A guide for using our resources

Children will identify things the sun can do.

Vocabulary: basks, reflects

Science Focus: sun science

  1. Watch a Video:

    Here Comes the Sun!

     

  2. Read the Issue:

    The Power of the Sun

     

  3. Review Vocabulary Words:

    basks, reflects

     

  4. Play a Game:

    Make a Rhyming Sundae

    Skill: rhyming

     

  5. Complete Skill Sheets

    Show What You Know

    Skill: comprehension

    All About Summer

    Skill: writing and drawing

     

    U Is in Sun!

    Skill: alphabet knowledge

     

  6. Lesson Boosters

    Paired Text: I Like the Sun by Sarah Nelson

     

    Vocabulary:

    Poetry Word Workout

     

    Scavenger Hunt:

    Pages 2-3

     

    Hands-on Activity:

    Make Sun Prints

     

CCSS (and states that have similar standards): RI.K.1 key details, RI.K.4 vocabulary, RF.K.3.A letters and sounds, RF.K.2.A rhyming words, RL.K.1 key details (literature), W.K.8 writing

Simple, spectacular ideas to boost your lessons.

Paired Texts: I Like the Sun by Sarah Nelson

  • This book is a rhyming celebration of the pleasures of the summer sun.

Vocabulary: Poetry Word Workout

  • Write the following poem on chart paper:

Sunshine, sunflower;

Sunscreen, sunshower.

All these words begin with sun—

Can you name another one?

  • Underline the word sun in each word in which it appears. Then make a list of more compound words that begin with sun, such as sunlight, sunglasses, sundown, sunrise, sunset, and sunburn. (Ouch!) Let children underline the word sun in each of these words

Scavenger Hunt: Pages 2-3

  • Use pages 2-3 of the issue to do this scavenger hunt as a group.
  1. Find the heading. Underline it.
  2. Find the picture where the child is putting on sunscreen. Put a ✔on it.
  3. In the pink box, find the word that means "bounces off." Circle it.
  4. Look at the lizard in the orange box. What other animals have you seen basking in the sun?

Hands-on Activity: Make Sun Prints

Skill: art, science

Materials: construction paper in vivid or dark colors, flat objects from the classroom or outdoors, Plexiglas or plastic wrap (optional)

  • Make beautiful art while learning about the sun. Children will see the power of the sun and how shade can block the sun’s rays.
  • Have children choose flat, solid items for making prints.
  • Take children outdoors to a sunny spot and let them arrange their items on the paper. To print lightweight items like leaves, weigh them down so they stay in place. Plexiglas works great, but you can also use plastic wrap stretched over the paper weighed down at the corners.
  • Wait two hours or more, remove the items, and see the stunning prints! The objects blocked the sun so it couldn’t damage the paper. Tip: The longer you wait, the more dramatic your prints will be.