3, 2, 1, We Have Lift Off of....

California has new science standards, called the Next Generation Science Standards http://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/sc/ngssstandards.asp, which, for first grade, include teaching about patterns in the sky. So I, along with my first grade team of two wonderful teachers, developed a unit called "Space Systems:  Patterns in the Sky."  I have to admit, I was secretly thrilled that I finally FINALLY get to teach about space, even though we'd spent the better part of a lifetime developing other units based on those other standards.  I dove in wholeheartedly.

Putting our best GLAD thinking caps on, we searched the internet and google images, the GLAD website, Amazon, the school library, and of course, Teachers Pay Teachers for resources.  We put together a unit that I'm really happy with.  We started out randomly gathering information about "celestial objects" and then put lessons in order that seemed appropriate.

To introduce the topic, I color photocopied Fly Guy:  Space, a book in which the popular Fly Guy and Buzz go to a science museum.  I laminated the copies and glued the text to the back.  I then told the story about going to a space museum as a Narrative Input, taping the pictures onto a large backdrop as I told the story.  Sorry, I forgot to take a picture!

We had to think of CCD words (Cognitive Content Dictionary), so I taught "celestial," "lunar," "phase," and a few others that related to the unit.  Then once I had my learning awards ready, I could start teaching.

Here are some examples of learning awards, which I make with Google images and Microsoft Publisher.  I can't make them available for download per copyright laws, but they are very easy to make if you know how to copy/paste and draw a text box.

(I am unable to make my computer cooperate with this image for some reason!)

I decided to begin with stars since stars make up most of the sky when you look up and I wanted them to know what a star is before teaching them about the sun...a star input chart was generated (really, it's more like a "label-it" since it doesn't have categories) and used for about 2 weeks.  Once I do the initial teaching, they respond in their journals.  The next day, or the next time we have science, we review the chart with the Star Wars pointer.  I pass out pictures and smart cards, kids turn and talk (called the 10/2), then we come back to the front to once again review the chart, but they tape the smart cards and pictures over the appropriate spots.

This is the Star Input Chart after sticking vocabulary words and pictures to it.

After each input chart, we want to teach a chant, song or poem with movement.  For this lesson, we taught a scientific version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."

Little Star song here (coming soon)

Once they had some knowledge about stars, we created a Sentence Pattern Chart about stars.  Students had been previously taught adjectives, nouns, and verbs and they used the vocabulary they had been hearing to help think of words for the chart.  Here it is:

This chart was used many times, orally, to sing, to the tune of Farmer in the Dell, some Super Sentences.  It goes, "Adj, adj, noun.. Adj, adj, noun..Adj, adj, adj, noun, verb, prepostional phrase."  They turn and talk about what sentences they could create, then share out.  Another great activity to make it even more meaningful, is to write all the words in the proper color-codes on sentence strip.  I give each table group a baggie of sentence strips containing each category from which they must cooperatively create a sentence and share it.  After that, I was wondering where I put that flask :)  But seriously, these activities provide the scaffolding they need to be able to produce their own written sentences.

My colleague and friend, Kresta, used to scrapbook, so she used her hole puncher to create dots and had her kids make constellations.  So I blatantly copied her.  I'm not bashful about that!  Since stars are not star-shaped, they are ball-shaped, it worked perfectly.  I attached their star Super Sentences they created with the Sentence Pattern Chart:

I wish this photo had come out better...

This is a diamond shaped constellation.  This student was very successful in writing her sentences!

On Teachers Pay Teachers, I found a Moon Unit from which we pulled some really great pages for the kids to respond with, particularly the pages that have them write 4 facts about a given celestial object.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Moon-Unit-and-Project-Bundle-Objects-in-the-sky-40-Pages-CCSS-1056194

From there, I did a Comparative Input Chart on the sun and earth.  I included prior knowledge they now had to describe the sun (a star, a burning ball of gas), and the earth, which they had learned about in our map unit.  On the chart I compare how the sun and earth are the same (both are celestial objects) and different (Earth has life, the sun does not) and have them turn and talk to do the same.

This is after day 2, when the kids had already stuck the pictures and words onto it.

As with every input chart, we re-visit it and add "smart cards" which are just index cards on which I've written vocabulary words.  They are passed out to the kids who talk about their card, then when we review the chart again, we make decisions about where to stick them right over the original wording on the chart.  We also add pictures where it would make sense to do so.

After this lesson, I had them use their oil pastels to create a sun with yellow, orange, and red, then add a sticker of Earth (I've had these stickers from I-don't-know-where for a really, really long time).  While I was modeling, I used the terms on the chart like "hot burning ball of gas" and "celestial."  Someone remarked that the sun must not be that hot of a star since it's not blue.  WOW!  They are really thinking....

These are done on 1/4 sheet of 12"x18" construction paper.

During all these input lessons, students have opportunities to earn "Learning Awards," given out by student "Scouts."  These students sit behind the class, at desks (not on the floor), watching for the desired behavior, which is articulated by me before we start.  They get opportunities to give awards out and tell why it was earned.  At the end of the lesson, scouts choose an award for themselves.  The purpose of awards is to get academic vocabulary in the home, but they are really effective in getting the kids to focus on the lesson better.  See picture above...

Three weeks in, we taught about the moon...where it is, what it's made of, the gravity situation, etc.   My favorite book about the moon is If You Decide to Go to the Moon by Faith McNulty.  It beautifully describes what a kid would need/do/experience on the journey and on the moon, in addition to comparing the moon to Earth with a beautiful fold out section. I read it to the kids after we made two input charts on the moon, one that had facts about the moon and one that taught the phases of the moon.

After this lesson, they learned the Moon Chant, which we got off the GLAD website.  Thank you to the author for sharing!

Now we are getting the "pattern" portion of the unit!

More patterns in the sky!

With my students' help, I color coded the text by part of speech, thinking it will enable my low readers to more successfully read it independently.  We also acted it out with partners, one being the sun, one being the earth, then switching to one being the earth and one being the moon.  It was pretty awesome!

For homework I assigned a Home-School Connection.  Here are some of them:

These two were very detailed.

Here is another art project we did on the moon.  I traced a paper plate to make a circle, then photocopied that onto gray construction paper.  I had them come to my table in small groups to paint, encouraging them to dab the paintbrush to make mountains and craters.  I also had a small paper cup ready for more texturizing.  The next day, they cut them out and wrote sentences about the moon.

They asked if they could make a background.

He got the idea about texture!

The coupe de gras.....the Cooperative Paragragh!  In our GLAD refresher class, we were told that THIS is what all the strategies lead to, being able to analyze the information and put it together in a thoughtful way.  Imagine that.

This strategy always intimidated me/challenged me.  It isn't easy getting 6 year olds to cooperate, yet they are supposed to come up with a sentence, together with their table, that is accurate, falls within the topic, and is written clearly, with a marker.

Here it is:

When they finish writing their sentences, they put it in the pocket chart.  When everyone is finished, we edit the paragraph, with me "thinking out loud" as I go.  I discuss the indent of the first line, how we use a capital after a period, how we use the whole line up then continue onto the next line, transition words, how to group sentences, and a conclusion.

Kresta had a great idea...Have them write their own paragraphs.  So she made this frame and the kids used all the charts we had made, all the chants, the Cognitive Content Dictionary, and the sentence pattern chart.  They were all successful!

Other things we did...I broadcast the launch to the space station from Kazakhstan, which was declared "boring," probably because it did not have any special effects, fireworks, or crazy camera work.  We visited the Discovery Museum, Science and Space Center, in Sacramento, during which time the kids experienced a planetarium show.

The best things were when parents came up to me and told me how much their child is learning, telling them about stars, earth, the moon, and the phases of the moon.  Two incidents stand out in my mind:

• As a mom and daughter were stargazing, her daughter told her that the blue stars are the hottest.
• As another mom and daughter were watching the sun set, her daughter told her that as it gets dark here, it's light on the other side.

So many amazing experiences came out of teaching this unit.  It was worth the hours and hours of extra research, prep, and more prep.  Can't wait to do it next year!