Grade Levels: 3nd (could be adapted to any Elementary Level)

Subjects: Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies

Learner Outcomes:

• The students will show understanding through participation of all levels of comprehension questions.
• The students will become acquainted with how to read a map.
• The students will begin to locate states on a map of the United States.
• The students will write journal entries that will use the highest level of comprehension, application.
• The students' journal entries will demonstrate their abilities to write a paragraph that is held together with a topic sentence.
• The students will learn about the scientific principle that hot air rises as they study about and construct a model of a hot air balloon.
• The students will be able to identify rhyming words in the story and find others words that could be used with the rhyming words listed from the book.
• The students will learn new vocabulary words related to the story including multiple meanings, hyphenated words and phrases.
• The children will learn the use of nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.
• The students will learn how to use the internet to research information about states.

Materials:

• Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
• U.S. maps and puzzles
• Journals for the students
• AIMS Hot Air Balloon lesson.
• 6 pieces of 18" X 24" colored tissue paper and glue per group
• A heat source to fill hot air balloons, ie. hair dryer or small camp stove with a coffee with both ends cut out
• drawing paper and art supplies to construct travel brochures
• oatmeal boxes, kazoos, and any other supplies to make instruments to use in the "Boom Band" concerts
• Rhyming wheels and dictionaries to help students find other rhyming words to add to the book list

• Computers with internet capabilities to research for travel brochures and about hot air balloons.
• Computers with a word processing and a graphics program to produce travel brochures.
• Scanner or digital camera to make travel brochures.
• Telephone use for interviews with state and foreign country tourist departments. These are free 800 numbers, but should be prearranged with the tourism department.
• Tape recorder to record phone interviews.

•  Place one side of the can over the stove and the other end inside the tissue balloon. CAUTION: The second method works the best but can be dangerous if not done properly. Do outside in a wind protected area with students a large distance away. Have a fire extinguisher for precaution.
• An older group of students helping the younger students with use of word processing and graphics programs is very helpful and establishes good relationships between younger and older students in the school.
• Internet sites can be copied onto a CD, floppy disc,  or the hard drive of the computer so children do not mistakenly get on an inappropriate site. These are then deleted from the hard drive once the students are finished. This technique gives an internet experience without the horrors of inappropriate sites.
• Contact the music teacher to see if he can talk about the types of instruments that the children may construct for the "Boom Band" Concert.
• Contact tourism agents from the places that students wish to study in advance with interview questions so they may be prepared for the phone interview.
• Arrange for parent volunteers to come and help with construction of the hot air balloons and completion of writing projects.

• Read the story, Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr. Seuss aloud.
• Read the story again and discuss  using the questions and next the vocabulary list as a Guided Reading Strategy. Go page by page and ask questions and discuss the vocabulary words.  This technique will test their higher and lower levels of comprehension and understanding of new vocabulary words, multiple meanings and  phrases.


Session 2: (30 minutes daily)

• I have my students write in their journals every morning. Each morning we have a Circle Share Time when we brainstorm and share ideas about the writing prompt. This serves as a first step prewrite session of the writing process when doing journals.
• The prompts will be put on the board each day. This will be an on-going activity throughout the Lesson Activities.
            Write about a time when you felt lonely.
            Write about a time when you were afraid of something.
            What mountain (problem) have you had to climb (solve) in your life?  How did you climb
            (solve) your mountain (problem)?
            Write about your favorite family vacation. Where did you go? What made it so
            special?
            If you could travel anywhere in the world, who would you take with you and why?

Session 3:  (60-90 minutes)

• Brainstorm about the "Boom Band" and ask the children to think of a rhythm and tune that they might play.
• Have the children work in "bands" (groups) to make up a tune and the instruments that they will play.
• Using materials such as oatmeal boxes and pencils, kazoos, spoons, water glasses, etc. that can be used to play their tune.
• Have the bands give a concert of their tunes for one another.


Session 4:   (90 minutes)

• Discuss the travel of hot air balloons as seen in the story. Talk about what it would be like to travel in a hot air balloon.
• Teach the students the principle behind the workings of a hot air balloon, ie. heat rises, hot air is trapped into the balloon, use of sand bags.
• Have the students work in groups with the help of an adult parent volunteers, construct a tissue paper hot air balloon. Allow the balloons to dry then using the heat sources described in the Materials and Teacher Notes, fly the balloons.


Session 5: (30 minutes)

• Get maps of the U. S. to show the students how to locate states on the U.S. map.
• Buy or map a puzzle to have the students practice locating states and using maps.


Session 6: (30 minutes)

• Have the children sit on the floor and share their ideas about where they would most like to visit in the whole country.
• Make a class list then search the internet and download sites for the students to use without actually going online. The downloading of files is not included in the session time estimates.  Students may also use 800 telephone interviews to state tourism offices to gather information. Use of conference calling, if available, is great for groups of students.  Many offices will gladly mail information to the students.
• Students may work independently or in small groups to design and produce a travel brochure about the place they want visit.  This may be done with paper and crayons or paints, or by using the computer and graphics with the help of an older student working as a buddy.

Session 7: (45 minutes)

• Take the students to a computer lab with equipment that has Internet capabilities that have been  downloaded on the hard drive, CD, or floppy disc.
• Here students will research about their favorite place to visit.


Session 8: (60 minutes)

• Discuss with the students questions they would like to ask the agent of the tourism department of the place to which they wish to travel.
• Contact tourism departments in the U. S.  and request a telephone interview with the students. A list of the questions should be given at the arrangement time so the tourism agent can have time to prepare for the interview. If students are working in small group arrange to use a conference phone. The principal's  office may have one.
• Have the students conduct their phone interviews and record the answers on paper or tape recorder if one if available.


Session 9: (60 minutes)

• Have the students use the information they obtained from the Internet and phone interviews to design a travel brochure.  It may be about a state, or younger children may choose just one special place in a state about which to make the brochure.
• You may choose to wait a few days for actual construction of the brochure because tourism departments will often mail students information and pictures that could be used in the brochure.


Session 10: (60 minutes)

• Instruct the students on the use of the word processing and graphics programs. This is best done with older students serving as helpers.
• Using the word processing and graphics programs available to your computer lab, have the students construct a travel brochure for the place they most wish to visit.
• If a scanner is available students may use pictures from information sent by the tourism departments. If a scanner is not available you make take a digital picture of the document and insert the picture from the floppy disc from the camera.


Session 11: (30 minutes)

• Arrange for the students to meet with the older students  and their classmates to present their travel brochures to the others.
• Display the brochures so other members of the school can view them.

• The computer lab is barrier free and suitable for the handicapped.
• Older students will serve as helpers in some of the more difficult tasks.
• This project is suitable for small groups if tasks are too difficult for individuals.
• Parent volunteers will help with construction of hot air balloons and completion of writing projects.

Enrichment Activities:

• Children may use their list of rhyming words from the Guided Reading Activity to write and illustrate a poem.
• Students may learn the names of the fifty states by singing, "Fifty Nifty United States" and learn some of the states locations by labeling and coloring a U. S. map.
• Students may locate, label, and color the continents on a world map.
• Students may do research on customs, food, economy, etc. of the place they are going to design their brochure.
• Students may draw a replica of the state flag they researched.

The students oral participation will show their understanding of all levels of the comprehension questions used during discussion.

The students locate states on a map of the United States accurately.

The students written journal entries will use application, the highest level of comprehension.

Each student's journal will consist of at least one  paragraph for each entry that uses complete sentences and  is held together with a topic sentence.

The students will demonstrate their understanding of the  scientific principle that hot air rises as they study about and construct a model of a hot air balloon that is capable of flying.

The students locate rhyming words in the story and found others words that rhymed with the words listed from the book.

The students show mastery of the new vocabulary words related to the story including multiple meanings, hyphenated words and phrases by using them correctly in written and spoken form.

The children's writings use nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs correctly.

The students used the internet successfully to research information about states.

Listening/Speaking: 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.11, 3.12
Reading Comprehension: 3.21, 3.29, 3.44
Reading Vocabulary: 3.55, 3.56;
Language: 3.92, 3.93,3.97, 3.98, 3.99, 3.101, 3.102
Social Studies: 3.14, 3.17, 3.25, 3.27
Science: 3.6, 3.7, 3.16, 3.24, 3.29, 3.35, 3.43, 3.52, 3.46.

National Standards:

Language Arts:

1: Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process.
3: Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions.
4: Gathers and uses information for research purposes.

Geography:

1:  Understands the characteristics and uses of maps, globes, and other geographic tools and technologies.

Physical Sciences:

8: Understands the structure and properties of matter.

References:

Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
Aims "Hot Air Balloons",
http://www.aimsedu.org/Activities/oldSamples/Balloon/balloon1.html
Using Technology Effectively in Your Classroom by Gordon Soholt; Bureau of Education & Research; www.berg.org

Author:
Roianne Hackett
Gail Poling
Bonne Riffle

Union Elementary School, Upshur Co.
 
 

Overview

Lesson 1

Lesson 2

Lesson 3

Lesson 4

Lesson 5