Sarah Haggans

Title:

On the Road Again

Grade Level:

Kindergarten and 1st grade

Time Allotment:

45 minutes

Performance Expectations:

• The students will develop observational skills on the walking

  trip around the school grounds or surrounding neighborhood.

• The students will become familiar with the word "travel"

  through class and small group discussions.

Materials:

• Chart paper
• Markers
• A safe area in which the students can be led on a walk (around

  the school)

• Chalkboard
• Chalk
• 
  Where the Wild Things Are
  
  by Maurice Sendak

Procedures:

1. 
   Introduction
   

Ask the children what they think the word "travel" means

(possible answers: to go from one place to another, to go on vacation).

List the students’ feedback on the chalkboard. Ask the students,

"Have you traveled today?" (possible answers: from home

to school, from the cafeteria to the classroom). Again, list

the students’ responses on the chalkboard. Ask the children to

discuss other places that they have traveled with the person next

to them and how they got there. Ask a few students to share where

their partner had traveled with the class.

Explain to the class that today we will be discussing travel,

focusing on travel by foot, and the observations that we make

when we travel. Ask if anyone knows what an observation is.

Guide the students in their answers so that they understand that

observations are what they see, smell, taste, hear, and feel.

Give examples of each: I see that Jimmy’s shirt is green; It

smells like pizza in the hallway; I hear Mrs. Keller yelling in

the next room; My coffee cup feels warm. (When discussing the

word "observation," be sure to write the word on the

word on the board and have the class help you sound it out.)

Read

Where the Wild Things Are

by Maurice Sendak. Ask

the students to pay close attention to Mac, the main character,

as he travels through his reams. Stop a couple of times during

the story and ask the students to make observations about the

illustrations. After finishing the book, discuss Mac’s trip and

the observations made about the book.

1. 
   Development
   

Explain to the students that the class is taking a real trip just

like Mac. Remind the students to pay close attention to their

surroundings and to remember the observations that they make during

their trip.

Take the students on a walking trip around the school and the

surrounding neighborhood (if suitable and agreed upon by the administration

and the parents). While on the trip call the students’ attention

to street names, signs, etc.

After returning to the classroom, discuss as a class and list

observations of places visited on a piece of chart paper. Make

sure to reread each word as you write it so that the students

will learn to identify and correlate the word with actual letters.

In their social studies journals, have the students list their

favorite observation from the walking trip and draw a picture

of it.

1. 
   Closure
   

Discuss with the class the importance of observations. Ask the

students to imagine how their observations would differ if they

could not see, hear, or smell. Have the students discuss these

possibilities with their neighbors.

Assessment:

The students will receive a participation mark for listing their

favorite observation and depicting it.

The teacher will observe the students during the group and class

discussions and record observations in anecdotals.

Adaptations/Consideration:

If the students in the class are unable to go on a real walking

trip, the teacher could have them close their eyes, turn the lights

off in the classroom, and lead the students through an imaginary

walking trip, pointing out sites and describing every aspect of

a real walking trip in detail, including smells and things felt

and heard.

If the students could not list their favorite observation on their

own, the teacher could write it out for them in their journal

and the students could draw a picture of it.

I would follow up this lesson with a map lesson. After reviewing

the chart of observations, the students could make maps of the

walking trip, including streets and other specific sites. I would

then introduce basic map symbols and have the students incorporate

the symbols into their walking trip maps.

References:

Armento, B., G. Nash, C. Salter, and K. Wixson. (1991).

The World I See

. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

S. E. Haggans, personal communication, October 3, 1997.

Sendak, M. (1963).

Where the Wild Things Are

. New

York: HarperCollins Publishers.