Unit designers: Rebecca Crass & Susan Meister

Unit: Our Five Senses Grade level: K5

Length of lesson: 7 Days

Stage 1 – Desired Results

Common Core Standards:

Math K.MD.3: Classify objects into given categories; count the number of objects in
each category and sort the categories by counting.

Science C.4.1: Using the vocabulary of the unifying theme to ask questions about
objects, organisms, and events being studied.

Science C.4.2: Use the science content being learned to ask questions, plan
investigations, make observations, make predictions, and offer explanations.

Science C.4.6: Communicate the results of their investigations by using charts,

graphs, drawings, written descriptions, and various other means.

Writing W.1: Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose

opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic they are writing about and state an
opinion of preference about the topic.

Speaking SL.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about

kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and large groups.

Speaking SL.6: Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

Purpose of unit: This unit will guide students into their exploration and discovery of
their five senses while also integrating other content areas, such as math, social studies,
and language arts. Students will become aware that they use their senses to explore
their surroundings and themselves. In addition, that most often, senses are used in
conjunction with each other, and that different senses provide different information. All
of these discovery skills provide the basic foundation of scientific observation and
experimentation. This unit will also provide students many authentic, real-life, and
hands-on experiences with the subject matter.

Essential questions: Topical questions:

 How do my senses help me to  What are the five senses?
learn?  What do the senses do for us?
  What is empathy?  What does it feel like to walk in
someone’s shoes?
Student objectives (outcomes):
Students will be able to
 Identify the five senses: Sight, Smell, Touch, Taste, and Hearing
 Recognize eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and skin as primary sensory organs.
 Discuss, illustrate, and respond appropriately to prompts relating to the senses.
 Explore using their five senses.
 Observe, compare, contrast, match, and order sounds from softest to loudest.
 Experiment using their taste buds.
 Identify and discuss who Helen Keller is and why she is important in history.
 Graph data related to the senses.
 Classify objects by observing and identifying common characteristics

Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence

Formative assessment Summative assessment
(should include observation
of student participation and communication) Author’s chair presentations

Daily Exit tickets: Magazine Collages per Field trip – Completion of Spring Safari
sense. spreadsheet

Daily flip book entries. My Helen Keller Diary

Daily family connection sheets.

Daily self-assessment faces coloring sheet.

Stage 3 – Learning Plan

Day 1: Sight
We learn about the world through our five senses. The sense of sight helps us
recognize each other and learn about color, motion, and distance.

Activate prior knowledge: As a class, listen to the “Senses Song” from

http://havefunteaching.com/songs/science-songs/senses-song/
Description: The Senses Song is a science song that teaches the five senses. The senses
song teaches kids about touch, taste, smell, sight and sound. This is a song for learning
the 5 senses.

One more fun song! Stand up class! Let’s touch our body parts as we listen to the song,
“Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.”

Interactive read aloud: “Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?” by Bill Martin.
Encourage children to act out parts with their bodies and character puppets from story.

K.MD.3/C.4.6: 1) Students predict which eye color they think will be found most
often in the classroom. Teacher records on Prediction graph. Next, have students
carefully look at their own eyes using mirrors. Then have them study a partner’s eyes.
Discuss the similarities and differences. Record eye colors of students using tally marks.
Create a bar graph to reflect the results.

Class Discussion
1. Did the color that you thought we would find most often turn out to be the
one that we did?
2. If we visited another classroom, would we find the same eye color more than
any of the others? Why? Why not?
3. Would we find the same eye color to be the most common if we had looked at
the girls’ eyes? Boys’ eyes?

K.MD.3/C.4.6: 2) Have students count which body parts have pairs, then sequence
them from smallest to largest while the teacher writes them down on a large sheet of
paper.
C.4.1/ SL.6 3) Introduce our special guest Helen Keller via the Smart Board!
Upload http://www.braillebug.org/hkgallery.asp?tpid=1
Discuss how her senses were taken away at such an early age of 2, and the difficulty
she had not being able to see (or hear)!
4) Begin teaching students the first five letters of the alphabet in sign
language (A-E), and teach the sign for “friend”.
W.1/C.4.6 5) Introduce the 5 Senses Flipbook project. Every student will become
an AUTHOR!!! Have children draw/write in their flip books under “Sight”, assessing by
observation what they learned from today. “I see __________
with my eyes.”
5a) Introduce the Helen Keller Diary project. Each day students will add
to it.
Writing W.1: Introduce the Helen Keller Diary Project. Discuss how the students will
write/draw in their diaries each day about what they discovered about Ms. Keller, and
their personal thoughts (Most children will likely draw pictures and we will document
their thoughts underneath their pictures).
Exit ticket: Students will create a collage of “sight” pictures found in donated
magazines.

Ongoing Daily Student self assessment:

Color the appropriate face.
Happy face: I know all about today’s sense and can even teach it to someone else. 
Straight face: I think I know what today’s sense means but maybe a little confused.
Frowny face: I don’t know about today’s sense. I need your help! 

(Ongoing)Family Connections: Through classroom newsletters/emails, inform

parents when each sense is complete. Suggest that as they travel or just walk in their
neighborhoods they encourage their children to explore the
environment using their senses. Discuss odors they smell in different
locations, Discuss things they see in different locations. Discuss sounds they
hear in different locations. Discuss objects that may be touched when visiting
different locations. When eating meals together, discuss which foods are salty, sour,
bitter, and sweet. Fill out daily family connection sheet. Return to school next day.

Day 2: Hearing/Sound
The sense of hearing helps us learn from each other through communication.

Speaking SL.1: Activate prior knowledge: As a class, brainstorm a list of things

that can be heard.
Pair share: Brainstorm what can be heard per seasons? What do you hear in Spring? In
summer? And so on.
Speaking SL.6: Interactive read aloud: Polar bear, polar bear, what do you hear?
By Bill Martin Jr.
Encourage children to act out parts with their bodies and character puppets from story.

Science C.4.2: Making connections to Helen Keller: Play a sound recognition

game by blindfolding each child; quietly move to another spot in the classroom and ring
jingle bells. The child has to turn and walk in the direction of the bells with only trusting
their sense of hearing.
Read “Helen Keller” by Wendy Watson Davidson.
Writing W.1: Add to our Helen Keller diary project.

Activities:
1) Review signs A-E and “friend”, then introduce the next five letters of the alphabet F-J,
and demonstrate the sign for Mom.
2) Do the science experiment using water and glasses and creating sound on the rim of
each glass.
3) Play musical numbers; place numbers written on a paper plate in a large circle.
Students make a circle standing behind the numbers. Once the music begins the
children move and dance around the circle of numbers. Once the music stops the
teacher calls out a number, and whoever is standing closest to it will pick it up.
4) Play “Hide the Ticking Clock”.
W.1: 5) Students will write/draw in their flip books under “Sound” of what they
learned that day. “I hear __________ with my ears.”

Exit ticket: Children will each create their own “Sound Collage” using donated
magazines.

Ongoing Daily Student self assessment:

Color the appropriate face.
Happy face: I know all about today’s sense and can even teach it to someone else. 
Straight face: I think I know what today’s sense means but maybe a little confused.
Frowny face: I don’t know about today’s sense. I need your help! 
 Day 3: Taste
Taste helps us, among other things, to select and enjoy food. There are
four familiar tastes.

Activate prior knowledge: Review previous senses. Sing Senses songs again.

Speaking SL.1: Interactive read aloud: “What Can I Taste?” by Sue Barraclough.
Group Discussion: Do you think it is a good idea to taste something that is not familiar
to you to find out what it is? Why? Yes, it could be something that is not good
to eat. Some things look good, but can be very dangerous. If we are offered
food we don’t know about (for example, when we go trick-or-treating during
Halloween) or we want to find out what kind of food something is, we should
not taste it. We should ask a parent or relative if it is safe to taste it.

Math K.MD.3/Science C.4.1: Activities: Making Connections to Helen Keller:

1) Discuss how Helen Keller truly had to rely on her sense of taste because she didn’t
have her sense of sight or hearing.
2) Review signs A-F, “friend”, and “Mom”. Introduce signs K-O, and sign for “Dad”.
3) Have a taste test by having each child blind folded and give them something sweet to
taste, salty, and sour to taste. Then ask each child what they think the sample of food
is, ask them if they think it’s sweet, sour, or salty, and chart results.
4) Pass a mirror around and ask each child to stick out their tongue to look at the little
bumps on them called taste buds. Examine the tongues and teach them where on the
tongue are their sweet taste buds, sour taste buds, etc.
5) Have students draw/write in their flip books under “Taste”. __________ tastes like
__________. (This is relating one taste to some other similar taste).
You can taste __________. You should not taste __________. (Three things that
can be tasted and one that should not be tasted.)

Writing W.1: Add to Helen Keller Diary.

Exit ticket: Student work independently on a “Taste Collage” using donated magazines.

Ongoing Daily Student self assessment:

Color the appropriate face.
Happy face: I know all about today’s sense and can even teach it to someone else. 
Straight face: I think I know what today’s sense means but maybe a little confused.
Frowny face: I don’t know about today’s sense. I need your help! 

Day 4: Smell
The sense of smell helps us enjoy life and helps us learn about unsafe
conditions.

Science C.4.2: Activate prior knowledge: Display photos on the Smart board of
animal noses and have the children name the animal that goes with the nose.

Interactive read aloud: “The Magic School Bus Explores the Senses” by Joana Cole

Activity:
1) Activate learning of Helen Keller: Review sign language A-O, “friend”, “Mom”, “Dad”,
and introduce letters P-T.
Science C.4.1: 2) Smelly Jars: Each child opens one baby food jar at a time and sniffs.
Each child places a picture of what she thinks is inside on top of the jar. Then students
compare
results and decide on the correct match after discussion.
Speaking SL.1: 3) Cut up peppers, onions, garlic, and jalapeño peppers for children
to smell how potent they are once cut open. Next, working in pairs, students take turns
being blindfolded and trying to identify food substances given to eat. Next, they pinch
their noses and remain blindfolded while they eat the food (apple, potato, orange,
lemon, grapefruit, etc.). They check to see which foods they could identify without
smelling them.
Writing W.1: 4) Have students draw/write in their flip books under “Smell”. If I were a
__________, I’d like to smell a __________.

Writing W.1: Add to Helen Keller diary.

Exit ticket: Students create a “Smell collage” independently using donated magazines.

Ongoing Daily Student self assessment:

Color the appropriate face.
Happy face: I know all about today’s sense and can even teach it to someone else. 
Straight face: I think I know what today’s sense means but maybe a little confused.
Frowny face: I don’t know about today’s sense. I need your help! 

Day 5: Touch
The sense of touch helps us learn about our world by feeling it and learning
the size, texture, and shape of things.

Science C.4.6/Writing W.1: Activate prior knowledge: Ask the students what
part of the body they use to see. Eyes. To hear? Ears. Taste? Tongue. Today we will
explore your sense of feeling which is everywhere in your body.
Students go out onto the playground and take several sheets of paper and a pencil.
Students select things to trace on paper, e.g., brick wall, sidewalk, leaf, penny, etc.
When the students return to the classroom, they describe the textures using appropriate
adjectives and write about the textures in their journals. What did you trace on this
paper? How do you know this is a leaf? Is it rough, smooth?

Interactive read aloud: “Super Senses” by Shar Levine.

Activities: Making connections to Helen Keller

Speaking SL.6: 1) Discuss how Helen’s sense of touch was so very important to her,
and how she had to trust that sense to communicate to her.
2) Review alphabet sign language A-T, “friend”, “Mom”, “Dad”, and introduce letters U-
Z.
Science C.4.2: 3) The students will get the chance to walk blindfolded and bare foot
over bubble wrap. Predict your feelings: How will it feel? Afterwards, where your
predictions accurate to how you felt?
4) Play “Pin the Tail on the Donkey.”
5) Finger paint with mixing coffee grounds in green paint, rice in red paint, and glitter in
yellow paint.
Writing W.1/Science C.4.6: 6) Students will draw/write in their flip books under
“Touch”, and put any final touches on them.

Writing W.1: Add to Helen Keller Diary

Exit ticket: Students will create their own “Touch Collage” from pictures found in
donated magazines.

Ongoing Daily Student self assessment:

Color the appropriate face.
Happy face: I know all about today’s sense and can even teach it to someone else. 
Straight face: I think I know what today’s sense means but maybe a little confused.
Frowny face: I don’t know about today’s sense. I need your help! 

Day 6: Culmination Day

Activate prior knowledge: Watch on Hulu via Smartboard: 1-2-3-4-5 Senses! By
Barney and Friends
Synopsis: Luci introduces her new friend, Patty (who is visually impaired), to Barney,
Michael, Tina and Kathy. Patty comments that a beautiful day can be experienced
through more of one's senses than just sight. Michael's class is studying the five senses,
which leads to fun songs and activities related to each of them. Perhaps most important,
Patty shows the group that a child with blindness can do many things for him/herself
and play right along with the others. Patty teaches the kids a rhyme and its
corresponding hand movements...and she reads a story to Kathy, using braille.

Science C.4.6/Speaking SL.6: Author’s Chair celebration: Each child will get an
opportunity to sit in the “Author’s Chair” and defend their flip books and collages. Each
child will be given 3 minutes to tell us what they drew/wrote on each day, why, and
defend their senses collages. This will be a very rewarding learning experience for each
student to present and then listen to other classmates as well.

Make popcorn for snack using and testing all our five senses.

Final Student self assessment:

Color the appropriate face.
Happy face: I know all about my 5 senses and can even teach them to someone else. 
Straight face: I think I know a lot about the 5 senses but maybe a little confused.
Frowny face: I still don’t understand the 5 senses. 

Day 7: Altogether, Now

We learn best about our world when we use our five senses at the same time.

Science C.4.2: Fieldtrip to Boerner Botanical Gardens

Activate prior learning: Before going on field trip: Display on doc. camera the
overhead transparency of the brain and the 5 senses. Remind students that we use
different parts of our body to see, hear, smell, taste and touch. Listen and help me
decide which part of the body goes with the words I hold up. “We use our ears to
__________” “We use our eyes to ______” “We use our nose to _______” “We use our
mouth and tongue to______” “We use our hands and skin to _______” Hold up
sentence strip with correct word for each response.

Writing W.1: Pack clipboards for each student so that they have a hard surface to
write on when completing their spreadsheet. During the nature walk the students must
make visual observations and then record their observations through a drawing. The
drawings must contain objects that were viewed during the nature walk.

Field trip details:

“SPRING SAFARI” for Kindergarten and Grade 1
1 ½ Hours
Can you find a plant with “Jack” in its name? Which flower is composed of many
“threes”? Go on a safari in the Gardens while hunting with your senses to discover the
wonders of spring. You’ll plant seeds to care for at school or to take home.
(http://www.boernerbotanicalgardens.org/)

Materials: Books: “Helen Keller”, “Super Senses”, “The Magic School Bus Explores the
Senses”, “Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do I See?”,”Polar Bear Polar Bear, What Do You
Hear” and “Super Senses”. Create Flip Books for each student, Helen Keller Diaries,
pencils, markers, construction paper, chart paper, crayons, paints, rice, coffee grounds,
glitter, magazines, scissors, paper, glue sticks, smelly jars, CD player and CD’s, blind
fold, bells, popcorn and popcorn maker, taste test foods (lemon, fruit loops, potato
chips, sugar, and salt, peppers, onions, garlic, jalapeno pepper), glasses, water, mirror,
sheets of bubble wrap, poster of American Sign Language, “author’s chair”.
Games: Number’s 1-20 written individually on paper plates, Pin Tail on Donkey, Ticking
alarm clock. Clipboards and extra pencils for field trips. Field trip slips; chaperone slips;
Access to internet; make sure you can access Hulu or YouTube at school to show the
Barney video clip. Otherwise, bring own laptop which has access to both.
Smart board
_____________________________________________________________

Motivation/hook: Every activity is designed to get each child excited and motivated to
learn about their five senses, and exactly who Helen Keller was, and why she is such an
important American figure. The children will love all the hands on activities presented to
them each day, being able to move around and be creative as a group and individually.

____________________________________________________________

Differentiation:
This unit will accommodate auditory and visual learners through the reading of the
books and the illustrations within the books. Also, visual learners will benefit from the
charts and tallying. The unit will also accommodate tactile and kinesthetic learners
through the various hands on activities, ie) sampling food activity; touching, etc

Accommodations/ Modifications: Send out advanced notice in writing via email to

parents about using food in the 5 Senses curriculum – Any allergies we need to be
aware of? Seasonal allergies during field trip? Watch for food allergies and prepare
students who have allergies alternate tasting samples. Do not leave any students out.

Students who have physical disabilities or outdoor allergies during certain seasons may
need assistance or alternate methods of completing the field trip activity. If bad weather
does occur on the day that this lesson is scheduled, the trip will be postponed.

Blind folding may be stressful or scary for some students. Encourage all to participate
but no one has to be blindfolded. The children can place their hand over their eyes, or
just close their eyes.

Self Assessment:

In Stage One: we

_Yes__ Identify desired results using appropriate state or core standards. We

incorporated the core standards throughout the lessons each day successfully.

_Yes__ Pose essential questions that are clearly transferrable and focus on
big ideas.
• How do my senses help me to learn?
• What is empathy?
As the students learn more about Helen Keller, it is our hope that they become
empathetic. As they participate in our varied learning activities, we hope their empathy
continues to grow. As students progress in the unit, they will learn how their 5 senses
help them in their everyday life.

__Yes_ Derive topical questions that reflect specific unit content and/or skills
Our topical questions
• What are the five senses?
• What do the senses do for us?
• What does it feel like to walk in someone’s shoes?
Our topical questions tie back to our essential questions and are found within our
learning activities.

_Yes__ Articulate measurable objectives

We referred to the Bloom’s taxonomy flipchart as we wrote our objectives. Therefore,
we know we have clear and measurable language in our unit plan. (examples used:
identify, organize, explore, discuss, and so on)

In Stage Two: we

_Yes__ Design authentic performance task that ask students to do something

with what they know (summative assessment). In the summative assessment we
ask the students to write/draw in their Helen Keller Diaries each day, reflecting on what
they learned about her. This way we are able to assess whether each student
comprehends what is being taught. We have each student present their 5 Senses Flip
Books to the class at the end of the unit. Again the students are being assessed on how
well they learned/understood the concepts. Finally our class field trip to the Boerner
Botanical Gardens, which is a great way to assess the information we taught throughout
the entire unit.

__Yes_ Identify other relevant evidence that should be collected to monitor

student understanding and development on the way to the big authentic
performance(s) (formative assessment). We did a great job developing several
formative assessments throughout the unit. The daily exit tickets are a way to assess
how well each student understands what we covered each day. The daily flip books are
another way to assess and observe how well the students understand the content. We
also have included the daily self-assessment sheets and the daily family connection
sheets as measuring tools. These tools will ensure each child is being assessed and is
performing different tasks at different times, and even by their parents.

_Yes__ Design effective student self assessment (and reflection)

Each day students completed a self-assessment.
Ongoing Daily Student self assessment:
Color the appropriate face. (image would be provided)
Happy face: I know all about today’s sense and can even teach it to someone else.
Straight face: I think I know what today’s sense means but maybe a little confused.
Frowny face: I don’t know about today’s sense. I need your help!

_Yes__Design an effective feedback plan. The parents are sent a daily connections
sheet each day. This way the parents will understand what it is we are accomplishing in
school, and what specific questions they should ask. We are able to assess their
feedback and determine who needs to be challenged; who needs some more assistance
and clarity, and whether the children are able to remember the information (build their
comprehension) well enough to communicate our school activities clearly to their
families.

In Stage Three: we

Yes___ Design effective teaching and learning experiences that equip

students to engage with, develop, and demonstrate desired understandings
We believe our learning activities are authentic, hands on activities that connect back
to the real world.

What three teacher standards (please use revised teacher standards) are
most prominent in your unit plan? Provide explicit connections between those
standards and the unit.
Standards #4 is found in our unit plan. We both know the content well (the 5 senses).

Standards #1 and #2: Rebecca drew upon former lesson plans from her preschool.
These activities were not only age appropriate for our imaginary Kindergarten class but
also differentiated for different learning styles.

With what grad education abilities would you connect those standards—and
why?
Our ability to conceptualization and design this unit proves that we know the content
well (5 senses). Conceptualization ties back to Teaching standard #4.
As we planned and differentiated our unit, we demonstrated our ability to coordinate.
This ties back to knowing our students’ development (Standard #1) and their learning
differences (#2). We needed to coordinate which books we were going to read, the
websites, the art supplies, and so on.

We also would need to communicate and be professional (Integrative Interaction) with

parents. As noted at the end of our unit plan, we would have sent home paperwork
asking parents if their children had seasonal or food allergies. In addition, we would
have to communicate and coordinate chaperones for our field trip. We would have to
display our professionalism when working with the Botanical Gardens and the bus
company/bus driver. Integrative interaction ties back to teaching standard #10.