In this module, year 1 and 2 students explore the messages presented in "What the Sky Knows". They investigate the text and elements within the illustrations, and respond through writing, art, dance and drama.
Critical Literacy, Visual literacy, Literacy, Visual Arts, Dance, Drama
As a result of completing this learning module, students will be able to:
EXPERIENTIAL OBJECTIVES
English
(ELA 9.EC.1 & ELA 9.EC.7)
CONCEPTUAL OBJECTIVES
English
ANALYTICAL OBJECTIVES
(ELA 10.EC.6)
(ELA 11.EC.3, ELA 11.EC.6)
APPLIED OBJECTIVES
(ELA 7.EC.8 & 7.EC.13)
Work in a small group to think about one of these questions:
Record your responses using a placemat.
Tuning in and prediction
Students will reflect on their experiences and knowledge about the sky by working in a small group with a focus question.
Each group produces a placemat/think board to record their responses.
Purpose
To gather student prior knowledge ....
Look at the front cover of the book.
Make some predictions about what you think the book will be about; share these with your class.
We will walk through the book just looking at the pictures.
Your teacher will read the book.
What connections can you make with this story?
Think-pair share "do you think this is a story book? A non-fiction book? A Narrative?Poetry? A book to make you think? why?"
You will make a poster with a partner that shows the difference between non-fiction and fiction books.
Book Orientation
The class will participate in a book orientation before reading the book. Cover words with sticky notes and show the class the cover and several pictures from the book.
Using Think-Pair -Share, ask students to predict what they think the book is about, the genre of the book and to give observations about the book. Share responses with class.
Walk through the book (words still covered, discuss points of interest in images and what might be happening on the page). Then read the book to the class. Class discussion and/or written activity on how students connect with the text.
Think-pair share about genre of text. In pairs students make a poster that describes the difference between non-fiction and fiction texts.
Your teacher will show you one page from the book. Look carefully at the page. What do you notice?
Can you see:
As a class we will fill out the table together and discuss words we can use to describe different colours, textures and symbols.Work with a small group to find things on the page your teacher chooses for you.
Sort them using the chart – you can draw, write or cut pieces from the copy of the page and glue them onto your chart.
Share your chart with the class and explain what you found.
Investigating
The teacher selects one of the following pages from the book:
Students are then asked to identify the different parts of the page; the teacher records this as a list including the following components: writing, pictures, symbols, textures, colours.
Class and teacher jointly construct an example using the table.
Working in small groups, students are given a photocopy of a specific page from the book (see above list for ideas).
They use a table similar to the following diagram to sort the components from the page of book according to the different categories.
Groups share their charts and explain the different items on their pages.
Example:
| The sky knows how to make clouds | ||||
| Writing | Pictures | Colour | Textures | Symbols |
| woof | Tree, branch, Flowers, Dogs, running and barking, Fluffy kittens, Bubble blowing | blue, pink, yellow, red, white | Soft like a kitten |
As a class we will look at the table we made together to sort items on a page from the book. We will choose some things from the list and record them on a T-chart. Beside each item we will now record reasons they are on the page.
Work with your group again to choose three to five things about your page from the book. Record them on the T-chart and then think of reasons they are on that page.
Share your T-chart with the class.
Think about why the author and illustrator use tricks in pictures and writing to make their books more interesting? Share your ideas with a partner and then with the class.
The class revisits their model of the above sorting activity. The teacher identifies five visual items, recording these on a T-chart (see below). The class then offers reasons for each items inclusion on that specific page, which are recorded on the table.
Students reform in their groups, selecting 3-5 items from their table and record possible reasons why the author chose to use those particular images, colours, textures and symbols, making links between the text and images on the page
Each group shares their responses on the T-chart.
Use the Think-Pair-Share strategy to discuss why authors and illustrators use these devices in books.
| What can you see? | What does it mean? |
| Two kittens (how to make clouds page) | Clouds can be soft like a kittens fur |
| Scribble | Some people draw scribble to show a cloud |
| A dog barking | The barking might be like a cloud of noise |
| Text in interesting font | Lots of ideas coming together |
| Patchwork kind of colours | Sky is made of lots of little bits |
The book asks lots of questions and gives us lots of things to think about. Science involves asking questions about objects and events and describing why things happen. Scientists make hypotheses/predictions and then conduct research or experimnts to text their hypotheses. What questions would you like to ask about the world, space and the sky? What do you wonder about? If you were a scientist how would you go about testing your hypothesis?
You will use an Anticipation Guide to think about some ideas about the Sky and Environment (Year 1) or the Water Cycle (Year 2) of things you would like to research. 'So if we were scientists and we had to research about the topics, what questions would you like to investigate?'
Have a look at the six statements you see. Make a hypothesis about whether they are true or false. Discuss this with your partner.
Use books or the iPads to try and find out whether they are true or false.
You will reflect on how you used the information texts to find out whether they are true or false.
The book asks lots of questions and gives us lots of things to think about. Science involves asking questions about objects and events and describing why things happen. Scientists make hypotheses/predictions and then conduct research or experiments to text their hypotheses. What questions would you like to ask about the world, space and the sky? What do you wonder about? If you were a scientist how would you go about testing your hypothesis?
Use anticipation guide (refer to new learning online) to generate ideas. Using a range of information texts the teacher decides on 6 true or false statements. Students respond to the statements (Year One to do with Sky and Environment, Year Two to do with the Water Cycle from the Primary Connections Resource) individually and then discuss with a partner and make a hypothesis. Students then read/research information texts and see how their hypothesis matches up with their research and reflect on their learning.
Year 1 teachers focus on observable changes that occur in the sky.
Year 2 teachers focus on water and the water cycle and how this links in with the sky and clouds.
We are going to be scientists and observe the sky.
Firstly we are going to look at photos on the internet.
Go outside with your class to look at the sky.
Look carefully and take note of all the things you notice about the sky – the colour, how the colour changes, any objects that are in the sky.
Talk about this with a partner, and then share with the class.
You may like to look at pictures or photographs of the sky to compare to the sky outside today.
We are going to observe how the sky changes by taking photos at the same time every day and we are going to describe how these photos change over time
We are going to learn about how the changes in the sky affect our environment.
Cloud observation/investigation
Share, discuss and display.
Look at the amount of daylight in different countries e.g. Finland, Antarctica
Observing the sky - looking at pictures google images. Discuss the difference in the sky based on where the country is located and the different weather conditions. (Year 2, link this activity to the Water Cycle and discuss this aspect)
Take students outside to take pictures of the sky at the same time each day.
Students describe the changes in the images of the sky.
Purpose
To develop scientific observation skills, knowledge of scientific processes and to provide shared experiences of changes that occur in the sky over short time scales
Resources
Refer to Primary Connections "Up down all around" P.21
To complement these lessons, a science focus can be included from Primary Connections:
Year One: Lessons 1 & 3
Year Two: Lessons 1 & 2
You will be making an artwork to see the time of the day and any weather conditions you like. To think about how you will represent this, we will brainstorm a list of ideas that you noticed about the sky.
Think of other things the sky might know – think about different times of the day, types of weather, things that use the sky, different places.
Write a list of things you think the sky knows.
Your teacher will re-read the book – pay careful attention to the colours used in the illustrations and how these make the text more meaningful.
Look back at your ideas of things the sky knows; choose a colour for each that will emphasise the meaning.
Connecting
As a class, brainstorm the kinds of things students noticed in their photography diary.
Make a record of the student’s observations using a brainstorm chart.
Students work together to brainstorm some other things the sky knows.
Have the placemats from earlier in the learning mod available for reference.
After listening to the book again and examining the colours used in illustrations, and analysing why the colours may have been used, students select a colour for each of their ideas that will enhance the meaning of the concept.
Choose a time of the day that you would like to illustrate. Use the same technique as Stella Danalis to create your work.
Revisit your list of things the sky knows and the colours you associated with each.
Choose one of your ideas about what the sky knows.Ask your teacher for a piece of paper in the colour you chose.
Using other items create a collage style picture using your coloured paper as a base. You might like to use:
Publish your caption using an interesting font (think about how you can add meaning with the font style) and add that to your finished artwork.
The finished pages will be made into a book for your class to share.
Art activity based on book
Art activity based on the book using their knowledge of sky observations and the techniques used in the text illustrations.
Students select one of the ideas from their list of things the sky knows; using a collage style similar to that of the book they create an artwork to reflect their idea about what the sky knows.
Useful resources might include:
Compile these pages into a class book.
Purpose
To learn how illustrators represent ideas. To develop practical understanding of how the artist uses the artwork to engage audiences and communicate meaning.
Develop knowledge understanding and skills as they learn and apply techniques and processes using materials to achieve intentions in 2D forms.
Could we write a similar story about the ocean? Maybe it could be called “What the Ocean Knows” or even “ What the Volcano Knows”!
What other places or things could we write about? Help the class make a list.
What would this place know? Your class will use a chart to sort your ideas into adjectives, verbs and nouns.
Now choose one of your own – what does your place know? Use the chart to record your ideas.
Text Innovation 1. class book
The class lists other focuses for a similar tale, using a brainstorm. Examples may include:
Select one and list things the place or thing may know – these can be sorted using a chart like this:
| What the volcano knows | ||
| Adjectives | Verbs | Nouns |
| hot, red, burn | bubbling, erupting, flowing | mountain, steam, lava |
Students can then select a place or thing and record their ideas of things it will “know” following the modelled activity.
Using your chart to help with ideas, write your own “What the ___ knows” story book.
It will need the following things:
Innovation 2
Students can now work on their own “What the ___ knows” story book.
Remind them to include key visual features of the original text, such as an interesting font, “patchwork” background, images and symbols within pictures and use of colour.