The Universe

There are the materials I used to teach two lessons on the universe.

The first lesson was about the size of the universe and the relative sizes of its contents. It had two objectives:
1. Giving kids a sense of the enormous distance between objects in space
2. Helping them understand what a light year is and why we use it to measure things in space

I started with the video, from 0:00 to 5:14. Then I used the slideshow, which has two slides to give a chance to talk about the size of the universe and the concept of light years. Then, there are 13 questions loosely arranged from easy to difficult. Since this is a public Prezi, these can be easily edited.

Bill Nye video at Dailymotion

Space Trivia on Prezi

The second lesson was about the types of objects in space: nebula, stars, etc. It also had two objectives:
1. Understanding the types of objects in space and clearing up common points of confusion (ex: difference between comets and asteroids)
2. Helping them appreciate the incredible visual appeal of space

I started with the video of the planets of the Solar System singing. StoryBots has several other videos on objects in the Solar System as well. Then I gave the presentation on different objects in space, which I put together using mostly pictures from NASA's website. The last slide includes directions for an art project and an example I made. The art project is to design a travel poster for an object or location in space. I picked the Pillars of Creation, a part of the Eagle nebula, and made a quick example in Photoshop. I put the kids into groups of 3-4 and gave them each a couple space books I got from the library. It would work fine as an individual project too.

I played the music from Spotify while they were working.

"We are the Planets" by StoryBots on YouTube

The Universe and Everything in It on Prezi

Ambient Space Music by John Serrie on Spotify

Notes: Kids were particularly interested in black holes and nebulae. They had lots of questions about these things and loved looking at pictures of them. Most students chose those for their travel posts so if you provide books, make sure there are plenty on those two subjects.

The biggest stumbling blocks for many kids seemed to be understanding the difference between a galaxy and the universe, and understanding that light years measure distance, not time.

Award Certificate Template

This is a simple template for a student achievement award. It has places for the following information:
School or organization logo
Student name
Paragraph about the award and/or the student
Teacher signature
Date or second teacher signature

Here's an example.

 Read more to see two full-size versions of the blank certificate as .jpegs. I don't know much about the best file type to upload as; I made them in Photoshop and would have liked to keep the capabilities of a .psd file but I couldn't do that. Please let me know if there's a filetype that makes this easier to use.

Remember to print landscape style.

Icebreaker Jenga

I use this game when I'm getting to know a student one-on-one or in small groups. So far, all players from kindergarten to 4th grade have really liked it, and my 4th graders want me to make other versions with questions relating to their lessons. I included 20 questions for each block category, which is probably too many but different versions or knockoffs of this game have different numbers of blocks.

I wrote on one side of each block with a Micron pen, then dotted it with Crayola markers. I will try to add a couple pictures of the finished product soon.

Read more to see the full-sized image of the instructions, and a text list of the questions/ actions I used for my set. I don't know how to attach a MS Word document to my post so I uploaded the rules as .jpg files that should print portrait-style on 8.5 x 11 paper.

Monster Sighting Journal

I'm back after like a 2 year break. I'm finally working in a classroom again and hope to be able to share regular resources. Feel free to request anything, and I will see if I have time to work on it. Thanks for visiting!

Read more to see a template and an completed example of a sheet I made for a couple of 4th graders who said they liked scary movies. The documents are .jpgs that should print portrait-style on 8.5 x 11 paper.

Ape Masks

This is a set of five black and white ape masks. there is a bonobo, a chimpanzee, a gorilla, an orangutan, and a gibbon. They're designed to be printed and have kids color and cut them out. 

Read more to see the masks. They are .jpg files of varying sizes and may not actually fit on 8.5 x 11 paper, but should look fine if they are scaled down. Cardstock is a good idea, if possible. 

Welcome

This blog is a collection of resources I've made over the years for my preschool classroom and other educational projects. Most of them will be accessories and props for dramatic play areas or materials for arts and crafts. Whenever I make something for my own use, I'll try to upload it here.

You're free to change, print, and use anything here for any classroom needs without credit, as long as it's not for profit. You're not required to post and let me know you used something, but I would love to hear how it worked out and if you have any suggestions for fixing up anything you get from here.

I hope you find some useful things here and thanks for visiting.