Day Sky, Night Sky
Day 3: Faces of the Moon

Children often ask "Why this?" and "Why that?" You can encourage new learning by satisfying this natural curiosity in your student.

Today's material includes factual information and imaginary verses about the moon. Just as the moon lights up the sky at night, friends light up our lives. Today, you'll also explore the wonderful world of friendship.

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What You Need Today General Supplies box containing required materials Calendar Time Calendar Package Thematic Assignment Booklet 3A - Day 1: My Sky Graph other materials as needed Language Arts Thematic Assignment Booklet 3A - Day 3: Spelling Pre-Test - Day 3: Printing Words - Day 3: Moon Facts Level A: Modern Curriculum Press Phonics, pages 73 and 74 Toes in My Nose by Sheree Fitch Music and Movement selections from the CD Classics for Children compact disc player Silent Reading Time books, magazines, or other favourite reading material Math Time See Mathematics Module 3, Day 3. Project Time Project Choice 1: Framed Friendship Poem blank white paper construction paper scissors, glue, and crayons Project Choice 2: Interview a Friend blank audiocassette or videocassette tape recorder or video camera Let's Look Back Thematic Assignment Booklet 3A - Day 3: Learning Log Story Time mutually chosen reading material

Calendar Time

Time recommended: 10 minutes

Follow the Basic Calendar Time Procedure as outlined in the Calendar Package. Extend by talking about what the weather is usually like during different seasons.

Continue checking the sky several times a day to encourage observation and complete your sky graph. While outside, compare the temperature with these questions.

How does the temperature feel to you today?

Is it warmer or colder than yesterday?

Does it seem warmer this afternoon than it was this morning?

What weather symbol should we draw on our calendar?

 

Focus for Today Today's focus is the student's interaction with others, especially those close in age. Preview Day 3: Learning Log in Thematic Assignment Booklet 3A. Complete this evaluation after you have observed your student interacting with another child.

Language Arts

Teaching Tip It is not necessary for students to learn to spell every word they know as a sight word. Students can learn to read words faster than they can learn to spell them, so reading vocabulary will soon be greater than writing vocabulary. It is necessary for students to correctly spell the most frequently used words, however, in order to write even basic ideas. Your student will learn six of these words per module as spelling words. The student is then expected to spell them correctly at all times.

Pre-test your student on the six spelling words for this module to determine whether the child already knows the words or needs instruction and practice. If the student spells some of these words correctly, do not spend more time on them.

Later, you'll study only the words that the student is unable to spell, using the spelling activities on Day 5.

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Turn to Thematic Assignment Booklet 3A, and follow the directions to complete Day 3: Spelling Pre-Test. Use the following spelling words: the in it I is if

Enrichment (optional)

If your student can already spell the six spelling words, challenge the child to choose some spelling words that suit the theme or that are of personal interest. Theme words might include these:

• sky
• star
• sun
• cloud
• moon
• rain

Phonics and Printing

Consonants: Check-up for the Teacher

Turn to page 73 in Level A: Modern Curriculum Press Phonics. Read the directions with your student. Since this is a Unit 1 Checkup page, have the student complete the page independently.

Without marking page 73, go on to page 74. Read the directions for the top half of the page, and have the student complete the activity. Do the same for the bottom half of the page.

Without marking the completed work, have the student's full name and M3D3 printed on the top of page 73. Before placing the page in the Student Folder, have the student choose four words from page 73 to copy in the printing assignment that follows.

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Turn to Thematic Assignment Booklet 3A, and follow the directions to do Day 3: Printing Words.

Music and Movement

Mirror Movement and Mirror Dancing

Stand facing your student. Perform a movement for the student to imitate. Then reverse roles, having the student initiate some actions. Practise continuous movement, where one action flows into the next.

Then play selections from Edvard Grieg's Peer Gynt suites from the CD Classics for Children. Experiment with your movements as the music varies in tempo, volume, and mood. Begin with slow and graceful movements during "Morning" or "Ase's Death."

Switch to lively but graceful movements during "Anitra's Dance."

Mirror dance to the slow, staccato notes at the beginning of the track "In the Hall of the Mountain King." Pick up speed gradually as the music becomes louder, faster, and wilder.

Move in time to the beat. Switch roles as leader and follower. Analyze the feelings that the music inspires. Can you express these feelings non-verbally in facial expressions and how you move your body?
 

Teaching Tip The Legend of Peer Gynt Peer Gynt is a Norwegian legend of a young farmer who was boastful and selfish. Leaving the people who loved him, Peer Gynt set out on many reckless adventures. Edvard Grieg was the composer who was commissioned in 1874 to compose music for a stage production of this legend. An overview of each musical movement follows: "Morning" (Track 35): The sun is rising as Peer Gynt sets out on his adventure. "Ase's Death" (Track 36): Peer Gynt's mother laments the absence of her son. She dies while he is gone. "Anitra's Dance" (Track 37): Peer Gynt watches Arabian maidens dancing. "In the Hall of the Mountain King" (Track 38): Peer Gynt has a fearsome encounter with trolls in their mountain kingdom. "Solvejg's Song" (Track 39): Peer Gynt returns to his homeland and finds out that his adventures have been somewhat worthless. Solvejg, who truly loves him, fills him in on the years that are gone.

Finish Music and Movement with "Aiken Drum," a nonsense song about the moon. If you're unfamiliar with the tune, try that of
"Here We Go 'Round the Mulberry Bush" or else just enjoy the silly words.

 

Aiken Drum

There was a man lived in the moon, In the moon, in the moon. There was a man lived in the moon, And his name was Aiken Drum. And he played upon a ladle, A ladle, a ladle. He played upon a ladle, And his name was Aiken Drum. And his hair was made of spaghetti, Spaghetti, spaghetti. His hair was made of spaghetti, And his name was Aiken Drum. And his eyes were made of meat balls, Meat balls, meat balls. His eyes were made of meat balls, And his name was Aiken Drum. And his nose was made of cheese, Cheese, cheese. His nose was made of cheese, And his name was Aiken Drum. Traditional

Teaching Tip Traditional songs are part of our musical heritage and provide cultural literacy, which is the common thread that weaves a nation. With the right trigger, people can recall songs learned many years before. Learning these musical patterns expands the student's repertoire of songs and cultural heritage—songs that, perhaps, you or your parents sang. Songs provide a rich environment of language and rhythm that fosters growth in language skills. Music has an emotional element that also furthers learning. "Aiken Drum," for example, suggests goofy actions. Get out a soup ladle and strum it like a guitar. Then try to keep a straight face.

Language Arts

Remind your student that good readers make mental pictures as they read. Make pictures in your heads as you read the rhyme that follows.

 

Hey Diddle Diddle

Hey diddle, diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed To see such sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon. Traditional ©2001-2003 www.arttoday.com

Then ask questions like the following.

What did you see in your mind's eye while we were reading this nursery rhyme?

Mention details that you imagined before continuing.

Is the story in the nursery rhyme true? (no)

Could this possibly have happened? (no)

When a story isn't true and isn't even possible, we call it nonsense writing.

A writer can make up a story or rhyme just for fun.

Did this verse have any rhyming words? (yes)

Show me words that rhyme. (diddle and fiddle, moon and spoon)

Turn to "The Moon's a Banana" at the end of Toes in My Nose. Study the title as follows.

Look closely at this title, "The Moon's a Banana."

The contraction word moon's could also be written and spoken as "moon is."

The title would then read, "The moon is a banana."

Is the moon really a banana? (no)

Why might the author say that it is? (It sometimes is shaped like a banana and is yellow.)

In Day 2, you learned that the two o's in moon can be called the "spooky oo."

To help you remember the spooky oo and the word moon, stretch out the oo, like this:
moo—oo—oo—oon

Let's read the poem.

Try to make pictures in your head as you did for "Hey Diddle Diddle."

After reading the poem, discuss the images you saw. Talk about the reality of this poem as you did for "Hey Diddle Diddle."

Moon Facts Booklet

Help your student prepare a booklet to understand that there is also factual, or non-fiction, material about the moon.
 

Turn to Thematic Assignment Booklet 3A, and follow the directions to complete Day 3: Moon Facts. Do not submit this booklet to the teacher.

Enrichment (optional)

For other factual books about the moon, refer to Additional Resources at the beginning of this module.

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Writer's Workshop

Use the script that follows to discuss these aspects of friendship:

• recognition of good traits in others
• benefits of sharing and interdependence
• recognition of similarities and differences in people
• the need to respect the rights and property of others
• recognition of the need for privacy and independence

Note: It is not unusual for children to mention pets or toys as friends. Some even have imaginary friends.

Name some of your friends.

How do you feel when you are with your friends? (happy, comfortable, cozy, safe)

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Share what friendship means to you and why certain people are your special friends. Then present the writing assignment as follows.

Today you'll write about friends or about one special friend.

Whom would you like to write and draw about?

What do you like about (friend's name) ?

When you are finished this activity, you could show it to (friend's name) .

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Set out a writing page, and have the student draw something and print two or three sentences about friendship. Encourage the student to write as independently as possible and to make decisions about spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

If the student asks how to spell a word, ask what letter sound the word begins with, which letter sound comes next, and so on. Use the Key Words and Actions Guide for help with difficult letter sounds. Encourage the student to use the Collections Writing Dictionary to assist with spelling also.

Review the writing with the student, checking for correct spelling. Ask the student to read the writing aloud. Help only as needed.

Have the student's full name and M3D3 printed on the back of the page before placing it in the Student Folder.
 

Turn to Thematic Assignment Booklet 3A, and follow directions to fill in Day 1: My Sky Graph.

Are you having anything moon-shaped for lunch—an apple, an orange, a banana, or some pizza, for example?

Your student may be able to read some familiar nursery rhymes independently.

Math Time

Time recommended: 45 minutes

Proceed with Mathematics Module 3, Day 3.

Project Time

Time recommended: 50 minutes

Help your student choose one of the following:

• Write and frame a poem about friendship.
• Interview a friend.

Project Choice 1: Framed Friendship Poem

Print the title Friendship Words in the centre of a page. Draw an oval around this title. Then brainstorm as many words as possible to make a web chart that describes friendship.
 

Teaching Tip During brainstorming, simply record all ideas given. Do not make any comments, either positive or negative. Just keep the ideas coming and defer judgement of them until later.

An example of a partial web chart follows.

When finished, ask the student to consider the words carefully as follows.

Are these words all about friendship?

Do some of the words mean the same thing as others?

Can you think of other words that tell about friendship?

Then proceed as follows:

• Fold a piece of unlined paper in half. Help the student by drawing half a heart on the folded edge as shown below. Have the student cut the heart out. Then open up the heart shape.

• Have the student complete the following pattern poem on the cut-out heart. If needed, you could print the words "Friends are." Encourage the student to choose words from your web chart for the first three lines and then use a word that is the opposite of one of the words for the last line.

Friends are ________________,
Friends are ________________,
Friends are ________________,
But friends aren't ________________.

• Ask the student to evaluate the printing on the friendship poem. Was it a best effort? If the student thinks it could be better, allow time to rewrite the poem on a new heart shape.
• Fold a piece of construction paper in half. Help the student cut out a heart that is larger than the one used for the poem. Glue the smaller heart onto the larger heart. Have the student decorate the frame.

Print the student's full name and M3D3 on the back, and place the poem in the Student Folder.

Project Choice 2: Interview with a Friend

Have the student choose a friend to interview—someone the child feels comfortable with, such as a neighbour, sibling, aunt, uncle, or grandparent. Make arrangements and prepare for the interview as follows:

• Decide whether you will record the interview on audiocassette or videocassette.
• Discuss three questions your student could ask to find out the person's thoughts about friendship. Some examples follow:

What makes a good friend?

Why do you think it is important to have friends?

How do you feel when you help others?

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• Record the student's three interview questions on paper. Have the student practise reading them.
• Experiment a few times with asking the questions on your tape recorder or video camera.
• Prepare the student for introducing the guest on tape, asking the questions, and then thanking the guest at the end of the interview. If necessary, you may prompt the student on the tape.
• Tape the interview.

Rewind the tape to the spot where the interview begins. Label the tape with the student's full name and M3D3, and place it in the Student Folder.

Sharing Time

Time recommended: flexible

Your student could share any of the following:

• a poem or the Moon Facts book assembled during Reading
• mirror dancing or "Aiken Drum" from Music and Movement
• the Project Time choice

Let's Look Back

Time recommended: 10 minutes

Suggest that this is an interview where you ask the questions. Interview your student to learn about the child's social development and how the day went. Sample questions follow.

How might friends show they care about each other?

What could you do for a friend?

What could a friend do for you?

What makes you feel happy or sad?

What makes you angry?

Do you ever feel lonely?

How do you feel when you are lonely?

Did you like reading the verses about the moon?

Did you like reading the non-fiction booklet about the moon?

Which did you enjoy more—the imaginative verses or the non-fiction information?

What did you like about doing this interview?

Was there anything you didn't like about doing the interview?

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Story Time

Time recommended: flexible

Story Time could be a quiet activity after the evening meal or before bedtime. "The Moon's a Banana" from Toes in My Nose would make good bedtime reading.

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Turn to Thematic Assignment Booklet 3A, and complete Day 1: My Sky Graph to record your observations of the night sky.

Will you be up in time for tomorrow's sunrise?

Glossary

nonsense writing

a story or other literature that isn't true and isn't even possible

pre-test

to test ability to spell specific words before studying or even glancing at them

sight word

a word that the student is able to read at once

staccato

notes marked by short, sharp, clear-cut tones or chords

Copyright ©2003, Alberta Learning.