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The Kissing Hand focuses on nocturnal animals. What a great way to expand on this nocturnal knowledge and sort animals into categories of Night (Nocturnal) vs Day (Diurnal). You can do an open-ended sort at the beginning of the unit and then use as an assessment at the end of the unit. This is also a great activity to have at a center.
Incorporating vocabulary related to The Kissing Hand is one way to improve language development and comprehension. This story is full of rich vocabulary and this lesson selected eight (8) words as the “focus vocabulary.” It’s true for most children; if they are not having fun, then they are not learning. If they are learning while having fun, then they retain so much more information. If you want to save time, here is a link to a lesson.
Ideas for Vocabulary Cards:
Introduce vocabulary cards before reading the story
Exercise to the vocabulary - Children love to exercise, and connecting it to the vocabulary can be so much fun and learning all in one. Start simple. Have them stand up and call out a few different commands like:
Scamper around the room
Show warmth
Walk like a raccoon
Act like a nocturnal animal
Nuzzle your nose to your knees
Be thoughtful and pick-up pretend trash on the floor
Act like the Thinker deep in thought (have them squat down and put their hand on their chin)
Promise to exercise and do your favorite exercise
Mentor Text - The Kissing Hand
Students need to make connections between the illustrations and the actual animals. Teachers can also help determine the factual information in the story.
Extending the Learning Beyond the Text
Looking for Patterns is one of the key crosscutting concepts of NGSS. This sort activity allows students to start to question why certain animals are active during the day and why certain animals are active at night.