BookFlix

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My BookFlix lesson is about the 4 Seasons

I'm using "Bear Has a Story to Tell" for the fiction story, and "How Do You Know It's Winter?" for the non-fiction story.

The standard covered is LL.OT.2.LL.OT.2.2.LL.OT.2.2.2 Use pictures to describe and predict stories and information in books.

Objectives:

         Name the 4 seasons fall/winter/spring/summer

         What it is like in each season?

         What happens to the plants/animals during each one?

Vocabulary

        As highlighted words appear in the story we will stop to hear the explanation.

Craft

       Using the hand/foream to illustrate trees for the 4 seasons, and how they would look

Songs

       Rachel Buchman "Five Little Leaves"

       Carole Stephens "Hats, Jackets, Pants & Boots"

Review the differences in the fiction and non-fiction stories

Assessment

      Puzzlers activities - review to access their comprehension of the words and sequence of the story.

I continued to use the Christmas story focus. It covers culture, tradition, perspective, etc. The objective includes focus on differing between introductory fiction and non-fiction information.

Lesson Plan for: The Night Before Christmas / Christmas

Subject(s): Language Arts, Social Studies
Grade Level(s): preK-3

Fiction Resource

• The Night Before Christmas
• By Clement Clarke Moore
• Illustrated by Tomie De Paola
• Ages: 3-8
• Lexile Level: NP
• Theme: Christmas
• Running Time: 6:01
• Plot Summary: This well-known poem takes on new life in the video The Night Before Christmas. Students will recognize some traditions from their own lives, as well as learn about some Christmas traditions from the past. This timeless poem is sure to capture the hearts of a new generation.

Nonfiction Resource

• Christmas
• By Trudi Strain Trueit
• Grades: 3-5; Ages 8-10
• Lexile Level: 750
• Description: Introduces readers to the various traditions that people observe on the Christmas holiday.

Learning Objectives

• Students will identify Christmas holiday traditions from different cultures.
• Students will practice making text-to-self connections.
• Students will compare and contrast fiction and nonfiction texts.
• Students will practice writing poetry.
• Students will practice the comprehension strategy of sequencing.

Before Viewing the Video

1. Introduce students to the vocabulary. You can write vocabulary words on index cards and place them around the room, or pair words with pictures. If you have ESL students, make sure that you introduce the vocabulary words to them a few days before the lesson.
   • clatter: a loud noise
   • dread: fear
   • miniature: very small
   • nestled: tucked in
   • peddler: a salesperson who travels with his goods to sell
   • prancing: to walk in a lively way, picking the feet up high
   • Saint Nick: Santa Claus
   • stirring: moving
   • tarnished: dirty
2. Discuss Christmas with children. Encourage children who celebrate the holiday to share their traditions with their classmates. Children might want to bring items from home representative of the holiday to share with their classmates.
3. Invite students to discuss other important holidays that they celebrate, possibly from different religions. Guiding questions:
   • Christmas is a very important holiday for Christians. What is another important holiday that you celebrate with your family?
   • Why is this holiday important to you?
   • What kinds of activities do you do to celebrate?
   • Are there any symbols that are important?
   • What do they mean?
   • Do you eat any special foods?
   • What is your favorite part of this holiday?

After-Viewing Activities

1. Have children talk about the feelings of the different characters in the story. Ask:
   • How do you think the children felt just before they went to sleep?
   • How do you think Santa felt about delivering presents on Christmas Eve?
   • How do you think the reindeer felt when they finally finished delivering presents?
2. Did they hear the new vocabulary words? Did it help them to know what those words meant before they watched the video?
3. Play a game of "What’s In The Stocking?" Cut out a Christmas stocking shape from red construction paper for each child in the group. Tell children to think about things they might want to put in the stocking to help make the world a better place. You might suggest a soft teddy, so that everyone would have something to hug; a tree, so that the world would be filled with beauty; food, so that no one would ever go hungry. As students think of ideas, they should draw pictures of them and glue them onto their stockings. When the children have finished filling their stockings, arrange them on a classroom wall under the title "Peace On Earth."
4. Guide students through making text-to-self connections. Was there anything that happened in The Night Before Christmas that the students have also experienced? Have students share their text-to-self connection with a partner, then call on partners to share what they learned from the other person.

Paired-Text Activities

1. Review with students the difference between fiction and nonfiction. Explain that fiction tells about things that are imaginary, or make-believe, while nonfiction tells about things that happen in real life. Tell the students that they will be reading (or listening to) a nonfiction book about Christmas. A nonfiction book contains true facts about a subject.
2. After students have read Christmas, cut out 2 large pieces of butcher paper or construction paper in the shape of wreaths. Glue them onto a white sheet of paper into the shape of a Venn Diagram. Label one side of the Venn Diagram "Christmas – Non-fiction," label the other side "The Night Before Christmas – Fiction." Guide students through the process of filling out the Venn Diagram. Since most children believe in Santa Claus, guide them through identifying fiction as a story. Ask: "What clues in The Night Before Christmas tell us that this is a story that the author made up?" Record their answers under the "Night Before Christmas" section of the diagram. Examples:
   • The video tells a story about one family’s experience the night before Christmas, it does not teach us facts.
   • The pictures are illustrated, not photographs.
   • The video is based on a famous poem, which was made up by the author.
   Ask: "What clues in Christmas tell us that this is a nonfiction book?" Record their answers under the "Christmas" section of the diagram. Examples:
   • The book has photographs of real people and events.
   • The book teaches us facts about Christmas.
   • The book shows us different ways that people celebrate Christmas.
   Ask: "Is there anything that happens in both books?" Record their answers in the middle section of the Venn Diagram. Examples:
   • Both are about Christmas.
   • Both have Santa Claus.
   • Both teach about how people celebrate Christmas.
   Practice the comprehension strategy of sequencing for The Night Before Christmas. Write the following sentences on sentence strips. Mix the sentence strips up, read them aloud with the students, then have them rearrange the sentences in the correct order.
   • The family goes to bed for the night on Christmas Eve.
   • The man hears a loud noise on his lawn.
   • He looks out the window to see Santa Claus driving his sleigh with eight reindeer.
   • Santa Claus comes down the chimney and fills all of the stockings.
   • Santa Claus puts his finger aside his nose and goes back up the chimney.
   As an extension, give students a worksheet with these same sentences and pictures to match. After doing the group activity, the students can cut out the sentences and pictures, match them, and paste them in the correct pairs.
3. Create a matching game with the facts from Christmas. On one side of a white board or felt board, put the names of the different cultures and countries described in the book. On the other side, in mismatched order, put the customs or symbols that go with each country. For example, Mexico can be matched with piñatas and Finland can be matched with a cemetery. On the felt board, students can use red and green yarn to connect the matches. On the white board, they can use red and green markers.
4. Talk about the rhythm and rhyme in the story. Then give children an opportunity to create their own story in rhyme. Offer a beginning sentence, such as: "The winter morning was chilly and cold…" Have a child in the class offer the next rhyming line. Print the story on the board as it unfolds. Continue until each child in the class has had an opportunity to contribute to the story. Later, print the story and display it on a classroom wall. Have children draw illustrations to accompany the story and display them along with the story.

Further Research

Explore with the students the related Web links about Christmas that accompany this selection.

Assessment

Have the students play the educational games about The Night Before Christmas and Christmas. Review their results to assess their comprehension of the words and events in the story, as well as their ability to distinguish between fiction and nonfiction.