Module 1:

Toys and Play

September – November

What can we do to make playing together fun?

What makes toys fun?

Which classroom toy do I prefer?  Why do I prefer that classroom toy?

What toys do others prefer?  Why do they prefer them?

Students will:

• Build their classroom citizenship skills by engaging in a study of toys and play

• Read the story Llama Llama, Time to Share by Anna Dewdney to help develop rules and behaviors for sharing toys and interacting with classmates

• Sort and describe toys by specific attributes

• Learn about toys from a historical perspective

• Think about their own toy preferences, as well as the preferences of others, using the language from Toys Galore  by Peter Stein and Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell to help them.

• Interview a classmate about their preferred toy and use this information to draw and write.

Module 2: Weather Wonders

November – January

What is weather?

How can I be prepared for all kinds of weather?

What is weather like around the world?

How does weather affect people?

How can I write a story that can teach any reader about weather?

Students will:

• Build their literacy and science skills as they engage in a study of the weather.

• Create a class weather journal and track their individual learning in a meteorologist’s notebook.

• Study how weather affects people in different places around the world through the characters in a variety of narrative texts, including Come on, Rain! By Karen Hesse, Brave Irene by William Steig, Umbrella by Taro Yashima, and One Hot Summer Day by Nina Crews.

• Study how weather affects the choices people make about what to wear and what to do each day using the book The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

• Plan and write an imaginary narrative about how the weather on a particular day affected what a person wore or did.

Module 3: Trees Are Alive

February – April

What do all living things need to live and grow?

What do researchers do?

How do we know something is living?

How do living things depend on trees to meet their needs?

What patterns can we observe in how living things meet their needs?

Students will:

• Learn what makes something living or nonliving, different types of living things, and the common needs all living things have.

• Study and observe the patterns in the ways that living things meet their needs and record these observations in their “Living Things” research notebook.

• Read the text Be a Friend to Trees in order to study the needs of animals as living things and how trees help to meet those needs.

• Research a specific tree in small groups to learn about the tree, its needs, and how it supports other living things’ need for food.

• Participate in “Science Talks” where students can share what they leave learned. 

Module 4: Enjoying and Appreciating Trees

April – June

How and why are trees important to us and our communities?

How can we inspire others to appreciate and enjoy trees?

Students will:

• Learn how different people, both real and imaginary, enjoy and appreciate trees and how people have used trees to fill a need in their community.

• Read A Tree for Emmy by Mary Ann Rodman and Oliver’s Tree by Kit Chase, and discuss how the characters enjoy and appreciate trees.

• Read A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry, in order to name an author’s opinion and identify the reasons to support that point.

• Explore different places in a community where trees might be planted, as well as why people plant them.  

• Write opinions that invite others to pause and appreciate the trees around them.