Constellations

I love the unit my co-teacher did with the students.  Our reading story was Coyote Places the Stars.  This story is a one that tells how constellations were created.  Because of this, she had the students review adjectives.  The students had to write adjectives to describe themselves.  Then the students wrote a story based on these adjectives.

My favorite part, though, was science.  There was a nonfiction story that I had her complete with the students.  Then the students created their own constellations.  She gave each child 7 marshmallows.  The students had to toss them onto a piece of black construction paper.  Wherever they landed, the students had to create their own constellation by gluing down the marshmallows and writing with chalk.  They were creative in what they thought each constellation was.  For example, one student created a pear constellation while another student created an ice cream cone.  Our students loved the lesson.  It was a great crossover activity between the subjects.

Next time, I would include an additional writing component when creating the constellations.  Maybe to tie it back to reading by creating a story on how their constellation came to be.