October

Language Arts:

Reading:  Throughout the month we will continue our study of patterned text as we make connections and visualizations to help us gain a deeper understanding of the text.  Additionally, students will begin to 'track their thinking' on sticky notes as we read.  They will write/down the connections they have with the text, new information they learned, predictions they may have, or things that surprise them as we read.  The purpose for doing this is that the students are learning to monitor their comprehension as they read, and this helps to ensure that they are making meaning of the text and not simply 'decoding (figuring out the words based on letters, sounds, grammatical, structure, etc.)'.   As we begin our spiders unit this month, students will practice this skill by working with a partner using different types of text and media resources (online books, videos, etc.) to research spiders.  They will keep track of the new information they find on stickies, and we will later compile their findings on a class chart:


















We keep a KWL (what we think we know, what we want to know, and what we learned) chart throughout the unit to monitor our comprehension and to see how our learning has changed:





Simultaneously, we will still continue to practice identifying beginning letters and sounds in words, correct errors we make as we read, and deepen our understanding of concepts about print (tracking one word at a time while reading, knowing the print has meaning and is supported by the illustrations, understanding that print moves from left to right and top to bottom, etc).  The students will also begin to understand how capitalization and punctuation are used to help us comprehend text (by telling us where to pause and stop, when information is important, where a new sentence begins, etc.).




After reading the "Leaves" poem shown below, the students will choose a popsicle stick and will illustrate the mental image they had while reading the part of the poem described on their stick on a post-it note that we will attach to the poem:







Students will use their visualization skills to illustrate the patterned text, "Scarecrow, Scarecrow", that shares the Brown Bear, Brown Bear story structure pattern.








After illustrating Scarecrow, Scarecrow,  we then use a Venn Diagram to compare the story elements with those of Brown Bear, Brown Bear.





Another visualization activity that we do is create an illustration of the monster in the Go Away Big Green Monster book.  As I read the text to the class without showing them the pictures, we pause for students to add to their monster what the writing described.  When I am finished reading, we compare our illustrations with the illustrations in the book to check our accuracy (i.e., we colored blue eyes but the author said yellow, etc.).  This activity helps students to see how significant our words our in telling a story and how they, in a sense, create the pictures.










Another way that students apply their visualization strategies is through catching a cookie thief!  I read students a story I created about a grandma who had a batch of cookies stolen right off of her windowsill while she was baking them for her granddaughter.  As I read, students stop to draw what they are visualizing based on the descriptions in the text (black and red suit, short legs, etc.).  




After reading the story, I play a tape recording from 'Officer Grizzly' pleading with the students to help him find the criminal.  Students compare their drawings to the wanted posters below to find the thief.  We then compare the descriptions that were in the text to what we see in the pictures and discuss how the author's words helped us to visualize the cookie robber.     





We practice this same strategy while visualizing how a pumpkin grows.  I read students a non-fiction text, and pause after each step in the life cycle for students to illustrate what they visualize on a sticky.  After reading the book, we compare our illustrations to the photographs in the book and paste our stickies to the chart below.  We discuss what words helped us in creating our visualizations, and if our drawings did not match what was in the book, why we believe that is:





The class also loves solving 'Who Am I?' riddles with visualization strategies and later using their author's voice to create them for their peers to solve:





Distinguishing Fiction and Non-Fiction:  As we read a variety of text this month and begin a spiders unit, we will simultaneously begin to identify the features of fiction and non-fiction texts.

We will begin to discuss the features as a class every time we read a text together.  As we go along, I will note the features we notice on a class chart.  We will consistently refer back to this chart as we read across content areas and for a variety of purposes.


                                                     


Once students have become somewhat familiar with the features on our chart, they will go on a Scavenger hunt using a variety of texts from our classroom.  Using the class i-touches, they will take pictures of the different features they notice in the texts.  They will then share these pictures with the class and will use them to determine whether or not the text they examined was fiction or non-fiction.  They will also use what we learned from our features chart to defend their reasoning.  The pictures below are examples of some of the photos from non-fiction texts that the students took during their search:

















Retelling:  As we retell stories this month we will begin to focus on story elements.  We will practice acting out stories and tracking the events on a story arc.   We will begin with what we call 'circle stories' (stories whose events end the way they started) and we will use Laura Numeroff's series.  Once we have read the books as a class, the students will retell these stories with a circle of yarn and story cards in a center.  Later in the year, we will replace the circle with an arc for the retelling center.

       
   



Rhyming Words:   Part of a child's developing their phonemic awareness is learning to recognize rhyming words and repeated sounds.  One way we help students with this skill is by orally modeling words that "end the same" and then giving them a non-example word that does not end the same.  Later, students will have to pick out the word that does not sound like the others.  Eventually, the students will come up with their own examples and non-examples.  

We also practice hearing and finding rhyming words through books, poems, and other texts.  The following books are a few examples of the rhyming books we will be reading this month:




Syllables:  Another part of phonemic awareness is being able to hear and segment (separate) sounds in words.  One activity we use in our class as a warm-up to practice counting the syllables in words is by placing all of our pictures and names in a class photo album (these can be purchased at a re-sale shop or dollar store).  Next, we read through the album and clap the syllables we hear in each name. This is an easy activity to do at home with your child using pictures of your child's friends and family members.  Once they are proficient in hearing the syllables, you can have them sort pictures according to the number of syllables they have.














October Books:

                           



Click below to watch and listen to some of our favorite Halloween stories on Youtube:




















Spider Books:






Writing:

Writer's Workshop:  In addition to continuing to create patterned texts and using pictures and labels to support text, we will also begin to create topic writing pieces.  Topic writing is non-fiction text that, simply put, stays on topic.  For instance, a book about birds will not start telling the reader about what I did last week at my friend's birthday party. 

We will learn how to plan our stories using lists and topic webs.




We will then create writing pieces using our pre-writing as a guide (we were still in the process of finishing this book when the photos were taken).
























As we create our topic writing pieces, we learn how to incorporate writing craft we learn from other authors.  I model this for the students and then they can try it on their own.  The book below shows a book we made that uses text boxes, subtitles, labels, and font decorations that we picked up from non-fiction author Gail Gibbons.  The text is different colors because as our class revises a book, we use a different color each time so that students can visualize all of the changes we have made and see how they have enhanced our writing.











Personal Narratives:  Students will also continue to create personal narratives, and as they do, they will transfer what we have learned about topic writing and story elements to stay on topic while writing about events from their lives.  I always begin our workshop by first modeling a story for the students that we will continue to revise together for the remainder of the week:











Spaces:  As we revise our writing pieces, we will practicing using 'finger spaces' between our words to make sure they don't run together.  I assist students with this task by placing a dot or space on their page for each spoken word that they say is in their sentence.  This gives them a guide to use when writing their words. 


Centers:

Writing:  This month's writing center is stocked with Halloween stencils (these can be made with poster board and a die-cutter), Halloween stickers, and postcards.








Students can also use Halloween costume catalogs to complete the sentence stem:  I want to be a ____ for Halloween.  The students will write and illustrate this sentence in their Language Arts journals:









ABC: 

Initial Sounds:  This activity was adapted from Kelly's Kindergarten (http://www.kellyskindergarten.com/).  Students will match bats with letters on them to pictures on the haunted houses that begin with those sounds.




I take a picture of the answers and keep it at the center for the students to check their work:


Letter/Sound Identification:  Students love this game from Kindergarten Kiosk.  Players will pick up a letter card and if they can read it and make the letter's sound, they can keep the card on their game-board.  If a player picks up a Halloween character card, they can steal a card from another player.   Whoever has the most cards at the end is the winner. 
   



Students can also practice identifying letters by matching upper and lowercase letters with the fall die-cuts.  They may use the alphabet chart at the center to check their work.



                                              

Rhyming Words:  Students still learning to identify rhyming words can practice using this matching game from Playdough to Plato.




Building Words:  Students use magnetic letters to build CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) Halloween words.  They will keep track of the words they make in their journal.






Students can also use the CVC picture cards to make words.  They can practice writing the words in their journals and/or on the dry erase boards.  The answers are on the back of the cards for them to check their work.






Last but not least, students can use the CVC cards from Kelly's Kindergarten (http://www.kellyskindergarten.com/) to  build words as well.





Building Sentences:  Students manipulate these sight word and descriptive vocabulary cards from Grade One Fun to create sentences.  They then record the sentences they've made in their journals.






Picture Sorts:  Using the Words Their Way picture sorts, students will sort pictures according to their first sound, the first vowel in the word ('fog' and 'top' would be sorted under 'o' and 'pet' and 'bed' word be sorted under 'e', for instance), and digraphs (words that start with 'sh', 'th', 'ch', and 'wh').  







Retelling:  After reading Where the Wild Things Are as a class, the students can retell the story by acting it out and using the face masks.






Students can also retell the Five Little Pumpkins poem we read during math (each student has their own book from DLTK Kids) with the puppets and our puppet theater.









After learning about Christopher Columbus's journey to America, students can retell the events by sequencing the event cards from Brainpop.com and re-enacting his voyage on an atlas.









Read and Find:  This month we are wrapping up our spiders unit and, therefore, practice mixing up and re-ordering various spider poems.  After putting the poems back in order, we practice reading them with a pointer.









We also learn about how pumpkins grow and then practice sequencing the steps.  The poem is patterned and has numbers written on the back that students can use for support when putting the poem back together.  Each word also has a dot below it to help students track the print while reading it.







For students who are ready for an additional challenge, they can try to put the entire poem back together with magnetic cards.  The sentences are color coded and a copy of the poem is kept at the center to support students in this task and allow them to check their work.






Housekeeping/Dramatic Play:  Students can create their own Halloween stories using this 'peel and stick' set from Target:




Students can also pretend to trick or treat using the props at the center:




After 'trick-or-treating', the students will write the names of the candies they picked up by writing them in their Language Arts journals:








Art:  After reading Go Away Big Green Monster and learning about how the author used descriptive vocabulary to evoke mental images, the students will create their own monsters and will use the sentence stems below to write about their monster.




Students will use these picture cards to choose which parts of their monster they would like to write about.




They will then use the attribute vocabulary cards to help them describe their monster's hair, ears, eyes, etc.





















I model this for the students and then they are free to create their own monsters.  Students who are still working on writing words will draw and label their monsters, while students who are ready will write sentences to describe their monsters:













Some students choose to use labels in their drawings as well:













Math:

Ordinal Positions:   Students will learn this month how to sequence objects and events according to their ordinal positions (first, second, etc.).  Once students have mastered the ordinal numbers for first through fifth, they will then work up to tenth.

The students begin by practicing to order themselves from first to tenth.




Next, students will practice acting out the following "10 Kindergartners" poem.  Later, this poem will be placed in a center and students will match the actions on the stickies to the ordinal numbers (the numbers are on the back of the stickies to support students with this).




We also read the "Five Little Pumpkins" poem, and later students will practice acting it out by placing die cut pumpkins on a gate (we extend this to go up to the tenth pumpkin).








Once students have become proficient in recognizing ordinal numbers first through tenth, we do a more challenging activity.  While I tell students a story that is not in the correct sequence, students will match pictures of the events I describe to a sentence strip with the ordinal numbers first through tenth written on the strips.  For example, I will tell students "The second thing Mrs. Cortez did was get in her car and drive to the grocery store.  The seventh thing Mrs. Cortez did was pay for her groceries (and so on and so forth)."  When the story is over, students examine their sentence strips to see if they placed their events in a logical sequence.  For instance, "Does it make sense that Mrs. Cortez made her grocery list after going to the store?"  This activity helps students to see how ordinal numbers are used to retell a story and how their placement can affect the sequence of events.






Students will then put what they have learned about ordinal numbers to practical use.  They work in small groups and will write down the directions for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Students also record their directions using an i-touch.  I will then follow their exact directions to make a sandwich, and based on what I do, the groups will evaluate whether or not they gave sufficient directions.  Groups will then have a chance to re-adjust their directions to make sure they include all of the necessary steps.

   








Students can also listen to the "Five Little Monkeys" story on tape at the math station during Literacy Station time to review ordinal number vocabulary.




They can then use the monkey finger puppets to retell the story.







Length:  In October we begin measuring the length of different objects using non-standard units (such as hands, cubes, etc.) and then comparing and ordering them from longest to shortest and vice versa.

We use Venn diagrams to compare different objects length in accordance with a specific object (straw, glue stick, etc.).  On one side, students place the objects that are longer than the object being compared, the other side those that are shorter than the object and in the middle those that are equal in length with the object being compared.  After doing this activity as a whole class, it will be added to a center and students will be able to find objects from around the classroom that they think will belong in the different groups.









We also use our names and other words to compare length by counting the letters in each.  This activity also reinforces students' concepts about print, as they are learning to distinguish different letters.  We also begin a class graph according to the number of letters in each word and students continue this task in a center, hunting for words that have the specified number of letters and adding them to the graph. 










Counting Videos:
*Note:  by the end of the month, students are expected to be able to count to 60 





   



Math Stations:

Number Sense:  Students will continue to work on developing number sense to 5 by using '5 frames'.  Students take turn rolling a dice to see who can fill their frame with all 5 spiders first.




For students who are still working on number recognition and do not yet recognize the numerals on the dice, they may use number cards that are supported by a picture.  They match the spiders t the pictures on the card to help them pick up the correct number.




When the game is over, students draw in their journal what their board looked like when the game was over and they practice writing the corresponding numeral next to their spiders.





Comparing (more/fewer; less/more):  Students reach into a bag of unifix cubes and count out 10 cubes.  They then separate the cubes into rows according to their colors and count the number of cubes in each row.  Next, the students record in their journal the numbers and write "more" or "less" besides the numbers.  For students who are already capable, they will write number sentences in their journal to compare the cubes.




Students can do the same activity by counting out 5 Halloween manipulatives from a bag they choose.




They then sort the like manipulatives.




                                                


After sorting, they line up the manipulatives in rows, being sure to pair the objects from the different rows so that they can easily determine which group has more and which has less.





Next, students will record the groups in their journals, noting which group has more and which has less.







Sets:  Students will practice making sets to 5 in a variety of ways.

Students will line up in numerical order the jack-o-lantern buckets below (great find from Target!) and will try to throw the corresponding number of pom-pom balls inside. 




When finished, the students will record in their journal the sets they made.




Students will also make sets by using candy corns to create 'vampire' teeth on the following character cards from http://learningandteachingwithpreschoolers.blogspot.ca/.  If students are unsure of which numeral is on the card, they can first place their candy corns in the circles on the bottom right corner to be sure they count out the right number. 




To correspond with our spiders unit, students can make sets using the following book from Kelly's Kindergarten (http://www.kellyskindergarten.com/).  They make the spiders' bodies by stamping their fingerprints on the pages.







Towards the end of the month, students start to practice making sets to 10.  They will pull out sticks with a number on it (from 1-10) and will place the corresponding number of Halloween erasers in the windows on a haunted house.  The first student to fill all of their windows is the winner.  For an extra challenge, students can play the game backwards after filling their windows- they can take off the corresponding number of erasers and try to clear their windows.
  




The books below are also excellent resources for supporting students in learning to make sets:






Graphs:  As we begin our spiders unit, before learning about spiders, students write their initials beside the word that describes how they currently feel about spiders.  When we conclude our unit, students will have the opportunity to vote again, and we will compare the two graphs to see how our opinions have changed. 





Later in a center, students will sort a variety of spiders and will then graph them into the groups they created. 
They may sort the spiders in any way they choose and then may re-sort the same spiders into new categories (first sort by color, then by texture, etc.).  Students will then transfer their sorts/graphs to their math journals.






Students who are still developing their number concepts will create a graph with two columns, while students who are further along in their number sense will create a graph with 3 or more columns.  I color code the graphing mats at the center with a red and green dot in order for students of multiple ability levels to go to the same center, but still work at their level:














Patterns:  Students will continue to create patterns this month, and will now have the added challenge of naming their patterns.  We do this by using the letters of the alphabet.  The letters all go in alphabetic order and each letter consistently refers to the same letter in the pattern (as you will see in the pattern below 'A' will always refer to green, 'B' to orange, etc.).

The first center students use to make patterns is the Halloween characters station.  Color coded unifix cubes represent the different characters that are colored on the cube bags.  Students can make whatever pattern they choose, although I encourage students to practice more varieties other than 'AB' patterns.




After creating their pattern, the students will match the alphabet cards to the cubes to 'name' or 'label' their pattern.




When students are finished with their patterns, they place a popsicle stick with their name on it beside the pattern and take a picture of it so that I can later check their work to see who still needs some extra support with making patterns.





Students can also record their patterns in their math journals.




After reading Where the Wild Things Are, the class discusses the noises we think the creatures may have made and the noises that other Halloween characters make.  The students will then make a pattern using the following cards and will act it out by making the noises while recording themselves on an i-touch.  For example, a pattern of "cat, cat, ghost, owl" could be read as, "Meow, meow, boo, who-who".  I allow students to create their own Halloween character noises too- one student came up with a wings flapping noise for bats and a 'hee-hee-hee' laugh for a jack-o-lantern (this can be seen 4 photos down).
















Students will then record and label their patterns on a recording strip.








Blocks:  Because we have finished our U.S. symbols unit, students will have an opportunity to build the White House at our blocks center this month.  I also challenge them to construct other season related items.







Estimation Jar:  October's estimation jar will be filled with candy pumpkins!






Science:

Investigating Light:  Students will sharpen their Science skills as they carry out a variety of experiments to see the effects of light on the world around them.  They will, of course, record their observations in a Science journal.




We will go outside and observe how the sun's light gives off heat and has the power to melt chocolate!  The picture below is a journal entry of the chocolate before and after it was placed in the sun:






We learn how different materials absorb heat from the sun's light and how some materials are warmer than others after being left in the sun.  We then compare those materials with the same materials that have not been left in the sun. 






We also get to see the fading effects light has on construction paper.  We cut a piece of paper in half with fancy scissors and tape one half in our journal (the control) and the other half (the variable) in our classroom window.  We leave the second half in the window overnight and take it off the following morning and compare it with the piece in our journal.




We will see firsthand how light aides our sight by peeking into a shadow box with it's lid closed, then open, and then with a flashlight shining inside. We will compare the difference in our sight each time.






Our class also does a variety of experiments to compare heat and light sources.  We compare heat and light sources by feeling different objects, exercising, and creating friction and then determining which we believed emitted the most heat.  Students determine whether they think the item/action being tested produced a lot of heat (red), some heat (yellow), or barely any heat (green) by placing a check on the corresponding color sheet at the center:











We then transfer this data to a graph by using stickies to determine what our class believed to be the hottest heat source:




Sound:  Students compare and explore sound by using a variety of instruments and other noisemakers.  We learn that sound travels by vibrations that move through the air.  We practice creating these vibrations by using a triangle instrument and watching it shake and listening to the sound that is paired with the movement.


Motion:  We begin our study of motion by making a list of all the different ways we can think of that objects move.




We then conduct various investigations to explore motion.  We attempt to make zigzag, straight, and curved movements by rolling different objects dipped in paint in a shoe box lined with paper.  Following this experiment, we compare which objects could/couldn't move certain ways and what we think is affecting their abilities to move in these ways.

One way we do this is by predicting and testing objects that can roll.  Students work in groups and sort objects into groups labeled on construction paper as objects that can 'roll' and 'not roll'.  The students then take a picture of their predictions with an i-touch:






Students then test their hypotheses to see which objects truly can roll/not roll:








As students find the results, they will sort the objects into the actual category they belong in (roll or not roll).  They will then compare the results to their predictions by referring back to the original picture they took with their i-touch.




Upon completing their investigations, the students will use their results to draw a conclusion re: the attributes of objects that truly bounce by creating a journal entry:




Students will repeat this same process to investigate the properties of objects that bounce:









Students will also learn that objects must be touching each other in order to transfer energy, which is what makes us move.  They will explore this concept by using blocks and dominoes:








After testing their domino creations, the students use the following sentence stem to discuss the results.  They will also continue their experiments independently throughout the month at our blocks center:





We also review the positional words and locations we have learned in math to describe our movements on the playground.  Students make videos at the playground with an i-touch to demonstrate their understanding of positional vocabulary and movement.

Using what they've learned about movement, students will make ramps at the block center to use for racing toy cars.  Based on the results of the race, they will try to determine what is making the cars travel faster and slower and will re-adjust their ramps accordingly.  They will use the following sentence stem to discuss the results:





Students will record all of their observations regarding motion in a Science journal.




Science Center:  In lieu of the season, students will have an opportunity to use the scientific tools to explore fall objects during the next two months in the Science Center:







Social Studies:

Maps:  This month students will learn that maps can be used to show location and determine distance between places.

First, we will explore a variety of maps (atlases, globes, neighborhood maps, relief maps, school maps, zoo maps, etc.) and will predict the uses of each.



                                         
We will practice creating maps together and will attempt to follow our directions to get to one school location to another.  Students experiment with these concepts as they create neighborhoods on Mr. Roger's website:




As we study Columbus, we will begin to discuss where we are in the world.  When we learn about our states in the next nine weeks, we will add to the chart below.




We will place the U.S. symbols we have studied on a U.S. map and will discuss where they are in a relation to each other using positional vocabulary (the White House is under the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell is close to Statue, etc.).  Students will also plot different places they've been to on a map and we'll compare their distance from Texas. We will also practice finding Texas and the United States on a variety of different maps.





We will even talk a walk on the giant U.S. map outside our classroom.


At Science and Social Studies Center, students will further explore maps and their purposes by playing the interactive game from our district curriculum:







Columbus Day:  Before learning about who Christopher Columbus was, I pass giant world maps to small groups of students with post-its attached to Spain and India.  I then give them the task of using a cube (boat) to create the fastest, easiest route to travel from Spain to India on the map.  We then discuss, however, that hundreds of years ago, the world maps were missing half of the world!  We toss ideas around of how this would affect reaching your desired destination and knowing where in the world you are:




  


We will first become acquainted with the historical figure by taking a glance at his portrait and making predictions re: who he may be and sharing out the information we think we know about him:




After reading a variety of texts and using various media resources to discover who Christopher Columbus really was, our class will climb aboard a butcher paper boat and will use what we learned about creating visualizations to imagine what it must have been like to go to a new place for the first time.





Technology:  As we learn about Christopher Columbus, it gives us another opportunity to talk about the difference between the past and present.  We discuss the items that we think may have made his journey easier and help get to where he was actually supposed to go, but we also learn that many of these items didn't exist during that time in history.  We then share examples of technology we have in our home and school now and how it affects how we live and why it makes our lives different from Columbus'.





Culture, Environment, and Natural Resources:  Our class begins to read a variety of books during read-aloud time to learn how our lives our similar and different from each other.  We learn how our location  can determine some of these differences.  Next, we discuss what 'natural resources' are, and how they are dependent on our climate and environment.








We also compare what different houses, food, forms of entertainment, and clothing can look like as we prepare for the wants and need unit that we will be beginning next month.  We will first look at different pictures/videos of houses and will discuss whether they are alike/different and why we think that is.










Students will then work in groups to research a house from different places around the world.  Each group will record the natural resources they infer are being used to build the houses after watching the videos below, and our class will chart our findings on a giant world map.   We also discuss why these same houses cannot be built in all environments (based on natural resources, environment, weather, and the different ways people make a living).


Bamboo Houses in Hawaii:





 Igloos in Greenland:





 Mud Houses in Thailand:






Floating homes in Vietnam from National Geographic Kids:






Students will then learn how foods are different all over the world:





The class will conclude that although we all eat different food around the world, we all share the same need for food.  We will review the different natural resources of the countries we have studied so far, and students will try to first match play food to our giant world map based on these resources:




Next, the students will work with a small group, and each will have access to a different natural resource map on a netbook.  The students will work together to create a meal based on these natural resources, and will draw/label it on a paper plate.  Before the students begin, we will discuss what dishes can be made from the natural resources on their map (i.e., corn can be used to make tortillas, tomatoes are used to make spaghetti sauce, etc.).  This activity gives the students an opportunity to think critically about how the natural resources in an environment can shape the way of life there.  When students want to make a hamburger for their meal when their environment is the Artic, for example, they learn that they have to adjust their plans due to the lack of the resources in that area- which are affected by the patterns of weather, or climate, in that area.  After the students share their meals with their classmates, they will then attach their plates to the giant world map we've been building (pictured above).













Our class will continue our discussions of climate, weather, and natural resources as we compare the different clothes that people wear:




In the same way that we concluded that people's type of shelter and food differ although we all share the need for both, the class learns the same to be true of our need and variations of clothing.  We observe and discuss the different types of clothing around the world (and our classroom), and the reasons for the different types (natural resources, weather, environments, religious customs, special celebrations and occasions such as weddings and holidays, work, finances, type of work, identification, style preferences, etc.).  


The students will then work in groups to try to create an environment based on a person's clothes.  Each group will receive a picture of a different person wearing a different type of clothing.  They will have to come up with an environment that both provides the natural resources for the clothing and infer what the weather/climate might be based on what each individual is wearing.  After the students create and label their predicted environments on a poster, we will compare the environment they chose with the actual environment the individuals are from:

















Last but not least, we will look at the different types of entertainment around the world.  This time, we discuss how although there are many ways people chose to entertain themselves, we all enjoy- or want- to have fun.  







The students will then have the challenge of creating a form of entertainment for an environment they are assigned.  They will work in partners and will have access to books, pictures, and videos re: a specific region around the world.  






They will have to create a game or toy using only the resources found in their environment.  I love having the students do this project because they really have to problem solve to come up with something that have the resources for, and they go through a lot of trial and error as they realize they can't create an 'itouch', etc. with only snow and ice, for example.  These were some of the students' innovative finished products below:



 Playing tag with penguins:



Picking flowers in the mountain valleys:





Playing baseball with a stick bat and grass ball in the desert:



Playing soccer with the rocks on the moon:








As we learn about the different shelters, foods, clothing, and forms of entertainment around the world, the students will also draw/label their own ways of meeting these wants and needs and will attach them to America on the world map that we have been adding to throughout the unit.  We will use this same map next month as we learn about the natural resources of the Pilgrims and how they met their wants/needs, and how it compares to the people across our world today:



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