Dinosaur Focus Unit!

1. Dinosaur Focus Unit! By Josh Keller

2. Literature selection • Dinosaur Mountain by Deborah Kogan • The Ultimate Dinopedia: The Most Complete Dinosaur Reference Ever by Don Lessem • Stomp Dinosaur Stomp! Margaret Mayo and Alex Ayliffe • Dinosaurs at Dawnby Mary Pope Osborne • Dinosaur’s Eyewitness Booksby David Lambert • National Geographic Dinosaurs by Paul M. Barret • Dinosaur Numbers by Paul Stickland • Day of the Dinosaur by S & J Berenstain • Dinosaur combat:Unearth the Secrets Behind Dinosaur Fossils by Rupert Matthews • Dinosaurs in action:Unearth the Secrets Behind Dinosaur Fossils by Rupert Matthews • Dinosaur combat:Unearth the Secrets Behind Dinosaur Fossils by Rupert Matthews

3. Theme study • Students will take part in a thematic unit based on DINOSAURS! This unit will integrate reading, writing, social studies, science, mathematics, art, music, and physical education. • Students will develop an understanding of Dinosaurs, when they lived, how they lived, different kinds of Dinosaurs and different dinosaur theme words.

4. Language arts: Reading Activities • Students will read many fiction and non-fiction books relating to dinosaurs. Students will learn about dinosaurs through silent reading, partner reading, guided reading, reading aloud, and presentations by other students • Students will read dinosaur biography poems to the class • Students will share their daily dinosaur to the class • Students will break off into small groups and read “Dinosaur Mountain”

5. Language arts: Writing activities • Students will add dinosaur words to the word wall. Some of these words are: extinction, thunder lizard, reptile, and paleontologist. • Students will write and illustrate a story about a “day in the life of” dinosaur story. The story must include factual information about how the dinosaurs lived, the climate they lived in, what they ate, when they lived and specific information about their dinosaur. This activity will be a creative writing focus. Students may choose the same dinosaur for their daily dinosaur. The daily dinosaur activity will have students share factual information about their specific dinosaur. The student will also create a visual representation of their dinosaur using either water color, pastels, crayons, play dough etc. • Students will write a biography poem about a dinosaur, this poem will include the type of dinosaur, how many feet it walked on, what it ate, and special facts about that dinosaur. • Students will become an investigative reporter and create a newspaper article about what they think caused the dinosaurs to become extinct. Students will then be paired into three groups and in the groups the students will read the articles and make revisions.

6. Language arts: Speaking activities • Students will use the authors chair to share their biography poems, daily dinosaur and their “day in the life of a dinosaur” stories • The instructor will become a paleontologist, and will explain to the students what a paleontologist is. • Students will stand at the front of the class and share their newspaper article.

7. Language arts: Listening activities • Students will listen to “Dinosaur’s at Dawn” by Mary Pope Osbourne on video cassette • Students will participate in active listening as the teacher reads out loud “Day of the Dinosaur” by S. & J. Berenstain. • The teacher will engage the students by asking questions pertaining to the book “Day of the Dinosaur” such as what interesting animal did we read about today? What were some of the words we used today when we talked about dinosaurs? (Use words cards from the Writing Center to remind students about the new words learned during shared reading.) How large (how small) were dinosaurs? How long ago did they live? • Student’s will listen to other students present their daily dinosaur, their biography poems, newspaper articles

8. Language arts: Visually representing activities • Create a pre-historic environment in your class, using colorful paper and cut out dinosaurs. • Students will create illustrations in their day in the life of dinosaur books. • Students will view the visual representations of the daily dinosaurs hanging in front of the class. • Students will notice the color patterns Dinosaurs had

9. Language arts: Viewing activities • Students will watch “Dinosaur” by Disney • Put up posters of different dinosaurs throughout the classroom • Select a “daily Dinosaur” that features a large poster of the specific dinosaur and is put up around the classroom • View and critique Dinosaur artwork • View You tube videos pertaining to dinosaurs

10. Science activities • The students will get a visit from a Paleontologist, who just happens to be their teacher. Working in pairs, students will become paleontologists and uncover fossils in a sandbox, explain to students what a paleontologist is. Students will journal about the fossils they find and will make educated guess as to which dinosaurs they came from. Students will report their findings to the head paleontologist. • Students will discuss how they feel the dinosaurs died off, what caused their extinction. Then give your own possible explanations in a creative format of how the dinosaurs became extinct. This will be similar to the newspaper report of what caused the dinosaurs extinction. For example, climate change, asteroid, volcano, disease etc. • Students will create a Venn diagram comparing Dinosaurs and reptiles of today. Ask them to compare size, shape, eating habits, etc. Students will later discuss the connections between Dinosaurs and modern birds. • Students will discuss the differences between carnivorous and herbivore dinosaurs. Print off a list of both dinosaurs for the class.

11. Mathematics activities • Students will participate in Dinosaur math • Students will create Dinosaurs of different shapes and sizes using geometric shapes at the math center • Students will practice measuring by measuring the sizes of different dinosaur bones and teeth using rulers and yard sticks. • Students will create graphs based off of students’ favorite dinosaur.

12. Social studies activities • Students will identify the three periods in which the dinosaurs lived. To demonstrate this knowledge students will create a timeline of the three periods in which Dinosaurs lived. • Students will visit a nearby museum to learn about fossils, view recreated dinosaurs from fossils. The students will journal about the experiences, and are encouraged to ask the guide questions. • Students will learn about the types of dinosaurs that lived in their area many years ago. Students will create a map of their state, and draw the dinosaurs that inhabited it. • Students will learn about how different cultures have viewed dinosaurs, for example how the Chinese did, how the Greeks did etc

13. Music and art activities • The students will create dinosaur sculptures out of paper Mache or play dough • Students will create dinosaur puppets • Students will create dinosaur Styrofoam prints, and then using paint and their Styrofoam print the students will learn the process of print making. Using a roller the student will spread paint onto their Styrofoam print and print it on a separate sheet of colored cardstock. • Class sings to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot." Repeat the chorus after each verse.

14. “I’m a little tea pot” • I'm a Brontosaurus with four feet.I eat plants, but don't eat meat.Known as Thunder Lizard, that is true.'Cause when I walked, the earth just shook. • Tyrannosaurus Rex's my name.King of the dinosaurs, that I am.I make many run and hide.'Cause I'm mean and like to fight. • ChorusDinosaurs, Dinosaurs, that we know.Some were large, some were small.Fossils tell us this is so,'Cause I've not seen one after all. • I'm Triceratops, with three horns.A big, big head, and frilly bones.I'm a fierce fighter, on four feet.But I eat plants, 'cause they are neat

15. Physical education activities • Students will play dinosaur tag, similar to freeze tag • Students will participate in a dinosaur relay. Activities include walking on four legs like a brontosaurus, stomping and leaping like a t-rex, sprinting like a veloci raptor, flying like a pterodactyl etc. The teacher will instruct the students which movements to engage in at the appropriate time • Students will participate in a dinosaur egg hunt. Each egg will contain a fitness activity such as jumping, jumping jacks, push ups, sit ups, etc. For this activity students will be paired in small groups. The teacher will monitor if students are participating, and in turn encourage student participation.

16. Technology • Students will use a variety of online websites to aid in their research of dinosaurs. • http://www.kidsdinos.com/ • http://www.kidsites.com/sites-edu/dinosaurs.htm • Students will view videos that pertain to Dinosaurs • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZzI8PowET4 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8gEvHOd2DA&feature • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDogG7BFvPo&feature=related • Students will view the film “Dinosaur” • Students will listen to a cassette tape of “Dinosaurs at Dawn”.

17. Language arts strategies • Students will activate background knowledge by brainstorming with the teacher. The teacher will write the word “Dinosaur” on the board and the students will help create a word web with Dinosaur words they have learned about. • Playing with language: While writing creative stories, students will focus on words from our word wall. • Revision: Students along with fellow classmates will make editing changes to their written works • Visualizing: Students will visualize the dinosaurs and environments they hear in the stories.

18. Language arts skills • Students will recognize dinosaur words from the world wall • Students will compare and contrast the different types of dinosaurs, herbivores and carnivores, and dinosaurs and reptiles • Students will apply various writing skills in creating their stories, poems, newspaper articles and reports • Students will participate in making Venn diagrams, and researching daily dinosaurs

19. Grouping Patterns • Large group: Field trips, Dinosaur relay, viewing videos, word wall, Venn diagram, grand conversations, singing songs, presenting daily dinosaur, dinosaur books and poems • Small group: small group discussions, identifying which Dinosaurs lived in the surrounding area, peer conferences, paleontologist activity • Individual: Creating daily Dinosaur images, poems, art projects, journal entries, newspaper articles, stories

20. Assessments • Spelling test with words from the Dinosaur word wall • Participation in grand conversations, and small group discussions, and the field trip • Journal from the field trip • Informal observations of students in authors chair • Small group paleontologist activity • Participation in the music and physical education activities • Dinosaur math, Venn diagram, timeline, state map, dinosaur measurements: checklist • 6+1 writing traits rubric for poem, newspaper article, daily dinosaur, and day in the life of Dinosaur story