Lesson Plan: "Owl Moon" by Jane Yolen

Object of lesson plan: Teach children about using all their senses and observing things in nature

Target age group: 5-9

1. Read Owl Moon by Jane Yolen.  Before reading, ask kids how they use their senses while they are outside, and have them share any cool stories about things they’ve done or seen outside on hikes.  After reading ask them what senses the girl in the book used while on her owling hike.
2. Take an “unnatural walk”- This activity should take place outside.  Ask the kids if they have ever taken a nature hike before, and what kinds of things they would expect to see on those hikes. Then have the children walk the length of a small section of trail (20 yards is a good length), looking for unnatural items such as tennis balls or soda cans.  Once they have walked through once, ask the kids how many items they saw.  They would then walk through the garden a second time, after being reminded to look high and low and pay attention.  Finally tell them where all the items were hidden, and see how many of those they had spotted.
3. Play “nature to nature”- This activity should also take place outside.  In this game, one kid finds an object in nature (a stone, a leaf, etc.) and shows it to the other players.  Those players then have a minute to thirty seconds to find something as similar to the original object as possible.  The kid who found the original object picks whichever player he or she thinks found the most similar object, and that kid gets to pick the next object.  Remember to set boundaries before beginning the game.
4. Wrap session up by discussing what kids learned about observation and brainstorming things they might be able to observe in their own backyards.