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Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Language Arts:

Describing Sights in Nature- In the story, and familiar song, the words “Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky” is a simile, comparing the star to a diamond. 

Bring a blanket outside with your child and stare up at the night sky.  What does your child think the stars look like?  Can they see any shapes or designs with the stars?  Have fun with your child coming up with more examples of similes from other stories or ones you make up yourself.    You may want to extend this opportunity by looking at clouds, flowers, and other sights in nature.  What do the clouds look like?   Have fun with your student as you observe God's wondrous works!

Go-along book: It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles Shaw

Comprehension and Learning to Pay Attention- After you read the story, ask you student if he remembers who was sleeping.   Can he remember?   Read through the story one more time and complete the Who was Sleeping? T-book

Letter S
Learn what sound the Letter S makes.  Use the S is for Star book for reinforcement.

Vocabulary–

Orbit – the path taken by one body circling around another body (act this word out with your student)

Star –  a natural body visible in the sky especially at night that gives off light or shines by reflection; a ball shaped gaseous celestial body of great mass that shines by its own light.

Twinkle – to shine or cause to shine with a flickering or sparkling light.

Harbor – a part of a body of water protected and deep enough to be a place of safety for ships.
 

Art/Music:

Personification in Art – Personification is defined as the representation of a thing or idea as a person or by the human form.  This device can be used as a literary device or in illustrations.  In this book, the illustrator uses personification with the star,  acting as though the star could talk and take the little girl on a real adventure.  Discuss with your child the likelihood of a wishing star coming to their window and taking them on a grand adventure!  Pretend with your child for awhile, and ask them what sort of adventures they think a star would bring them on, or what they would like to experience.  You may even want to help your student create and record a star story.   To illustrate the story, let your student draw or color a star then add some google eyes.  You can store the story in the My Star Story Pocket

Song –“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” is a popular nursery rhyme, first published in 1806.  At the end of the book, they have the music notes for the song, and the story broken down into verses to be sung.  Go back with your child and reread the story as a song!  The melody of “Twinkle Twinkle” is a very popular one, sharing it with the “Alphabet Song,” and “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” among others.  Discuss this with your child and sing each one together, noting how they each have the same melody.  Can your child think of any other songs that might have the same tune? 

Learn some more songs and poems about space and stars -- Star and Space Poems & Songs  Layer Book

Science:

Planets – In the story, the star tells the girl to “see the planets – count them all, some are big and some are small.”  Can your child name all of the planets?  Even though Pluto was recently demoted from “star” status, it is still commonly included in children’s stories and rhymes to remember the planets names, so you may choose to include it here.  The planets, in order from closest to the Sun, are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.  There are many popular Acronymns to remember these names, including my personal favorite “ My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas.”   (If you desire to leave Pluto out, you can learn "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos.")  Can you child come up with any other fun acronymns to help remember the names of the planets?  

As far as size, planets are classified as terrestrial or Jovian.  The terrestrial planets are similar to Earth in size, and include Mercury, Venus, Mars and of course, Earth.  Jovian planets are much larger in size, and these include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. 

Planets with Pocket

Animals – In the story, the star shows the girl “puppies in their bed and a pony resting in his shed.” 

Has your child ever wondered what the difference was between a pony and a horse?  According to The Columbia Electronic Encylopedia, “a pony is actually a small horse, officially any horse under 14.2 hands (58 in./ 145 cm) high.”Some ponies are only 26 inches high!” 

Has your child ever wondered how long a dog is considered to be a puppy?  While it can be common to call any small dog a puppy, regardless of age, traditionally a puppy is a young dog, usually one less than a year old.

Biblical Application

God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.  Genesis 1:16

Find this verse in your preferred version or children’s Bible.  Discuss with your child the Creation story, and how God made everything around us.  Go out on a clear night with your child, and look up at the sky.  Have your child try to count the stars they can see… can they do it?   Help instill a sense of awe not only for the creation, but also for the Creator.

There are so many in the heavens, just like there are many people on the earth.  Yet each one of us is special, and while God created each and every star in the sky, He also created each and every one of us.  Tell your child how special they are, and how loved they are by their Heavenly Father!

Bible Verse Simple Fold

Social Studies (for older students)
 

In the story, the star tells the little girl that he guides ships to the harbor, and travelers find their way back home.

There are records of boats large enough to carry goods to trade as early as 3500 B.C.  This time is said to be the “birth of the art of navigation.”  While the earliest navigators tried to stay close to land and use landmarks easily identifiable, occasionally they did sail at night or away from land.  These sailors were able to determine their location by observing the location of the sun during the day, and the North Star at night.  It wasn’t until the 13^th century that the first magnetic compass was invented, and that was only used when weather obscured the sun or North Star!

Historically, the North Star has been used for determining direction of the North and determining latitude in navigation.  According to Wikipedia, “It always appears due north in the sky, and the angle it makes with respect to the horizon is equal to the latitude of the observer.”  The North Star cannot be used for navigational purposes south of the equator, as it is only visible in the Northern hemisphere. 

Math

Patterns
Let your student explore the idea of pattern making using the Space Patterns Printable

Counting
Count to five with the Counting Star

Measurement (for older students):  In the story, the star tells the girl that they will fly “Higher than a bird would go.”  How high does a bird fly?  According to an essay from Stanford University, most birds fly below 500 feet except during migration.  When migrating, however, birds often climb much higher, with most migrating birds in the Caribbean flying around 10,000 feet and migrating Whooper Swans in Northern Ireland flying around 29,000 feet!  

How far is 500 feet? That is a little less than a mile, a little more than one and a half football fields, and the height of a 50 story building.  A foot is equal to 12 inches., which is the size of a standard ruler.  Have your child grab a rule and measure 12 inches and tell them that is only equal to 1 foot, where as a bird normally flies around 500 feet in the air.  You and your child can determine how far you would like to take this.  Maybe you can take out a long sheet of butcher paper and measure how long that is, in comparison to 500 feet.  Maybe your child would like to measure how tall you are, or other tall items in your home.  How high is your home? 
 

Just for Fun! (ideas contributed by Robin Diedrichs)
 

Make a Space Bubble

1.Using dark plastic sheeting that you get in a hardware department, cut one piece 15’X12.5’ and fold it over lengthwise (dimensions should now be 7.5 X 12.5). Cut off 5’ from the width and save. Now your dimensions are 7.5 X 7.5.

2. With large piece of sheeting folded (7.5X7.5) tape the pieces of sheeting together on two of the open sides using duct tape. Tape the extra piece of plastic cut from the original piece of plastic to form a tunnel. Attach it to the open side of the large piece all the way to the left or right and attach the end of the tunnel to a box fan.  On the other side of the tunnel attach a piece of plastic to form a flap for a door.

3. When the box fan is turned on it should blow up the plastic to form a bubble which you can crawl into.

4. You can hang things inside by attaching the item to fishing line and attaching the fishing line to a toothpick. Using a pin poke a small hole and then put the string through the hole and attach to the toothpick. You can hang stars and planets painted with glow in the dark paint.  

Dress-Up

Make a space suit by making helmets from milk jugs and aluminum foil. Take sponges used to wash cars and strap them on your child’s feet using rubber bands. Make air tanks with soda bottles.

Make a Rocket

Using assorted recyclables have your child design and make a rocket. Another idea is to make a balloon rocket.

Run a thread a string through a straw and run the string all the way across your room. Next attach the end of a long balloon to the string. Blow up the balloon, move it to one side of the room, and let go. The straw and balloon will move across your room along the string. During playtime let your children blow up the balloon with a bicycle pump or with their mouth and launch it.

Another fun activity to do is to use Alka-Seltzer in a film canister to make a rocket. Put a small piece of Alka-Seltzer and a small amount of water in the canister. Put the lid on quickly and stand back. The lid will be launched into the sky. Baking soda and vinegar will achieve the same results. Wrap the baking soda in a small piece of toilet paper, drop it in the canister, with a small amount of vinegar, put the top on, and stand back. You can make a rocket shape to attach to the canister as well -
http://www-tc.pbskids.org/zoom/printables/activities/pdfs/filmcanisterrocket.pdf . Oftentimes you can get the film canisters at a photo shop like Wal-Mart.

Make a telescope

Make a telescope from a paper towel roll. Have your child decorate the outside as desired. Put a double layer of black tissue paper on the end with a rubber band. Using a pin, have your child poke holes to make a constellation. When your child looks through the telescope while it is held toward a light source he/she will see the stars.

Constellations

Make constellations using a Lite-Brite.

Resources

Web Links:

Space Coloring Pages
 

Library List

Draw Me A Star by Eric Carle

The Glow in the Dark Night Sky Book by Clint Hatchett

Roaring Rockets by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker

My Picture Book of the Planets by Nancy Krulik

The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System by Joanna Cole or watch the movie