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Backwards Day Party
Most all your students have walked backward, or worn their baseball caps backward, but have they ever done everything backward? Theyre sure to have a giggling good time on Backwards Day!
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED
- paper and crayons
- a large mirror
- refreshments, including sandwiches and dessert
HERE'S WHAT TO DO
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Have everyone use crayons to print or trace their names on a piece of paper. Then hold the piece of paper in front of a mirror. What do students notice? (Their names appear backwards.)
Next, serve a backward meal: you guessed it, eat the dessert first! Challenge students to eat with their opposite hands.
Tell riddles and knock-knock jokes -- backward! Give the answer and see if students can make up the question or joke.
When the party's over, say "Hello!"
MORE FUN!
Involve students in some of these extension activities:
Make up a secret backward language. Here's one way: Take a sentence such as Run to the store. Add the sound "ay" to the end of every word. Run to the store becomes Runay toay theay storeay. Now let students try it!
Enlist the help of parent volunteers or other grown-ups to read you a favorite story beginning at the back of the book. Can you guess what is going to happen next?
ANOTHER RESOURCE
Education World's special "Backwards Day" Lesson Plan
ACTIVITY SOURCE
This activity is excerpted from Nancy Castaldo's Winter Day Play, which is published by Chicago Review Press. This lesson idea is one of more than 70 activities, crafts, and games from Winter Day Play that are sure to engage children as they discover and learn.
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A native of New York's Hudson
Valley, Nancy Castaldo earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Marymount College and a Master of
Arts from the State University of New York. As an environmental educator, author, and Girl Scout volunteer
and board member, Castaldo has led numerous children's workshops. Her school programs include workshops
on ocean creatures and other nature topics, creative writing, and pizza making/Italy. She has conducted
programs at the Boston Children's Museum, Atlanta Zoo, and Tennessee Aquarium. Castaldo's books include
River Wild: An Activity Guide to North American Rivers; Oceans: An Activity Guide for Ages 6-9;
Deserts: An Activity Guide for Ages 6-9; and Rainforests: An Activity Guide for Ages 6-9.
She is also author of a historical-fiction picture book, Pizza for the Queen. To learn more
about Nancy and her books, check out her Web site, Article by Nancy Castaldo
Education World®
Copyright © 2006 Education World
08/07/2006
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Subject: ELA- Reading
Grade: 3
Lesson Objective: To identify the moral of a fable
Common Core Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.2- Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.
Materials:
Printable Student Paragraph Worksheet
Starter:
Say:
Has anyone ever told you a story that had a lesson at the end of it? What was the story? (Allow the students to answer.)
Main:
Say:
There are some stories that have lessons at the end of them. Those stories are called fables.
A fable is a story that has animals as the characters. The lesson at the end of a fable is called the moral. The moral of the story teaches you something about how you should act or shows you a different way to think about something.
One fable that most people have heard of is called The Tortoise and The Hare. The animals race each other and the hare is so far ahead that he takes a nap. The tortoise keeps going and wins the race even though the hare is faster. The moral of the story is, “slow and steady wins the race.”
The story teaches us to keep trying and doing what we set out to do, even if it seems like there are people who may be faster or better than you are. If you keep going, you will finish.
Another fable is about a lion and a mouse. The mouse saves the lion’s life by chewing a net and setting it free. The moral of that story is, “little friends may become great friends.” That fable teaches us not look at how someone looks, but at what they can do and how they help you.
You are now going to read the fable “The Ants and the Grasshopper.” While you are reading, I want you to think about what the moral or lesson at the end of the fable is.
You should think about what parts of the story helped you to figure out the moral.
Then, you will write the answer the questions that are below the story.
Does anyone have any questions?
Feedback:
Say:
Who would like to share their answers? (Allow the students to share and go over the answers and where they came from.)
Written by Kimberly Greacen, Education World® Contributing Writer
Kimberly is an educator with extensive experience in curriculum writing and developing instructional materials to align with Common Core State Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy.
Copyright© 2019 Education World
Subject: ELA- Reading
Grade: 3
Lesson Objective: To understand and identify literal and nonliteral language in a story
Common Core Standard: : CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language.
Materials:
Printable Paragraph Student Handout
Starter:
Say:
Have you ever heard someone way something like, “I could eat a horse,” or “I slept like a log?” Did you understand what they meant? (Allow the students to answer.)
Main:
Say:
There are two types of words and phrases. One is called literal language, which means that you say exactly what you mean. Examples of literal language are, “I am very hungry” and “I slept really well last night.”
The other type of words or phrases are called nonliteral or figurative language. This means that you use different words to say what you mean. Instead of staying “I am very hungry,” you would say, “I could eat a horse.” Both phrases mean that you are hungry, but the make different pictures in your head when you hear them.
By saying, “I could eat a horse,” you are making the person you are talking to understand just how hungry you are when they imagine you eating a whole horse.
Another example is “I slept really well last night,” and “I slept like a log.” Which phrase give you a better picture in your head of what happened? (Allow the students to answer.)
The phrase, “I slept like a log,” helps you to imagine someone sleeping so well that they didn’t move at all.
Can you think of any nonliteral language that you have heard or used? (Allow the students to answer. Make a list on the board of their responses.)
You are now going to read part of the book, Thank You, Amelia Bedelia. While you are reading, I want you to think about any nonliteral language that you are reading and what it means.
Then, you will write the answers to the questions that are below the story.
Does anyone have any questions?
Feedback:
Say:
Who would like to share their answers? (Allow the students to share and go over the answers and where they came from.)
Written by Kimberly Greacen, Education World® Contributing Writer
Kimberly is an educator with extensive experience in curriculum writing and developing instructional materials to align with Common Core State Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy.
Copyright© 2019 Education World
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