Five Senses

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Home : 2002 : February : 21

Five Senses
By Cathy-Dee

Ok, here goes....

I do about 5 weeks for my unit. The first two senses I do more as centers, sometimes I will do the third one as well with centers(depending if I have another adult in the room or not) and the last two
I combine and do as whole class activities.
I usually start with a general overview of the five senses with my students.
Then the first sense we cover is "touch".
I have 4-5 centers and we do them everyday for a week in rotations. Each day a group does a new center.
My centers are...
- touch and feel bags - I have 12 bags filled with different items. The students put their

hands into the bags (no peeking) and draw what they think are in the bags on a sheet I made that has 12 boxes for them. Sometimes I have done more bags depending on the class.

- touch and feel socks - with this activity I have 8 socks (you need fairly thick socks) that I put objects into. This time they take off one shoe and feel with their feet (they leave their socks on as well for sanitary reasons). I have a page with 8 socks on it that they draw what they think is in each sock. There are numbers on the socks (likewise on the bags mentioned above).

- touch and feel concentration - I cut up squares of heavy bristol board. On the squares I put items making sure I had two of every item. The students put the squares out on the floor and then blindfold a partner. The partner has to feel with their hands and find two objects that match.

- I have a touch and feel booklet they make as well for one center.

Then I do sound

- center 1 is a listening center (sound bingo)
- center 2 is sound concentration - I obtained film canisters (dark ones) and put objects into them. On the bottoms of the canisters I put coloured dots with letters on them. I made two full sets so that a group of 4 could play in teams of two. The canisters are in pairs with matching objects inside and matching letters on the bottom. The children take turns choosing one container and then shaking the rest to find the one that matches. Then their partner takes a turn. They confirm the match via the letters on the bottom.

- center 3 - guess the sound - using the canisters again I made up 12 different ones. The students shake and then draw a picture for what they think is in the canister.
As with the bags, socks and these canisters, once everyone is finished that activity for the day I open the containers to show what was inside them. I change the containers every night so that the next group (who often overhear) do not know the answers.

- center 4 - paper plate tamborines

- center 5 - this one I stay with for the most part - we do a number of things - use stethoscopes, use hangars with strings to hear sounds in our ears, make paper cup telephones, etc.,

Sight
- this one I sometimes do as centers but often go to whole class activities because I need to be with several of the activities at the same time otherwise.
- braille cards - I made up a sheet (81/2 by 14) with the braille alphabet on it. I darkened the circles for the alphabet and the students glue split peas on the circles. Creates a tactile braille sheet for them. They also do their name in braille on the bottom of the sheet.
- I have a couple of books in braille they also can look at and touch
- We look at different optical illusions - some I have on the computer, others through books (so I put them on the overhead)
- We make 3D glasses

Smell/Taste
I made up containers (film canisters) with different smells. I have enough sets for each group of students to share. We do this as a whole class activity - guessing smells, etc., graphing likes and dislikes.
- we also do a tasting party
- I also buy jelly-belly beans and I have the students hold their nose and chew on a jelly bean. You have a sugar sensation but no taste. After they chew for about 20 seconds I tell them to let go of their nose and they get a blast of flavour. We then discuss the role of our nose with taste.

I also have a number of books we read, a few videos we watch, etc.,

Hope these ideas help.