WEEK 3_Einstein the Class Hamster_October 2014
Book: Einstein the Class Hamster By: Janet Tashjian
Ages: Kindergarten – 3rd grade
Duration: 5-week program (1hr 15mn/meeting)
Theme: Game Show/Trivia
Synopsis:
This program is designed to take children on a 5-week journey to complete a chapter book and participate in related activities. This particular program spends more time on activities than crafts. Each meeting is divided into walk-in activity time, reading, games, and snacks. A different game show activity is planned for each week culminating in a memory matching game that revolves around the interesting facts presented at the end of each chapter in the book.
Week 3:
At a Glance:
start collecting trading cards through a scavenger hunt that will start off each meeting
read 3 chapters in Einstein the Class Hamster
Recognize vocab as we read and earn stickers
Play a version of Wheel of Fortune
Enjoy a snack
Provided materials:
I wrote the numbers on each puzzle in a different color so that once play was over I would be able to reassemble them and use them again.
I also numbered each square in pencil in a corner for easier reassembly.
Spinner iPad App
Walk-in Activity: Collect and Color
As participants arrive, allow each child to choose a stack of 3 scavenger hunt clues from a face down pile. Begin helping the children navigate through the sections of your library to find the materials listed on the cards. When participants have located all three of their materials, they may begin coloring the trading cards hidden inside.
The trading cards reflect “Einstein’s Tasty Tidbits” from the ends of each chapter.
Collect these trading cards making sure each card is clearly labeled with each child’s name. Children will find new trading cards each week. They are to be laminated and returned to the participants on week 5.
Sleep Disorders
Mars
Mammoth Cave
Reading: Chapters 7-9
Vocab List:
Disorder
Infomercials
Regimens
Chronic
Translate
Doubted
Comprehend
Tantrum
Tutor
Pity Party
Despicable
Moping
Terrarium
Before reading, choose a few vocab words from the list provided and post them on a display board. I've highlighted the words I decided to use. Go over the words talking about definition and ask the participants to repeat them back to you for an added exposure to the new words.
Then, ask students to listen for those words as you read. If they hear a word from the board, they should raise their hand. The first person to raise their hand and recite the vocab word Award a sticker to each child’s vocab chart when a word is correctly recognized.
These charts will be given to the participants at the end of the 5-week program.
Activity I: Wheel of Fortune!
Building the Puzzles:
Print out several large images. I made them as large as my 8.5"x11" paper would allow without distortion of the photo
Then, to avoid students pulling too many white spaces, I trimmed the extra paper off.
Next, I traced the outline of the photo rectangle onto some construction paper. Any paper dark enough to keep the printed image from showing through will work.
I folded the construction paper in half several times both ways until the squares that remained were a size I was happy with.
Then, I cut along my fold lines careful to remember the order of the pieces so that they would fit together seamlessly. (One could measure and make exact cuts with a paper cutter, but I was not that thorouh... )
I used poster putty to stick each square onto the image. In order to keep the puzzles separated I numbered each square in a corner lightly with a pencil.
I then placed the numbers 1-10 randomly on the puzzle pieces. Some numbers repeated, some didn't. It's part of the game! I used a differently color marker for each puzzle's numbers in effort to make reassembling them later, easier!
Game Play
I set this game up for each participant to play individually. We only had 6 kids participating. If you had a larger number the game could also be played in groups.
Ask participants to have a seat in front of the board.
Hang a puzzle on the board.
Explain to the participants that at each turn they will get to spin the spinner on the iPad and pull of 1 puzzle piece that matches the number from their spin.
The participant will then have a chance to guess what the image underneath the puzzle pieces is.
If the player cannot identify the puzzle or guesses incorreclty, play is passed on to the next person until the image is identified correctly.
Keep track of how many puzzle pieces each player accumulates in addition to which participant solves each puzzle.
Snack: Grahm cracker and marshmallow fluff sandwiches and juice
Be sure to ask your participants about special dietary needs before scheduling your snacks!
Extension: Collect and Color
If extra time remains, allow children to finish coloring any of the trading cards they didn’t get to at the beginning of the program.
