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Objective: After this lesson, the students will be able to identify the twelve months of the year in both English and Spanish. They will be able to identify the sequence of the months and distinguish between the written words in both languages.

Materials: This lesson will require a calendar of all twelve months with the months labeled in both English and Spanish. You will also need enough 'birthday cakes' (pattern attached) for each child to write their name on and place on their date of birth. A birthday cake is optional.

Instruction: Motivator- To begin the lesson, I will hand out a 'birthday cake to each child and instruct them to write their name on it I will mention to them that after the activity, there will be a surprise. (the birthday cake) This will encourage them by participation and anticipation.

Instruction- As stated before, I will give each child a 'birthday cake' and instruct them to write up their name on it We will go over the months of the year in English and repeat them over in Spanish. Because of the similarities between both languages, this lesson should be easier than most

Closure- I will then ask each child to put their 'birthday cake on the month and day that they were born. I will ask each child to say their birthday in English and Spanish. We will discuss similarities and differences between the months. (e.g. which month has the most birthdays, which month has the least, etc.)

Evaluation: I will be able to evaluate each child's knowledge by how they respond to saying their birthday. I will also give frequent questions to test their knowledge.
 
Enrichment: An activity of enrichment for this lesson would be to distribute the birthday cake and again, review the twelve months in both languages. You could also include birthdays of family or other significant people in the child's life or in the society.

Objective: After this lesson, the students will be able to identify what a chipmunk does in each season and also, what he/she does in each season. They will be able to notice the differences and similarities in the activities of animals and themselves throughout each season. This lesson will give the children a chance to look at how people get ready for the season in different ways.
 

Materials: This lesson will require the book Chipmunk's Song by Joanne Ryder. It will also require the handout titled Through the Year. This activity will use scissors and glue and crayons. A clock or stopwatch will necessary for the testing pulses activity.

Instruction: Motivator- To begin the lesson, I will discuss with the class about different ways animals prepare for the seasons. I will tell them that I am going to read a book and have them guess what the animal is that the story is about. This will captivate their attention towards the book.

Instruction- As stated before, I will conceal the cover of the book while reading the story to the class. I will ask them to guess what animal the story is about and have them draw a picture of that animal. After I have finished reading the story, I will have the students hold up their pictures Then, I will hand out the worksheet and have them cut out the pictures on the bottom of paper and glue them in the boxes provided. They will then fill in what they do in each season and color the pictures if time permits. After this activity, I will teach the children how to take their pulse and as a class, we will compare our pulse rate to the pulse rate of a hibernating grizzly bear, which is 10-12 beats per minute.

Closure- The closing of this lesson will be the testing of the pulse rates of the class and a closing discussion on the different seasons. Questions and answers will be encouraged throughout the lesson.

Evaluation: I will be able to see how well the students understand the changes in each season and the comprehension of what they do to prepare for each season by the handout. I will also be able to see their progress in following directions and their vocabulary by the answers in the on the worksheet.

Enrichment: To enrich this lesson, could make a chart of the pulse rates of each child in the classroom and compare that to the pulse rate of a hibernating grizzly bear. You could also set up a bird feeder and observe the different species that come to feed.

Objective: After this lesson is complete, the students should be able to understand how seeds that are planted in soil, are kept moist, and receive sunlight can become mature plants and the process of how plants mature. They will be able to gain experience and knowledge in how to plant a sprout garden through the hands on experiment. This lesson will also teach them how plants provide people and animals with food.
 

Materials: This lesson will require the book The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller. It will also require the handout titled Little Sprout along with crayons, scissors and a stapler. Paper towels, a dish, seeds such as wheat, mustard, cress, mung, alfalfa, and radish will also be needed. An unshelled peanut for each student will also be needed.

Instruction: Motivator- To begin the , I will give each student an unshelled peanut and ask them to open the shell and find the nut (seed). I will ask them to carefully open the nut and find the tiny plant between the two halves of the nut. A question I would ask is, "How many other examples of 'seeds we eat' can you find?" I will read the story and point out the development stages of the flowers. I will also point out how seeds grow in different places.

Instruction- I will talk to the students about how a seed becomes a plant, then read them the story. After the story, I will hand out the worksheet and have the students color and cut out the frames. Then, I will ask them to put each from in numerical order and bring it up to me to staple. After that is done, they will be asked to fill in the blanks under each picture. After this activity is cleaned up, I will bring the students into a circle and discuss the stages of a seed again. I will then wazzu lay a damp paper towel on a dish and sprinkle it with the seeds. After the seeds sprout, we will taste the sprouts and answer the questions, "Do they all taste the same?" and "Which do we like best?"

Closure- The closing of this lesson will be the process of building our own sprout garden. Questions and answers will be encouraged throughout the lesson.

Evaluation: I will be able to see how well the students understand the stages of a seed into a plant by their handout. I will also be able to see their progress by what words are used in filling in the blanks on their worksheet.
 
Enrichment: To enrich this lesson, I would discuss some of the different ways seeds travel and have the children pretend to be seeds and describe their journey to the place where they choose to land and grow.

Objective: After this lesson is complete, the children should be able to distinguish the seasons of a tree and know what events happen to the earth during the season of fall.

Materials: This lesson will require the worksheet titled The Seasons of a Tree. It will also require the book Fall is Here! by Jane Moncure.

Instruction: Motivator- To begin the lesson, I will talk to the children about how seasons change and what happens to the trees in the fall. The children will be listening to the story and be able to help recognize the signs of fall through the story. I will ask them if they notice what happens to the trees around their home. This will help them relate the lesson to themselves.

Instruction- As stated before, I will talk to the children about what changes they see in the trees around their house. During the story, I will ask for responses to the questions asked. I will help them to answer these question, if needed. After the story, I will ask them what kinds of activities they do in the fall. The final process will be to write the sentences on the handout and if time is allowed, they will be able to color their trees. The process of what happens in autumn will be reiterated throughout the lesson. They will be expected to show their ability to color and form sentences.

Closure- The closing of this lesson will be the activities requiring the handouts. Questions and answers will be encouraged throughout the lesson.

Evaluation: I will be able to see how well the children understand the concept of the events that happen in autumn by wazzu their work on the handouts. I will also be able to see their progress by how well they form correct sentences and by speaking to them on a personal level through asking questions.

Enrichment: To enrich this lesson, I would do activities such as finding leaves from different trees and looking at the shapes of them. Are they egg shaped, heart shaped, long and pointed, short and pointed, narrow, wedge shaped? You could also make leaf rubbings or collect and sprout acorns in the fall.

Objective: After this lesson is complete, the students should be able to know where most animals go in the wintertime and where they store their food. They will gain experience in research skills.

Materials: This lesson will require the book Is This a House for Hermit Crab?. The handout titled Animal Homes is also needed. It will also require slips of paper with a different kind of animals written on it. This lesson will also require a bulletin board which has a tree, grass, the underground, and all of the other houses of the chosen animals drawn on it. Books on where different animals live is also needed which may require a trip to the library. Wintertime for Animals is a good book to use as a resource for this project.

Instruction: Motivator- I will begin the lesson by asking the students where specific animals live and what the animal does in the winter. I will proceed with the question of what the children do to prepare for winter and where they go. This will help them to relate the lesson to themselves.

Instruction- I will read the students the book entitled Is This a House for Hermit Crab? and discuss how animals live almost every place on the Earth in many different kinds of homes. We will discuss how animals choose their homes and the materials they use. We will then continue with the handout by circling the correct answers and drawing the last two homes. At this time, the students will divide into pairs and each pair of students will get a slip of paper from the "grab bag". These two students will then be required, with the help of adults, to research their animal and write a few sentences on where their animal lives, why it goes there, and how it stores its food. After this is complete, the children will tell the class about their animal and put a drawing of their animal on the bulletin board where it belongs.

Closure- The closing of this lesson will be a discussion of where animals live and the students presentations of their animals. Questions and answers will be encouraged throughout the lesson.

Evaluation: I will be able to evaluate the knowledge of the students by their work on the handouts and the sentences they create about their specific animal. I will also be able to see their progress in sentence structure and research skills.

Enrichment: To enrich this lesson, I would compare and contrast houses in the community and in other parts of the United States, and with other homes around the world. The children could collect pictures from magazines for this activity.

Chipmunk Song by Joanne Ryder, Illustrated by Lynne Cherry
This is a story about a small boy who shrinks so that he can experience the life of a chipmunk through the four seasons. It demonstrates a close-up look at the home and habitat of a chipmunk. The illustrations by Lynne Cherry are exquisite and help give the reader a 'taste' of the life of a chipmunk.

Fall is Here! by Jane Belk Moncure Illustrated by Frances Hook
This book has a rhythmic pattem and a simple text. It goes through questions that the little boy has about fall and the changes this season incurs. It includes a page of Picture Words and the score to the song "Autumn Leaves". The illustrations are mostly action and have a soft, sketchy, appearance.

Wintertime for Animals by Margaret Cosgrove, Illustrated by Margaret Cosgrove
This book tells about what many different kinds of animals do to prepare for winter and where they go for the season. Each page has a paragraph telling about a specific animal. The illustrations are simple and the coloring used is blues and black.

Cold Stars and Firetlies by Barb Juster Esbensen Illustrated by Susan Bonners
This book of poems beautifully portrays the joy of observing everyday things from the familiar to looking at things in a new way. Very few pictures are used and when they are, they are done with a delicate watercolor of grey and red. It includes an Index of First Lines at the back of the book.

Like Nothing at All by Aileen Fisher, Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard
The author of this book takes the reader for a 'walk' through the woods in each of the four seasons by her rhythms and rhymes in the poems. Leonard Weisgard's woodsy pictures add to the beauty of this unusual book.

In a Spring Garden edited by Richard Lewis Illustrated by Ezra Jack Keats
This uncommon use of lines from other authors put into one book is a lovely way to portray the beauty of spring. Richard Lewis sites each authors lines and Ezra Jack Keats uses his extraordinary artistic abilities and unique portrayal of the poetic subjects. This is a book with many different colors and images.

Summer is Here! by Jane Belk Moncure Illustrated by Frances Hook
This book has a simple text with a rhythmic flow. It shows how a young girl sees summertime and her day at the beach. This book includes a page of Picture Words and the score to the song "Summer". The illustrations are mostly action and all are of the young girl. The artist uses soft colors with a sketchy appearance.

Winter is Here! by Jane Belk Moncure Illustrated by Frances Hook
This book has a simple text with a rhythmic flow. It shows the activities of a young girl through the winter season. It includes a page of Picture Words and the score to the song "Winter". The illustrations by Frances Hook are soft and show the young girl in her actions of the activities that she is doing.

Changing Seasons by Henry Pluckrose
This book is illustrated by color photographs and provides a basis for questions between the words and photographs. The text is simple, but the use of nature in the illustrations enhances the complexity of the book. It includes an index in the back of the book.

Plants in Winter by Joanna Cole, Illustrated by Kazue Mizumura
This story is about a boy who goes to the botanical gardens and learns about leaves, bulbs and plants. At the end of the story, the boy leaves the gardens and as he is walking, he finds a snowdrop and questions how it grows. The illustrations are simple and Kazue Mizumura does not use much color to portray the plants.

The Reason for a Flower by Ruth Heller
This is a book that describes the stages in the development of all kinds of flowers from pollination to fruiting. It also explains how seeds travel and grow in different places, and how flowering plants provide people and animals with food and many other benefits.

Is This a House for Hermit Crab? by Megan McDonald
This is a story about the trials and travels of a hermit crab searching for a new shell after he has outgrown his old one. It shows the different houses animals use and encourages the question of why animals have specific homes for them.