CHALLENGING WORDS

astronomers
debris
eclipse
gravity
phases
planets
rotation
satellite
scientists
telescopes

SUMMARY

The Moon Book uses vivid illustrations of the moon and the earth and their relationship to each other. It is a book of facts and contains moon milestones as well as moon legends and stories. This informative book is dedicated to three astronauts who perished in a fire during the launching of a test flight in 1967.

--- Conversation Questions---

(1) / Recall what the brightest and biggest light in our night sky is.
(Answer) / The moon.
(Follow Up) / Share a time you saw a full moon.
(2) / Suppose you were an astronaut, would you like to go to the moon?
(Answer) / Any logical answer.
(Follow Up) / Share the name of an astronaut you have read about.
(3) / Imagine you are looking through a telescope at the moon, what do you see?
(Answer) / Any logical answer.
(Follow Up) / Name a place that has telescopes you can look through.
(4) / Remember a time you saw a strange-looking moon.
(Answer) / Any logical answer.
(Follow Up) / Tell what color it was.
(5) / Define “ astronomer”.
(Answer) / Someone who studies the solar system.
(Follow Up) / Name something you like to study about.
(6) / Recall what the different shapes of the moon are called.
(Answer) / Phases.
(Follow Up) / Share a shape the moon appeared to have when you saw it.
(7) / Find in the book what makes a solar eclipse.
(Answer) / The moon’s orbit is not tilted and the moon lines up exactly between the sun and the earth.
(Follow Up) / Share why you cannot look directly at a solar eclipse.
(8) / Name the president that decided to put Americans on the moon.
(Answer) / President John F. Kennedy
(Follow Up) / Tell the name of our president today.
(9) / Search for the names of the first two astronauts to walk on the moon.
(Answer) / Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin.
(Follow Up) / Tell if you have ever watched astronauts on television walk on space.
(10) / Recall how long it takes for the moon to travel around the earth.
(Answer) / About one month.
(Follow Up) / Share the longest trip you have ever gone on.
Activities
1. / List the nine phases of the moon.
2. / Draw the astronauts walking on the moon. Label each one.
3. / Draw the “Man on the moon”. Write a sentence about this legend.
4. / Draw the earth and moon. Write a sentence about this legend.
Introductions
1. / Bring in a globe. Ask the child what planet we live on. Say, “Today we will read about the earth and moon.”
2. / Draw some phases of the moon. Ask the child if he knows what any of these phases are called. Say, “Today in the book we will learn what causes the different phases and what they look like.”
3. / Show pictures of astronauts. Ask the child what astronauts do. Say, “Today we will read about the first astronauts that they walked on the moon.”

Book Title: The Moon Book

Author: Gail Gibbons / Illustrator: N/A
ISBN: 0-590-145905-5 / # of Text Pages: 30 AR: 4.8 LEX: 740
Building Oral Vocabulary
8 / satellite / 10 / phases / 21 / craters
Prediction Questions
1 / What do you think is the brightest light in the sky at night?
9 / Do you think the moon will change shape?
20 / What will they see next?

This resource is provided by THE LEARNING CORPS—Barren County Board of Education, an AmeriCorps project funded in part by the Kentucky Commission on Community Volunteerism and Service and the Corporation for National and Community Service.