Adventures in Storyland

Ages 3-5

Charlotte Mason inspired story book

studies

Goodnight Moon

Welcome to Mini Unit Studies for Mini Hands. Inspired by Charlotte Ma-

son, the mini studies incorporates copywork, narration, dictation, living

math and nature study for children ages 3-5.

Written by: Richele McFarlin Visit me on www.underthegoldenappletree.com

©

Copyright March 2010

All rights reserved

Under the Golden Apple Tree

Richele McFarlin

Table of Contents

Copywork 1-3

Narration 4-6

Dictation 7-8

Letter M 9-11

A Pair is 2 12-14

Nature Study 15-16

Related Readings 17

1

Moon

It is bedtime.

2

Goodnight sky.

3

Narration 1

Moon and balloon are words that rhyme. A rhyme is when

two or more words sound alike. Say “moon” and “balloon”.

Can you hear the repetition of sound? What about cat and

hat or dog and frog?

Read Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and find

more rhymes. Draw a picture below of at least two words you

find that rhyme below.

4

Narration 2

What is in the picture above?

Did you see this in our story?

What time of the day is it when you see the moon?

When did our story take place?

5

Narration 3

Goodnight Moon is a story about a little bunny getting

ready for bed.

How do you think the bunny feels about going to bed?

What does the bunny do to get ready for bed?

What do you do to get ready for bed?

6

Dictation for Mini Hands

Dictation is the process of a child writing down exactly what a parent is reading to him. While, a 3-5 year old will not be capa-ble of writing dictation for a paragraph or even a sentence in many cases, he can still benefit from this exercise. Letter by letter or simple word by simple word dictation is a tool allowing a child to apply his knowledge of the alphabet and phonics. Dictation Plan Day one:

Introduce your child to uppercase “M” and lowercase “m”. Have him practice writing the letter from the activity pages in this unit study. Provide him with a piece of writing paper appropriate for his age. Tell him to write down exactly what you say as you say it. Now begin dictating: Uppercase M….uppercase M….lowercase m...lowercase m. This only takes a few minutes. For more advanced or older children:

Dictate: Lowercase m….lowercase o...lowercase o…..lowercase n...space

7

Then repeat a few times. Allow your child to see that he wrote the word “moon”! Day two: Practice dictating uppercase and lowercase “M” one more time. Then expand on this by using the first letter of your child’s name. Dictate as described on day one. For advanced or older children:

Dictate the child’s name in letters. For instance: Uppercase “K”….lowercase “a”….lowercase “r”….lowercase “a”...space...uppercase “K”...lowercase “a”...lowercase “r”...lowercase “a”. Then you child will have successfully written her name! Day three:

Practice the Day two’s lesson briefly. Continue using single letters for young students. For older students, try dictating some fun words from our story, such as stars, mush, comb, etc. For advanced or older children:

Dictate, letter by letter, having your child space in between words, a simple three word sentence. Your child will be so proud to have written a real sentence!

8

Circle the “Ms” in the moon.

The “M” sound is “MMMMMMM”. Pretend you are biting

into a yummy cookie and say “MMMMMM”.

Moon begins with “M”.

Can you think of more words that start with M?

Go on an M hunt around your house and pick out all the

items that begin with “M”.

9

M

In the Bag

Draw a line from the objects that begin with “M” to the M bag.

10

Practice M

Find these “M” words in Goodnight Moon.

11

2 Makes a Pair

How many mittens do you see?

Two items that look the same or are

similar can be called a pair.

This is a picture of a pair of mittens.

How many kittens do you see?

There are two kittens or a pair of

kittens.

How many balloons do you see?

There are two balloons or a pair of

balloons.

How many objects do you see? Yes,

there are 2. Does this make a pair?

Why or why not?

No, this is not a pair. Dogs and ba-

nanas are very different.

After completing this lesson find pairs around your house or draw pairs of items.

Find the pair of mittens and the two kittens in your Goodnight Moon book.

12

Match the Pairs of Shoes

Draw a line from one shoe to the matching show to make a pair.

Activity: Gather several pairs of shoes and mix them all

up. Then have your child match the pairs.

14

Two by Two

Some animals are still waiting for their mate to board the ark.

Guide the pairs of animals to the ark by drawing a line from the

pair to the ark.

15

Nature Study: Night time in

my Backyard.

Here are pictures of some nocturnal animals, plants and insects.

At night you get tired and need to sleep. Did you

know that some animals and plants are nocturnal?

Nocturnal means that an animal or plant is active

during the night. Plants that are nocturnal bloom

during the night and close by day. Nocturnal ani-

mals sleep during the day but are active and feed

during the night.

There is a nocturnal world that occurs while we

sleep. Before you go to bed observe or look

around your yard or neighborhood at plant, ani-

mal and insect life you may see. Be sure to look at

the sky and notice the moon and stars. Draw a

picture of what you see.

Owl Bat

Firefly hedgehog

Evening Primrose Moon Flower

Related Readings to Goodnight Moon

Goodnight Gorilla by: Peggy Rathmann

Froggy Goes to Bed by: Jonathan London

The Napping House by: Don and Audrey Wood

Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by: Eric Carle

Draw Me a Star by: Eric Carle

Dr. Suess’ Sleep Book by: Dr. Suess

Sleep is for Everyone by: Paul Showers

And if the Moon Could Talk by: Kate Banks