Blue Room: Dinosaur Stories

To start the month we will be introducing students to the world of dinosaurs through the story, “Patrick’s Dinosaurs.” “Patrick’s Dinosaurs” is a magical story where a little boy named Patrick imagines that there are dinosaurs around him as he goes through his day with his big brother Hank. This story is the perfect way to get students excited about the Dinosaur theme and teaches students small details about the dinosaurs in the story. We will introduce students to new vocabulary words (plants, dinosaur, jaws, walnut, teeth) at the beginning of the week and revisit them throughout the week. This will give students the opportunity to potentially begin remembering some of the vocabulary words by sight by the end of the week. The vocabulary words are a way to expose students to a variety of print as well as provide teaching opportunities for letter recognition. By the end of the week students should have a basic understanding of the Sub Theme Objectives and will have been exposed to multiple Alphabet Opportunities.

Sub Theme Objectives

1. Become familiar with the vocabulary words associated with the story.
2. Be familiar with the definition of an “author” and “illustrator” as well as the author and illustrator of “Patrick’s Dinosaurs.”
3. Start to make predictions about the story and participating in question and answer sessions regarding elements of the story.

Week 2 will be focused on the world created by the story, “Big Old Bones: A Dinosaur Tale” by Carol Carrick. “Big Old Bones: A Dinosaur Tale” is an adventurous story about a professor who discovers some dinosaur bones in the Old West. The Professor brings the bones back to his laboratory in an attempt to put them back together in their proper form with the help of his young assistant, his dog and his wife. It is a story filled with laughs and is sure to have students giggling by its end. Week 2 is similar to week 1 in that students will be introduced to new vocabulary words (bone, books, Earth, skin, big). Students will also be practicing their sequencing skills using pictures from the story. By the end of the week students should have a basic understanding of the Sub Theme Objectives and will have been exposed to multiple Alphabet Opportunities.

Sub Theme Objectives

1. Become familiar with the vocabulary words associated with the story.
2. Be familiar with the definition of an “author” and “illustrator” as well as the author and illustrator of “Big Old Bones: A Dinosaur Tale.”
3. Begin making predictions about the story and participating in question and answer sessions regarding elements of the story.

During week 3 we will be turning your students into detectives to solve two cases involving missing dinosaur bones! Both stories, “The Berenstain Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone” by Jan and Stan Berenstain and “The Lost Dinosaur Bone” by Mercer Mayer, take place inside a museum where a dinosaur bone has gone missing! The Berenstain Bears and Little Critter come to the rescue! These stories are a great way to get students excited about learning about fossils and potentially becoming dinosaur detectives themselves! Week 3 is similar to week 1 in that we will be introducing students to new vocabulary words (museum, monkey, stars, exhibit, scientist, noon, bear, dog, time, vase) as well as helping students through sequencing the stories. By the end of the week students should have a basic understanding of the Sub Theme Objectives and will have been exposed to multiple Alphabet Opportunities.

Sub Theme Objectives

1. Become familiar with the vocabulary words associated with the story.
2. Be familiar with the definition of an “author” and “illustrator” as well as the author and illustrator of “The Berenstain Bears and the Missing Dinosaur Bone” and “The Lost Dinosaur Bone.”
3. Begin making predictions about the story and participating in question and answer sessions regarding elements of the story.

The last week of the month will provide students with the opportunity to create their very own dinosaur story from some dinosaur bones they find at school. Since they have been exposed to four books written about dinosaurs throughout the month, they should already have some knowledge about how dinosaur stories are commonly written and should be able to provide valuable input in the creation of one.  By the end of the week students should have a basic understanding of the Sub Theme Objectives and will have been exposed to multiple Alphabet Opportunities.

Sub Theme Objective

Be an active participant in the creative writing process.

Reading Comprehension:

2.2  Use predictions and context to make predictions about story content (level k).

2.5  Ask and answer questions about essential elements of a text (level k).

Letters:

Recognition, Sounds and Writing.

Providing learning opportunities for letters is an essential component of the Blue Room experience. Letters are integrated into practically every lesson taught simply by briefly calling students’ attention to letters throughout the reading of a story, or allowing them the opportunity to write a letter or word on their theme-related project.