King's Pride Studios Fall Production Winter is All Around Us

Introduction: The students have spent the winter months studying about Antarctica, the Arctic, penguins, polar bears, light, magnets, winter, shadows and geography. It is time to show what they have learned.

Task: Develop a production company and produce a "winter event" to showcase what you have learned in reading, writing, math, science, and social studies. The class will be divided into groups: actors in a puppet play, musicians that write and perform songs, artistic interpreters that perform a movement piece, Antarctic and Arctic experts, scientists that conduct experiments, souvenir shop workers, authors and poets and technology crew that create slide shows.

Process:

1.  The teachers present all of the concepts to form background knowledge using a variety of activities.
2. Samples of activities:
   

   Language Arts Poetry: Five Little Penguins Five Little Snowmen Groundhog (hibernation) Story Retelling: The Mitten by Jan Brett Writing: Create snow experience stories Create poems about snow and arctic animals If I were a snowflake.... Create winter songs to familiar tunes I'm a Little Polar Bear (I'm a Little Teapot) Winter's Here (Jingle Bells) Create a story using winter terms Magnet words: ___ow (snow) ___ear (bear) ___ice (ice) Reading: Fill classroom with non-fiction and fiction books Create mini books for reading bags: A Snowy Day Penguins Guided Reading stories related to winter theme		Science Identify deciduous and evergreen trees and plants Identify and learn about the habitats of animals that migrate, hibernate, and adapt Study the Aurora and Aurora Borealis light phenomenon in the Arctic regions Magnets and magnetic force through a variety of hands on activities North and South Poles of magnets and magnetic force Snow and Ice experiments Temperature experiments Examine and record observations of snowflakes caught on black paper Create Non-Fiction Research Reports on animals of Antarctica and the Arctic which include: Labeled drawing of the animal Size, weight, color Lifespan Habitat Food Babies and their care Enemies Interesting Facts Record interesting facts about animals on a fact finding sheet The children interview each other in a Press Release format to learn about the various animals that live in Arctic Regions Brrr Research Center to answer questions obtained on KWL Chart about lives of the people and animals that live in Arctic Regions Center includes: non-fiction books magazines posters models scientist lab coats eye glasses clipboards, paper, pencils, and colored pencils
   Math Graphing: Favorite things Weather Things to do in the Snow Evergreen plant Animals from the Arctic Animals from Antarctica Measuring: Measure with string (as long as a Groundhog) Construct an Inuit's Igloo out of boxes and milk jugs to read and work in Construct paper snowflakes Counting: Tally the number of arctic animals in a story Whale migration game Penguin's mealtime game		Social Studies Study the lives of the Inuits of the Arctic Locate the Arctic and Antarctica on maps and globes Identify animals that live in Arctic regions Identify the North and South Poles and their roles in the Arctic light phenomenons
   Technology Slide show about polar bears, sled dogs, and narwhals. Kidspiration lab lesson: animals that migrate, hibernate, adapt KidPix lab lessons: create winter cards with winter captions like "Have a Beary Nice Day" "Happy Brrrrday!" and Arctic/Winter bookmarks Create items for the Blizzard Souvenir Shop Compare deciduous trees to evergreen trees in the different seasons of the year Video of animals that migrate, adapt, and hibernate		Art Create clay snowman Paint murals of the Northern and Southern Lights with black silhouettes of arctic animals North and South pole murals with polar bears (North) and penguins (South) Create models of arctic animals out of modeling clay and display on an Styrofoam iceberg Create paper cup penguins and display in a rookery Create items to sell at the Blizzard Souvenir Shop Stationary: Prints of winter scenes Snowman Magnets

3. Teachers also used two activities entitled Winter Think Tac Toe designed by the G/T teacher and technology specialist to encourage higher level thinking. These eighteen activities were choices during center time.
4. Then students are asked to choose a group to join.
   

   Authors and Poets Work with teacher and instructional assistant to create individual books of their stories and poems that can be shared. They also write book reviews for books that are read to the class. Authors give autographs and copies of their work to parents and friends on the day of the production.		Artistic Interpreters This group works with the P.E. teacher to learn movements to go along with a student created song. The P.E. teacher practices many times with the group to make sure they are ready for the performance.
   Actors and Play Producers The students create a simple puppet play and the actors are given parts which they learn. The teacher practices with the group. Other students write facts about animals of the Arctic and Antarctic. Then they dress up in a "lab" coat with glasses and videotape their facts. The video is compiled and played on the day of the production.		Technology Crew The school-based technology specialist works with this group to design and display slideshows. The group divided into pairs and completed a slide show to go along with a poem they had written. The slide show was shown in a continuous loop on the tv during the presentation.
   Musicians The music teacher works with this group to create and learn winter songs set to simple tunes. She practices with them several times.		Souvenir Shop Workers sell items in the shop. Parents and visitors are given play money to spend in the shop. The workers have to give change where appropriate.
   Magnetic Centers Different activities are set up with magnets and parents are encouraged to try the activities on the day of the production. Students guide them through the activities.

Opportunities to share:

1.  Students work together in groups and share their knowledge with their peers and adults working with them.
2. The day of the production, each student has specific duties that include sharing what they have learned during the winter unit.

Assessment:

1. In addition to anecdotal records taken during the unit and observations during the performance, teachers worked closely with specialists to assess students knowledge of the subject matter.

To see pictures from the unit, click on the takeboard.

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Unit designed by Kathy Leith and Yolanda Atkins
Page created by Brooks Widmaier
March 2003