"Dino-Connections"

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Subject
Literacy
Objective

SWBAT break apart dinosaur names to understand the actual meaning of the word and then use that knowledge to create a made-up dinosaur.

Materials

notecards w/ dinosaur names' prefixes, roots, and suffixes
activity sheet
computer/KidPix

Procedures

1)  How many sides does a triangle have? (3)
2)  How many horns does triceratops have? (3)
3)  What do these 2 words have in common (tri)
4)  What do you think "tri" means? (3)
5)  By knowing what parts of a dinosaur's name means, we can learn more about  that dinosaur.
6)  Who remembers what "brontosaurus" means?  (thunder reptile)
7)  What do you think "bronto" means?  What do you think "saurus" means?
8)  If we know that "saurus" means reptile we can figure out the names of many other dinosaurs.
9)  Teacher will have dinosaur names on the board.  On the side of the board, teacher should have notecards with with meanings of prefixes and suffixes.
10)  Teacher will point to and say the dinosaur's name.  A picture will be shown of the dinosaur and along with the origin of its name. (ex- ceratosaurus was named for the horn on its head.
11) Teacher will place the notecards labeled "horn" and place it under "cerato" and the "reptile" card and place it under "saurus."
12)  Students will take turns doing the same based on the origin of the dinosaur's name.

Evaluation

The student's responses will serve as assessment for the guided practice.  An activity sheet having students match dinosaur names to their corresponding definition will serve as individual assessment.
Students will then create their own dinosaur using the prefixes and suffixes and draw a picture of it.