Alaska Museum of Natural History

Primary Lesson Plan (Preschool - 2nd)
Author:	Julie Ball (1998) Soldotna, Alaska
Introduction:	Children of this age group already know quite a lot about dinosaurs. There is however a difficulty in distinguishing between what is real and what is make believe. A particular difficulty lays in the use of real things (for instance dinosaurs), in make-believe stories (for example Jurassic Park).
Objectives:	Students will be able to distinguish the difference between real and make believe in general and in particular to dinosaurs.
Vocabulary:	real, make-believe, dinosaurs, evidence, and extinct
Materials:	Have students bring in pictures or actual toys of dinosaurs and monsters. (Monsters can be from Sesame Street, Where the Wild Things Are, children's meal toys, Halloween pictures, etc.) Include pictures from books or movies in which dinosaurs are pictured with humans or are talking characters.
More Materials:	Word cards Large note pad Magic Marker
Lesson:
Opening:	Gather all of the pictures and toys in a large paper bag. You may need to label items brought from home. Masking tape works well. Set them out of sight. Divide the large pad into two sections. At the top of the first section, write "real", at the top of the second write, "make-believe". Have the children brainstorm for a few minutes the things they know that are real and make-believe. Write the words into the correct column as the children say them.
Sequence:	Ask students how they know if something is real or make-believe. Ask "What evidence is there that _________ is real?" If dinosaurs do not come up in this discussion, ask "What evidence is there that dinosaurs are real?" Probably, some student will say that dinosaurs are extinct. Talk about what this means. Bring out the bag of toys and pictures. Tell the children that the class is going to sort the objects in the bag. Tell the students that there may be many ways to sort the objects in the bag. Say, "Today we are going to sort the objects by real, or make-believe. If the picture or object represents something that has really existed put it in the real pile. If the picture or object is something that someone made up, put it in the make-believe pile." This can be tricky since the toys and pictures themselves are real, what they represent may not be. Show the students the word cards "real" and "make believe". Demonstrate how you would sort several of the objects. Place the correct word card next to the appropriate pile. Be sure to point out that people and dinosaurs never lived at the same time. Go over any objects that you think are particularly tricky. Divide the class up into groups of four or five students. Give each group two word cards, one with "real" printed on it, and one with "make-believe" printed on it. Give each group enough objects to spend a few minutes sorting. As students sort, talk with them about why they put the different objects into the groups that they do. Ask questions to help them.
Closing:	Have students show their sorted piles to the whole group. Let them explain their work. If you have time let the children tell a make-believe story, or tell a few facts about an animal by using the toys.
Follow up:	Students may like to choose either the fiction or nonfiction pile and write about the objects in the piles. Have some books about dinosaurs on hand to sort into fictional and non-fictional as well.