Objectives:

The students will be introduce to fact and fiction about outer space.

The students will write a paragraph describing their alien and where they are from.

Material:

Story: Here Come the Aliens! or a similar children's book about aliens

Construction paper

Computer with Internet

Activities:

Have students describe what an alien looks like.

Ask how they know.

Read story: Here Come the Aliens and discuss.

Tell students that no signs of life have been found on any other planet yet.

Discuss that alien stories are fiction.

Have students visit UCAR Games and click on Make Your Own Alien to create their own aliens. Students can manipulate hear, torso, arms and legs. Print alien and share.

Students can also visit Alien Explorer to create an alien. To create an alien simply print the heads, bodies and legs and then cut and paste or trace a head, body and legs onto a new page and color. Students can then post alien on the Web site,

Have students create a similar alien on construction paper as a group project.

Each child draws the head of his/her alien. 

They then must give it to the person next to them and receive another alien head.

Keep switching papers having different students draw the eyes, torso, right leg, etc...

Once the original owner has his/her paper, they must write a paragraph describing the alien using desktop publishing. The picture of the alien can be scanned in and inserted onto the paragraph page.

Evaluation:

The students will be evaluated on how descriptive their paragraph is.

The students will also be able to state whether aliens are fact or fiction.

Extension: Alien Adventure

• Students will create an imaginary tale about an alien adventure

• Explain to students that this message will be sent across the universe

• Brainstorm things that could happen in the story: they are lost in space, their space ship becomes disabled, the alien lands on Earth and is sick...

• Discuss what the alien will look like, will he have special powers, what his ship will be like and record on board

• Make online Solar System maps available, such as Nine Planets. Students can refer to maps for locations to be included in story

• Write draft on Claris Works or other word processing program

• Edit

• Proofread

• Print

• Upload stories to class Web site or Kid Authors

Homework:

Have students come up with one question they would ask an alien.