*** Clouds - What do you see? ***

What is our theme? 
Earth Science, Literacy 


What is the lesson (overall purpose)?  

• To discover and observe what you see in your paint clouds. 
• Writing letters 

MA Guidelines/Standards:
PreK-PS1-4 (MA). Recognize through investigation that physical objects and materials can change under different circumstances. 
W.PK.3. Use a combination of dictating and drawing to tell a story.


Learning Outcomes:
Aspects of Reading and Writing
Language and literacy are complex learning processes. Educators need a comprehensive understanding of child development in several key areas in order to determine children’s individual need and design experiences that build needed skills related to the English Language Arts. These areas of development include:

• listening and speaking vocabulary;
• articulation skills;
• listening/attending skills;
• phonological/phonemic awareness;
• social-emotional and executive function skills;
• physical skills that develop the child's sense of spatial awareness; large muscle development, and fine motor development; and
• visual/perception and visual/motor skills that relate to the ability to see how letters are formed, and reproduce them (e.g., the subtle difference between a lower-case b and d). For children with visual impairment, tactile skills are also needed to tactually discriminate among Braille symbols.

Songs, Books & Videos (Motivational Techniques)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVvGOOc4uQk - Book 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiTvZofEJ60 - Book 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kllz_AcDnRc - Short Clip 


Materials:
Cloud Symmetry 

• Paper
• Coloring tools 
• Paint 

Cloud Letters 

• Shaving cream and/or cool whip, whip cream
• Flat clean surface - bathtub, cookie baking sheet, paper  

Activity (Procedure):
Cloud Symmetry 

1. Gather materials 
2. Put paint in random spots on paper 
3. Fold paper in half
4. Smoosh like a sandwich
5. Open up and see what shape you created 
6. Name that shape- is it a chicken, a flower? Observe what it looks like to you!

Cloud Letters 

1. Gather materials 
2. Put shaving cream on surface (looking like a cloud) 
3. Create letters in your name, or letters your child is familiar with 

Activity Wrap Up:
To practice writing letters, and using your imagination to see what symmetry cloud they made. 

How do I know what my child is learning? (Assessment)

• provide opportunities for children to relate and illustrate personal experiences or make up original stories.
• provide journal pages for children to write. 
• model, prompt, facilitate children to add details to make a group story more complex.
• provide models for children when writing. 
• draw pictures and dictate words to describe personal experiences or tell stories.
• use “inventive writing” in the form of shapes and letter-like symbols to convey ideas.

How can you extend this activity? (Modifications)
Cloud Symmetry - see above 
Cloud Letters - see above 


Helpful Hints: (Pitfalls & Solutions)
Cloud Symmetry - see above 
Cloud Letters - see above 

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