Do You See the Shadow? Lesson Plan
Academic Standards
Reading Objective:
Children will explain how a shadow is made.
Science Focus:
light and shadows
Social Studies Focus:
Groundhog Day
Page 4 Skill:
phonics
Vocabulary:
blocked, light, sunlight, shadow
CCSS:
RI.K.1, RF.K.1, L.K.1, SL.K.2
1. Build Knowledge With a Video
- Before watching the video, ask your students what they think their shadows are made of. You might get some interesting responses! Then watch It’s My Shadow! Did your kids’ answers change after watching?
2. Read and Think
- Read the magazine together.
- Use the Show What You Know skill sheet as a follow-up activity. You can project it and discuss the questions together, or send it home for kids to work on with families.
3. Fun Skills Practice
- Children can practice spatial relations in our fun online guessing game Shadow Puzzles.
- Reading, writing, and concepts of print are always reinforced by our classic Unscramble the Sentence skill sheet.
Hands-on Activity
Shadow Tracing
Materials: white paper, small toys, flashlight or table lamp, crayons, light source (flashlight, table lamp, or sunny window)
- Give children sheets of white paper. Gather a selection of small toys such as toy cars, plastic figures, and stuffed toys. Let students choose a toy.
- Next, have kids place their toy on the paper and move it around until they see a shadow. If they do not, help them find a light source (see above). Then let kids trace the outline of their shadows carefully with a pencil.
- Finally, kids can color in their shadow shape to make a picture. They can also try different light sources to see if and how the shadow shapes change.