Movement is essential when teaching young children. I think it's even more essential at the beginning of the school year. I was excited when I discovered How Do You Wokka-Wokka? by Elizabeth Bluemle at the beginning of the summer. This book is about moving and dancing in all kinds of ways. When I opened the book, I knew this was going to be just too fun to read aloud. I actually have to concentrate quite a bit with the language as you can read from the first page.
"Say "HEY!" to your neighbors
up and down the blocka
Do your funky wokka,
get your dance on."
As the little boy travels through his neighborhood he asks several people how they wokka-wokka and their replies are fun and described with whimsical language. Here are a few language examples -
rap-bap biddly-ap open-up-and-boppa
I just can't wait to see how my students are going to wokka-wokka. I also think this book is worth using as a mentor text for writing ideas. The author couldn't understand her nephew when he was two. He actually started asking people, "How do you wokka-wokka?" and they all replied with various dance moves.