Mystery Box Creating a Context for Talk

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.