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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Sizing up Sam the Scarecrow

Students will integrate measurement as a math activity during "S" week as they talk about Scarecrows and the Season Fall.

A lesson plan for grade K English Language Arts and Mathematics

By Marsha Thomas

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Learning outcomes

Students will learn that certain objects or things may be measured by different units. In this particular activity the unit of measure will be colored pieces of string (string being used because string starts with the letter S).

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

5 days

Materials/resources

Pre-activities

To introduce scarecrows the teacher may read The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown. The children will talk about the job of a scarecrow and how scarecrows are made.

The teacher will also emphasize that Scarecrow begins with the “S” sound. The teacher will explain why there are times when we may need to know the length of a certain object. The teacher will explain how certain units of measure are used to find out the length of the object.

Activities

Monday

Introduce the letter S. Talk about the sound of the letter S and emphasize the fact that scarecrow starts with the “S” sound. Read The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown. Talk about the job of a scarecrow and how scarecrows are made.

Tuesday

Review shapes and body parts. Give each student previously cut shapes to make “Sam the Scarecrow.” Each student will need: a circle for the scarecrow’s head, 2 short rectangles for arms, 1 square for the torso of the scarecrow, 2 longer rectangles for the legs and 2 of the child’s own hands for the scarecrow’s hands. Students will color the scarecrow’s legs, arms and torso, and will make the face with eyes nose and mouth (materials such as buttons, chips, paper, etc. may be used to complete the face). The students then may add fabric patches and straw (another “S” word) to complete their scarecrow.

Wednesday

Students will be given their very own scarecrow, 6 pieces of colored string, a recording sheet that lists the 6 parts to be measured. On this recording sheet include the head, hat, arm, leg, torso and hand.

Thursday

Students will be given their recording sheet titled “Sizing up Sam” and then they will decide which part is the longest, shortest and are there any parts that are equal in size.

Friday

Write a story about “Sam the Scarecrow.” Teacher will also review that Sam, Scarecrow, string, six, and size begin with the “S” sound.

Assessment

Assessment will be determined by the recording sheet while the children are using the strings as their unit of measure and recording their own data. All the children’s body parts will have been cut by the same pattern so that they are all the same size. Also, each child will have 6 pieces of string the exact size. The teacher will have measured the parts and will have the answer sheet for the length of each part.

Supplemental information

Scarecrow image

Comments

We have a great time in kindergarten always integrating all of our activities with the Letter and Sound of the Week.

They will color these shapes in a color of their choice. The circle will be the head (they may want to leave it white), 2 short rectangles for arms, 2 long rectangles for legs, 1 square for the torso, 1 triangle for the hat and the students own hands for the scarecrow’s hands. They will be measuring a total of 6 parts of the scarecrow.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Kindergarten

  • Goal 1: The learner will develop and apply enabling strategies to read and write.
    • Objective 1.02: Develop phonemic awareness and knowledge of alphabetic principle:
      • demonstrate understanding that spoken language is a sequence of identifiable speech sounds.
      • demonstrate understanding that the sequence of letters in the written word represents the sequence of sounds in the spoken word.
      • demonstrate understanding of the sounds of letters and understanding that words begin and end alike (onsets and rimes).

Mathematics (2004)

Kindergarten

  • Goal 2: Measurement - The learner will explore concepts of measurement.
    • Objective 2.01: Compare attributes of two objects using appropriate vocabulary (color, weight, height, width, length, texture).