it made
By 3 girls and boys."
Page 4
"When 4 children play
With a rat-a-tat-tat,
You would think that no noise
Could be louder than that!"
Page 5
"But when 5 join the fun
It's a musical treat
Of tapping and clicking
With each steady beat."
Page 6
"6 children together
Can easily show
The way to play sticks,
Tapping high and then low."
Page 7
"Now 7 can tap
And keep musical time,
Playing the rhythm,
Joining the rhyme."
Page 8
"If you count them, you'll find
That 8 children are here,
Making music with instruments
So loud and clear."
Page 9
"There are 9 children now
Who are part of the fun,
Tapping and playing
For everyone."
Page 10
"Our jamboree's finished,
For now we have 10.
If you'd like, you can count them
All over again!
So come to the music room
Any fine day,
For you never know how many
Children might play!"

I laminated the pages and put them together with a comb binding, but staples or brads will work just as well. We put our books out for the parents to see during parent/teacher conferences, and they loved seeing their kids in print!