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Monster Alphabet
In this activity, students make original artwork of monsters
and name their monsters using specific letters of the alphabet.
15-25 min. |
whole class; individual |
| CA
Writing Standard 1.1: Use letters and phonetically
spelled words to write about experiences, stories, people,
objects, or events. 1.4: Write uppercase
and lowercase letters of the alphabet independently,
attending to the form and proper spacing of the letters.
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Paper, crayons,
pencils |
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- Discuss what the monsters looked like in the story.
Tell students that they are going to create monsters of
their own, but first they are going to brainstorm ideas
of what monsters could look like. As students mention
ideas, write them on the board to create lists of monster
characteristics and adjectives.
- Assign each student a letter of the alphabet. Then
ask students to draw a picture of a monster labeled with
a name that starts with that letter. As necessary, help
students select names that start with their assigned letters.
- Assemble all of the drawings to create a “monster”
alphabet display for the classroom. Encourage volunteers
to create additional monster drawings, if necessary, to
make the alphabet complete.
Other Language Arts Activity
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Puppet Play About
the First Day: Have pairs of students
make paper bag or popsicle stick puppets to use to act
out a short skit about first-day-of-school jitters and
joys. |
Looking for Monsters at School
In this activity, students tour the school. Through observation
and discussion, they become familiar with the physical layout
of the campus and the people who work there.
| two 30 minute sessions |
whole class |
| CA Social Science Standard K.3: Students match simple descriptions of work that people do and the names of related jobs at the school, in the local community, and from historical accounts. K.4.5: Demonstrate familiarity with the school's layout, environs, and the jobs people do there.
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Butcher paper, markers, paper, pencils, crayons |
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- Take students on a tour of the school. Visit and describe
the purpose of the various rooms, classes, and facilities,
such as the cafeteria, auditorium/theater, playground,
library, and so on. Introduce students to as many teachers
and school staff as possible. Guide students to ask school
personnel questions about their jobs. As you tour, emphasize
names of jobs and names of places in the school.
- Upon returning to the class, recall with students the
places and the people from the tour. Record this information
on the board. Discuss the different jobs that people do
at the school.
- Work with students to make a poster that maps the layout
of the school. The next day, use students' observations
to label the map. Guide students to describe where certain
people work in the school and what they do.
Other Social Studies Activities
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Job Interviews:
Invite a few of the people students met on the tour
for a class interview. Have students prepare and ask
additional questions about their jobs. |
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Illustrated Map:
Have students create drawings of different school personnel. Tape the drawings next to the school-map poster, and work with students to make lines from the drawings to the place in the school where they work. |
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Parents at Work:
Have students draw pictures of their parents doing their
jobs. Then have students share and discuss their drawings
with the class. |
Pattern Paintings
Students identify and examine patterns in the story artwork
and then create their own patterns using paints.
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30-50 min. |
whole class, small groups, and individual |
| CA
Visual Arts Standards: Artistic Perception-1.1:
Recognize and describe simple patterns found in the
environment and works of art. Creative Expression-2.1:
Use lines, shapes, and colors to make patterns. 2.6:
Use geometric shapes (circle, triangle, square) in a
work of art. |
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Butcher paper,
markers, paper, pencils, watercolor paints, brushes
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- Display page 27 of the story and reread the text aloud.
Point out the picture Luna is making and ask students
to share any details they notice. Guide the focus of the
discussion to the letters LUNITA. Write these on a sheet
of butcher paper, using the same alternating colors as
Luna does (red, yellow,
green, red,
yellow,
green). Draw students' attention
to these alternating colors. Then engage students in a
discussion of how repeated colors, shapes, or objects
can constitute patterns.
- Have students work in small groups to page through
the book to locate, identify, and discuss other patterns
in the objects, shapes, and colors in the pictures. Ask
groups to share the patterns they have found with the
rest of the class. For example: on page 24 and 25 the
carpet has a moon pattern on it.
- Provide students with art supplies and ask them to
create their own pattern painting, either following and
extending one of the patterns in the story or creating
a pattern of their own.
- Once students have finished their work, ask volunteers
to display their paintings and describe the patterns they
created. Alternately, you could have students display
their work and ask volunteers from the rest of the class
to identify the patterns.
Other Art Activities
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Bilingual Shapes:
Use the artwork on the classroom wall on pages 18-19
of Moony Luna / Luna, Lunita Lunera
as the starting point for a discussion about shapes,
their names, and their characteristics. Ask children
to make bilingual shape posters to display in the classroom.
Provide students with a list of the shape names in both
Spanish and English to copy as labels for their work.
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Helping Hands
Students play a game in which they practice counting to figure out the number of fingers in the
hands under the table.
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15-25 min. |
small groups |
| CA Mathematics Standards:
Number Sense—1.2: Count,
recognize, represent, name, and order a number of objects
(up to 30). |
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Tables |
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- Assign students to groups of 3 to 4. Then reread aloud
pages 20–23 of Moony Luna / Luna, Lunita
Lunera. Explain that students are going
to play a game in which they will reenact this scene and
practice counting at the same time.
- Work with one of the groups to model the game. Ask
one student from the group to "hide" under a
table. The remaining students in the group should decide
together silently, how many hands they will place under
the table to help the hiding student. They should then
place that many hands under the table and wiggle their
fingers slowly. Finally, they should ask the hiding student
to look at the fingers.
- The student under the table should count the number
of fingers to figure out the total number of fingers shown.
Then ask the student to come out from under the table
and give his or her answer, showing how he or she figured
it out.
- Have each group play the game several times so that
each student has the opportunity to count fingers. Circulate
among the groups to monitor their play and offer assistance
as needed.
Other Math Activities
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Graphing Feelings:
Have students use the pictures they made of their feelings
on the first day of school (See the Our
Own First Days activity.) to create a pictograph
in which they organize the pictures by feeling and show
how many students reported having each feeling on the
first day. Guide students to arrange and display the
pictures by category in vertical columns on a bulletin
board, label the columns, and then count the totals
in each column. |
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Counting Hands
and Fingers: As an alternate to the activity
above, ask students to draw the outline of their hands
several times on a large sheet of paper and then count
the number of hands and fingers shown. Encourage them
to write their answers on their pictures. |
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Times of Day:
Use the text and pictures in the story as the starting
point for a discussion of time and times of day, including
the words morning, afternoon, evening, today, yesterday,
and tomorrow as part of the discussion. |
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Monster Counting
Book: Have students work together to make
a counting book from 1 to 30. Assign each student a
number and ask him or her to create a single page of
the book with the number and a corresponding number
of pictures of monsters. Students can then compile the
pages into a counting book. |
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School Transportation:
Survey students to find out how they get to school.
Tally their responses in appropriate categories, such
as Walk, Car, Bus, Bike, and Other.
Ask them to use this information to make a pictograph
showing each mode of transportation and how many students
use it. Then lead the group in a discussion to determine
which transportation modes are most used, least used,
and so on. |
Properties of Objects
Students use items mentioned and pictured in the story
as the starting point for observing, describing, discussing,
and comparing common objects.
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25-40 min. |
whole class; small group |
| CA
Science Standards: Physical Sciences-1.a: Students
know that objects can be described in terms of the materials
they are made of (e.g., clay, cloth, paper) and their
physical properties (e.g., color, size, shape, weight,
texture, flexibility, attraction to magnets, floating,
sinking) Investigation and Experimentation—4.b:
Describe the properties of common objects. 4.d:
Compare and sort common objects by one physical attribute
(e.g., color, shape, texture, size, weight). 4.e:
Communicate observations orally and through drawings.
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Common classroom
objects similar to those in the story, such as
clothing, backpacks, plants, pencils, crayon,
papers, books, chalk, and so on | |
- Have students page through the story to identify and
name common objects that they see in the pictures. As
students mention the objects, write them on the board.
- Ask students to look around the classroom to locate
objects similar to those listed on the board. Then ask
them to use their senses to observe the objects carefully,
thinking about what they are like in terms of observable
properties, such as their color, size, shape, weight,
texture, and so on.
- Have volunteers take turns describing different objects.
Then pick one property (for example, color) and work with
students to sort objects based on that property. Make
lists on the board to reflect the sorting that takes place.
Then ask students to sort the objects a second time, based
on a different property. Note with students how the lists
on the board change when the property being compared changes.
Other Science Activities
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Moon, Sun, Stars:
Have students find pictures of the moon, sun, and stars in Moony Luna / Luna, Lunita Lunera. Use the pictures to engage students in a discussion about these and other objects in space. Ask students to share what they know about each object or type of object. Encourage them to talk about such properties as their color, size, temperature, and location. |
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What Happens to Puddles?:
Point out the puddles
of water on the floor in the artwork on pages 10–11
of Moony Luna / Luna, Lunita Lunera.
Ask students to tell what they think would happen to
the water if Luna and her parents did not clean up the
mess. Then ask them what would happen if the puddles
were found on the ground outside on a sunny day. Use
their responses as a lead in to a discussion about the
different states of water. |
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