Teddi's Home Grown Lessons

Welcome to my lesson page. The following four elementary level lessons are specifically for incorporating the internet into the classroom. Please keep in mind that the lessons have not been tested, but I'd love your feedback!
Please mail me any questions or comments.

Thank you!

Lessons listed are:

• Frog Visitor K-1
• Space Shuttle 3-6
• Pirates 3-5
• Nutrition 4-5

1. Inform the students that the class will have a pet frog visiting us for a week while its owners go away on vacation. The Friday prior to the visit, remind the students that the frog will be visiting. The morning of the visit (before the frog arrives) ask children what they think frogs look like, feel like, and sound like. Record this information on a"know" part of a KWL chart about frogs.
2. Generate a list of questions that the class has including what they like to eat, where do they live as pets, etc. Record these questions on "want to know" on KWL.
3. When frog arrives introduce it, discuss how it looks, facilitate discussion about how the class should treat a frog.
4. Have students touch and observe frog..
5. Answer some questions on KWL, Generate more questions on KWL.
6. Visit Frog land for answers to KWL & FAQ.
   URL: http://www.teleport.com/~dstroy/froglnd.shtml
7. Join frog-net mailing list for answers on frogs. liaw@rana.usc.edu
8. Have students explore frog land (over a couple days) and learn weird facts about frogs in small groups. Have students (with a parent helper) record what they feel is important and fun about frogs.
9. Learn some frog songs at:
   URL: http://www.teleport.com/~dstroy/weird/weird.html
10. When the frog has been in the classroom compare its "ribbit" to that of other frogs.
    URL: http://home.ptd.net/~herplink/frames.html
11. Questions about frogs and toads and how they are different can be answered at
    URL: http://home.ptd.net/~herplink/frames.html
12. Follow-up on KWL at end of week with a "Frog Day" based on ideas and activities done in this subject and other areas of the curriculum.

Letters to frog, pictures, a frog dance based in gym/ movement, stories on favorite frog characters, how are they different from our favorite frog?

1. Students will each make a book about a mission of their choice and pretend their books will be used as a guide for people wishing to learn about a specific mission while visiting NASA. Each page is for a different letter of the alphabet Each page will include a fact, picture or information about a specific topic. For example: "F" could be for flight crew, food, etc.… Students can include whatever they want but it must be relevant to the mission or the shuttle.
2. Students are to pick a mission or topic for approval from the teacher.
3. Students are to use the internet and the school library to find information about their topic.
4. Students may also use the following address to aide in their search:
   • URL: http://tommy.jsc.nasa.gov/~woodfill/SPACEED/SEHHTML/seh.html The space educators handbook
     
   • URL: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/life/just_for_kids.html
     Read all information about space and how your body reacts to weightlessness. Read photographic story of students experiences with astronauts in my first space shuttle launch story. Uses word finds, hangman and connect the dots to help students find out more about space.
   • URL: http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/
     Star Child- information under space stuff including glossary for terms used for space .
   • URL: http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/hqpao/apollo_11.html
     Apollo 11 space flight -story, sounds, and pictures
   • URL: http://www.mcn.org/Apollo13/Home.html
     Apollo 13-Personal story of Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks character in the movie).
   • URL: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/missions/missions.html
     Space shuttle launches-of past shuttle launches or a future launches.
   • URL: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/astrobio.htm
     Information on NASA Astronauts.
   • URL: http://shuttle.nasa.gov/
     Information on current shuttle.
5. Encourage students to use as many resources as possible, including a word processor or desktop illustration software, to finish their book.
6. Give each student a folder or binder for their work. Set aside class time so students can share and exchange books before taking them home.

A class discussion about what pages could belong in only specific missions verse could be found in almost any book.

1. Students are to write a short story on pirates as if they were members of a famous captains crew or a captain themselves. They must base the descriptions of ship, cargo, and other information on information learned through library and internet research as well as historical fiction read in class. Students are to record information about pirates and their lifestyle on the W&W worksheet.
2. Before researching discuss what we already know about pirates. Record information.
3. As a class write a very short story on the overhead with information collected on the board.
4. Discuss how much information was left out of the story that was just written. What other facts could be added? - Get students exited about other information that could be added.
5. Story can be hand written or done on a word processor. W&W worksheet must be handed in with the final copy.
6. URL’s helpful in research for pirates are:
   
   
   • URL: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/modules/pirates/maina.html
     National Geographic on Pirates -Blackbeard, pirates ports, and books.
   • URL: http://www.cac.org.uk/pirates/pirates.htm
     Pirates at the City Art Center- life on land and at sea and true pirate flags, code of conduct, lifestyle, and treasures.
   • URL: http://www.discover.net/~nqgiven/index.htm
     Discovers information on Pirates.
   • URL: http://www.bucconeer.worldcon.org/
     BucConeer -world convention based on Pirates.
   • URL: http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~beej/pirates/
     Beej- Find out information about specific pirates and battles and documents. Great resource for all pirate information.

1. Review the major food groups. Do a warm-up on classification of foods. (based on previous lesson)
2. Introduce the idea of students keep track of what they eat everyday. Have students include quantity, and how much liquid they drank. Also have them record if they thought it was a nutritious meal and why.
3. The two days later have students work in pairs/groups. On a separate piece of paper have them classify the foods they ate and tallied by groups the amount of servings in a day. How many of each serving is suggested? Did anyone meet the requirements? How do school lunches compare to home lunches?
4. Discuss how much a serving of each is. Have students visit the URLs for more information about serving sizes. Are they healthy?
   • URL: http://www.mfhs.edu/kids/nutri.html
   • URL: http://kidshealth.org/kid/
     food labels, alternatives to unhealthy favorite foods.
5. Also have students put next to each item if they think the foods are healthy and full of vitamins or fat or sugar. Compare home verse school lunches.
6. Have students find information about fruits and vegetables at the following sites. Have each student pick a 2 vitamins or minerals (the more advanced students should pick one of the following: fats, meat, sugar, salt) and do a page report on it including why it’s important, and in what foods it can be found in the cafeteria and at home.
   • URL: http://kidshealth.org/kid/
     Go to "foods". Answer to questions on vitamins and minerals.
   • URL: http://www.dole5aday.com/nutinfo.html
     Information on fruits and Vegetables.
7. Have students compare what they learned about healthy eating verses what they actually consume. What differences were there? Have students write two paragraphs about changes they would make 1. to the school lunches and 2. To Mom’s dinners.

Have class visit URL below to learn ten healthy tips to eating. Have then answer: What tip was most interesting to you. Did you learn anything new?

• URL: http://ificinfo.health.org/brochure/10tipkid.htm

Graph on a spreadsheet a week (or more) worth of data on the nutrition of packed lunches verse lunch in the cafeteria. Percentage of balanced meals in the cafeteria and more can also be graphed. Back to Teddi's Tree of Knowledge Homepage

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