Inside, Outside, Upside Down

Designed by Ginger Riddle

Grade: Kindergarten        Subject: Reading

Core Curriculum Objective:

Overview: After working with directional words (up, down, over, under, above, below, etc.) and opposites (high, low...big, little....)the teacher will review directional words and opposites with the students by reading and discussing Inside, Outside, Upside Down by Stan and Jan Berenstain and The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss. Students will then be divided into groups and choose directional words and opposites that they would like to include in a photography slideshow. Students will work with an adult or older student to take pictures of their directional words and opposites, which will then be made into a computer slide, show.

Focus/Essential Question(s):

Time Frame:
One forty-five minute lesson to read and discuss stories, pair children, and divide up words to illustrate.

Time as needed (thirty minutes to an hour per group of students) for all students to have an opportunity to leave the classroom with an adult volunteer or older student to take pictures of their chosen directional words and opposites.

Time as needed (several hours) for the teacher to put together the slide show for the computer.

Resources:
Books for reading center:

Exactly the Opposite by Tana Hoban

Inside, Outside, Upside Down by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Sneetches are Sneetches by Dr. Seuss

The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss

Digital camera

Kidpix or any other computer program that will use downloaded digital camera pictures to make a slide show

Index cards

Directional words and opposites written as pairs on a chart with room in which to write in the names of children that choose them. (inside, outside) (behind, in front of) (below, above) (left, right) (high, low) (big, little) etc.

Outside volunteers

Assessment: 
The teacher will use the following rubric to assess whether or not students have a working knowledge of directional words and opposites.

+ Students are able to locate examples of directional words and opposites of which they have chosen to take pictures with no assistance other than to have someone take the picture.

^ Students need some assistance in locating examples of directional words and opposites of which they have chosen to take pictures.

* Students are unable to locate examples of directional words and opposites without assistance.

Activity One
The teacher will show the students the books about directional words and opposites that will be in the reading center (listed under resources). She will remind them that they have been working on these concepts and that after hearing two of the stories, they will be making plans for a special activity. The teacher will read and discuss the book Inside, Outside, Upside Down and The Foot Book with the students.

The teacher will explain to the students that over the next few days some volunteers will be coming into the classroom and taking pairs of them out to take pictures with a camera of some of the words that they have learned.

The teacher will show the students the chart with the pairs of words listed on it and go over the words with the students.

The teacher will assign each student a partner and write their names on an index card. Using the "round robin" style, the teacher will ask the partners to choose word pairs that they would like to illustrate with photography until all pairs are taken.

The teacher will write the pairs of words that the partners have chosen on their index cards.

The teacher will show the students a digital camera and remind them that over the next few days they will be taking photographs to illustrate their words.

Activity Two
The teacher will recruit adult volunteers and/or older students to take pictures for the slideshow on directional words and opposites. He/she will assign them to the partner groups of children.

The volunteers will come to the classroom at a time prearranged with the teacher and take their two students with their index cards (which show the words they are going to illustrate with photography) around the school to take pictures. The teacher should remind the volunteers that they are to use the camera, not the students. The students may or may not be in some of the photographs, depending on what they choose to use to illustrate their chosen words.

The volunteers will inform the teacher as to how the students were able to carry out the activity, so that he/she will be able to apply the rubric to the activity.

The teacher will download the photographs and use Kidpix or a similar program to develop a slide presentation for the computer.

The students will be able to view the slide presentation when they go to the computer center, and it can be shared with other classes.

The finished slide show may be entered in the Visual Literacy Technology Contest.

The show may be left running during parent open house so that the parents can see what the students have done.