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Written by: Barbara Connor (Classroom Teacher - Otis Elementary School)



Day 1 - Read "Dinosaur" by David Norman and Angela Milner pages 6 and 8 Ask students to write five sentences about dinosaurs using prior knowledge.
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They will draw a picture of their favorite dinosaur at the bottom of the page. Homework - Students will take parent letter home about Dinosaur Expedition 2000.

Day 2 - Read "A Present For Mrs. Rook" by Barbara Bradford Conner Have students predict what Mrs. Rook wanted for her birthday. (This book is not published.) Make a list on the chalkboard.

Day 3 Discuss asking questions and making predictions. Show tin box that contains artifacts from the Shara Desert that Dr. Sereno brought back from the 1997 trip. Have students make predictions about what is in the box. Make a list on the chalkboard. Open box when predictions are finished and display artifacts in classroom for students to examine.

Day 4 Students will ask one question and make one prediction about their question. Each parent is also asked to write one question to send along.

Day 5 We are following the team daily in Niger, making Journal entries and discussing the team's progress. On day 5, we discussed the team and the difficulty they were having with gas, a truck strike, a truck breakdown, lost luggage and supplies. Students will take one topic home that we discussed and talk to their parents about it.

Day 6 - Read "Fossils Tell of Long Ago" by Aliki Discuss the story and make a list of important words such as fossil, scientist, paleontologist, prehistoric and extinct. Explain the meaning of these words to help children understand the story.

Day 7 Make fossil prints. Use clay or model magic to make hand prints, prints of bones, shells and leaves. Display the fossil prints on a table near the artifact table.

Day 8 - "Read Big Old Bones" by Carol Carrick Have a classroom discussion about what scientists can tell from dinosaur fossils, Divide the students into pairs and have them make fact cards and pictures about all the dinosaurs that they can name. The pair with the largest number gets to share with the class first. Everyone receives a sparkling dinosaur sticker.

Day 9 - Read "The Magic School Bus: In The Time of the Dinosaurs" by Johanna Cole Discuss the book after reading. Have students make their own dinosaur book. Choose one dinosaur and research all the facts that can be found. Each student will share their book with the class when finished.

Day 10 - Read "Danny and the Dinosaur" by Syd Hoff Discuss real and make believe. Plan a field trip to the Field Museum to see the dinosaur exhibit.

Day 11 - Read "Tyrannosaurus Rex" was a Beast by Jack Prelutski Discuss the story. Compare the dinosaurs that ate meat and the dinosaurs that ate plants. How were they alike and how were they different. Make two lists on chart paper and display in the classroom.

Day 12 - Read "Ten Little Dinosaurs" by Pattie Schnetzler

Have students write their own poems with class when finished.

Bibliography

Barbara Conner, Otis School Nonfiction Aliki. (1998) Digging Up Dinosaurs. Harper. Aliki. (1990) Fossils Tell of Long Ago. Harper.
Cole, Johanna. (1994) The Magic School Bus: In the Time of the Dinosaurs. Scholastic Inc.
Norman, David & Angela Milner. (1989) Dinosaur (Eyewitness Books). Dorling Kindersley.

Fiction

Carrick, Carol. (1992) Big Old Bones. Houghton Mifflin Co.
Hoff, Syd. (1985) Danny and the Dinosaur. Harper.
Prelutsky, Jack. (2000) Tyrannosaurus Rex was a Beast. Troll Assoc. Schnetzler, Pattie. (1996) Ten Little Dinosaurs. Accord, Ltd. Dumas