- brown pipe cleaners
- crayons
- glue
- markers
- mural paper
- paint
- scissors
- seeds, acorns, small pebbles, grass clippings, and other things found underground
- Wonderful Worms (book) or other nonfiction books about worms
- ground
- soil
- tunnel
- worm
MA Standards:
English Language Arts/Writing/W.PK.MA.2 Use a combination of dictating and drawing to explain information about a topic.
English Language Arts/Speaking and Listening/SL.PK.MA.5 Create representations of experiences or stories (e.g., drawings, constructions with blocks or other materials, clay models) and explain them to others.
English Language Arts/Language/L.PK.MA.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, listening to books read aloud, activities, and play.
Head Start Outcomes:
Language Development/Expressive Language Engages in communication and conversation with others.
Literacy Knowledge/Early Writing Uses scribbles, shapes, pictures, and letters to represent objects, stories, experiences, or ideas.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Composition 16 Use their own words or illustrations to describe their experiences, tell imaginative stories, or communicate information about a topic of interest.
Worm Habitat
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
Skill Focus: Creative Expression, Fine Motor Skills, Vocabulary
On a large sheet of mural paper, draw a horizontal line to represent the ground. Point to the line and say, Above this line is aboveground; below this line is underground. What kinds of things do you find above the soil? Below the soil? Have children draw or paste pictures of grass, flowers, etc., above the ground. You may want to have them add the roots or carrot plants under the ground.
Discuss how worms dig burrows or tunnels underground. Then have children draw or paint tunnels on the mural. Have them look at the illustrations of worm tunnels in Wonderful Worms and talk about how the tunnels branch out and go up and down. Then have children make worms in different positions out of brown pipe cleaners and glue them in the soil. Have children include roots, seeds, and other things found underground on their mural.