Autumn/Fall

Grade: 1

*This is a lesson I taught to first grade students as part of an instructional sequence during my student teaching pre-internship.

1. Read the story How Do You Know It’s Fall? by Allan Fowler.

2. Use the fall slides of the power point to teach the characteristics of fall.

3. Model the fall sort, then split the students into small groups, and have them complete the card sort.

4. Review and question to check for understanding.

5. Have the students complete the two fall pages of their seasons book. For below-level writers, have the words pre-traced for them to trace.

6. As students finish, have them complete the jack-o'-lantern symmetry page. (Integrating Math)

Amazing Animal Speed

Grades: 1-6

* This is a leeson I taught to first through sixth grade students as part of a weeklong science camp.

1. Have each student use the internet to read about one of the fastest land animals, specifically finding a speed (Technology Integration).

• Cheetah, Pronghorn, Wildebeest, Lion, Gazelle, Elk, Cape Hunting Dog, Coyote, Hyena, Zebra, Warthog, Grizzly Bear

2. Have each student write their animal's speed on the chalk or white board.

3. Take each animal's speed and mark this on the comparison chart (Math Integration).

4. Discuss; specifically comparing and contrasting.

* Enhancement: To challenge above-level students, have them convert how many miles an hour an animal runs into feet per so many seconds. Then measure this length on the floor and let the students try to run this length in the specified amount of time.

Amazing Animal Height

Grades:1-6

*This is a lesson I taught to first through sixth grade students as part of a weeklong science camp.

1. Make long strips of bulletin board paper as tall as the following animals: (write the name of the animal, height, and where they live on each strip of paper)

• Bottlenose Dolphins = 9 ft. (warm tropical waters)
• Giraffe = 17 ft. (African Savannah)
• Python = 6 ft. (Western Africa)
• Monitor Crocodile = 7 ft. (New Guinea)
• Emu = 6 ft. (Australia)
• Siberian Tiger = 12 ft long from nose to tail (Mountains in Northern Russia)

2. Have each student measure how tall he or she is – have them record this height on the worksheet.

3. Allow students to lie down next to each animal (paper strips), comparing and contrasting the differences in height.

4. Have the students use measuring tapes to measure each animal (paper strip) and record the height on their worksheet (Math Integration).

5. As the students are circulating among the animals, have them read on the paper where each animals lives. Have them find this location on the classroom map (Geography Integration).

6. On the back of the worksheet, have students write the animals in order from shortest to tallest, including themselves.

7. Have each student draw and label a bar graph showing the comparison of the size of these animals (Math Integration).