Blast Off! Vocabulary Instruction Using a Virtual Moon Trip

Materials and Technology

Student Interactives

Printouts

Websites

Preparation

 

MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY

• If You Decide to Go to the Moon by Faith McNulty (Scholastic Press, 2005)
  
  
• Moon poster or bulletin board
  
  
• Variously colored sticky notes
  
  
• Computers with Internet access

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STUDENT INTERACTIVES

Grades   K – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Organizing & Summarizing

Alphabet Organizer

Students can use this online tool to print an alphabet chart or pages for an alphabet book.

 

Grades   K – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Organizing & Summarizing

Crossword Puzzles

This tool allows students to complete crossword puzzles on a variety of grade-appropriate topics, and also create and print their own crossword puzzles.

 

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PRINTOUTS

• Moon Booklist
  
  
• First Write
  
  
• My Picture Dictionary
  
  
• Observational Checklist
  
  
• Crossword Planning Sheet
  
  
• Sample Crossword Web
  
  
• Crossword Rubric

 

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WEBSITES

• Phases of the Moon
• Zoom Astronomy: All About Space
• Great Images in NASA
• Regional Planetary Image Facility
• NOVA Online: Explore the Moon

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PREPARATION

1.	Choose a topic for the lesson. This lesson is focused on the moon and its phases, but the vocabulary field trip concept will work with any social studies or science topic.
2.	Obtain and familiarize yourself with If You Decide to Go to the Moon by Faith McNulty.
3.	Gather a collection of additional resources about the moon. These can include the Phases of the Moon and Zoom Astronomy: All About Space websites and books from the Moon Booklist. Read through each book or website and make a list of vocabulary words that you would like to address during each discussion. The type of words you might choose include: moon, phase, solar system, planet, eclipse, man-on-the-moon, telescope, astronaut, craters, comet, orbit, collision, gravity, crescent, full, waxing, waning, and astronaut. Students will also be making their own vocabulary selections.
4.	Make a moon visual on poster board, chart paper, or a bulletin board to stimulate discussion. Use images from the books you have collected or from the Internet; Great Images in NASA, Regional Planetary Image Facility, and NOVA Online: Explore the Moon are good resources for finding images. Cover the poster or bulletin board with butcher paper for Session 1.
5.	Teach students the thumbs-up procedure. When they hear a word related to the topic you are studying, they should put their thumbs up into the air.
6.	Make copies of the First Write handout and My Picture Dictionary for each student. To assemble the dictionary, make two-sided copies of the pages (page 1 and 1a should be front to back, page 2 and 2a should be front to back, and so on). Then fold and staple them.
7.	If you do not have classroom computers available, reserve Sessions 6 through 8 in your school's computer lab.
8.	Familiarize yourself with the online, interactive Alphabet Organizer. It has three options: The first lets students create an alphabet chart with one word per letter, the second allows them to type in more than one word per letter, and the third provides space to write notes or sentences about the words. Choose the option most appropriate for your students. Add this tool to the Favorites on the computers your students will be using
9.	Familiarize yourself with the online Crossword Puzzles tool. It has two options: Play Mode and Create Mode. Students can complete a crossword specific to this lesson (to find it in the tool, select the Play One of Ours tab, click the K-2 button, and then choose The Moon from the drop-down menu) and create their own crossword using content-specific words from the lesson. You can find out more about the Crossword Puzzles tool by reading Playing Puzzles: A Guide for Teachers and Creating Puzzles: A Guide for Teachers.
10.	Make a copy of the Crossword Planning Sheet for each student in your class; if you will be using hard copies to complete The Moon puzzle, make copies of it as well.

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