Class Activities 

On the Banks of the Amazon 

by Nancy Kelly Allen  

Facilitate whole class participation in the shared reading and discussion of On the Banks of the Amazon.  Read aloud the story.  Ask the following open-ended questions:

1. What did you learn from the story?

2.  Who do you believe should read this story?  Why?

3.  Which animal or plant interested you the most?  Why?

4.  What are your responsibilities in caring for animals and plants?  Explain your answer.

5.  If you could be any animal, what animal would you chose to be?  Why would you want to be that animal?  How would you act? What would you do?  Describe a day in the life of that animal.

6.  What are animal habitats?  Why is it important to protect animal habitats?    

7.    Do people have different ideas as to how rainforest land should be used or protected?  Explain.  

Activities:

     Assign selected words from the story that are grade-level appropriate.  Assign two words to pairs of students.  Ask students to create flash cards that explain and illustrate what each word means.  Use flash cards to create a “rainforest” word wall using such words as caiman, orchid, and howler monkey.

Assign student partners to complete the chart below.  Refer to the book and other resources.  (List 8 animals)  

Pink dolphin                         Swims slowly               (Picture)

Inform students that they have an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned about rainforests through a performance or activity.

1. Talk show host-Interview the animals or the two hunters.

2. Act out the activities of a particular animal and let other students guess the animal being portrayed.

3. Create a rainforest postcard.  Design one side of the postcard with an illustration/picture of the place.  Write a message about the rainforest on the opposite side.  Place all the postcards in a box so students can look at the cards as time permits.

4. Create a greeting card in the shape of a rainforest animal.  Write a message on the card. 

5. Make animal masks of animals in story.  Students wears mask and act out the behavior of the animal.  Photograph students wearing masks and display pictures on wall. 

6. Create the sound of rain in a rainforest with a rainstick.  Rainsticks are ceremonial sticks, made of bamboo or dried cactus and filled with small pebbles, used to get the rain spirits to make rain.  Shake the sticks to make rhythmic sounds.  

 Directions to make a rainstick.

Rainstick Materials:

A paper towel tube or wrapping paper tube
Aluminum foil 
Small dried beans, unpopped popcorn, or dry rice
Crayons or markers
Construction paper
Glue
Scissors

Decorate the tube using crayons or markers.  Cut two aluminum foil sheets that are twice as long at the tube.  Crush one sheet of foil into a long rope and twist the rope around your finger to make a coil.  Keep twisting until the entire foil rope is a coil.  Repeat with the second sheet.  Place the two coils into the tube.  Spread the foil so that it reaches from end-to-end in the tube.  Cut a circle larger than the end of the tube to use as a cover for one end of the rainstick.  Glue the circle over the end of the tube so the material will not come out when the rainstick is shaken.  Pour one cup of dried beans, unpopped corn or dried rice into the open end of the tube.  More or less beans/corn/rice may be used, depending on the sound you want.  Cover the open end of the tube with a circle of construction paper and glue into place.  Shake!  Shake!  Shake!

7. Each student will cut out a shape of a rainforest animal or plant.  Student will write a poem or riddle on the shape, color it and attach to a green string to make a rainforest vine.  Attach several shapes to a vine and hang vines in classroom to create a rainforest.  

8. Make an A to Z class book, On the Banks of the ________________. (Use name of creek or river near school, rather than Amazon.  Also, use plants and animals associated with the selected creek or river).  Each student will write and illustrate one page of the book, each student using a different letter of the alphabet.  Bind the book together to keep in the classroom. 

 9.  Students will make animal books, with each book consisting of three sheets of white construction paper, folded in half and stapled into book form.  Each student will select a rainforest animal from one of the following categories:  Animals with Shells, Animals with Feathers, Animals with Fur, Animals with Scales.  On the front cover the student will write a title for the book and the student’s name as the author of the book, along with a picture of the animal in the rainforest.  Each page inside the book will contain other animals of the same category, such as Animals with Shells.  Different types of animals with shells will be drawn, one per page, in their habitats.  Either below or above the illustration, the student will write information about the animal.  In upper grades students will incorporate more information than those of lower grades.  Kindergarten and first grade students may draw the animals and the teacher/aide write a statement about the animal as dictated by the student or just write the name of the animal.  

I saw a parrot.

I saw a squawking parrot.

I saw a squawking parrot flying.

I saw a squawking parrot flying to a tree.

I saw a squawking parrot flying to a kapok tree.

                    I saw a squawking parrot flying to a kapok tree in the rainforest. 

13.  Students will be assigned a letter of the alphabet to make an ABC book.  Assign all letters.  The letter “x” may have to be omitted.  Students will research rainforest animals whose names begin with their assigned letters of the alphabet.  Example:  The student who receives the letter “P” may choose to research parrots or piranhas.  Students will record interesting facts on the bottom of a sheet of paper and will illustrate the animal in the upper section.  The papers will be arranged in alphabetical order and bound into a classroom book.

14.  Each student will receive a sheet of construction paper cut into an oval shape.  Beginning on the outer edge, students will cut a one-inch “snake” by cutting in a circular pattern to the center of the sheet.  Students will write interesting facts on the “snake” and hand it by its “head” on the wall so the body of the snake will curve downward.  

15. Lead a class discuss of ways we can protect the Earth.  List the ideas on a chart.  Each student will write a sentence or paragraph explaining what he/she can do to care for the planet Earth.  Illustrate the sentence or paragraph.  Display the work.

 Core Content  

RD-04-2.0.7

Students will make inferences or draw conclusions based on what is read.

RD-04-3.0.1

Students will explain a character’s or speaker’s actions based on a passage.

RD-04-4.0.1

Students will connect information from a passage to students’ lives (text-to-self), real world issues (text-to-world) or other texts (text-to-text - e.g., novel, short story, song, film, website, etc.).

RD-04-5.0.2

Students will identify literary devices such as foreshadowing, imagery or figurative language ( similes, metaphors, and personification).

WR-04-1.1.2

In Personal Expressive Writing,

·        Students will communicate the significance of the writer’s life experience by narrating about life events or relationships.

·        Students will apply the characteristics of the selected form (e.g., personal narrative, personal memoir).

·        Students will create a point of view.

Students will sustain a suitable tone or appropriate voice.

SC-EP-4.6.1 Students will describe basic relationships of plants and animals in an ecosystem (food chains).

Plants make their own food. All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants.  Basic relationships and connections between organisms in food chains can be used to discover patterns within ecosystems.

 The world has many different environments. Organisms require an environment in which their needs can be met. When the environment changes some plants and animals survive and reproduce and others die or move to new locations.

 SS-05-4.4.3

Students will describe how individuals/groups may have different perspectives about the use of land (e.g., farming, industrial, residential, recreational).

AH-05-4.3.2                                                  

Students will improvise to tell stories that show action and have a clear beginning, middle, and end. (Literary elements)

AH-05-4.4.2

Students will use a variety of media and art processes to produce two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) artwork.

AH-05-4.2.1

Classroom Activities

Once Upon a Dime 

by Nancy Kelly Allen

Facilitate whole class participation in the shared reading and discussion of Once Upon a Dime.  Read aloud the story. 

Stop reading at various points and ask students to make predictions, such as, What will grow on the tree when pig squish is used as fertilizer?  Sheep biscuits?  Bull chips?  

Ask the following open-ended questions:

1. What did you think about the story?

2. Did the story remind you of anything you have heard, seen, or read?

3. What did you like about the story?

4. What did you learn from listening/reading the story?

5. Which character was your favorite?  Why?

6. What passage in the story did you like the most?  Why?

7. Did you notice a pattern in the book?  Explain the pattern you noticed.  

8.     Can money really grow on trees? 

9.     What is the relationship between plants and animals in this story?  In real life?

Have students complete one or more of the following based on the book:

1.  Write a letter to other students persuading them to read the book.

2.  Write a book review persuading readers to either read the book or not read the book.  Include a description of the story, but do not include the ending.  What was the author’s message and purpose in writing the book?  Give your opinion of the book (Did you like it?  Rank it from one to five.  One is the highest ranking).  Make a chart to display the rankings.

3.  Write a poem about a farm or money.

4.  Write a newspaper article about the events that happened on the farm.

5.  Write a letter to Farmer Worth suggesting what fertilizer he should use on the tree.  Explain what you think would grow if the fertilizer is used.  A mixture of two fertilizers can be used.  What two fertilizers do you recommend?  Explain what you think would grow with the two fertilizers and how much of each.

Students will demonstrate what they have learned through performance or activities.

1.  Write and perform a commercial about an “unusual” farm.

2.  Divide students into several groups of three.  Each group retells the story with a beginning, middle, and an end.  Each member of a group is assigned a segment of the story to retell.

3.  Create a word quilt.  Each student writes the name of a farm animal or a coin, such as “dime” on a square of paper.  Draw a picture of the animal or coin.  Piece the papers together on the wall to make a quilt.

4.  Students will act out events in the story in the order in which they happened.

 Discuss fiction and nonfiction. 

1.  Ask the students if a money tree could really grow on a farm? 

2.  Is this story fiction or nonfiction?  How did you decide on your answer?

3.  Cite example passages that indicate the story is fiction.

4.  Have students write or express orally an “unusual” farm they would like to own or visit.

  Math Connection

1.  Students will decorate a tree (a branch of a tree held upright in a tree stand or flower pot) with plastic coins.  Attach a paperclip to the end a string and tie other end of string to a branch on the tree.  Tie several strings to the branches. Slip plastic coins in each paperclip.  Let students have a picking party.  Students will add the value of the coins they picked.  One or two students picking at a time is recommended.  Variation:  Students picks only pennies or dimes, to learn to recognize that particular coin.

2.  Most of the animals on the farm were plain and regular, also known as average.  Take a few measurements of the students in class.  Share the data to find the “average” in the following:

Head Circumference____________

Arm span from fingertip to fingertip_______________

Pulse rate (at rest)______________

Shoe size____________

Height_____________

Weight_____________

Age_____________

Number of vehicles in household_____________

Number of pets______________

Find the Mean, Median, Mode, and Range of the data collected. 

v  Mean-_____________ Mean is the same as finding the average of a group.  To get the mean, add up all the numbers for any category, such as Shoe Size, in your data collection.  Divide that number by the number of students that participated. 

v  Median-____________Median means the middle number.  To find the medial, organize the numbers for any category, such as Pulse Rate, in your data collection so they are listed from smallest to largest.  Find the number exactly in the middle.  If you have an even number of items, you will have to find the number that comes between the two middle numbers. 

v  Mode-____________Mode means the number which occurs the most often.  To find the mode, list the numbers for any category, such as Age, in your data collection.  The number that appears most often is the mode. 

v  Range-____________Range is the difference between the largest number and the smallest number in your data collection.  

Do you think the people on Bird Haven Hollow were full of hot air when they told the story of money growing on trees?  Could you also be full of hot air?  A balloon will give you an idea of just how much hot air you exhale with each breath.  For demonstration, give one student a balloon.  The student will blow one breath into the balloon.  Hold the stem of the balloon closed while another student measures the circumference (distance around) the balloon.  Have student blow one more breath into the balloon.  Take second measurement.  Keep blowing one breath at a time, measuring after each.  What did the balloon measure after one breath_____? 

Two_____? 

Three_____? 

Four_____? 

How many breaths did it take to fully inflate the balloon______?

Give each student a balloon and a partner.  Just how full of hot air are the students?  Let them measure to find out.  Make a chart to record data from each student.

How many quarters are in a quarter of a quart of quarters?  Fill a quarter of a quart with quarters and count the number.  Does the size of the quarter-of-a-quart container make a difference?  Does a tall, narrow quarter-of-a-quart container hold more quarters than a wide, shallow quarter-of-a-quart container?  Does the shape of the container make a difference?  Why or why not?

Core Content  

RD-04-2.0.7

Students will make inferences or draw conclusions based on what is read.

RD-04-3.0.1

Students will explain a character’s or speaker’s actions based on a passage. 

RD-04-4.0.1

Students will connect information from a passage to students’ lives (text-to-self), real world issues (text-to-world) or other texts (text-to-text - e.g., novel, short story, song, film, website, etc.).  

RD-04-5.0.2

Students will identify literary devices such as foreshadowing, imagery or figurative language ( similes, metaphors, and personification).

In Personal Expressive Writing,

·        Students will communicate the significance of the writer’s life experience by narrating about life events or relationships.

·        Students will apply the characteristics of the selected form (e.g., personal narrative, personal memoir).

·        Students will create a point of view.

WR-04-1.1.2

In Literary Writing,

·        Students will communicate to an audience about the human condition by painting a picture, recreating a feeling, telling a story, capturing a moment, evoking an image, or showing an extraordinary perception of the ordinary.

·        Students will apply characteristics of the selected form (e.g., short story, play/script, poem).

·        Students will create a point of view.

·        Students will use a suitable tone or appropriate voice.

MA-EP-4.1.2

Students will collect data.  

MA-EP-4.1.3

Students will organize and display data.  

 SC-EP-4.6.1 Students will describe basic relationships of plants and animals in an ecosystem (food chains).

Plants make their own food. All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants.  Basic relationships and connections between organisms in food chains can be used to discover patterns within ecosystems.

Students will improvise to tell stories that show action and have a clear beginning, middle, and end. (Literary elements)  

Classroom Activities

Whose Food is This?

Whose Sound is This?

Whose Work is This?

 by Nancy Kelly Allen  

Facilitate whole class participating in shared reading and discussion of the books in the Whose series.  Read aloud each book.  Ask the following open-ended questions:

1.   What was your favorite animal in the book/books?  Why?

2.   What would you do if a wild animal charged at you?  Explain in detail.

3.   What animal do you think has the coziest home?  Explain your answer.

4.   Milk is used in candy, cakes, bread, ice cream, and many other foods we eat every day. What would life be like if we had no milk?

5.   What work do you want to do when you grow up?  Why is the job you chose important?  How does that job help people? 

6.   Students look at pictures of two animals.  Example:  horse and chicken.  Discuss ways in which the animals are alike and different.  Make a Compare/Contrast list of the two animals.

7.   All animals need to learn skills to survive?  Select a specific animal and describe the survival skills needed by that animal.

8.   Why is it important to protect animal habitats?  

9.  How do animals depend on plants?  

Writing Activities:

1.  Draw a picture of any animal in the Whose series.  Write an appropriate name/title for each picture.  Share the pictures with classmates, and then display pictures on wall.  Write a letter to parents, principal, secretary or someone else, inviting them to come to the classroom to view the pictures.

2.  List 10 things you can do with an egg.  Be as creative as you wish.

3.  Write a poem about one of the following-chicken, donkey, snake, sheep, or any animal of your choice.

4.  Write a description of donkey for a person who has never seen one.  You may not use any of the following words:  large, big, strong, hee-haw, brown, or horse.

5.  Write a radio advertisement for honey.  Use as many of the five senses as you can to create a sensory image in the minds of the listeners.

6.  Write three reasons to convince an adult to take you on a field trip to a zoo or to get you a new pet.

7.  Hand out directions to a recipe (example:  ice cream, cheese, or candy) that has been cut into separate strips.  Students work together in a team to read and sequence the strips into correct order. 

·    For younger students, use pictures in place of words when possible.  Send home a note asking parents to send in their child’s favorite recipe.  Have the child dictate the same recipe to an older child or adult.  The two recipes (from the child and the parent) can be mounted on one page, illustrated by the child, and bound into a class book.

·    Write a recipe for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  Write as accurately as possible.  Directions should be sequentially correct and accurate.  Students make sandwiches following the directions in the recipes.

·    One student draws a stick figure of an animal on the board.  Other students give directions using descriptive words to complete the animal drawing.  For example, instead of “Give it hair,” students should respond with more detailed descriptions, such as “give it short, curly, brown hair.” Students can then divide into teams of two and create more pictures using descriptive words.

·    Create a drawing of an imaginary animal.  Below the picture write a description of the animal.  Include the following:  What sound does the animal make?  What food does the animal eat?  What work does the animal do?  Where does the animal live?  Give the animal a name.

·    Take a survey of favorite farm animals and make a graph to show results.  Students will work in teams of two or three to decide on a way to tell others about the information in the graph.  Possible ways of telling others:  skit, oral report, advertisement, letter, postcard, panel discussion, TV show, and interview.

·    Draw pictures of animals running.  Write a sentence below the picture describing the action of the animal, but do not use the word run.  Possible words:  streak, leap, and hop.  Substituting interesting verbs perk up stories.

·    Work in pairs to create three riddles about animal sounds, animal work and animal food. 

Example:  I began as a grain of sand, and now I decorate a ring.

Answer:  Pearl

Core Content

RD-04-2.0.7

Students will make inferences or draw conclusions based on what is read.

RD-04-4.0.1

Students will connect information from a passage to students’ lives (text-to-self), real world issues (text-to-world) or other texts (text-to-text - e.g., novel, short story, song, film, website, etc.).

 WR-04-1.1.2

In Personal Expressive Writing,

·        Students will communicate the significance of the writer’s life experience by narrating about life events or relationships.

·        Students will apply the characteristics of the selected form (e.g., personal narrative, personal memoir).

·        Students will create a point of view.

Students will sustain a suitable tone or appropriate voice.

WR-04-1.1.2

In Literary Writing,

·        Students will communicate to an audience about the human condition by painting a picture, recreating a feeling, telling a story, capturing a moment, evoking an image, or showing an extraordinary perception of the ordinary.

·        Students will apply characteristics of the selected form (e.g., short story, play/script, poem).

·        Students will create a point of view.

·        Students will use a suitable tone or appropriate voice.

Students will apply a fictional perspective in literary writing when appropriate.

SC-EP-4.6.1 Students will describe basic relationships of plants and animals in an ecosystem (food chains).

Plants make their own food. All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants.  Basic relationships and connections between organisms in food chains can be used to discover patterns within ecosystems.

SC-EP-4.7.1 Students will describe the cause and effect relationships existing between organisms and their environments.  

Students will create and perform using elements of drama (Literary, Technical, Performance)

Students will identify and describe a variety of creative dramatics (improvisation, mimicry, pantomime, role playing, and storytelling).

Classroom Activities

Daniel Boone:  Trailblazer 

by Nancy Kelly Allen

Facilitate whole class participation in the shared reading and discussion of Daniel Boone:  Trailblazer.  Read aloud the story.  Ask the following open-ended questions:

ü   Explain that stories have a beginning, middle, and end.  Ask if the Boone story would make sense if the three parts were mixed up, such as End, Beginning, Middle.  Students will explain answers by using facts from the story.

ü   Why do we celebrate the work of Daniel Boone?  What was Boone’s contribution to America ?  To Kentucky ?

ü   Discuss biographies.  Some biographies cover the entire life of a person.  Some biographies cover only the part of a person’s life for which the person became famous.  Why do you suppose the author stopped the biography of Daniel Boone before he died? (There are no right or wrong answers, only students’ opinions).

ü   How has Kentucky has changed since Boone’s exploration?  How has the environment changed since Boone’s days in Kentucky ?  Consider the types of roads, bridges, and means of transportation, as well as housing, jobs, food supply, and communication.

ü   What part of Boone’s life did you find to be most interesting?  Explain.

ü   Ask students if they would like to explore space. Why? Discuss what the challenges-food sources, shelters, cost of travel, fear of the unknown-are in exploring unknown territory.

Activities:

o       Students will use a map or globe to locate the setting of the story.  What does the map or globe tell about Kentucky ?  Tennessee ?  North Carolina ?  Virginia ?  Is there a border between either of these states? 

o       Read another picture book on the life of Daniel Boone.  Compare and contrast the information in the two books.  Discuss the following:  how the two books covered some of the same information; how the books focused on different information; the different types of illustrations or pictures; the writing styles; the part of Boone’s life that was emphasized.

o        Students will pretend to be Daniel Boone on a long hunt and far from home.  Write in a journal a typical day in Boone’s life, from morning to night.  Include his feelings, descriptions of what he saw, heard, touched, tasted.  Include dialog, even if he is only talking to his horse.

o       Students will write a letter to convince a settler that he/she should leave his/her home and move the family to the Kentucky wilderness where they will live in a fort.

o       Give each student a handout with the outline of the shape of Boone’s hat on it.  Students will list facts about Boone on each hat and decorate it.  Make a chart of the different facts listed on the hats.  Post the hats on a wall or bulletin board.

o       Students will write a poem about Boone using the first letters in his name to begin each line of the poem:

Example: Bound for new elbow room

      One step at a time

                  O

                  N

                  E

Math Connection:   

v    Pioneer children enjoyed playing games.  The games they played were with items they made or found.

Materials:   6 small pebbles, small bowl or container.

Make a line on one side of each pebble with marker.  Place pebbles in bowl. Students take turns, lightly tossing the pebbles, catching them again in bowl.  Count the number of pebbles with the line up. This is your score.  Students keep track of the scores on a chart.  (Students could toss the pebbles into a bowl located approximated four feet away.  Count and chart the number of pebbles that land in the bowl.)

v  Patchwork quilt for younger students.  Give students 8"x8" pieces of white construction paper.  Using crayons, markers or any other type of material, the children will need to decorate their own square.  Students will draw pictures representing the life of Daniel Boone.  You will then need to assemble the squares together, punch holes along the edges and then use yarn to "sew" them together.

v  Patchwork quilt for older students.  Show students several pictures of quilt designs before beginning this activity.  Give students 4”x4” pieces of construction paper of various colors.  Students will cut some of the squares into two triangles and some squares into four triangles.  Arrange the squares and triangles into patterns to make quilt blocks.  Put the blocks together to make a quilt.  Encourage student will create various designs and give each design a name. 

v  People used British monetary units in colonial times: 1 pound (£1) was worth 20 shillings, 1 shilling was worth 12 pence (or pennies), 1 penny was worth 4 farthings, and 1 guinea was worth 21 shillings. The problems below show the kinds of arithmetic problems children who lived in the colonies might have had to solve. Can you solve them?

1.     1 pound = _____ pence

2.     1 shilling = _____ farthings

3.     2 guineas = _____shillings

4.     100 farthings = _____ shillings _____ pence

5.     6 shillings 3 pence = _____ pence

6.     30 pence = _____ shillings _____ pence

7.     488 pence = _____ pounds _____ pence

8.     504 pence = _____ guineas

9.     5 pounds = _____ guineas _____ shillings

10. 2 guineas 6 pence = _____ farthings

Answer Key:
1. 240 pence; 2. 48 farthings; 3. 42 shillings; 4. 2 shillings, 4 pence; 5. 75 pence; 6. 2 shillings, 6 pence; 7. 2 pounds, 8 pence; 8. 2 guineas, 9. 4 guineas, 16 shillings; 10. 2040 farthings.

CHALLENGE PROBLEM:
Sarah and Nathaniel sold the extra vegetables from their garden to travelers on their road to Philadelphia . They sold 32 tomatoes for 1 farthing each, 16 bunches of carrots for 1 pence a bunch, 96 ears of corn for 1 shilling a dozen, and 48 potatoes at two for 1 pence.

1.     How much money did they make in pence? __________
Answer:  144

2.     How many shillings did they each earn? __________            Answer:  12

Social Studies Connection:

  *    Many pioneer children made and played with dried apple dolls.  Students can make their own.  

Materials:

Plastic knives (for safety), One apple per child, Felt-tip pens, Beads, Cotton, Wire, Fabric, Glue, Dowel rods or popsicle sticks

Procedure:

1.  Each student will peel a large, hard apple, leaving a little skin at the top and bottom so it will dry in a round shape.

2.  Facial features will be carved- slits for eyes, a protruding nose and slit for mouth.    

3.  The apples need to be cored and placed on a dowel or Popsicle stick and let dry for 3-4 weeks.

4.  The face can be decorated with beads for the eyes, teeth and nose or felt-tip pens can be used.

5.  The body can be formed by wire with cloth strips wrapped around it. Then clothes and extras can be added for character.

  * Fort Boonesborough was made of log cabins.  To make a log cabin rinse and dry an empty milk carton or juice container.  Use straws or pretzel for the “logs” and glue them to the sides of the carton.  If you use pretzels, you may want to use frosting to "glue" the pretzels onto the milk carton.  That way the kids can safely nibble while they are constructing and the pretzels seem to stay stuck to the carton better with the frosting than they do with glue.

*Discuss with students how they think they would prepare for a journey into pioneer Kentucky in which they are uncertain of the final destination.  This journey could take weeks to complete, and the weather conditions, terrain, and resources are unknown  What would they bring?  Tell students to think about how they would cope if they had no refrigerators, no electrical outlets, and no ovens on their journey.  How and what would they eat?  Remind students that these are some of the decisions the pioneers had to make before they embarked on their journeys.  Place students in small groups and ask each group to develop a list of items they should take on their trip to Fort Boonesborough .  After they finish, compare the students' lists with the list of items the pioneers most likely brought on their journey.

Make a chart of the items listed.  What were the most favored items?  What were the least favored items?

There were not many schoolhouses during Daniel Boone’s childhood.  Paper and textbooks were scarce so boys and girls recited their lessons until they memorized them.  The three most commonly used books were the Bible, a primer, and a hornbook. The hornbook was a wooden paddle with parchment attached.  The text was then covered with a protective sheet of transparent animal horn -- hence the name hornbook. A hornbook was used to practice the alphabet and one of the first devices used to teach reading. A play hornbook is easy to make.
Step 1:  On a piece of cardboard, draw a paddle shape. Then cut it out. Cut a piece of paper the width and length of the long part of the paddle.
Step 2:  Write the alphabet on a piece of paper in capital letters. Then, write the lower case letters. Paste this onto the paddle.
Step 3: Tear a piece of plastic wrap that will be used to cover the hornbook.  Put the plastic over the hornbook, and fold the corners. Tape each corner down.

   Punch a hole in the handle and insert a string.  Tie string.

   Display hornbooks on the bulletin board.

   * Label the following three heading on a poster or board:

Already Know            Want to Know                        Learned

Explain that you will be reading and discussing a book about Daniel Boone.  Ask the students to list 3-5 things they already know about Daniel Boone.  Under the heading “Already Know” list student comments.  Ask students to list 3-5 things they would like to know about Boone and write their comments under “Want to Know.”   After reading the book, ask students to list 3-5 things they learned about Boone.  List comments under the third column, “Learned.”  Use the library or Internet to find information in the “Want to Know” list that wasn’t found in the book.

For younger students:  model listening for a fact about Boone by pointing out a fact in a passage just read.  After reading the story, have students recall facts about Boone.  Make a list of “Boone facts.”

 Core Content   

RD-04-2.0.7

Students will make inferences or draw conclusions based on what is read.

 RD-04-3.0.1

Students will explain a character’s or speaker’s actions based on a passage. 

RD-04-4.0.1

Students will connect information from a passage to students’ lives (text-to-self), real world issues (text-to-world) or other texts (text-to-text - e.g., novel, short story, song, film, website, etc.).  

RD-04-5.0.2

Students will identify literary devices such as foreshadowing, imagery or figurative language ( similes, metaphors, and personification).

WR-04-1.1.2

In Personal Expressive Writing,

·        Students will communicate the significance of the writer’s life experience by narrating about life events or relationships.

·        Students will apply the characteristics of the selected form (e.g., personal narrative, personal memoir).

·        Students will create a point of view.

Students will sustain a suitable tone or appropriate voice.

WR-04-1.1.2

In Literary Writing,

·        Students will communicate to an audience about the human condition by painting a picture, recreating a feeling, telling a story, capturing a moment, evoking an image, or showing an extraordinary perception of the ordinary.

·        Students will apply characteristics of the selected form (e.g., short story, play/script, poem).

·        Students will create a point of view.

·        Students will use a suitable tone or appropriate voice.

Students will apply a fictional perspective in literary writing when appropriate. 

AH-05-4.3.2 Students will improvise to tell stories that show action and have a clear beginning, middle, and end. (Literary elements)

SS-EP-4.1.1

Students will use geographic tools (e.g., maps, globes, mental maps, charts, graphs) to locate and describe familiar places at home, school and the community.

Students will use geographic tools (e.g., maps, charts, graphs) to identify and describe natural resources and other physical characteristics (e.g., major landforms, major bodies of water, weather, climate, roads, bridges) in regions of Kentucky and the United States.

SS-05-4.1.1

Students will use geographic tools (e.g., maps, charts, graphs) to identify natural resources and other physical characteristics (e.g., major landforms, major bodies of water, weather, climate, roads, bridges) and analyze patterns of movement and settlement in the United States . 

SS-EP-4.4.1

Students will describe ways people modify the physical environment to meet their basic needs (food, shelter, and clothing).

SS-04-4.4.1

Students will explain and give examples of how people modified the physical environment (e.g., dams, roads, bridges) to meet their needs during the early settlement of Kentucky .

Students will explain and give examples of how people modified the physical environment (e.g., building roads, dams, clearing land) to meet their needs during the early settlement of the U.S.  

SS-05-4.4.3

Students will describe how individuals/groups may have different perspectives about the use of land (e.g., farming, industrial, residential, recreational).

AH-05-4.3.2                                                  

Students will improvise to tell stories that show action and have a clear beginning, middle, and end. (Literary elements)

Class Activities

The Munched-Up Flower Garden

By Nancy Kelly Allen

1.  Facilitate whole class participation in the shared reading and discussion of The Munched-Up Flower Garden.   Ask the following open-ended questions:

2.  What character interested you the most?  Why?

3.  Why do you think Liz worked so hard to grow a beautiful garden?

4.  Sallie came by often to visit with Liz.  Why do you think Sallie was so interested in Liz?

5.  Do you think Liz will grow a garden next year?  Will Sallie?  If they do, whose garden will be better?

6.  Have you ever been so angry you wanted to scream?  What made you so angry?  What are ways we can handle our anger? 

7.  What happens when you plant a seed?  What does a flower need to grow? Discuss how soil, rain, and sun help plants grow.  Discuss how some plants sleep during winter and wake up in spring.  

8.  People eat different parts of plants.  Some eat bulbs (potatoes and onions); some eat seeds (peas and beans); some eat stalks (celery and asparagus); some eat roots (carrots); some eat leaves (lettuce); some eat fruit (strawberries).  Ask students to identify their favorite plant foods.  Create a food chart of favorites. Discuss and interpret the data represented in the charts.

9.  Plants protect themselves from danger, such as insects, animals, and people. What are some types of protection plants have developed?  Thorns, spines and prickles, odors, poison and off-flavors are typical answers. 

10.  How can plants become pests?  Weeds invade gardens and yards, some plants cause us to sneeze and cough, and some are poisonous to touch or eat.  

11.  Why do you think the goat ate Liz’s flowers?  How are animals, such as goats, dependent upon plants?

Conflict Resolution/Anger Management

Ask the following open-ended question:

1.  What is anger?  Conflict?

2.  What are some things that make you angry?  How do you feel when you are angry?  Compile a list of positive and negative feelings.  Write positive on one side and negative on the other.

3.  Have you ever been angry with a friend, a sibling, or a classmate?  Did you say things you wish you hadn’t said?   

4. Is it okay to be angry sometimes?  When are some times when it’s okay to be angry?  What are some ways we can handle anger besides yelling or fighting?  Brainstorm ideas and write ideas on a poster or board.  (Examples:  compromise, problem solving, count to ten before saying a word, breathe deeply, listen to music, talk with an adult, separate yourself from the person who makes you angry).  Post ideas on a chart and hang in classroom.  Refer to chart when conflict arises).

5.  How do you think Liz felt when Sallie bragged about her flowers?  Why do you think Sallie came by Liz’s garden so often?  Why did Sallie brag so much?  How would you have acted if you had been Liz?  What are some good ways to handle someone else’s anger?

6.  Role play situations that can cause anger.  Give students a few minutes to rehearse.  Examples:

A.  Your best friend laughs when you fall and hurt your knee.

B.  Your sister teases you about the way you eat spaghetti.

C.  In selecting teams, your best friend doesn’t choose you.

Discuss ways in which the students would likely handle the situations.  Role play the situations again focusing on positive ways they can handle anger.

7.  What can you do to calm down an angry person?  Group students in teams to come up with possible answers and report back to the whole group.

Activities:

1.  Stepping stones add interest to a garden, yard or walkway.  You can make you own stepping stone and design it any way you want to.  You can decorate it with an imprint of your hand or foot, your dog's paw, marbles, paint, or any item you choose.

Stepping Stone Materials:

Gloves

Fast-drying cement

Items to decorate:  marbles, pieces of broken glass (such as plates), leaves, paint, etc.

Aluminum pie pans

Non-stick cooking spray

 Directions:  Coat the inside of the pie pans with the cooking spray.  Mix the cement with water until it looks like oatmeal.  Pour the cement mixture into each pan and rub your hand over it to level the mixture.  Clean hands and put on gloves if decorating with sharp items.  Carefully place the decorating items into the cement creating a design you like.  Leaves can be pressed gently onto the concrete to leave a design; then remove the leaf.  Allow the cement to dry for 24 hours.  Invert the pie pan and the stone will slide out.  Place the stone in a special place in your garden or yard.

 2.  Seed Art.  Give each student a sheet of light-colored construction paper and a half-cup of seeds.  Bird seed will work well for this project.  Students glue the seeds on the sheet in various designs.  Display the seed art in the classroom.

3.  POP POP!  Watch the popcorn grow. 

Materials:  Bag of popcorn, one Ziploc bag per student, bag of potting soil, water.

Directions:  Pour 1 cup of potting soil in a Ziploc bag; add four kernels of popcorn and enough water to dampen the soil.  Seal the bag and place it in a sunny window. Have fun watching the popcorn grow.

4.  BRRRR!  It’s Cold Outside.  We wear coats to protect us from the weather.  Did you know that seeds wear coats to protect them, too?  Let’s look inside a seed.   Soak a lima bean in water over night.  Give each child a bean and have them peel off the seed covering. Split the seeds in halves. Look at the different parts of the bean.  Younger children: Draw the lima bean.   Older students:  Label the names of the parts of the seed on the drawing to include the seed coat, root, leaves, food storage, and embryo.

5.  How Many???  Explain that most plants come from seeds. Display a variety of seeds: acorns, marigold, watermelon, sunflower, carrots, lettuce, rice, etc.

Let the students guess the number of seeds needed to fill a cup.  The number will vary according to the type of seed.  Use at least three different types of seeds for this experiment.  After filling each cup, have students count and chart the number of seeds per cup.  Example:  Rice, watermelon, and marigold.  Discuss and interpret the chart data.   

6.  Grow your own plants.  Place a wet paper towel in the bottom of a clear plastic drinking cup.  Place a bean on the paper towel. 

 Each student will have two cups.  One cup will be placed near a window and the other in a dark area of the classroom.  Lead a whole class discussion about which of the seeds they think will grow quickly. Check the cups daily and discuss the findings.  

Have students estimate how long it will take the seeds to germinate. After the seedlings sprout, plant the most vigorous in soil and chart their growth.   Have students decorate cups, then plant marigold seeds in each cup.  Let plants grow and allow students to take plants home to their mothers for Mother’s Day.

7.  To show students the power of a root system, place a stalk of celery in a clear glass partially filled with colored water.  Watch the celery change colors over the next few days.

8.  Plant a school garden.  School gardens are an alternative classroom and can be integrated into the curriculum.  Students plant seeds and care for the plants.  Gardens teach students about nature, math, social studies, science, and art and open the door to learning about the living world.  This is a fun way to build student interest.  Examples:  First grade students learn about butterflies by growing plants that attract butterflies.  Butterflies need food (flower nectar), water, and housing.  Fourth grade students grow and tend to plants that Native Americans and colonists grew. 

 Students work together to make the garden grow.  They study the plants that thrive and those that don’t.  Students observe, paying attention to detail, and write their observations, questions, and predictions in a journal.

 9.  Writing: 

 Pretend to be Sallie or James and write a letter to a friend explaining your version of what happened to Liz’s garden.  Include events in the beginning, middle, and end of The Munched-Up Flower Garden.

 You found a strange looking seed.  After you planted it, you couldn’t believe your eyes.  The seed grew into a plant that…  Write a story using this plot.  

Without plants, we wouldn’t enjoy many of our favorite foods.  We wouldn’t have chewing gum or pencils or paper.  Our houses would not be built of wood.  Write a story about life in a world without plants.

Create a new plant.  Illustrate the plant, give it a name, and describe the plant.  How is it different from other plants?  How is it similar?  How is the plant beneficial to people, animals, other plants, or the environment?  Is it harmful in any way?  If so, how?

Did you know that some plants eat animals?  The plant, Venus’s-fly trap, has leaves that close when an insect lands on them. After the insect has been eaten, the leaves open again to catch another snack. YUM!  Pretend you are a Venus Flytrap. Write about your favorite insect meal.  What is the best tasting insect dinner?  Do you prefer a different insect for breakfast?  What’s for lunch? 

How do plants help people and animals?  What do plants provide?  Possible answers:  fuel, food, oxygen, building material, fiber, medicine, paper, pencils.  Have students fold a sheet of white paper into four squares.  Draw an item we get from plant in each square on front and back of the paper.  Older student may write a caption below each illustration.

Core Content  

RD-04-2.0.2

Students will describe characters, plot, setting or problem/solution of a passage

RD-04-2.0.5

Students will identify and explain the sequence of activities needed to carry out a procedure.

 RD-04-2.0.7

Students will make inferences or draw conclusions based on what is read.  

RD-04-3.0.1

Students will explain a character’s or speaker’s actions based on a passage. 

RD-04-3.0.2

Students will explain how a conflict in a passage is resolved.

RD-04-4.0.1

Students will connect information from a passage to students’ lives (text-to-self), real world issues (text-to-world) or other texts (text-to-text - e.g., novel, short story, song, film, website, etc.).

 RD-04-5.0.2

Students will identify literary devices such as foreshadowing, imagery or figurative language ( similes, metaphors, and personification).

 WR-04-1.1.2

In Personal Expressive Writing,

·        Students will communicate the significance of the writer’s life experience by narrating about life events or relationships.

·        Students will apply the characteristics of the selected form (e.g., personal narrative, personal memoir).

·        Students will create a point of view.

WR-04-1.1.2

In Literary Writing,

·        Students will communicate to an audience about the human condition by painting a picture, recreating a feeling, telling a story, capturing a moment, evoking an image, or showing an extraordinary perception of the ordinary.

·        Students will apply characteristics of the selected form (e.g., short story, play/script, poem).

·        Students will create a point of view.

·        Students will use a suitable tone or appropriate voice.

Students will describe and provide examples of line symmetry in real-world and mathematical problems or will apply one line of symmetry to construct a simple geometric design.

Plants make their own food. All animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Other animals eat animals that eat the plants.  Basic relationships and connections between organisms in food chains can be used to discover patterns within ecosystems.

 AH-05-4.3.2                                                  

Students will improvise to tell stories that show action and have a clear beginning, middle, and end. (Literary elements)

AH-05-4.4.2

Students will use a variety of media and art processes to produce two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) artwork.

Ring the Silver Bell

by Nancy Kelly Allen

Before reading the book, Ring the Silver Bell, discuss the following open-ended questions:

1. What is a biography?

2. What is a hero? Chart responses.

3. Are all heroes famous? Why or why not?

4. Alice Slone dreamed of things she wanted to do in life. What are your goals or dreams?

Review the term “biography.” The story of a person’s life is fascinating and brings history alive.

·        Ask students what information they would expect to find out about a person’s life in a biography. Chart student responses.

·        Discuss and chart how information in a biography is categorized, such as childhood events, turning points, achievements, etc.).

·        Read the first chapter of Ring the Silver Bell.

·        Refer to the list. Ask students if any of their responses were covered in the first chapter. Add to the list if students contribute more ideas. Refer to the chart of responses and conduct a whole group discussion following the reading of each chapter, whether the book is read orally to class or individually by students.

 Additional activities for Ring the Silver Bell are free with purchase of classroom set  from Motes Books. Contact www.motesbooks.com.

Rock It! Series

by Nancy Kelly Allen

Facilitate whole class participating in shared reading and discussion of the books in the Rock It! Series: Minerals and Rocks, Earth's Rock Cycle, Slate and Other Metamorphic Rocks, Limestone and Other Sedimentary Rocks, Granite and Other Igneous Rocks, and Identifying Rocks.  Read aloud each book. Ask the following open-ended questions:

 v    What is a rock? What was your favorite rock in the book/books?  Why?

v    Have you ever looked closely at a rock? Can you identify a particular kind of rock?

v    What is a fossil? Have you ever seen a fossil? Ever found one? If so, where did you find the fossil? Describe it. How are fossilized animals like or unlike animals today?

v    Minerals are part of our lives every day. How do we use minerals?

v    How is coal used to make our lives better? 

v    Discuss different types of rocks. How are different types of rocks used? Why are some rocks used for building stones and others are not?

v    How can one type of rock change into another type?

v    Describe the differences in rocks. What is the rock cycle? How long does it take one rock to change into another? (Some change quickly, others take eons).

v    What do all rocks have in common? (They all come from igneous rock and are made of one or more minerals).

v    What changes rocks? (Weathering, erosion, heating, cooling, and pressure).

 Activity: Making Sedimentary Rocks

Discuss how sedimentary rocks are the product of weathering and erosion.

Materials per student:

1 paper cup 

1 marker

cementing solution (2 parts water to one part Epsom salt)

1/4 cup sand

1 hand lens

Discuss how sandstone is made by nature. Sedimentary rocks form in layers. Minerals in water flow through the layers and harden the tiny rocks into solid rock.

 v    Print the letter “A” on the paper cup.

v    Fill the paper cup half full of sand.

v    Slowly add cementing solution until all of the sand is wet.

v    Place the cup in a warm place until the sand dries completely.

v    Carefully remove the sandstone from the cup.

v    Use a hand lens to closely observe the sand.

Writing activity:

Describe the sandstone. What is the texture? Color? Weight? How has the sand mixture changed?

 Making Coal

Discuss how coal is formed from plant material and minerals.

1 paper cup

1 Marker

cementing solution (2 parts water to one part Epsom salt)

1/4 cup mud

1/4 cup decomposed leaves

1 hand lens

 v    Print the letter “B” on the paper cup.

v    Fill a paper cup half full of mud and decomposed leaves.

v    Slowly add cementing solution until leaves are wet.

v    Place the cup in a warm place until the mixture dries completely.

v    Carefully remove paper cup from the coal.

v    Use a hand lens to closely observe the coal.

Describe the coal. What is the texture? Color? Weight? How has the mud and leaf mixture changed?

Making Sedimentary rocks.

Discuss how sedimentary rocks are formed in layers. The layers of mud, sand, pebbles, plants, and seashells are built up over a long period of time. Top layers squeeze water out of the bottom layers and press the lower layers together. Over time, new rocks form.

 Ingredients:

1cup butter
3 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (12 oz.) package chocolate chips
1 (12oz.) package M&M’s
2 cups chopped nuts

 Materials:

clear 13"X 9" baking pan
can opener
oven 

Directions:

v    Melt the butter in the baking pan.

v    Sprinkle crumbs over the butter.

v    Pour condensed milk evenly over the crumbs.

v    Spread a layer of chocolate chips over the crumbs.

v    Spread a layer of M&M’s over the chips.

v    Spread a layer of nuts over the M&M’s.

v    Gently press down the layers.

v    Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes.

v    Let cool.

v    Observe the layers.

v    Cut into bars and eat rocks! 

Writing activity

Describe how the items formed in layers. Notice that under pressure and heat, the items remained in layers. Compare and contrast the making of these bars to the forming of sedimentary rocks. 

Making Sedimentary and Metamorphic Rocks

Discuss how metamorphic rocks are formed by heat and pressure.

1/2 cups mini-marshmallows

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1-2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter

1 paper plate/pan

1 mixing bowl

1 spoon

hot plate/microwave

 v    Each student will receive marshmallows and chocolate chips on a paper plate. Explain how the marshmallows and chips represent sediment and the peanut butter is the mineral that holds the sediment together to form sedimentary rocks.

 v    Each student will use the spoon to mix together marshmallows, chocolate, and chips. Form into a ball or rock shape.

 v    Explain that metamorphic rocks form under heat and pressure. Place the “sedimentary rocks” in a microwave or over a hot plate in a pan. Let students observe how the sedimentary “rocks” melted and formed metamorphic rocks.

 v    Observe and discuss the changes in form and structure of the new rocks. Write a paragraph explaining how the sedimentary rocks changed to metamorphic rocks.

1 Paper or plastic cup

1 Pan/paper bowl

1 paper plate

1 spoon

hot plate/microwave

1/4 cups mini-marshmallows

1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup M&M’s

 v    Spray pan/bowl with cooking oil.

v    Add marshmallows.

v    Place pan over hot plate or bowl in microwave.

v    Melt marshmallows.

v    Explain how the marshmallows represent molten, igneous rock.

v    Add M&Ms and chocolate chips to represent how molten rock or lava comes in contact with other rocks.

v    Again, place in heat source to show how lava is so hot it melts other rocks. When cooled, students eat the cool, hard igneous rock.

Earth Layers

 v    Cut a boiled egg in half.

v    The shell represents the crust which is about 6-40 miles;

v    the white represents the mantle which is about 1800 miles;

v    the yolk represents the outer core which is about 1,375 miles.

v    Press a small, red candy into the center of the yolk. The candy represents the hot, inner core, which is about 1,750 miles.

Rockin’ and Writin”

 Materials per student:

Geodes (Greek geoides, "earthlike"). How are geodes earthlike in shape?

     Geodes

Geodes also form around animal burrows, mud balls, or tree roots in sedimentary rock. If a hollow cavity remains on the inside of the shape, the outer shell hardens and water seeps in depositing minerals which develop into crystals. The process resembles mineral deposits inside a cave, on a smaller scale. These miniature caves can offer us a small slice of beauty. It’s always exciting to see what’s inside.The most common mineral found in geodes is quartz, but amethyst and calcite are also found.

Activity:

 v    Create a solution of borax and water. Fill a jar with boiling water. Add borax one tablespoon at a time until no more will dissolve. This will be about three tablespoons per cup of boiling water.

v    Place small pieces of waxed paper in the egg carton sections.

v    Set the clean egg shell halves in the carton on top of the waxed paper.

v    Pour a small amount of the borax solution into the egg shell halves.

v    In a few days, or less, crystals will form inside the shell.

 Graph the daily changes in the geode. Write observations daily.

Make Toothpaste

 When you brushed your teeth today, you used these rocks and minerals -- Calcium carbonate (a type of limestone rock), and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). If you used a fluoride gel, you used sand and feldspar.

½ teaspoon calcium carbonate (grind up antacids, such as TUMS into a powder)

¼ teaspoon sodium bicarbonate in small plastic cup (baking soda)

Add just enough water (with eye dropper) to make a paste

Assortment of food colorings and flavorings

Assortment of commercial toothpastes

v    Divide students in to groups of four. Each group is responsible for developing one recipe.

v    Each student will sample tiny amounts of various commercial toothpastes and record texture, flavor, and performance.

v    Using the basic recipe, each group will formulate a toothpaste recipe that is appealing.

v    When creating toothpaste, keep records of various recipes and reasons those recipes were not selected. Explain why the recipe used to create the toothpaste was selected.

Each group will write a commercial about their product. Why will this toothpaste worth buying? How will it help the person who uses it?

Give the product a name.

Illustrate a marketing poster.

On a chart, compare and contrast classroom toothpaste to commercial toothpaste.

Research: What minerals are found in commercial toothpastes? 

Seeing Through Glass

How are rocks used to make glass? What are the different uses of glass?

Money, Money, Money

     Metal is found in rocks, and coins are made from metal. Metal is a good choice for coins because metals are durable. They are hard to break, They won't shatter like stone, and they won’t burn like wood. Metals can be melted quite easily and formed into coins.

Long ago, people traded for what they wanted. If one person had a wheel made of stone and wood and another person had a chain made of metal, they often traded items. The system is called barter.

About 3,000 years ago, people in the kingdom of Lydia in ancient Turkey had a unique idea: use gold and silver coins for money. The amount of each coin was stamped on it.

     Write a fiction story about how the person developed the idea of using coins for money. Your story should have a beginning, middle, and ending. Where did they find the metal? How did they press the metal into coins? Students may read or tell their stories to the class.

Soaking Up Water

A container larger than a brick

large measuring cup or container with volume markings on it

assortment of bricks and rocks (sandstone, granite, limestone)

 v    Place a brick in a container.

v    Pour a measured amount of water into the container. Cover the brick with water.

v     Leave the brick in the water for at least 30 minutes.

v    Remove the brick from the container.

v     Pour the water in the container into the measuring cup.

v    Have students calculate the amount of water soaked up by the brick.

 Sedimentary Rock Jar

 Materials:

glass jars with lids

water

rocks

pebbles

sand

soil

     Student will bring in samples of soil, sand, pebbles, and rocks. Fill jar one-third full with equal mixture of soil, sand, pebbles, and rocks. Add water. Place lid on jar and shake carefully.

Activities:

 

Insects in Amber

Discuss how insects became fossilized in prehistoric times. Amber is a resin secreted by pine trees. The resin or sap is sticky. If an insect flew or crawled into the resin, it was caught and could not escape. Resin from the pine tree would continue to drip over the insect. Eventually, the insect was completely covered in resin. The layers of resin hardened into a fossil over time and the insect was preserved.

Activity
Make a replica of an amber fossil

Materials:
1 small plastic insect, per student
1 bottle cap, per student
clear nail polish (a drop of orange food color will give an amber color to the nail polish)
 
Directions:

v    Place a tiny plastic insect inside an up-turned bottle cap.

v    Slowly drip nail polish over the insect.

v     Set the cap in an area to dry.

v    Repeat the process several times until the insect is completely covered in nail polish.

Students will write a fictional account of the prehistoric world and describe the conditions surrounding the insect that became a fossil. The fictional account can be a skit, story, newspaper article, or an interview of the insect.

Core Content

  RD-04-2.0.7

Children will make inferences or draw conclusions based on what is read.

 RD-04-4.0.1

Children will connect information from a passage to children’ lives (text-to-self), real world issues (text-to-world) or other texts (text-to-text - e.g., novel, short story, song, film, website, etc.). 

WR-04-1.1.2

In Personal Expressive Writing,

·        Children will communicate the significance of the writer’s life experience by narrating about life events or relationships.

·        Children will apply the characteristics of the selected form (e.g., personal narrative, personal memoir).

·        Children will create a point of view.

Children will sustain a suitable tone or appropriate voice.

WR-04-1.1.2

In Literary Writing,

·        Children will communicate to an audience about the human condition by painting a picture, recreating a feeling, telling a story, capturing a moment, evoking an image, or showing an extraordinary perception of the ordinary.

·        Children will apply characteristics of the selected form (e.g., short story, play/script, and poem).

·        Children will create a point of view.

·        Children will use a suitable tone or appropriate voice.

Children will apply a fictional perspective in literary writing when appropriate. 

 MA-EP-4.1.1 

MA-05-4.1.1

 MA-04-4.1.2

MA-05-4.1.2

Students will construct data displays (pictographs, bar graphs, line plots, Venn diagrams, tables).

 SS-EP-4.1.1

Children will use geographic tools (e.g., maps, globes, mental maps, charts, graphs) to locate and describe familiar places at home, school and the community.

Children will describe ways people modify the physical environment to meet their basic needs (food, shelter, and clothing).  

AH-05-4.3.2                                                  

Children will improvise to tell stories that show action and have a clear beginning, middle, and end. (Literary elements)

SC-EP-1.1.1 Students will classify material objects by their properties.

 Objects are made of one or more materials such as paper, wood, and metal. Objects can be described by the properties of the materials from which they are made. Those properties and measurements of the objects can be used to separate or classify objects or materials.

SC-05-1.1.1 Students will describe the physical properties of substances (e.g., boiling point, solubility, density).

 SC-04-1.1.1

Students will explain how matter, including water, can be changed from one state to another.

 SC-04-1.2.2 Students will infer causes and effects of pushes and pulls (forces) on objects based on representations or interpretations of straight-line movement/motion in charts, graphs, and qualitative comparisons.

draw conclusions about the nature of the organisms and the basic environments that existed at the time; make inferences about the relationships to organisms that are alive today.

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