Mystery Box – Creating a Context for Talk
SETTING: Whole Group
MATERIALS:
Box or Bag with a ? label
Chart paper or white board with title written on it – What is in the mystery box? You can write the title ahead of time or write it in front of children adding a shared writing component to the lesson
Equity sticks
Theme word card w/ picture
OBJECTIVE
Introduce a new theme using a variety of items that have something in common with the theme using the language building strategies – label, describe, explain, compare, link, infer.
DEFINE CONCEPT IN CHILD FRIENDLY TERMS
Read the title on the chart – What is in the mystery box? – tracking print from left to right.
MODEL AND EXPLAIN PROCEDURE
Explain to the children that the items in the mystery box will help them figure out what the new theme is.
Guiding Question: “ As you look to see the items in our mystery box, think about where you might see all of these items.”
GUIDED PRACTICE
Using the equity sticks, choose a child to pull an item out of the mystery box.
Ask the child to “label” what is chosen. “ What do you have? “ Child responds. “ Bugs”. Teacher writes the word on the chart. Ask additional questions that prompt higher level thinking skills. “Where would you find bugs?” Child responds. “ In trees…in a garden…in the yard. “
Continue to choose children to come up and pull an item out of the mystery box. (Seeds, shovel, worms, bugs, books, etc.)
Ask children questions that encourage them to use the language building strategies - label, describe, explain, compare, link, infer when talking about the items from the mystery box.
SUMMARIZE
Remind the children of all the clues that have been’found’ . Reread all of the words that have been written on the chart. Hold up the theme word card and ask if anyone knows what the new theme is, based upon the clues/items that were pulled out of the bag. (Garden)
Point to the letters in the word G-a-r-d-e-n. “ What sound does the /g/ make?” Ask the children how all of the items that were in the mystery box relate to the new theme. – (Garden) Choose a child to place the word card on the letter wall.
Extension
Read the theme related focus book to the children.