Recursos interactivos

My Family

http://recursostic.educacion.es/primaria/hello/web/a/01/animaciones/index.html

Hey Baby Let's Rock and Roll | Children Love to Sing Action Kids Song wi...

Down In The Jungle

The Animal Boogie

Sexto Año.

1. How many people are there in your family?
2. What' s he name of your best friend?

What's your favourite subject at school?

4. What are your hobbies? 

5. What do you have for breakfast ?

6. What do you have for lunch ?

7. How many brothers and sisters have you got ?

8. What do you like doing at the weekend?

9. What did you do last Sunday?



10. What did you do last  Sunday ?

11. What's your Mother's name ?

12. Where did you go on your last holiday ?

13. How many lessons  do you have in a day? 

14. What's the weather  like today ?

15. Who is the youngest in your family ?

16. Who is the oldest in your family?

The Rain Forest Song

Goodbye, School Song For Kids

Celebration by Kool and the Gang with lyrics

"Celebration"

Yahoo!
Celebration
Yahoo!
This is your celebration
Celebrate good times, come on!
(Let's celebrate)
Celebrate good times, come on!
(Let's celebrate)
There's a party goin' on right here
A celebration to last throughout the years
So bring your good times and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate your party with you
Come on now, celebration
Let's all celebrate and have a good time
Celebration
We gonna celebrate and have a good time
It's time to come together
It's up to you, what's your pleasure?
Everyone around the world come on!
Yahoo!
It's a celebration
Yahoo!
Celebrate good times, come on!
(It's a celebration)
Celebrate good times, come on!
(Let's celebrate)
There's a party goin' on right here
A dedication to last throughout the years
So bring your good times and your laughter too
We gonna celebrate and party with you
Come on now, celebration
Let's all celebrate and have a good time, yeah yeah
Celebration
We gonna celebrate and have a good time
It's time to come together
It's up to you, what's your pleasure?
Everyone around the world come on!
Yahoo!
It's a celebration
Yahoo!
It's a celebration
Celebrate good times, come on!
(Let's celebrate come on now)
Celebrate good times, come on!
(Let's celebrate)
We're gonna have a good time tonight
Let's celebrate, it's all right
We're gonna have a good time tonight
Let's celebrate, it's all right, baby
We're gonna have a good time tonight
(Celebration)
Let's celebrate, it's all right
We're gonna have a good time tonight
(Celebration)
Let's celebrate, it's all right
Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Celebrate good times, come on!
(Let's celebrate)
Celebrate good times, come on!
(It's a celebration)
Celebrate good times, come on!
(Let's celebrate)
(Come on and celebrate tonight)
Celebrate good times, come on!
('Cause everything's gonna be alright, let's celebrate)
Celebrate good times, come on!
(Let's celebrate)
Celebrate good times, come on!

 

Boom Chicka Boom - The Learning Station

Goodbye Song for Children - Children's Goodbye Song - by The Learning St...

Hey Baby Let's Rock and Roll | Children Love to Sing Action Kids Song wi...

Mother Earth with lyrics | Children Love to Sing & Dance | Earth & Envir...

Earth, Were In It Together

Just Dance Kids Jungle Boogie

Happy Birthday

Madagascar, Merry Christmas.

SEXTO AÑO

http://www.englishwsheets.com/http://www.englishwsheets.com/


food

http://www.englishwsheets.com/fast-food.html

DESCRIBING PEOPLE
http://www.englishwsheets.com/describing_people.html 

MAGASCAR

JUMPSTART MADAGASCAR CHARACTERS                  http://www.jumpstart.com/parents/dreamworks/madagascar/characters/martyhttp://www.jumpstart.com/parents/dreamworks/madagascar/characters/marty

 

Skipper

Skipper is the leader of a crack commando team of penguins that live in Manhattan at the Central Park Zoo. Skipper sees himself and his men as POWs. He is determined to escape the zoo and lead his men back to their natural home in Antarctica.
The Skipper is an efficient, effective leader who commands the respect of his fellow penguins – not by barking orders like a drill sergeant – but by his no nonsense, confident demeanor. His men, Rico, Kowalski, and Private, follow Skipper without question – to hell and back if necessary.
When we first meet Skipper we see he is bent on escape. With only plastic spoons and Popsicle sticks, the tenacious penguins dig an escape tunnel (much like in “The Great Escape”) right through the concrete and rebar in the floor of their cage.

 A tough job, but Skipper’s team is a dedicated bunch and they finally manage to dig outside the walls and escape the zoo! Other zoo animals are inspired by the penguins’ success and decide to go AWOL, as well. Skipper and his men are caught up in a dragnet to recapture the zoo animals.
The animals are crated up and put on a boat to be transferred to a wild animal park in Africa. A turn for the worse, but Skipper does not let this discourage his men. Instead, he orchestrates an escape from their crate and, under his focused leadership, the penguin commandoes overpower the human crew, and take the ship.

The penguins divert the boat to Antarctica. The Skipper looks over his team and smiles, “Well boys, it’s going to be ice cold sushi for breakfast.”
______________________________________________________

 

Gloria

32 years old.
Gloria was born and raised in Manhattan and can think of no reason to go anywhere else.

Gloria is a hip, empowered, independent, and cosmopolitan woman who knows what she wants and knows how to get it. 
She is strikingly beautiful and takes full advantage of her looks.
 Gloria and has made her life what it is all on her own. 

She knows how to take care of herself in the big city.
Gloria is dialed into the latest trends and fashions.

 She has a strong sense of who she is, but a weak sense of what she wants. Men fall all over themselves to be with her, yet she has never found a guy that she would want to be with full time.
 She’s convinced herself that she’s the happiest on her own.
Gloria’s best friends happen to be men.

 Her relationship with her friends is platonic, warm, and committed. Her close male friends are friends for life.
 They are like family – and she is completely honest with them.

 

 

Marty

28 years old.
Marty is the guy that everybody loves to be around. 

 He has always made friends easily because he has a way of making others feel good about themselves.

Marty is an idealist and an optimist. This is part of his appeal, but it also works against him. 

For Marty, the glass is always half full, but it’s never completely full.

 He never feels comfortable with where he is. The grass is always greener on the other side.
 He’s happy to make others happy, but he’s never satisfied with himself.

Alex

32 years old.
From the Upper East Side.
Alex is extremely conservative. His future was set from the moment he was born. “Silver spoon syndrome” squared. 

Having been born into a privileged life, he never had to prove himself.

 Alex has never had to work a day in his life, and the idea of work is absolutely repugnant to him!

When his world is in order, Alex is warm and likable. He can be quite generous and quite charming – unless he doesn't like you.

 Then he’s the opposite. Nevertheless, he enjoys personalities that diverge from his own, as long as his own life remains in balance. 

 He is very awkward around women.
He’s never been out of Manhattan and has no desire to leave. In the city he feels in control of his world.

 He loves cement. He likes to be able to see the air that he breathes. 
He would never consider vacationing in “the great outdoors”. 
His idea of a vacation is Coney Island.
Intelligent. Educated, but without the wisdom that comes from a broad range of experience.

 Having never left his isolated world, he does not possess much vision.
 His worldview is the sum total of his immediate surroundings. He doesn’t have an ounce of imagination.
He looks good and knows it. He is obsessed with his looks.
He’s a ham. He likes attention. He loves to have his picture taken and likes to be on stage.
There are no surprises in his life, and that's exactly how he likes it. Everything must be “just so”. Every hair of his mane must be in place.
Alex is defined by his environment and demands that the world around him reflect his view of himself. Food must be cooked to exact specifications. 


MELMAN

 

Melman

34 years old.
Born and raised in the Bronx
Melman moved to Manhattan as a young adult. While he’s never left the city since he moved there, he still likes to think of himself as an outsider. In fact, his time in the Bronx makes Henry believe he’s a real wordly guy – really been around.
Melman wasn't as tough or as cool as the rest of his Bronx gang. He was a follower – a hanger-on. However, since no one can check his facts, he rewrites history to position himself as the instigator at the center of all the action.
Melman likes to think he knows something about everything. A snippet of information is enough to encourage Melman to assume the role of the expert. He usually doesn’t really know what he’s talking about, but, occasionally, there can be a great deal of insight in what he says. The only problem is you have to wade through hundreds of lame, ill-conceived observations to get to any good ones.

Melman is not liberal or conservative; he’ll simply take whatever position he thinks will make him look the best.

Melman means well. He likes to be liked. He loves to be loved. He likes to be the center of everyone’s attention.

23

King Julien XIII

Wacky, outlandish, and mostly annoying, King Julien ensures that the entertainment never stops!
King Julien is introduced as the incorrigible leader who the lemurs blindly follow. Having appointed himself king, this ring-tailed lemur believes that he has the answers to everything. His bottomless pit of ideas mostly border on the ridiculous and are useless, but with his charm and charisma, King Julien does manage to get everyone to do what he wants.
King Julien is introduced as the incorrigible leader who the lemurs blindly follow. Having appointed himself king, this ring-tailed lemur believes that he has the answers to everything. His bottomless pit of ideas mostly border on the ridiculous and are useless, but with his charm and charisma, King Julien does manage to get everyone to do what he wants.
If you want to know how to really party, King Julien is the lemur for you! Always looking to have a good time, he manages to look at the bright side of grave situations.
Witty and conceited, King Julien’s biggest strength is his ability to delegate and get his work done.

8th, OCtober

Meeting with Valeria
Education in USA.

Describing people- Movers

http://www.theprimarybox.org/item/Describing_people_Adjectives__online_activity/521

FOTOEFECTOS.COM , TECNOFERIA

http://www.fotoefectos.com/

The very hungry caterpillar

http://www.storyjumper.com/book/index/12683842/The-Very-Hungry-Caterpillar#page/2

Rainforest Beneath the Canopy -

http://a-z-animals.com/animals/jaguar/print/

Jaguar Facts

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Felidae
Genus:	Panthera
Scientific Name:	Panthera onca
Common Name:	Jaguar
Group:	Mammal
Number Of Species:	1
Location:	Central and South America
Habitat:	Rainforest, swamp and floodplains
Colour:	Tan, Yellow, Brown, White, Black
Skin Type:	Fur
Size (L):	1.1m - 1.9m
Weight:	36kg - 160kg
Top Speed:	80kph
Diet:	Carnivore
Prey:	Deer, Capybara, Tapir
Predators:	Human
Lifestyle:	Crepuscular
Group Behaviour:	Solitary
Life Span:	12 - 15 years
Age Of Sexual Maturity:	3 - 4 years
Gestation Period:	90 - 105 days
Average Litter Size:	3
Name Of Young:	Cub
Age Of Weaning:	3 months
Conservation Status:	Threatened
Estimated Population Size:	15,000
Biggest Threat:	Hunting and habitat loss
Most Distinctive Feature:	Beautiful rosetted fur pattern
Fun Fact:	The largest feline on the American continent! _______________________ Toucan Facts Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Piciformes Family: Ramphastidae Genus: Ramphastos Scientific Name: Ramphastos Toco Type: Bird Diet: Omnivore Size (H): 29cm - 63cm  Wing Span: 50cm - 119cm  Weight: 130g - 680g  Top Speed: 64km/h  Life Span: 12 - 20 years Lifestyle: Solitary Conservation Status: Least Concern Colour: White, Yellow, Orange, Black Skin Type: Feathers Favourite Food: Fruit Habitat: Lowland rainforest and tropical forest borders Average Clutch Size: 3 Main Prey: Fruit, Eggs, Insects Predators: Human, Weasels, Large Birds Distinctive Features: Small body and enormous colourful beak

Tropical Rainforest

Interesting Fact: More than 20 percent of the world oxygen is produced in the Amazon Rainforest.

What is a Rainforest? Rainforests are very dense, warm and wet forests. Why is it called a Rainforest? The reason it is called a "rain" forest is because of the high amount of rainfall it gets per year. Rainforests have an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches (254 centimeters) and often much more. Why are Rainforests important to us? They are very important as the plants of the rainforest generate much of the Earth’s oxygen

Interesting Fact: Rainforests cover only 6 %of the Earth's surface but yet they contain MORE THAN 1/2 of the world's plant and animal species!

How many different types of Rainforests are there? There are two types of Rainforest: Temperate Rainforests Tropical Rainforests Find out more (Click on the link "Types of Rainforest" on the left of the page)

Interesting Fact: Rainforests are found on every continent across the Earth, except Antarctica.

Where in the world are Rainforests found? Tropical rainforests are found close to the equator where temperatures and rainfall are very high all year round. The major areas of tropical rainforests are in South East Asia, West Africa and South and Central America. The best known rain forests are found in tropical regions between the Tropics of cancer and Capricorn. Temperate rainforests are found along coasts in the temperate zone. The largest temperate rainforests are found on North America's Pacific Coast and stretch from Northern California up into Canada. Temperate rainforests have one long wet winter/spring season, and a dry foggy summer.

What lives in a Rainforest? As many as 30 million species of plants and animals live in tropical rainforests.

Interesting Fact: A typical four square mile patch of rainforest contains as many as 1,500 flowering plants, 750 species of trees, 400 species of birds and 150 species of butterflies.

What are the different layers of a Rainforest Called? There are four main parts of a Rainforest. They are: Emergent Layer - very sunny because it is the very top. Only the tallest trees reach this level. Who lives here? birds, butterflies and small monkeys live with bats, snakes and bugs. Canopy Layer - much of the rain is stopped by the thick foliage. Most trees in the forest grow to this height. There are plants that grow in the canopy layer. Their roots don't reach the ground. These are called air plants. Who lives here? birds, monkeys, frogs, and sloths, as well as lizards, snakes and many insects. See photos Understory Layer - many vines, dense vegetation, not much light. Who lives here? birds, butterflies, frogs and snakes See photos Forest Floor - dark, damp, full of many dead leaves, twigs and dead plants. The forest floor is dark due to the trees above stopping the sunlight from entering the forest. It is estimated that only 2% of the sunlight actually reaches the floor. Who lives here? jaguars in South America, gorillas and leopards in Africa and tapirs and tigers and elephants in Asia.  See photos Click here to find out more

Interesting Fact: The trees of a tropical rainforest are so densely packed that rain falling on the canopy can take as long as 10 minutes to reach the ground.

What do we get from Rainforests? Many of the things we have in our homes comes from the rainforest. These include: medicine chocolate - Chocolate is made from cocoa. Cocoa pods grow on trees in rainforests. sugar spices - includes ginger, allspice, pepper, cinnamon, coconut, vanilla, turmeric and paprika. rubber pineapples bamboo

Interesting Fact: An area of a rainforest the size of a football field is being destroyed each second.

escuela4salto.blogspot.com  Lesson Plans  The Rain Forest ANIMALS

Title: Exploring the Rain Forest Through Print, Graphics, and Sound

Content: Art (creating a rain forest, save the rain forest posters), Writing (a walk through the rain forest, diary of a rain forest), Reading (about the

rain forests), 

Math (graphing precipitation),

 Music (create soundsof the rain forest on musical instruments),

 Geography (mapping therain forests), and some

 Science (graphing precipitation).

Grade Level: Third through Fifth

Rationale: I have chosen to use the rain forests for this thematic unit because it can

provide numerous meaningful reading and writing activities. 

It is also a topic that  students will have a large degree of

interest in.

Overview of Activities:

Days 1 & 2: Mapping the rain forests

Day 3: Reading about the rain forests

Day 4: Graphing precipitation

Days 5-7: Creating a rain forest

Days 8 & 9: Diary of a rain forest 

Day 10:Listening to sounds of the rain forest

Day 11: Save the rain forest posters

Days 12-14: A walk through the rain forest

Day 15: Return to readings about the rain forests; discussion

Objectives

1. Students will fill in the locations on a global map that contain rain forests. google maps

2. Students will keep a journal based on their readings.

3. The students will construct a graph comparing local precipitation to precipitation in the rain forests.

4. Through group work, the students will create a rain forest along a wall of the classroom or in the hallway.

5... someone who lives in a rain forest.

6. Using musical instruments, the students will listen to relaxing sounds from the rain forest

7. After discussing the importance and relevance of the rain forest, students will

create posters expressing their desire to save the rain forest. They will include specific reasons for saving the rain forest on their posters.

8. As a final activity, students will write about their imagined experience of walking through a rain forest; what they see, hear, and feel, and their experiences ingeneral.

Lesson Plans

Lesson 2: Reading about the Rain Forests

Objectives: They will take part in a class discussion on what they have learned.

Content: Reading, and discussion

Description:What they know can be used to activate students’ prior knowledge, what they want to know can be used to provide students with a meaningful reason to read and research, and what they learned can be used in assessment or to evaluate the effectiveness of the unit. 

What they learned will also be useful in keeping the knowledge that they have gained in their head, will allow for students to share information with others, and will provide students with evidence that they really did learn a lot through the unit.

Instruct the students to take out a notebook to keep notestheir 

 Introduce the videos on the virtual classroom and the school blog escela 4salto.blogspot.com on the rain forest,

 ask students to bring  write down books they would want to read the most. Use these votes to distribute the books to the class. 

  to help them discuss in class what they learned from the books.

 Talk with the students about the different animals and plants native to the rain forests.

 Discuss with the students what they liked or did not like . After the discussion is finished, allow students to write in their notebooks a final time about what they learned from the discussion.

Materials: As many books, videos on the rain forest as possible. 

Evaluation: Use the notebook writings to assess the students’ knowledge about the rain forests animals

 Remember that some students will have more prior knowledge than others

about the rain forests, so look mostly at the new information that they learned.

Adaptation/Extension: Have students create a poster to advertise the book that they

read. They should include information about the book itself, the illustrations, and

information about the rain forests.

Lesson 3: Graphing Precipitation

Objectives: The students will create bar graphs comparing local precipitation levels to

precipitation levels in another nation that contains rain forests, such as Costa Rica,

Brazil, or Ecuador. They will also be able to make comparisons based upon the graph that they create.

Content: Math, graphing, statistics, and research (Internet)

Description:

Begin the lesson by introducing the concept of monthly precipitation. Ask students whether it rains more where they live or in the rain forests. These questions should prompt students’ thinking before they begin their research.

Once the students have a good idea of what monthly precipitation is, have them do research to find out how much rain falls each month in the two different locations. Tell them that they need accurate information because they will make bar graphs afterwards. Encourage students to also look for general differences in climate between the United States and these other nations with rain forests. After all their research is done, they should begin work on their bar graphs.

The bar graphs could be done in several different ways, but the graph on the following page works well because it compares the both places’ precipitation by month. Discuss with students the need for clarity of the information in their graph. Thus, students should see the need for having the data for each location next to each other on the graph for direct comparison. Ask for comments from the class on ways to make the graph and perhaps they will come up with a graph similar to the following or another format that would be acceptable. After a format has been decided upon, have students create their graphs using the information they gained through their research. These graphs should then be used by the students to make written comparisons between the local precipitation and that in a nation with rain forests. These graphs can then be used in assessment.

Materials: Any available resource materials that will have information on Costa Rica

would be helpful for this lesson. The use of the library, encyclopedias, CD-ROM

encyclopedias, and other resources should be available. World almanacs that show

precipitation around the globe would be particularly helpful. Numerous web sites

provide detailed information about weather around the globe. These could easily

be found by doing an Internet search on “rain forest climate” or “tropical climate.”

Evaluation: Students’ comparisons of the monthly precipitation levels locally and in rain

forest countries can be evaluated on how well they were interpreted from their bar

graph as well as how accurate they were. The graph itself can be graded based on

its accuracy. However, when evaluating students written comparisons, consider

how well they reflect the information on their graph. Do not take off points twice

for inaccurate information.

Adaptation/Extension: This lesson could be followed up with students actually

recording their local precipitation for a month to have a real-life example of what

monthly precipitation means. This extension would be great for students that had

trouble with the lesson or in understanding monthly precipitation. As an

adaptation to the adaptation, this extension could instead be done before the lesson

so that students will know what monthly precipitation is coming into the lesson.

Lesson 4: Creating a Rain Forest

Objective: After listing and explaining the layers of the rain forest, students will work

together to create their own artistic version of the rain forest on a wall.

Content: research, language arts, listening, and art

Description:

This activity can be started by reading to the class a book on layers of the rain forests. Encourage the students to listen because they will need to discuss the book after it has been read. Share with the class a transparency depicting the layers of the rain forest and a list of animals that live in the rain forest. Discuss what each layer is like and what its purpose may be. Also talk about what types of plants and animals might be found in each layer. Once again, provide books for the students to look through to learn more.

Now students will work on creating their own rain forest. Divide the class into groups of three or four and assign a layer of the rain forest to each group, with several groups working on the same layer, but on different parts of that layer. Provide each group with pieces of butcher paper. Have the students recreate their layer of the rain forest using construction paper, markers, crayons, and any other material that they may find to be useful. Instruct the students to depict the different types of plants and animals that would appear in their layer of the rain forest. Once they are finished, place each rain forest layer on a classroom wall or the hallway and attach the sections together. Allow the students to use markers and more paper to label the layers of the rain forest and to name their rain forest once it has been put up on the wall. Now may be a good time to discuss the relationship the rain forest has with society and the deforestation of the rain forests.

Materials: Rain forest layers transparency, books on the layers of the rain forest and

animals and plants that live in these layers, butcher paper, scissors, construction

paper, tape, markers, pencils, crayons, etc.

Evaluation: Students can be assessed during their group work on their knowledge of the

layers of the rain forest and the animals and plants that live in each layer. This can

be done by use of a checklist.

Adaptation/Extension: The lesson could be extended by discussing Ethnobotany which

is that field of science that studies the products that an environment may naturally

create. In addition, students could study about a particular group of people that

live in a rain forest area.

Lesson 7: Saving the Rain Forest

Objective: Students will be able to discuss why rain forests are being destroyed and why

we should try to save them (their importance). Students will also create a poster

indicating their desire to save the rain forests.

Content: Writing, art, speaking, and brainstorming

Description:

Spark students’ interest by asking them to help brainstorm ideas of why the rain forests may be being destroyed. Next, brainstorm reasons why we would want to save the rain forests and what their uses are. Discuss with the class both of the lists that are generated. Now have students begin work on their save the rain forest posters. They should include illustrations and a strong message of why they think the rain forest should be saved. Once they are finished, the students will present their posters to the class and describe their reason for saving the rain forest. Let students know that there are many people that do not want the rain forests to be destroyed and that they can make a difference through some of the following organizations. They could write to these organizations to request information on what they can do to save the rain forest.

Children’s Alliance for Protection of the Environment, Inc. (CAPE)

CAPE International Office

P.O. Box 307

Austin, TX 78767

(512) 476-2273

Global Response Newsletter

P.O. Box 7490

Boulder, CO 80306-7280

Rainforest Action Network

301 Broadway, Suite A

San Francisco, CA 94133

Materials: posterboard (butcher paper), markers, crayons, pencils, etc.

Evaluation: A rubric could be used to assess the poster and presentation.

Adaptation/Extension: Have students write to the above organizations for more

information and then share this information in class.

Evaluation Lesson Plan

Lesson 8: A Walk Through the Rain Forest

Objective: The students will synthesize the information they have learned throughout the

unit to write a story about their imaginary walk through a rain forest.

Content: Writing, reading, critical thinking, and editing

Description:

Have the students brainstorm what they have learned about the rain forest throughout the unit (the last stage of the KWL method). Then provide the class with the reading and have them read it silently. When they are finished, discuss the things that Vanessa saw and experienced on her walk through the rain forest. Now ask the students to write their own story about a walk through the rain forest. Ask them to take on the role of an adventurer, a scientist, an animal, a native, or some other character. Instruct them to describe what they would detect with their senses, what they would smell, feel, hear, see, etc. Their stories should discuss particular animals, plants, peoples, climate, and other aspects of the rain forest that they are in. Present students with a version of the rubric that will be used to grade their story. Have the students share their stories with another student and then allow that student to edit the story.

Materials: The story A Jungle Journey from Ranger Rick’s Nature Scope, paper and

writing materials, books for reference, and (optional) string, markers, and crayons

Evaluation: Use the rubric on the following page. Since this assignment requires

synthesis of the information learned throughout the unit, it can serve as the final

evaluation on the unit. For additional evaluation, students can write a self-

evaluation and this can be compared with the student’s rubric for an overall grade.

I chose this lesson to contain the final evaluation because of the synthesis of

information it requires. A great deal of information can be used in writing this

story. I chose a rubric because it is less likely to involve bias in grading. A rubric

also is easy to use and will keep my standards the same as I grade each story.

Adaptation/Extension: Students could make books out of their stories by adding

illustrations and stitching the pages together. As an alternative, they could

combine all the stories into one larger book.

Scoring Rubric for A Walk Through the Rain Forest lesson

Name_____________________

1. Eight facts must be included on the following aspects of rain forests. Each fact will be worth three points for a total of 24 points. The facts must be accurate to receive points.

Vegetation: __________

Animals: __________

Climate: __________

People: __________

Total Points: __________

2. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar will be worth a total of 18 points.

Spelling: 6 5 4 3 2 1

Punctuation: 6 5 4 3 2 1

Grammar: 6 5 4 3 2 1

Total Points: __________

3. Neatness and creativity will be worth a total of 8 points.

Neatness: 4 3 2 1

Creativity: 4 3 2 1

Total Points: __________

Overall Total: __________ / 50 Points

Notes/Comments/Suggestions:

Student Self-Assessment Rubric

I thought my story was accurate because…

My story was entertaining because…

What I need to do to make my story better is…

Circle One:

I described rain forest…

Vegetation: Well Fair Not at all

Animals: Well Fair Not at all

Climate: Well Fair Not at all

People: Well Fair Not at all

I think my…

Spelling is: Good Fair Poor

Punctuation is: Good Fair Poor

Grammar is: Good Fair Poor

Neatness is: Good Fair Poor

Resources

Children’s Books:

Baptista, L. H. (1992). Discover rain forests. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications

International, Ltd.

Annotation:

The large print and spectacular photography make this book an excellent

source for slower readers and advanced readers alike. The large print should not

give the impression that it is an “easy book,” however. The content is quite in-

depth, the book is just made to be easier to read. It focuses primarily on the plant

and animal life of the rain forests, but also discusses the layers of the rain forest

and their importance, the destruction of the rain forests, and animal survival in the

rain forest. Little is mentioned about the peoples of the rain forest. A glossary is

included to clarify difficult terms. This book would be great for student use.

Cowcher, H. (1988). Rain forest. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Goodman, B. (1991). The rain forest. New York: Tern Enterprise, Inc.

Annotation:

Similar to the Discover Rain Forests book, this book also has some

spectacular photography. It also discusses the plant and animal life, the layers of

the rain forest, and deforestation and saving the rain forest. In addition, this book

also has a large section on the peoples of the rain forest. All peoples are discussed

from the hunter-gatherers to the Indians to the modern people of the rain forest. I

do think that teachers should be cautioned of the typical display of natives’ lack of

clothing when considering the use of the book for their class. The rain forests’

effect on global climate and the products derived from the rain forest are also

discussed. This book’s wealth of information makes it a good choice for use in the

classroom.

Knapp, B. J. (1992). What do we know about rain forests? New York: Simon&

Schuster Young Books (Peter Bedrick Books).

Annotation:

Unlike the previous two books discussed, this one has little information on

the wildlife of the rain forest. It does however, deal more with geography, the

environment, usefulness of the trees, mining, and a major emphasis on farming in

and around the rain forests. Once again, teachers should be cautioned about the

lack of clothing on the natives for immature students. A glossary is also at the end

of this book, which can be helpful.

Landau, E. (1990). Tropical rain forest: Around the world. New York: Franklin

Watts.

Ross, S. (1991). What’s in the rain forest? Los Angeles: Enchanted Rain Forest Press.

Sly, A. (1992). The Brazilian rain forest. New York: Dillon Press.

Stone, L. (1994). Animals of the rain forest. Florida: The Rourke Corporation, Inc.

Stone, L. (1994). Rain forest at night. Florida: The Rourke Corporation.

Teacher Resource Books:

Fisher, R. (1990). Emerald realm: Earth’s precious rain forests. Washington D.C.:

National Geographic Society.

Gibbons, G. (1994). Nature’s green Umbrella. New York: William Morrow and

Company, Inc.

Greenaway, F. (1992). Rain forest. New York: Dorling Kindersley, Inc.

Nations, J. (1988). Tropical rain forests: endangered environment. New York:

Franklin Watts.

Terbough, J. (1992). Diversity and the tropical rain forest. New York: Scientific

American Library.

Internet Resources:

Edmark Products. (1996). Destination: Rain forest. [On-line].

Eisele, S. (1997). Who lives in the rain forest? [On-line].

Fry, C. (1996). Living in the rain forest-forests page. [On-line].

Rainforest Action Network. (1997). Welcome to the rainforest action network

homepage. [On-line]. Available: http://www.ran.org/.

Annotation:

This Internet site contains various information on the RAN (Rainforest

Action Network) organization. Within it, aspects such as their current rain forest

protection projects are discussed. It offers tips for helping in the battle to save the

rain forests. In addition to this information on the organization, it also provides a

great deal of information on the rain forests themselves. There is a kids’ corner

which offers even more information geared to a child’s perspective. Many of the

topics here deal with plants and animals in the rain forest. This site would be

useful for both educators and students alike.

StarkNet. (1997). Rain forest. [On-line].

Annotation:

I received many of my ideas for this unit from this site. It contains a

thematic unit for teachers to use that focuses on the rain forests. There are

numerous more ideas for lessons that teachers could get from this site as well.

There are sections of the plan devoted to each of the major content areas. Each

content area contains at least three well-developed lessons. This site is incredibly

useful for educators.

CD-ROM: 

Edmark Products. (1996). Destination: Rain forest. Edmark Corporation.

Annotation:

This program allows students to create their own interactive stories from

CD-ROM. They are able to develop “professional-looking electronic storybooks”

with this program (Edmark, 1). They are provided with information on numerous

plants and animals to integrate into their rain forest story. The students have a

wealth of rain forest photography to use to illustrate their books with. There are

also sounds that can be included to aid in the telling of their story. Of course, the

finished product can be printed out in a book format (well, not the sounds). This

would be a great resource for students and would be excellent to use with

students’ Walk Through the Rain Forest story lesson.

Reflection

I feel that with some adaptations made to suit particular classrooms and to consider every student, this thematic unit can be very useful and informative to students. The list of resources that I have compiled should prove to be very useful in carrying out the unit. I think that the lessons that I chose tap in to all of the content areas in some way or another. However, I do feel that there could be some additions in certain areas, such as science. Science could be integrated more with a lesson focusing on study of the biological life of the rain forests.

The individual lessons should combine well to provide students with a well-developed knowledge base on rain forests. Mapping the rain forests will allow students to find out where exactly the rain forests are located. Reading about rain forests will simply allow students to soak up information and the journal will help them to digest it. Graphing precipitation will help students to understand the difference in local climate compared to rain forest climate. In addition to the knowledge that must be applied to do so, creating a rain forest will assist in drifting students off into the rain forest for their upcoming writings. The diary of a rain forest dweller will allow students to relate with people that do live in the rain forest. It requires critical thinking on the part of the students to put themselves in the place of someone living in the rain forest. They must consider this as well as all of the information they have learned so far about what will be surrounding them. Creating the sounds of the rain forest will also familiarize students with what it would sound like to be in a rain forest. Listening will allow them to understand the animal sounds, etc., while recreating the sounds will require critical thinking on what the sounds were of and how to best represent them. The save the rain forest posters will help students to understand the usefulness of the rain forests and the danger that they are in. Hopefully students will learn to support the rain forest. The final activity, a walk through the rain forest, requires synthesis of all the information they have learned throughout the unit, and thus, it is a suitable final evaluation. The use of a clear rubric and/or a student self-assessment will allow for a fair evaluation. All of the lessons match up with the objectives for the unit and these objectives should help to guide the development of additional lessons. Either by using these objectives, or adding objectives to make up for material that is missed, additional lesson plans would help to enhance the unit.

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