by Elaine Gallagher
Hello Teachers: I told you there would be more activities! Here are 3 more projects involving art / music and academic content. You can choose any of them to use with your students. None of these are in the UNO books. They are supplemental activities to support your work!
ACTIVITY 4
TITLE: «My Family Tree»
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- A small, dead tree branch
- Pieces of paper or thin cardboard
- Colors or markers
- A small pail or large cup filled with sand or similar thing that will allow the branch to stand up
- String or paper clips
- A small photograph of you, just the head, if possible (about the size of a passport photo)
TO STUDENTS: You probably have heard about a family tree. It is a list of your ancestors (your family line, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc.).
Today we will make a REAL family tree.
- Write your ancestors’ names individually on a pieces of paper shaped like a leaf: one leaf for each name. Cut them out so they look like a leaf.
- Write on each one how they are related to you:
MOTHER FATHER
GRANDMOTHER GRANDFATHER (on your mother’s side)
THE SAME (on your father’s side)
GREAT GRANDPARENTS
AUNTS, UNCLES, BROTHERS, SISTERS
- If you are not sure of names, ask your parents. If these people are not with you anymore, you still need to include them because they are your blood relatives. If you do not know for sure whom to include, make a list first. Then ask your family for help, so you can try to include all your family members.
- Once you have the person’s name and relationship to you written on the leaf, lightly color the leaf green for relatives on your mother’ side, and red for relatives on your father’s side of the family. You can choose any two colors, one for each side of the family tree (father, mother), not necessarily green/red.
- Make a bigger leaf for you, so there is room to glue your photo.
- Make a small hole in each leaf and tie a string, or place a paperclip.
- Use the string or paperclip to decorate your family tree, by tying the string, or placing the clip on each leaf.
- Make sure that your tree branch is standing straight in the pail or large cup filled with sand.
- Tie all the leaves on the tree with the younger people near the top of the tree, and the oldest people, (some of whom may have died) at the bottom of the tree. The colors will tell you whether these people are ancestors / relatives on your mother’s or your father’s side of the family.
- Last, but not least: YOU. Clip or tie your leaf with your picture at the very top of the tree, similar to a Christmas tree star.
ISN’T THIS GREAT?
THE TREE WILL MAKE A WONDERFUL GIFT FOR YOUR PARENTS OR GRANDPARENTS!
FACT OF THE DAY
What famous painter began her career as a painter of folk scenes and family scenes when she was already a grandmother? She became famous when she was in her 80’s.
- Grandma Moses (1860 – 1961)
- Look her up. When did she live? Where? When did she begin painting? Why? What did her artwork look like? Can you see a sample?
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ACTIVITY 5
TITLE: «Time Line of 100 Years»
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- long strip of paper for a time line, about 5 inches wide
- markers
- colors
- a ruler
TO STUDENTS:
- A list of 10 important events in history, sports, music, art, your family, etc. Be original. Use internet to help you.
- A time line you made with wide strips of paper, arranged in 10 year increments: left to right:
- 1914…1924….1934…1944, etc. up to 2014.
- On the spaces under these dates, write important events that happened near those date. (They do not have to have happened exactly on the dates from your time line.) The dates can be about anything: sports, politics, inventions, etc.
- Draw small pictures about the events to decorate the time line.
- When done, your teacher can hang the time lines on classroom walls.
FACT OF THE DAY
What is the most toxic (poisonous) animal in the world?
- The poison arrow frogs of Central and South America. The golden poison arrow frog found in Colombia contains enough poison to kill 100 humans.
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ACTIVITY 6
TITLE: «The Best Invention of All Time!»!
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- Encyclopedias, Internet Access
- Paper, pens, colored pencils or markers
TO STUDENTS: This is a pair or team activity, so choose a partner or work with the persons your teacher designates.
- Brainstorm. Looks it books and/or Internet to get ideas of inventions over history of humans. For example: THE WHEEL, THE AUTOMOBILE, THE AIRPLANE, COMPUTERS, etc. You can even choose medicine, such as the vaccine against polio or the vaccine against smallpox.
- Once you have some ideas, decide which one YOU consider to be the most important, and why. You can only choose ONE.
- For the one you chose, draw its picture, color it and write its name above the picture you drew.
- Under the picture, write 3 reasons WHY you believe that this is an important invention.
- Then, write 3 things about the invention, such as when it was first invented, who invented it, etc.
- At the bottom of the paper, write ONE way that the invention is used today…or how it changed over the years, and how it is today. For example, the first computer was the size of a room. Today we use computers, but they are much smaller.
- You do NOT have to write complete sentences, but be clear in the words you choose.
- When you and your partner are done, check everything. Your teacher will choose some of you to report orally to your class the invention you chose. One of you will tell one reason WHY you chose it; your partner will tell ONE fact about the invention from your list.
- The students listening will write on a sheet of paper, the name of each invention they hear, and what year (approximately) it was invented.
- After all the inventions have been listed, and the dates they were invented mentioned by each team, your team will make a list if inventions in chronological order, from oldest to most modern. (chronological order means: organized by dates….)
- EXAMPLE: If the WHEEL is one of the inventions listed, it would be the FIRST on the list because it was invented by the cavemen thousands of years ago….before other inventions. The most recent date(s) would be at the end of your team’s list.
- Another day, you can discuss this in your English class
FACT OF THE DAY
What is the word for a baby kangaroo?
- A joey
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