Spiders

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet
Eating her curds and whey;

Along came a spider,
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffet away
Mother Goose
 
 
 

Itsy Bitsy Spider
(lyrics and music)

The itsy bitsy spider
Crawled up the water spout
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out

Out came the sun
And dried up all the rain
And the itsy bitsy spider
Crawled up the spout again.

Kindergartners love to study spiders. We study spiders in the fall. They love to tell personal stories about spider happenings. After discussing their personal stories we will have each student draw a picture of a spider story. After they have completed their pictures, we write thier stories on thier papers as they dictate to us. We can use the spider unit to integrate math, reading, writing  and social studies.

With our introduction we integrate math immediately. We do this by graphing: "How many students like spiders?" (If you like spiders stand in this line, if you do not like spiders, stand in this line.)

Questions:
1. Which is the longest line, those who like spiders, or those who do not like spiders?
2. Let's count. How many students like spiders?
3. Let's count. How many students do not like spiders?
4. How many boys like spiders?
5. How many girls like spiders?
6. How many boys do not like spiders?
7. How many girls do not like spiders?
8. Which is the shortest line, those who like spiders or those who do not like spiders?
9. Which line has the greater number of students, those who like spiders or those who do not like spiders?
10. Are the lines equal or unequal?

The above is an example of the way we integrate our themes and units for our kindergartners.

Facts:
Picture of the mouth of a spider
Interesting Spider Facts
List of Sites
Spiders and Such
Parts of a Spider
Learn about Spiders
Spiders
Lesser Black Bird-Eating Spider
A Fifth Grade Class Research Page (great info.)
A Key to Major Classes of Adult Arthropods
First Grade's Fact Sheet

Activities:
Spider Web Hunt:
We walk out side and tour the school grounds looking for spider webs. We examine them, looking at their shape, size, location and insects in the web. When the class returns to the classroom, we discuss the webs we have seen. We discuss their attributes; size, shape, etc.  We discuss the number of insects in the web. What is a spider's purpose?

Question: Why don't spider get caught in their web? (answer)
Spider Web Links (pictures)

Books:
Books for Integrated Studies
1. The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
2. Spider Magic by D.H. Patent.
3. Eency Weency Spider by Joanne Oppenheim
4. Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock by Eric A. Kimmel
5. Won't You Come to Dinner? (Rigby Book)
 

Crafts:
1. Eensy Weensy Spider:
We use a paper towel roll, loop a piece of yarn through the center and tie  a  spider ring (small bags of spiders rings are available in stores before Halloween) on the yarn. The students sing, Eensy Weensy Spider  as they move the spider up and down the outside of the spider roll. We make these up for the students before class.

2. Students make construction paper spiders with:
A pre drawn abdomen and cephalothorax. It looks something like a number eight, one circle being smaller. The students receiver 8 strips of construction paper, they will fold them accordion style for legs. We staple the legs on the cephalothorax for them. The students add the eyes after researching the number of eyes spiders have.

3. Spider hats. Draw a large circle on an 8 by 10 piece of paper. Cut a line half way through, pull it around and make it cone shaped and staple it. Add eyes, etc.
The students cut out the circle and

4. The Spider spins a web. Lesson
 

Math:
Lesson 1. Classify SPIDERS AND NOT SPIDERS  Mark the Not Spiders with a X.
Lesson 2. Count to eight. Students will create a spider with a thumb and finger tip print, creating the abdomen and cephalothorax. They will take a crayon or pencil and add 8 legs, 4 on each side.

Spider Tea Cakes - Read: Miss Spider's Tea Party
Students will assemble a spider tea cake by counting out their objects and following directions.
 
 

Lessons
Everything about spiders
Life Cycle Lesson
SEDL Lessons (7)
Teacher Resources on Spiders
Echanted Learning: Lots of Spider Stuff
Spider Theme
Spider Unit
Mrs. Vig's Theme Page
1st Grade Unit: Spiders
Kindergarten Spider Unit