Summary
The story of Jack and the Beanstalk naturally supports the following learning centers: Weight Measurement, Money, Art, Nonstandard Length Measuring, Problem Solving, Music, and Reading / Writing.
Materials
Weight Measurement Center
- Balance and oz. weight
scales
- Dry beans
- Pencil and paper
- Plastic eggs
Money Center
- Plastic dimes, nickels,
quarters, pennies
- Cash register
- Money stamps
- Adding machine paper
and scissors or cut
pieces of paper for
receipts
- Pencils
- Black, red, pinto and
white beans and a sign
stating the name of the
beans and the price and
name of coin for each
bean with a picture of
the bean and coin for
each
Art Center
- Paint mixtures of tints
and shades of yellows
- Other paints and pallets
for mixing
- Large egg shapes cut
from cardstock for
tracing
- Paint paper
- Paint brushes
- Coffee filters
- Eye droppers
- Ruler or measuring tape
- Straw sections for
blowing colors
- Pencils
Nonstandard Length Measuring Center
- Pieces of paper with
measurements written
on them from 3" to 11"
- Copy machine paper for
each student
- Scissors
- Markers
- Crayons
- Tape
- Nonstandard objects for
measuring
- Blocks
Problem Solving Center
- Pictures of bare
deciduous trees to use
for measuring the trunk
length and width
- cm rulers
- Inch rulers
- Pictures of beanstalks
from picture books
Music Center
- Ukulele, guitar,
autoharp, if there is an
adult in the center to
assist
- 1" x 6" x 12" wood
blocks, nails placed
2"apart along the
bottom edge and on a
slant 2" apart along the
top edge
- Elastics to fit the wood
blocks
- Clear glass containers
with water at different
levels
- Spoons
- Rulers
- Paper and pencils
Reading/Writing Center
Instructional Procedures
Weight Measurement Center:
The "golden eggs" from the giant's goose
- Fill "golden" plastic eggs with differing numbers of beans. Tape
the two sides together.
- Students place beans in the "not yellow eggs" of the same size
and try to balance them with the "golden" eggs by adding and
subtracting beans. They count the beans after the eggs balance
to determine how many beans are in the sealed yellow egg.
- Emphasize comparison words: larger, smaller, heavier, lighter,
more, less.
Money Center:
The bags of coins from the giant's treasury
- Buy beans. Choose one bean at a time (white beans = 1¢, pinto
beans = 5¢, red beans = 10¢, black beans = 25¢). Choose the
appropriate coinage for the bean from a container of play
money.
- Stamp a receipt with correct coin stamp and write the name of
the coin on the receipt.
- Key in the proper coin amount for advanced students and place
money in the cash register.
- Students rotate through each step, taking turns as they walk
around the table buying beans.
- Students who are ready for addition and subtraction can
purchase several beans at a time or take large coinage and make
change at the register.
Art Center:
Yellow Color-Family Experimentation
- Paint stripes of warm colors, or
shades and tints of yellow, on a large
egg shape. Measure each stripe with
a string. How long is it? How wide is
it?
- Do straw blowing art with gold tints
and shades. Using nonstandard
objects, measure how long the lines
are from the bottom to the top.
- Drop shades and tints of any one
color family on a coffee filter with
eye droppers. The next day draw and
cut egg shapes of different sizes from
the filters or use colored construction
papers from a color family. Glue
them in order from largest to smallest
on a piece of paper and measure how
long and wide each one is. Write the
measurement on the paper next to each egg.
Nonstandard Length Measuring Center:
Class Add-on Giant Beanstalk
- Make a group giant beanstalk. Each person picks a paper that tells
how much of the beanstalk s/he should draw. The student
measures that distance on a piece of construction paper from the
bottom of the paper to the top of his/her measurement, then draws
the beanstalk and writes his/her name on it and how long it is (six
links, two pencils, etc.).
- Each child then cuts his/her beanstalk piece off at the top and
connects it with tape to the portion of the beanstalk that has been
completed.
- When they are done, students work together to make a beanstalk
out of blocks lying down. Measure it and put it away before
leaving the center.
- After everyone has visited the center, measure the beanstalk as a
group activity. How long is it? How wide is it at different points?
Use string, links, etc., to measure the class beanstalk.
Problem Solving Center:
- Look at pictures of bare deciduous trees. Are the trunks the
same width at the bottom as at the top? Why? Where do the
trunks end? How do they compare with the beanstalk in the
picture books? Is the beanstalk a tree?
Music Center:
The Golden Harp--Long and Short Strings/
High and Low Sounds
- Make and play instruments made from elastics and wood
blocks. Measure how long the strings are. Do the longer strings
make higher or lower sounds?
- Measure and play auto harp strings, guitar or ukulele strings,
etc.
- Use a spoon to tap cups of water more full and less full. (About
1", 3", 5", and 7" of water in four clear cups.) Measure the
water with snap-together cubes. Is the sound higher or lower?
Why?
- Play fast, slow, loud and soft on each instrument. Which ones
are the loudest? Why?
- Have a harpist come in and play, if possible, for a whole group
activity.
Reading/Writing Center
- Read The Big Stem book (pdf) about Jack and illustrate it.
- Read the Days of the Week: Beanstalk Story (pdf). Highlight
the day of the week on each page, both on the calendar heading
and in the text. Illustrate the book.
- Contribute to making a class book from the story. Make a page
showing something you can measure in the story and write a
sentence about it. ("I can weigh the eggs." or "I can measure the
beanstalk." or "I can measure the giant.," etc.)
Created: 09/13/2004
Updated: 02/05/2018
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