Objectives
At the beginning of the unit a lesson on the 5W's and an H will be provided and the concept will be practiced. The first discussion of the 5W's and an H will be through literature. I will read "Beautiful Princess Without a Face" a wonderful fictional story about the five senses. After the story I will ask them questions using the technique and while we are talking I will ask them to listen for any words that ask a question. They will hear the question words: who, what, when, where, why and how. A discussion about a newspaper, the job of a reporter and the use of the journalistic research technique will follow. If time permits there are wonderful books in the library that describes jobs. One about journalism would be a great visual tool.
The next lesson will be titled "Brain-storming the Brain". It will be a prior knowledge discussion about the brain. I would like the discussion to bring out the fact that the 5 senses are part of the brain; this may take some leading questions, since the senses are found in different areas of our body, but they are also part of the brain. To make the connection to the brain more clear, the students will be given an anatomy coloring sheet to identify the location of the 5 senses. A brain Jell-O mold and Plaster of Paris will be used to make brains for each of the children to paint or color to identify each critical region of the brain in which the five senses are processed.
The students will then be divided into 5 groups of newspaper reporters and will be given one of the five senses to research using the journalistic research tool. They will begin by choosing 5 questions they want to answer about their sense. Then using books and internet resources they will find the answers to their questions. Each group will present their information to the class and a question and answer period will follow. The unit will end with a creation of our "Brain Almanac" our classroom newspaper. The newspaper will make the connection between the process and the knowledge.
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