Thursday, January 8, 2009

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

Part 2 in our Wizard of Oz journey...
Next week we will launch into Oz activities in earnest. This week we have listened to the sound track about 3000 times (did you know the song "We're Off to See the Wizard" is repeated about 30 times on the soundtrack? It's repeating and repeating in my head, that's for sure!), worked on some vocabulary, and pretty well put all the materials together for the unit (now that I have my own laminator--YAY!). We also worked some on Kansas facts and did an Oz art project (chose between making a Toto or a Dorothy; Dorothy was a small paper plate with a choice of yarn to create hair, a choice of hair style--pig tails or braids, and choice of wiggle eyes). Tomorrow I think The Girls are going to spend some time creating the Emerald City, a Yellow Brick Road, and maybe some other Oz scenery.

For week two we are planning the following activities:
  • Tornado activities: tornado in a bottle from Pete's Oztastic unit as well as Wind Experiments (look it up on Adapted Learning) and "tornado" sensory bottles (see below)
  • Read Part 1 of the Sensory stories (oops! Just remembered I forgot to order the Vortex cubes!)
  • Listen to the first part of the audio book
  • If we have time we'll design our own magic slippers too

Tornado sensory bottle
Materials:
Empty water bottle with label removed, filled 2/3 with water
Glitter, confetti shapes, small items
1-2 drops food color if desired
Strong glue (we use Gorilla glue; hot glue tends to break)

Procedure:
Student choose items to put in their bottles
Glue the lids on the bottles
Shake the bottles and watch what happens; what happens when you swirl the bottle vs. shaking it?

Adaptation:
For visually impaired kids, make sure to use objects that they can feel hitting the sides of the bottle
Some visually impaired kids might respond better to a bottle partially filled with pinto beans or small beads (pony bead size) so they can feel and hear what is going on

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