Here are nine planets that we know.
Round and round the Sun they go.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars,
These are the planets near our star.

Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, too.
Neptune, Pluto, we can't see you.
These are the nine planets that we know.
Round and round the Sun they go.

I know the planets one by one
Starting with the one that's closest to the sun.
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars,
Are the first four among the stars.
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Are the next planets in my tune.
Pluto's the farthest one from the sun.
I know the planets one by one.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
Oh so bright and oh so far.
In the sky, a tiny dot.
Glowing gas that's very hot!
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
Oh so bright and oh so far.

Beaming, beaming, gleaming moon,
Like a giant white balloon,
Round and round the Earth you spin,
Through the month, new shapes you're in.
Beaming, beaming, gleaming moon,
Like a giant white balloon.

Glowing, glowing, red-hot sun.
Shining light on everyone.
Earth goes round you once a year.
You're a star with atmosphere!
Glowing, glowing, red-hot sun,
Shining light on everyone.

Mercury, number one.
It is closest to the sun.
Chorus:
With a round, round, go around
Planets 'round the sun
Sing about them everyone.

Venus bright, number two.
Morning and evening "star" we view.
chorus
Planet Earth, number three.
We live on it, you and me.
chorus
Planet Mars, number four.
Named for a roman god of war.
chorus
Number five, Jupiter.
Colored clouds around it stir.
chorus
Number six, big Saturn.
Many rings around it turn.
chorus
Number seven, Uranus.
It looks blue and green to us.
chorus
Number eight, stormy Neptune.
Triton is its frozen moon.
chorus
Number nine, tiny Pluto.
Farthest from the sun, you know.
chorus

The Earth turns around,
The Earth turns around.
Once a day, every day,
The Earth turns around.

The moon goes round the Earth,
The moon goes round the Earth.
Once a month, every month,
The moon goes round the Earth.

The Earth goes round the sun,
The Earth goes round the sun.
Once a year, every year,
The earth goes round the sun.

(Tune: "Home, Home on the Range")

Oh give me a home, where the planets roam,
Where the comets and the asteroids play,

Where seldom is seen, a human being,
And the stars twinkle all night and all day.

Home, home on the solar system,
Where comets and the asteroids play,
Where seldom is seen,
A human being-
And the stars twinkle all night and all day.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Zoom, zoom, zoom,
I'm going to the moon.
Zoom, zoom, zoom,
I'll get there very soon.

If you want to take a trip,
Climb aboard my rocket ship.
Zoom, zoom, zoom,
I'm going to the moon!

Are you lonely, Moon?
You giant white balloon!
You have no water, wind or air.
No wonder, nothing lives up their.
You can't grow trees or flowers or grass.
Your soil is only rocks and glass.
Even your light is not your own.
Instead it's from the sun that's shone.
Your gravity is weak, I hear.
You really have no atmosphere.
But don't be sad, Moon, please don't cry.
For I still love you in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
I know what you really are:
Giant ball of glowing gas,
One of billions in a mass!
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
Oh, how big you really are!

Twinkle, twinkle, giant star,
Larger than the Earth by far!
Since your distance is a lot,
You look like a tiny dot.
Twinkle, twinkle, giant star,
Very bright, yet very far!

Stars are twinkling, every one,
Some are bigger than the sun!
Just a twinkle in the sky,
Just because you're oh, so high!
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
Oh, how big you really are!

Shooting Star

Shooting star,
Falling star,
Burning with a light.

Shooting star,
Falling star,
Lighting up the night.

Shooting star,
Falling star,
What a sight to see.

Shooting star,
Shining star,
Grant a wish for me.

The planets in their galaxy,
Brightly dotted stars I see.
In a pattern one by one,
Revolving fast around the sun.
While the earth is spinning,
I stay firmly on the ground.
Gravity keeps me in place,
As I spin around in space.

Moon in the sky.
Some nights you're big and round.
Some nights you're very small.
Some nights you're only sliver size.
Some nights you're not at all.

A-B-CDE
Learn about the moon with me
F-G-HIJ
It’s out in space so far away.
K-L-MNO
No air or water so nothing will grow.
P-Q-RST
Reflects sunlight so brightly
U-V-WXY
Appears to change shape in the sky.

Z-Z-ZZZ
Full of craters and rocky.

Way Out In Space
(Tune: Down By The Bay)

Way out in space

Where the planets are,

I've left my home 

And gone too far.

What should I do

So far from home?

Well, I'll visit the stars,

Then I'll go to Mars-

Way out in space!

Shared Reading
Goodnight Moon
by Margaret Wise Brown

Day 1- Introduce title, author and illustrator;  Show the cover and talk about the setting - Where is this story going to take place?  What time of day might it be?  Why do you think that?;  Explain that in this story, a little bunny takes a long time going to bed and says goodnight to many things that he sees; Take a picture walk letting students describe and point out the details and objects in each picture that the bunny may say goodnight to.  Have them use a complete sentence when sharing, such as "I see a red balloon."  Read aloud for enjoyment.

Day 2- Reread Goodnight Moon, pausing for some of the rhyming words.  Introduce the  nursery rhyme 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' by stating that the poem is about things that we see at nighttime, but are present during the day. We just can't see them during the day because the light from the sun is so bright that it is impossible to see the light coming from them!; Read/sing this familiar rhyme with the students.

Day 3- Reread Goodnight Moon encouraging students to join in on the words they are familiar with;  Let students take turns masking letters in the context of the story such as 'G', 'm', 'b', 'c', 'r'.   Also, see if students can locate the sight word 'and' on various pages.; Discuss   aspects of the story with students by asking a few of the following questions.

• How does the little bunny know it is time to go to sleep?  How do we know when it is time to get ready for bed?
• What happens at night?
• How is nighttime different from the daytime?
• What gives us daylight?
• What type of activities do you do during the day?
• What activities do you do at night?
• Do all people sleep during the night?
• What might the animals do?
• What do you see in the night sky?

Show the students picture cards depicting various tasks, objects, or events that they might see at night or during the day.  Have students sort the pictures into two categories - night and day.

Day 4- Read/sing the rhyme 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' with the students ; Read an extended version of this poem in story format such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star by Ida Trapani.  Read one time through for enjoyment; Read a second time, stopping after each page for students to orally state the two rhyming words that they heard.;  Present rhyming pictures and have students match the pictures that rhyme.  You may wish to use a few from this week's shared reading story such as bears/chairs, kittens/mittens, house/mouse, etc.

Day 5- Reread the rhyme "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" as a class;  Reread again slowly, asking students to listen carefully for the individual words contained in the rhyme.  Each time they hear a word, they are to high five with their partner.  For example, in  "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" students should high five four times, once for each word.  (If this task is too easy for your students, ask them to give a high five for each syllable.   So for "Twinkle, twinkle, little star", students would high five seven times.)

Thank you, Michelle Hubbard!
http://www.hubbardscupboard.org/goodnight_moon.html

Independent
Reading

Level A
The Moon (Rigby)

Level B
The Astronaut (Wright)
Night Sky (Wright)
Space Journey (Wright)

Shared Writing

Predictable Chart: Brainstorm with students things or people that they could say goodnight to at home.  Then write "Goodnight _______." sentences.  Start by writing Goodnight moon." (Bunny)   Write each sentence on chart paper, writing their name at the end of the sentence.  Reread each sentence tracking the print.

Have each child reread his/her sentence, tracking the print.  Cut apart one sentence and let students "Be the Words' and organize themselves into the correct order.  Read together.  Model how to place each word in the correct order at the top of the page and then to draw a picture of them saying goodnight to the object or person they stated in their sentence.  Have students complete their sentence page as their small group writing activity ..

Interactive Writing

Make a class list of things you would take on a trip to live in space for 2 months.

Independent
Writing

Have students make a night sky journal in which they draw a picture of where they see the moon, what it looks like, any star constellations such as the Big Dipper, etc. and use kid writing to write about their picture

OR

One day I woke up to find there was no gravity.

The day an alien came to room ______.

Being an astronaut would be a neat job because.....

Little Readers
Space Books

On each day of your space unit, have the children make an art project of the planet or area you are studying.  Save these projects and make them into a  book for each student.  You may use a predictable sentence on each page, such as "This is Mercury." or "I see Mercury."  You may also write a different informational sentence for each page. 

Listed below are the art projects to do.  Each project is mounted on a piece of 12 by 18 construction paper.  Glue sentence strips on the bottom of each page and bind the book together with brass fasteners or binders.

Cover:  My Space Book:  Give the children fluorescent paper.  They may draw and cut out planets, space shuttles, etc. and glue them onto black construction paper to make a space scene.  

Page 1: Mercury is very hot.: Glue a pre-cut circle to construction paper.  Cover the circle with glue and dried grits.  Shake off the excess grits.  

Page 2: Venus is cloudy.:  Make the sulfur clouds of Venus by rubbing cotton balls in yellow chalk dust.  Make the chalk dust by scribbling with yellow chalk on scrap paper.  Glue the cotton balls, yellow side up, to the pre-cut circle mounted on the construction paper. 

Page 3: Earth has land, food, air and water.:  The children use blue and green water colors to paint the Earth's land and oceans. 

Page 4: The Moon goes around the Earth.:  Cut the bottoms of egg cartons into small pieces.  They represent the craters on the Moon's surface.   Cover a small white circle with the egg carton pieces. 

Page 5: Mars is red and stormy.  Straw painting with red paint. 

Page 6: Jupiter is the biggest planet.  Cover a large circle with red and orange tissue paper strips.  Add a circle of red glitter for the "Red Spot."

Page 7: Saturn has rings of rock and ice. Children color stripes on their circle with colored chalk.  Rub a tissue on the chalk to blend the colors.  Glue circle to backing paper.  Add rings by gluing bits of aluminum foil around the planet.

Page 8: Uranus has vertical rings.  Glue a light green circle to construction paper.  Glue pieces of yarn vertically over the circle.

Page 9: Neptune is blue.  Fingerpaint with light blue paint.

Page 10: Pluto is the smallest planet.  Cover a small white circle with oatmeal to show Pluto's rough surface.

Solar System
Math

What's in our solar system?

Lots of things!

Here, let's list them:

9 planets around the sun

+ moons around most every one

+ asteroids flying out in space

+ meteoroids all over the place

+ comets soaring

+ dust

+ gas

= our solar system, a giant mass!

Tangram
Activity

Cut out HUGE tangram pieces. Have the students work in groups to paint a space scene on black butcher paper. Once dried have them create a rocket with their big tangram pieces. Then they can add a sentence of where their rocket is taking them!

Star Fun

Sequence stars by size

Use pattern blocks to create star shapes

Counting Stars

Materials: a clear baby food jar and lid for each child, mixture of clean sand and glitter, colorful cord or ribbon, copy of the poem, craft glue

Activity: Ask students if they have ever tried to count the stars in the sky. Ask them to share their experience if they have. Help the students to determine that there are too many stars to count. Talk about the stars in space (You can incorporate a story or poem here). Give each student a baby-food jar and lid, with a copy of the poem. Have the students glue the poem on top of the lid, then glue a colorful cord or piece of ribbon around the edge of the lid. Fill the jar with the mixture of sand and glitter. Put the lid on the jar when the glue dries and read the poem together. Ask the students to count the stars (pieces of glitter) in their jars. They will see that it is impossible to count all of the stars.

Twinkle, twinkle,
One, two, three.
How many stars do I see?
Even in a space this small,
I could never count them all.

In their journals for the day, the students will draw a picture to go with the sentence "There are too many stars in the sky to count.

Feltboard
Numbers

You will need to cut from felt:  large blue circle   10 rocketships, numbered 1-10  large yellow circle 
Pretend the feltboard is outer space. Place the moon  on the top part and place the 10 rocketships around the board. Ask a child to come to the board  and find rocketship number 1.  Take it off the board , fly it around the room  and land it back on the moon. Next have a child find  rocketship number 2 and so on. When all the rockets are on the moon, place the Earth on the board.  "Blast" the rockets off the moon and have them fly to different children. When all the  rockets are with children call out for rocket number 1  to "fly back to earth". Continue until all the rockets have landed safely at home!

Blast Off!

Don't forget about counting backwards to the space shuttle blast off.  Instead of staring with 10, try 20 or even 100!
For a real challenge, begin with a random number and see if the children can go backwards using counting on techniques, e.g. 24, 23, 22, 21...

Imaginary Play

Create a space environment in your housekeeping corner.  Items may include: hoses, helmets, moon boots, white clothing for their space suits, gloves, cereal box jet packs or large cardboard tubes taped together as air tanks, with thin rope looped through each tank as shoulder straps, Martian hats, milk jug helmets, NASA Ground Control panel: Large sheet of paper-draw on controls or use milk jug caps, orange juice caps, etc., old microphone and earphones. Meteors can be balls of aluminum foil wrapped around long strips of plastic. Tie foil fringes on to end to play meteor catch. Large box for a space ship. Remember to make paper mache planets to hang around the room as well as glittered cardboard stars to hang. Once these are made, they can be used year after year. Microphones can be made by covering toilet paper tubes with tinfoil. Also telescopes may be made with this same method of covering tissue paper holders. Poke small holes in the end of the foil so the children can see the light when they look at the light through their telescopes.

Star Puzzles

Cut out five to ten star shapes out of tag board.   Number the top half with numbers one through ten and the bottom half with corresponding dots to the number.  Laminate and cut apart have the children match accordingly.

Space Gel

Place inexpensive hair gel into a Ziploc bag. Put glitter and stars in the bag. Place another bag over it and glue it shut. Place your space gel on the science table for a sensory experience.

Star Gazers

Give each child an empty toilet paper tube. Cover the end of the  tube with a piece of black paper. Let the children gently push a  toothpick through the black paper to create tiny holes. Give the children  markers to decorate their scopes. To use them, have the children hold  their scopes up to the light and look through the uncovered end. This  will look like a mini-planetarium.

Eyedropper Art

Trace different size circles. Use eyedroppers with water and liquid watercolors to paint the planets.

Space Walking

Use rubberbands to attach large sponges to the shoes of your students and let them go on a space walk.  This gives them the feeling of being weightless.

Space Books

Make outer space books using outer space theme stickers. Prepare the books ahead of time and prepare a book sized pointer out of a popsicle stick with a star sticker on the end.

Make a pattern book such as:

I can see the moon.
I can see the astronaut.
I can see the stars.
I can see the space ship.

Have the students put on the sticker that goes with the text. Then they use their star pointer to point to the text as they read it.

Space Helmets

Materials: Medium sized paper grocery bag, tape, crayons or markers, glue and scissors.

Cut off the top of the bag, so when the bag is on your head it will just cover your ears. Cut down part way on one end to form a bill on your forehead. Reinforce it with tape. Draw, color and cut out emblems to glue on the sides of the space helmet. Ideas would be American Flag, space ship, and the letters U S A. or cut a square face hole out of one side of a paper bag. Let the children decorate the bags with crayons or markers to make space helmets.

Moon Craters

Give of the children a sturdy foam paper plate to work with.  Glue on dried beans & other assorted things to provide texture for the moon surface.  When it dries cover with aluminum foil & tuck the edges over so it doesn't come unwrapped.  Then press down gently.  This will reveal craters and fissures, etc. on the moon's surface. Purchase some toothpick flags to stick on the moons surface.

Outer Space
Paintings

Draw a moon, planets and stars on large pieces of white paper with a white crayon for each child ahead of time. Have the children paint the paper with a thin layer of blue or black thinned tempera paint. The children will enjoy the outer space surprises.

Make a
Constellation

Materials:

blue or black construction paper
8-10 star stickers per child
chalk

Activity:

1. Talk to the children about stars and constellations and/or read books.
2. Give each child paper, stickers, and chalk.
3. Have them place their stickers scattered around the paper.
4. Take the chalk and connect the stars.
5. You have a constellation, and if displayed all together, it looks like the sky with a lot of stars and constellations!

Outer Space
Star Shine

What to do
Study the stars with pictures of constellations, books and even a visit to the planetarium. Let the children choose their paper and write their names on one side. Pour a thin pool of glue into the Styrofoam tray. Children dip the cookie cutters into the glue and press them on their paper. Repeat as needed to create the constellation the child has imagined. Sprinkle glitter over the paper, tilt the paper gently to cover all glued areas. Shake off the excess and reserve. Lay the papers flat to dry.

Alien Headbands

Take various colored pipe cleaners and form a circle for the child's head (usually need just two) Then twist the other pipe cleaners into interesting "alien" shapes and twist onto the headband. Some interesting shapes were triangles, crooked antennae, or a shape you can get by twisting a pipe cleaner round and round a pencil and then attaching to headband. 

A Space Mural

Put white tempura paint diluted with water in small spray bottles and have the children spray on a piece of black painted mural paper. Then have them make planets (circles) with fluorescent paint or glow in the dark crayons Cut them out and glue them onto their space mural. Then use a star hole punch on aluminum foil and  glue stars on as well. You can also cut larger stars from aluminum foil and scatter throughout the sky!

Plates in Space

Materials: paper plates, paper bowl, glue, crayons, markers, or tempera paint

Directions: Paper plates make great flying saucers!! You might want to tape two together to create a curved top and bottom (double up very thin plates). The child can use crayons, markers, or tempera paint to add insignias, gas caps, signs, etc. before proceeding. Once the saucer part of the ship is complete, you'll need to make the cabin for the crew! A paper bowl is perfect! Again, let the child use crayons or markers to draw windows, doors, etc. Affix the completed cabin to the center of the saucer with glue and let it dry.

 Postcards
from Pluto

Have the students take a 4X6 index card and draw their favorite planet on the front.
On the back, write a message home from their planet describing what it is like there.
Share the postcards with the class. The postcards can then be taken home or mailed.

Astronaut Food

Use one package of instant pudding for every 3 or 4 kids. Divide the pudding mix evenly into ziploc sandwich bags. Add enough milk to each bag to correspond to the package directions. Let the kids mush, squeeze and shake the bags until the pudding starts to get thick -- about 2 minutes. Chill it if you want or eat it right away. Just trim off one corner of the bag and suck it out like real astronauts do!

What Do
You See?

Materials: student journals, crayons, and pencils

Activity: Have the students go outside and look at the sky (Tell children not to look directly at the sun). Ask the student what they can see in space. Have them describe each object they see in different ways such as the shape, color, and texture. Record the observations on a piece of paper. Go back to the classroom and discuss the list. Have each of the students draw what he saw on the first page of his space journal. Have the students write the word "Day" at the top of the page. For homework, have the children ask their parents to take them outside to look at the sky at night. The next day, have each student draw what he saw the night before on the second page of his journal. Discuss what the students saw during the day and night and discuss the differences.

Students can also write a sentence about what they saw in the sky on the bottom of the page of their journals.

Moon Shapes
Mobile

Materials: Yarn or string, star stickers, cloud and moon patterns, crayons, scissors, hole punch, and stapler

Activity: Have each student cut out  cloud and moon patterns. Have the students color the cloud to match the night sky, then attach the star stickers. Each student will receive three 4-inch lengths of yarn or string. Staple a moon shape to the end of a piece of yarn. Staple the opposite end of each string to the cloud shape. Punch a hole in the top of the cloud and tie on a piece of string to hang it with. Hang them in the classroom. Have the students write "I like the moon the best when it looks like this" in their journals. The students can then draw the shape of the moon to go with the sentence on that page.

Moon Rock
Treats

Materials: 24 ounces of white baking chocolate, 1 cup of peanuts, 1 cup of mini pretzels, 1 10 ounce bag of M&M’s, 1 10 ounce bag of miniature marshmallows, paper baking cups, spoon, a microwave

Activity: Give each student a baking cup and have him write his name on the outside. Melt the white chocolate in a large, microwavable container. Stir in the remaining ingredients until they are all well covered. Give each student a large spoonful and put it in his or her baking cup. Let the mixture cool until it sets, which will be about half an hour.

Note: Makes about 25 servings.

Circle Time
Blast Off

Put the chairs in your room in a circle with the backs of the chairs on the floor. Invite your children to join you for a ride on the space shuttle to the moon! Dim the lights put on some music to appropriately create a  mood (2001 Space Odyssey or Star Wars works just fine!). Dramatize getting your astronauts suited up for launch and strapping into the shuttle.  Count to whatever number is appropriate for your class. Talk about what you see and feel as you lift off, eliciting children's responses along the way. Land on the moon if you'd like and collect moon rocks for your science center or go to any of the planets or even another galaxy! When you return for a safe landing have an outer space snack waiting for your astronauts!

Kids Adventures in Space

Magic School Bus
Space Lessons

Kids Astronomy

Space Games