2nd+Observing+the+Earth

= Observing the Earth!! =

What resources has anyone found (books, web sites, etc.) that are good for this unit? Becky and Cheryl

Scholastic just sent this website with great resources/ideas: http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=50&eml=TNL/e/20100806/PKK_NEW

We took a nature walk and looked at trees and leaves and the weather. Then we colored the sky (weather) on our paper and glued the leaves in line from the tree (1st, 2nd, 3rd and last) - ask the children to tell you which one is first from the tree, etc. to check for understanding. We also brushed glitter on the leaves. On another day we gathered rocks in paper sacks and they looked at them under a magnifying glass. They also counted out 6 rocks from their collection since we were learning the #6 then they painted their rocks 2 different colors to make an AB pattern. Here are a few pics below. Sylvia





Here is a good web site with links for weather: http://www.sharkeysclass.com/Science.html
PRE-K Science Center Ideas: [] []

Story Time Books: __Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf__ by Lois Ehlert-patterning, sorting, planting, bird feeders lessons __The Leaves Are Falling One by One__ by Steve Metzger (Scholastic)-counting lesson __Autumn's First Leaf__ by Steve Metzger (Scholastic)-jealousy/friendship lesson __When the Leaf Blew In__ by Steve Metzger (Scholastic)-farm animal vocabulary/ location words lesson __The Biggest Leaf Pile__ by Steve Metzger (Scholastic)-colors/ taking turns lesson __We're Going on a Leaf Hun__t by Steve Metzger (Scholastic)-perfect for setting up you're own hunt __I See a Leaf__ by Grace Maccarone (Scholastic Reader)-make a class fall tree __Pooh's Leaf Pile__ by Isabel Gaines-leaf collages, leaf shape paintings (tape leaves onto a paper, paint the paper and leaf, remove the leaf), leaf rubbings (place the leaf under a paper, remove the paper from a crayon, roll the crayon over the paper)

__ Scientific Books: __ __Fall Changes__ by Ellen B. Senisi __People in Fall__ by Martha E.H. Rustard __Autumn__ (Bridgestone Books) __Autumn Leaves__ (Pebble Books) __I Know It's Autumn__ by Eileen Spinelli __From Acorn to Oak Tree__ by Jan Kottke (Welcome Books)

__Poems/Lessons for Shared Reading:__ __(I usually include drawings to aid in comprehension.)__ __Falling Leaves__ 1 leaf, 2 leaves 3 leaves falling 4 leaves, 5 leaves 6 leaves falling 7 leaves, 8 leaves 9 leaves falling 10 leaves falling down!

Day 1: Focus on explicitly teaching that we read from left to right, top to bottom. Practice counting 10 leaves. Day 2: Focus on number recognition. Randomly point to numbers. Ask students to name them. Day 3: Focus on clapping syllables of words/#'s in the poem: leaf, falling, 1, 2, 7, down, etc. Day 4: Focus on Ll name/sound. Have students locate it on poem. Bring out your Ll tub (or collect some Ll pictures/objects to review alliteration). Day 5: Focus on rhyming. Come up with rhyming words for each number (or have picture cards ready to match with the number it rhymes with).

__Fall ABC Poem__ by Sarah Rivera (I just tweaked an existing ABC Poem.)

A B C D E F G I see leaves falling from the tree! H I J K L M N O P I can count them: 1, 2, 3! Q R S, T U V The days are cool and windy! W X Y and Z Fall is here! Can't you see?

Day 1: Focus on explicitly teaching one-to-one correspondence when reading the letters. Reread only the letters while singing the ABC song. Day 2: Focus on letter naming fluency. Randomly point to letters. Have students name them. Day 3: Focus on rhyming. Come up with rhyming words for tree, fall, and cool. Day 4: Focus on letter sounds. Using one letter row at a time, produce the sound for a letter. Have a student come find it. Continue only for about 5 minutes or until each child gets a turn. Day 5: Prepare some lower case letters to hand to the students. Match them to the upper case ones on the poem.



I thought this would be a great lesson for night and day! Fun too! Kathy Crazy Pruyne

[|Weather Words - Book]

**Here are two more good books about daytime/nighttime. I got them from our library.**
__**On Earth**__ **by G. Brian Karas**

__**Ideas for Night/Day**__
Another book idea: __Dora Little Star__

__**MAKE BOOKS FOR BOTH DAY AND NIGHT!**__
After reading a book and talking about what we know about daytime, each child did a drawing of daytime. I am making a daytime book out of the drawings! Then we did the same thing with nighttime. Now we have 2 new classroom books!

= = =Printable Essential Questions-=

Planning in Action - Nov. 4th

Unit planning grid using the Essential Questions ~