Time Required:  To be done in one lesson or stretched out over several days.

Materials Needed:

Frog Life Cycle Mini Dots (100 Stickers/Unit 600 stickers in all @ $5.99/ea; LCFR [rolls]; LCFR7 [box])

Large sheet of white or light colored construction paper (Assorted Construction Paper 300 sheets @ $9.99; (CFT174)

Writing Journals

Key Words for Lesson:

Sequence Writing

Life Cycles

Frogs

Tadpoles

Science

Lesson Plans

The Life Cycle of a Frog (The Life Cycle Series) by Bobbie Kalman and Kathryn Smithyman

Students will be able to:

Describe the six main stages of the life cycle of frogs

Retell the stages in correct order

Follow simple directions

Procedures for Lesson:

• Begin by reading The Life Cycle of a Frog (The Life Cycle Series) by Bobbie Kalman and Kathryn Smithyman. Have students respond in writing upon completion of the read aloud to let you know what knowledge of a frog’s life they already have. For example, create a K-W-L chart, write a connection to something in the story, or choose their favorite part of the frog’s life.
• Provide each student with a large sheet of construction paper and one sheet of frog life cycle stickers.
• The students will create a life cycle flow map using their stickers and adding an explanation paragraph of each life cycle stage; the students may also choose to extend the illustration of the sticker to a full pond for extra visual effect on their flow maps.
• Upon completion of the flow map, the students will present their flow map to their small group; you may also choose to display their works in a frog’s life cycle bulletin board created by the students

Follow up Activity: Provide each student with a frog popper (#NTY742) and put students into small groups. Within their small group, they are to predict which color will take the longest to pop, which will pop the highest, etc. You may choose to provide the winners with their very own frog pencil as a culmination as well (#PCL267)

Wrap Up: Have students create a bulletin board of the frog life cycles and create large pictures similar to the small stickers used during this activity.

Assessment: Students retell and describe in correct order the life cycle stages of a frog.

Children who have fun writing can turn into our best communicators. Encourage your students to express their ideas by providing an initial spark of creativity. SmileMakers offers books and helpers like our Story Starters Flip Books that can get students started in developing fun stories and sentences. Providing fun colorful pencils for students to write with can also make writing more fun in the classroom.

Suggested products -
#TCPN - Teacher Pencil Sampler

#SCH388 - Story Starters Flip Book

#SCH387 - Silly Starters Flip Book

Time Required: Quick writing prompt - 1 Day; Lesson can be expanded by having children write a short story about their “Make-Your-Own” piece; Could also have students research the topics of pumpkins or scarecrows and use within a research piece for higher grades.

Materials Needed:

MYSW - Make-Your-Own^TM Scarecrow Stickers

ADJ - Make-Your-Own^TM Jack-o-Lantern stickers

Student Writing Journal

A Read aloud on scarecrows (Suggestions: Scarecrow Pete by Mark Kimball Moulton; Scarecrow by Cynthia Rylant; The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown)

A Read aloud on pumpkins (Suggestions: Five Little Pumpkins by Public domain; The Pumpkin Runner by Marcia Diane Arnold; Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White)

Key Words for Lesson:

Sequence Writing

Step-by-step Writing

Creative Writing

Language Arts

Pumpkins

Scarecrows

Halloween Writing Prompts

Fall Writing Prompts

Students will be able to:

Creatively develop either a scarecrow or jack-o-lantern using step-by-step stickers

Write a short story about the scarecrow or jack-o-lantern they have created

Read aloud their completed story using correct presentation skills in front of their peers

Research a topic using various reference materials, including the internet

Collaborate in a small group in order to complete a short research project on one topic

Procedures for Lesson:

1.      Begin by recalling prior knowledge and peaking student interest with a read aloud (Suggestions given above in the “Materials Needed” section)

2.      Provide each student with either a scarecrow or jack-o-lantern sticker sheet

3.      Each student is to create their figure as they choose using their stickers

Writing Suggestion 1: Have the students write the steps to creating their figure below the figure in their journals. (ie. First, place the body of the scarecrow on your journal. Then, give Scarecrow a green shirt so his arms will be warm and protected from the crows sharp claws. Next, dress him with his jean overalls so he is fully clothed and protected from the sun.) This is a great opportunity for giving students practice with using a variety of transition words in their process writing.

Writing Suggestion 2: Have the students create a narrative story from the perspective of the figure created. (ie. Using jack-o-lantern stickers they can use a prompt of “Please don’t pick me” and write a persuasive writing from the jack-o-lanterns viewpoint with reasons why a buyer shouldn’t pick him/her from the pumpkin patch.)

Once writings are completed, have students practice their oral speaking skills by retelling their pieces to their classmates.

Follow up Activity: These sticker sheets also provide a good stepping stone towards some introductions or further practice with research. As a class or in two separate small groups, use the topics of scarecrows and/or jack-o-lanterns and create topic sentences, use a graphic organizer to develop three main details and use various reference materials and the internet to search for information of the beginnings, uses of, and reasons for each.

Wrap Up: Draw out a large pumpkin and scarecrow on bulletin board paper. Allow each group or as a class, write out the research report on the figures. Create a bulletin board using the research information and then allow each of the students to create their own pumpkin for the patch or scarecrow to display on the board.

Every day teachers are responsible for teaching important life lessons, demonstrating success and achievement, signifying the results of following directions, and so much more. When students do well, it is important to show recognition of their achievement. An effective and economical way to reward your students is to give them something they can collect for a larger prize. For example, you can give them an award bill from our Student Award Money Packs. When your student collects five, ten or any qualifying amount of bills, let him/her buy a prize from the Treasure Chest or Fish Pond.

Suggested products -
#TCH539-Student Award Money Packs
#TCH586-Inflatable Fish Pond
#MGTC-Super Size Plastic Treasure Chest Combo