Is It Alive? – Kindergarten
Ohio Standards
Connection
Writing Process
Benchmark E
Edit to improve sentence
fluency, grammar and
usage.
Indicator 6
Use correct sentence
structures when
expressing thoughts and
ideas.
Acquisition of
Vocabulary
Benchmark B
Read accurately highfrequency sight words.
Indicator 3
Identify words in
common categories such
as color words, number
words and directional
words.
Life Science
Benchmark A.
Discover that there are
living and non-living
things and pretend
things, and describe the
basic needs of living
things (organisms).
Indicator 1
Explore differences
between living and nonliving things (e.g. plantrock).
Lesson Summary:
Kindergarten students learn best when they actively participate
in learning. Students enjoy learning about living and non-living
things through hands-on experiences, photography and
dramatic expression. Students identify characteristics of living
and non-living things as well as use vocabulary to describe
these wonderful things that they interact with on a daily basis.
Estimated Duration: Five hours
Commentary:
Inquiry, observation, investigation and classification are some
of the important skills that this lesson addresses. Students enjoy
using art, photography, and drama to demonstrate their
findings.
Not only is this lesson rich in field experience and
interdisciplinary connections, but it skillfully embeds activities
that address multiple intelligences.
What a delightful image! Kindergartners equipped with
cameras and clipboards tromping through the schoolyard,
carefully carrying out their investigative assignment.
Pre-Assessment:
· Complete pre-assessment one day prior to beginning lesson.
· Distribute a sheet of paper divided in half to each student.
· Ask students to draw a picture of one living thing and one
non-living thing that they see in the room.
Scoring Guidelines:
Review pictures with students. Ask students to name the picture
and tell if it is living or non-living. Record student responses on
Is It Alive Pre-Assessment, Attachment A. Write student
misconceptions on a separate sheet of paper. Add
misconceptions to the chart in Part Two.
Benchmark B
Design and conduct a
simple investigation to
explore a question.
Post-Assessment:
· Provide each student with modeling clay.
· Provide each student with a large sheet of white paper.
· Instruct each student to make a physical model of a living
and non-living object.
Indicator 4
Use the five senses to
make observations about
the natural world.
Scoring Guidelines:
Ask each student to name and describe each self-created object.
Record responses on Is It Alive? Checklist, Attachment B.
Scientific Inquiry
1
Is It Alive? – Kindergarten
Ohio Standards Connection
Scientific Ways of Knowing
Benchmark A
Recognize that there are
different ways to carry out
scientific investigations.
Realize that investigations
can be repeated under the
same conditions with similar
results and may have
different explanations.
Indicator 2
Recognize that people are
more likely to accept your
ideas if you can give good
reasons for them.
Technology for
Productivity Applications
Benchmark A.
Understand basic computer
and multimedia technology
concepts and terminology.
Indicator 3
Use computer and
multimedia technology with
teacher assistance (e.g.
computer, VCR, listening
station).
Creative Expression and
Communication
Benchmark A.
Sustain characters with
consistency in classroom
dramatizations.
Indicator 1
Imitate movements, voices
and feelings of people,
animals and objects through
dramatic play.
Lesson Set-Up:
One month prior to this lesson introduce living things worms,
ant farm, butterflies, plants, fish, turtle) and additional nonliving things to the classroom (i.e. stuffed animals, recess toys).
Label objects to encourage a literacy-rich environment. Make
picture cards as in Sample Picture Cards, Attachment C).
Instructional Procedures:
Part One – Sorting Living and Non-living Things
1. Seat students in large circle.
2. Place collection of five living and five non-living things (or
enlarged clip art or photographs of objects)
3. Initiate sorting of objects into living or non-living categories
4. Use “think aloud” procedure so students hear the thought
process.
5. Invite students to join sorting activity.
6. Ask questions while sorting (i.e. Why did you place that
object in this group?).
7. Encourage students to use five senses to inform responses.
8. Record student responses/thoughts on chart paper (i.e., it has
eyes, it is hard, etc.) without sorting comments into
categories.
9. Write terms living and non-living on separate large paper.
10. Involve students in correctly identifying objects as living or
non-living.
11. Discuss sorting activity (i.e. Ask students, How did we sort
the objects?).
12. Save the objects and charts with student responses for Day
Two.
Day Two: Is It Alive? Defining Living or Non-Living Things
13. Share objects correctly sorted from Day One.
14. Review by asking students why some objects were living
and some were non-living.
15. Add new responses to the chart saved from Day One.
16. Add misconceptions noted in the pre-assessment.
17. Post two new sheets of chart paper labeled living and nonliving.
18. Reread each sentence or phrase.
19. Ask students to categorize descriptions as living or nonliving.
20. Record student responses on labeled chart paper
(Characteristics Chart) under the correct category.
21. Read the characteristics of living things.
22. Record a student-created definition of living things.
23. Read characteristics of non-living things.
2
Is It Alive? – Kindergarten
24. Record a student-created definition of non-living things on chart or separate sheet of
paper.
25. Post the definition beside the appropriate chart.
26. Ask students to give an example of a living and non-living thing that they encounter
in their lives.
27. Ask students to explain why the object is living or non-living.
28. Refer to characteristics chart as necessary (i.e., Tommy told us that he has a hamster
at home that is living. Ask Tommy how he knows it is living and reread the phrase or
sentence from chart that supports Tommy’s thinking).
29. Encourage students to describe objects using color words and sense words.
30. Review the formal definitions of living and non-living things.
Day Three – Dramatization of Living or Non-Living Objects
31. Prepare an anticipation guides.
Instructional Tip:
An anticipation guide is a teacher-prepared list of statements about a topic. Some of the
statements should be true and accurate and others incorrect or based on misconceptions.
Before reading the text, read each statement in the anticipatory guide ask the students to
discuss whether they agree or disagree with each.
32. Read aloud the selected text.
33. Add new characteristics of living or non-living objects to characteristic chart from
Day Two.
34. Model dramatization of a living (plant growing) and a non-living (rock) object.
35. Have students guess the object.
36. Refer to the characteristics chart.
37. Distribute one picture card (see Sample Picture Cards, Attachment C) to each student
or student pair.
38. Instruct students to dramatize the object on the picture card.
39. Invite students to guess the object.
40. Encourage students to elaborate on their guesses and describe one specific
characteristic of the object that makes it living or non-living.
41. Engage students in an active song or poem related to the topic.
Instructional Tip:
Correlate picture cards to objects from the selected text.
Day Four: Living and Non-Living Hunt
42. Read aloud a pre-selected text related to respecting or caring for objects in nature.
43. Identify living objects in the text.
44. Tell students that they will take a walking trip outside to search for living and nonliving objects.
45. Review ways to respect objects in nature.
46. Model observation strategies using a real-life object and five senses.
47. Model proper use of a camera or how to illustrate objects.
3
Is It Alive? – Kindergarten
48. Distribute cameras or small sheets of paper with crayons (and clipboard) to
individuals or small groups of students.
49. Direct students to capture (in pictures or drawings) a selected number of living and
non-living objects.
50. Take students on a walk around the school or a neighborhood, “capturing” living or
non-living objects as photographs or illustrations.
51. Circulate and randomly record student responses to questions posed. Ask them if they
know whether an object is living or non-living. Ask them the five senses used in this
activity.
52. Informally revisit the misconception noted during the pre-assessment.
53. Return to the classroom.
54. Discuss and informally record student reactions on chart paper. Allow students to see
their thoughts in writing.
Instructional Tips:
· Use parent volunteers or older students to assist small groups.
· If using disposable cameras, develop pictures prior to Day Five.
· Capture photographs and comments of students throughout the lesson.
Day Five: Categorizing Photographs or Illustrations
55. Post teacher photographs and student comments from activity Day Four on large chart
paper.
56. Revisit the experience.
57. Post the characteristic chart for student reference.
58. Post and review color words and the chart with five senses for students to reference.
59. Display enlarged T-Chart labeled living and non-living.
60. Review the purpose of the T-Chart.
61. Distribute photographs or illustrations to students.
62. Allow students time to look at and share pictures through informal conversation with
peers.
63. Engage students in categorizing pictures as living and non-living.
64. Tape pictures on an enlarged T-Chart.
65. Review several pictures by orally stating a sentence, pausing for student responses.
Examples:
The tree is
. It is
(color word).
The tree felt
(senses word).
Day Six: Writing About Living and Non-Living Things
66. Post charts from previous lessons for student reference.
67. Model writing about a picture.
68. Assist students in choosing a picture from T-Chart.
69. Provide students with writing paper.
70. Allow students to write independently.
71. Encourage students to describe objecting using color words.
72. Support individual student writing.
4
Is It Alive? – Kindergarten
Day Seven: Post-Assessment
73. Distribute modeling clay.
74. Distribute a sheet of large white paper to each student.
75. Instruct students to make a living and a non-living object.
76. Individually check students for their understanding of the concept of a living or nonliving object.
· Ask a student to name the object.
· Ask a student to tell if the object is living or non-living.
· Ask student to tell one or two things about the object.
· Listen for characteristics of a living or non-living thing.
· Probe student to describe an object using senses words (It feels, It looks, etc.).\
Instructional Tips:
· Record student responses on large sheet of paper.
· Display responses in the classroom for students to share and use for future reference.
Differentiated Instructional Support:
Instruction is differentiated according to learner needs, to help all learners either meet the
intent of the specified indicator(s) or, if the indicator is already met, to advance beyond
the specified indicator(s).
· Students use illustrations or words to convey information.
· Use picture cards which include vocabulary words and pictures.
· Use T-Charts and graphic tools to help students organize thoughts.
Extensions:
· Provide beginning readers with a related non-fiction text. Have students read to a
partner, non-reader or teacher. Have students write a fact about a living and nonliving object.
· Have students create a “Living Things” book. Students write a minimum of one
sentence about each living thing mentioned.
· Display photographs of students from Day Four. Involve students in a shared writing
activity describing the photographs.
· Allow students to use finger paints or crayons to illustrate a picture of a living object
or a non-living object in its natural environment.
· Involve students in creating an advertisement describing a living or non-living object.
· Create an imaginary living object or non-living object. Describe characteristics of the
object that make it living or non-living.
· Share texts about living objects found in other environments such as oceans, deserts,
or jungles.
· Invite a photographer to discuss the art of photography. The photographer could give
students tips for taking photographs. The photographer could also discuss how photos
are a way to communicate at a level kindergarten students can understand.
5
Is It Alive? – Kindergarten
·
Listen to music that represents living and non-living objects such as Peter and the
Wolf, The Four Seasons, Fantasia and Fantasia Two Thousand.
Home Connections:
· Send cameras home for students to take pictures of living and non-living objects.
· Ask students to illustrate a book of living and non-living objects found at home. Have
students work with a family member to dictate or write a sentence about the object.
· Request students cut out pictures of living or non-living objects from magazines at
home.
· Use home computers to cut and paste pictures of living and non-living objects from
Internet and print to share with the class.
Materials and Resources:
The inclusion of a specific resource in any lesson formulated by the Ohio Department of
Education should not be interpreted as an endorsement of that particular resource, or
any of its contents, by the Ohio Department of Education. The Ohio Department of
Education does not endorse any particular resource. The Web addresses listed are for a
given site’s main page, therefore, it may be necessary to search within that site to find the
specific information required for a given lesson. Please note that information published
on the Internet changes over time, therefore the links provided may no longer contain the
specific information related to a given lesson. Teachers are advised to preview all sites
before using them with students.
For the teacher: chart paper, markers, numerous living and non-living objects, cameras
for each student, individual camera, teacher-created picture cards,
related non-fiction text, related poem, text related to caring for or
respecting objects in nature
For the students: camera (or large sheet of white paper and crayons), modeling material
(clay, play dough, etc.)
Vocabulary:
· anticipation guide
· inquiry
· living
· misconceptions
· non-fiction
· non-living
· sorting
· T-Chart
Technology Connections:
· Students use digital, disposable or instant cameras.
· Homework assignments allow students to use a home computer to cut and paste
pictures of living and non-living objects.
6
Is It Alive? – Kindergarten
·
Students may use a school computer to draw and write about a living and non-living
object.
Research Connections:
Almy, M., E. Chittenden, & P. Miller. Young Children’s Thinking: Studies of Some
Aspects of Piaget’s Theory. New York: Teachers College Press, 1966.
According to Piaget, cognitive operations related to reading are seriation, ordering,
temporal relations, conservation, one-to one correspondence, spatial relations,
classification and number relations..
Barrantine, S. J. “Engaging with Reading through Interactive Read-Alouds.” The Reading
Teacher, 50(1996): 36-43,
A read-aloud session is a method framework often used by teachers to develop
independent readers.
Head, M.H., & Readence, J.E. “Anticipation guides: Meaning through prediction.” In E.
K. Dishner, T. W. Bean, J. E. Readence, D. W. Moore (Eds.), Reading in the Content
Areas, 2nd ed., pp. 229-234, Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1986.
Anticipation guides are lists of statements about a topic that students discuss before
reading content area textbooks and informational books. Teachers prepare a list of
statements about the topic; some of the statements should be true and accurate, and others
incorrect or based on misconceptions. Before reading, students discuss each statement
and agree or disagree with it. Then they discuss the statements again after reading. The
purpose of this activity is to stimulate student interest in the topic and activate prior
knowledge.
Marzano, Robert J., Jane E. Pollock and Debra Pickering. Classroom Instruction that
Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement, Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2001.
Identifying similarities and differences enhances student’s understanding of and ability to
use knowledge. This process includes comparing and classifying, creating metaphor and
analogies.
Sousa, David .How the Brain Learns: A Classroom Teacher’s Guide. Reston, VA:
NASSP, 1995.
Sousa provides valuable and practical insights to teaching and learning. This rubric
summarizes Sousa’s components found in this lesson.
7
Is It Alive? – Kindergarten
Lesson Component
Anticipatory set
Learning objective
Purpose
Input
Modeling
Check for
understanding
Guided Practice
Closure
Independent Practice
Purpose
Focuses students on the
learning objective
Identifies what learning
outcomes a re to be
accomplished by the end of
the lesson
Explains why it is important
to accomplish this objective
Gives students the
information and skills they
need to accomplish the
objective
Shows the process or product
of what students are learning
Allows teachers to verify if
students understand what they
are learning
Allows students to try the new
learning with teacher
guidance
Allows students time to
mentally summarize and
internalize the new learning
Students try new learning on
their own to develop fluency.
Relationship to Research
Establishes relevance and encourages positive
transfer during first prime time
Students should know what they should learn
and how they will know they have learned it
Knowing the purpose for learning something
builds interest and establishes meaning
Bloom’s knowledge level; Helps identify
critical attributes
Modeling enhancing sense and meaning to help
retention
Bloom’s comprehension level
Bloom’s application level; Practice provides for
fast learning
Last chance for attaching sense and meaning,
thus improving retention
This practice helps make the new learning
permanent
General Tips:
Feel free to adjust the time spent on this lesson to meet individual class needs. Gathering
and arranging materials and supplies ahead of time makes Day One run more smoothly;
the students get very excited about all of the supplies and equipment.
Attachments:
Attachment A, Pre-Assessment Is It Alive?
Attachment B, Post-Assessment Is It Alive?
Attachment C, Sample of Picture Cards
8
Is It Alive? – Kindergarten
Attachment A
Is It Alive?
Pre-Assessment Checklist
Name_______________________________
Date__________________________
Directions: After students identify and illustrate pictures of living and non-living objects
found in the classroom, review the pictures with the students. Ask students to name the
object in the picture and tell if it is living or non-living. Record student responses on the
checklist.
Student
Living
Correctly Identified Object as
or
Non-Living
9
Is It Alive? – Kindergarten
Attachment B
Post-Assessment Checklist
Directions: Ask each student to name and describe each self-created object.
Record a (ü) if student responded correctly.
Write C if student was able to describe it using a color word.
Write S if student was able to describe it using a senses word.
O if student describe it orally and W if student wrote a word.
Student Name
Correctly identified
object as
Correctly described
object using
characteristics of
Living
Living
Orally describes or writes color (C) and sense (S)
words to describe object
O=Orally W=Written
Non-Living
Non-Living
10
Is It Alive? - Kindergarten
Attachment C
Sample Picture Cards
Name_______________________________
Date__________________________
Directions: Use clip art to create one picture card of a living or non-living object for each
student or pairs of students.
11