I. Curricular Framework

Concept:

Attributes

Essential Question:

What would happen to a farm animal if it wandered into a different natural habitat?

Bridge:

Favorite Farm Animals

Content:

Farm Animals

Outcomes:

II. Standards Aligned

III. Instruction and Assessment

1. Connect: Connecting to the Concept Experientially

Objective: To connect to previous experiences of visits to farms or create an experience for children who have not visited a farm.

Activity: Class visits a local farm to see the sights, hear the sounds, and smell the smells of the farm. Teacher takes Polaroid pictures of animals, buildings, equipment seen at the farm.

Assessment: Level of interest as determined by comments and questions asked by the children.

2. Attend: Attending to the Connection

Objective: To discuss what they experienced at the farm.

Activity: Teacher leads discussion of visit to farm using a language experience or picture chart.

Assessment: Level of participation, quality of responses, individual student interest in sharing and listening to others.

Assessment, Phase One, Level of Engagement, Fascination:

3. Image: Creating a Mental Picture

Objective: To recall an animal seen at the farm so the focus can be shifted from the farm experience to the concept to be developed - farm animals

Activity: Children have choices of drawing a favorite animal seen at the farm, painting the animal, making a 3-D animal using clay or materials from the scrap box. Teacher reads aloud poems about farm animals; teaches finger plays. Children play charades, pretending to be their favorite animal. Photos taken at farm are posted on bulletin board.

Assessment: The quality, accuracy, and level of interest shown in completing each activity.

Assessment, Phase Two, Seeing the Big Picture:

4. Inform: Receiving Facts & Knowledge

Objective: To develop the concept of farm animals: types, characteristics--size, shape, sounds, coverings, habitats, baby animal names.

Activity: Teacher reads aloud to the children, shows filmstrips and videos to develop these concepts, play Farm Animal Bingo.

Assessment: Number of correct responses to questions asked during and at end of each activity. Attentiveness of the children.

Assessment, Phase Three, Success with Acquiring Knowledge:

5. Practice: Developing Skills

Objective: To provide hands-on opportunities for children to experience/extend what they learned in Step 4.

Activity:
Centers: Listening, book nook, writing, math. Listening: Children will listen to books on tape about farm animals; listen to tape of animal sounds and match sounds to pictures of animals; listen to farm animal songs and respond to taped riddles about farm animals.
Book Nook: Read books and magazines about farm animals.
Writing Center: Write/dictate about favorite animal--this will be used in the Big Book that will be completed in Step 7. Unscramble letters to make farm words; write a description of what was seen at the farm; respond to why you would or wouldn't like to live on a farm; add labels or sentence strips to Polaroid pictures on bulletin board.
Math: Sequence animal pictures by size; sort animal pictures by size, shape, color, coverings; count and graph farm animals; complete math worksheets on addition and subtraction; write word problems.

Assessment: Quality of student participation and worksheets.

Assessment, Phase Four, Success with Acquiring Skills:

6. Extend: Extending Learning to the Outside World

Objective: To provide hands-on opportunities for children to experience/extend what they learned in Step 4.

Activity:
Centers: Discovery, Games, Blocks, Housekeeping, Sand & Water, Art. Discovery: Match silhouettes of farm animals to realistic pictures of farm animals; using pictures of farm animals describe the coverings; match animal pictures to piece of wool, fur, and feathers; match baby animals to pictures of mother animals; hatch baby chicken or duckling using incubator--record number of days before hatching on calendar and pictorial timeline of development once hatched. Sand/Water: Float ducks and fish in water; create farm scenes in the sand using buckets, shovels, hoes, and other plastic tools.
Art: Draw, paint, sculpt using play-doh; make puppets, mobiles; look at art prints and find farm animals, e.g., Homer's Weaning of the Calf. Blocks: Build a farm with the blocks and plastic farm animals.
Games: Puzzles of farm animals and farm scenes; Farm Feely Box--feel for matching pairs of animals in large covered box; worksheet for matching mother to her baby; match plastic farm animals and other things found on farm to appropriate beginning sound basket.
Housekeeping: Set up as a farm house and role play life on a farm; make haystack cookies.

Assessment: Quality and accuracy of work products; level of participation at each center.

7. Refine: Refining the Extension

Objective: To use the knowledge and skills developed thus far to create Big Books and develop a script for a farm animal puppet show.

Activity: Children combine animal drawings and written descriptions to compile several Big Books. The class develops a skit using the puppets made in the art center.

Assessment: Quality and accuracy of drawings and written descriptions and puppets; individual participation in the planning and practicing of the skit.

8. Perform: Creative Manifestation of Material Learned

Objective: To share what was learned with others in the school and with parents.

Activity: Children read their Big Books to their partners in the upper grades. The farm animal skit is presented to any interested audience.

Assessment: Individual interest and participation in sharing knowledge with others

Assessment, Phase Five,Performance, Creative Use of Material Learned: