Here is my class in their space outfits. We were pretending to go to the moon. Their spacesuits were made out of white trashbags. We made holes for the arms and necks. Our breathing apparatus' were made out of cereal boxes covered with aluminum foil. We punched holes in them and put yarn through the holes. That is how they are able to stay on their backs. We taped four straws together and stuck them in the top of the cereal boxes. That is how they "breathed". Their helmets were made from white sacks, the kind you get at a bakery. We cut out places for the eyes and mouth. It's really easy to do. I hope I have explained it so that it is easy for you to understand. If you don't understand what it looks like, please e-mail me and I'll be glad to give more of a detailed explanation. Otherwise, I have included a sideview of one of my students to get a better idea of what I'm talking about. todd your text.
Here is one of the students eating spacefood. We discussed how astronauts have to eat special food. We put applesauce in a ziplock bag and made a tiny hole in the bottom corner of one of the bags. Students had to suck the applesauce through the hole. They thought this was really cool!k here to add your text.
Writing Center
I made the writing center (left) cover myself on the computer. Students then had to copy what was written on the bulletin board above.ere to add your text.
Here is one of my students at the writing center.ick here to add your text.
CliThis is what I have my students copy from the writing center bulletin board. They must do their best handwriting and color it, too.ck here to add your text.
Click hHere the students are at the math center using pattern blocks to fill in rockets.ere to add your text.
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ClicHere is the sample rocket that the boys are using at the math center. I got this from a workshop. There is no publishers name on it that I can see.k here to add your text.
ClStudents then took a copy of the rocket and glued down patterni blocks made from construction paper. Then, they counted how many of each shape that they used, wrote and graphed the results.k here to add your text.
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Experimenting with & Making Rockets
To Make a Rocket:
1) Take a piece of posterboard & make a template of a rocket.
2) Next have students trace their rocket on a stryofoam plate (see below)
3) Cut out the traced pattern
4) Cut a tail from the scrap styrofoam & insert it on the dotted line. (see picture) Now the spaceshuttle has a tail to make it fly aerodynamically.
5) Take a paperclip & unbend it so that it is in a shape of an "L".
6) Tape it on the bottom of the rocket ship.
7) Hook a rubberband onto it. Pull back , let go & watch it fly!
8) See who can make theirs go the farthest in the group.
9) Measure how far with unifix cubes. [Rockets should fly about 30-40 feet]
10) If they don't fly, you've done something wrong. E-mail me if you have problems.
Experimenting with Rocket blast-offs
1) Hang a piece of fishing wire from the ceiling to the floor.
2) Insert the wire into a straw.
3) Blow up a balloon. DO NOT TIE IT! Hold on to the balloon so the air doesn't come out of it.
4) Tape the balloon to the straw. Make sure you're still holding onto the balloon so that the air doesn't come out of it. Make sure the balloon is upside down.
5) Let go of the balloon now.
6) It will shoot all the way to the ceiling just like how a rocket take's off. The kids will be totally amazed. They will want to do it again & again!
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Click hSample Rocket - This is what the finished product should look like.ere to add your text.
These are the materials you will need: A stryofoam paperplate, a posterboard template & posterboard tail template (to trace on the stryofoam paperplate, a paperclip, rubberband & masking tape. It also helps to trace the rocket on the plate with an ink pen. See how I started it?add your text.
This is a parent helper, demonstrating to the student how to insert the fishing line into the straw. Notice how the child is still holding onto the balloon. When she lets go it will go all the way to the ceiling-just like a rocket.
THERE IT GOES!!!!!!!!here to add your text.
Phonemic Awareness Activity
Brainstorm things we would take to the moon on a piece of chart paper. Write down everyone's responses.
took to the moon.
After reading the chart for several days we will then make it into a class book. Give students a sheet that says the above sentence & have them fill it in & illustrate it. See one of my student's example below.
Class Book - Kindergarten Went to the Moon
Students filled in their names with the following rhyme:
ewent to the moon,
went to the stars,
got in a rocket,
went up to Mars.
I took a digital camera picture of them and they glued it inside their rocket so it looked as if they were looking out the window. Then they glued the rocket down on the black piece of paper & illustrated it.t. This came from Lasting Lessons.
phonemic awareness activity - Brainstorm on a chart where the sun could be hiding. After reading the chart as a whole class for several days , then students must illustrat their response from the chart. We then make it into a class book.e See below for example.to add your text.
UFO's Take 2 paper plates & glue them together. Then glue on a bowl on top of the paperplates. Have students decorate them & hang them in the room.our text.
We made a rocket out of refrigerator boxes for the kids to sit around & read space books. They thought we were really going to blast off in space with it.
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More Space Songs & Fingerplays
"Blue's Clue's Planet Song"
Well, the sun's a got star,
Mercury's hot, too.
Venus is the brightest planet,
Earth's home to me and you.
Mars is the red one,
Jupiter's most wide,
Saturn's got those icy rings,
and Uranus spins on its side.
Neptune's really windy,
and Pluto's really small.
Well, we wanted to name the planets
and now we've named them all!
The Planet Song
[Tune: The Ant's Go Marching]
Verse 1: The planets revolve around the sun.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The planets revolve around the sun.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The planets revolve around the sun and spin on their axis everyone.
And they all go spinning, around and around they go.
Verse 2: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are whirling and twirling aournd the sun.
and they all go spinning, around and around they go.
Verse 3: Jupiter, Saturn are next in line.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Jupiter, Saturn are next in line.
Hurrah! Hurrah!
Jupiter, and Saturn are next in line.
Uranus, Nepturn and Pluto make nine.
And they all go spinning, around and around they go.
[When we sing this song, we put a yellow ball to resemble the sun in the middle of our circle. We walk around the circle as we sing and spin in place the demonstrate how the planets spin on their axis.]
Orbiting Around The Moon
(Tune: She'll be Comin' Around The Mountain)
[Act this one out]
We'll be orbiting round the moon,
yes we will
We will be orbiting round the moon,
yes we will
We'll be orbiting round the mon, we'll be orbiting the moon,
I ask each child what they would like to make from space. We brainstorm their answer on a chart. Everyone has to choose something different. After they make their choice, then they have to go look in books or on the computer for one fact about their choice. They have to copy their fact on sentence strip paper & glue it on to their space project. See the examples below.to add your text.
Rocket Comparison of Names - I got the rocket template from Lasting Lessons Space Unit. Students write each letter of their name in a box in the rocket. At the point of the rocket they write the number of letters that are in their name. We then Put the names in order from least amount of letters to the most. Here are also a few of my books that I read during my space unit. They are listed below in my space literature.
Our Bulletin Board
Adapted From The Book: I Want To Be An Astronaut by:Byron Barton
We took the kids pictures with a digital camera & cut rectangles from white construction paper for arms, body & legs. I got the gloves, shoes & helmet from a workshop--I think TLC (but I'm not positive about that). Anyway, you could look at mine at do it free handed if you cannot find the template's from TLC. Then each student wrote a sentence about their astronaut.
Space Literature
FICTION
Space Case - Edward Marshall
Roaring Rockets - Tony Mitton
Draw Me A Star - Eric Carle
The Magic School Bus Lost In The Solar System - Joanna Cole
Me & My Place In Space - Joan Sweeney
I Want To Be An Astronaut - Byron Barton
No Moon, No Milk - Chris Babcock
Happy Birthday, Moon - Frank Asch
Goodnight Moon - Margaret Wise Brown
Papa, Please Get The Moon For Me - Eric Carle
Bugs In Space - David A. Carter
Non - Fiction
The Moon Book - Gail Gibbons
The Planets - Gail Gibbons
Stargazers - Gail Gibbons
Eye Wonder: Space - Carol Stott
DK Pockets: Space Facts -Carol Stott
The Big Golden Book of Space - David Clover
Space (Magic Tree House Research Guide) - Will Osborne
Read the Book Stars Trip To Earth and make a class book out of it. This book was actually written by Kindergarten Children. It's very good. It's about a star who took a tour of the Earth & talks about all the exciting places he saw. Then, kids can make up where they think would be a fascinating place for a star to visit. Below, one Kindergarten child thought a farm would be a great place to visit. See example. This makes a nice Social Studies/Geography/Literature connection.
Give each child a piece of paper that says "The Star went to . You can write down student's responses on a chart first. Then have them glue down their response on white construction paper & illustrate their sentence from construction paper & crayons.
