Potato Day

Objective:
The students will create a fictional character and write a description of that character.

Materials

• The Potato Head Worksheet

• Chart paper or blackboard

Procedure

1. Facilitate a discussion on what kind of information can be gathered to help describe a character in a book.  Pick a well know story book character and have the students list attributes of that character.  For example, "What do we know about Curious George?"  The students may respond by saying, "He is a monkey, he is curious, he gets in trouble, he lives with The Man with the Yellow Hat, he used to live in a jungle, etc."  It may be helpful to pick a character the students have recently been exposed to.  If they have just completed listening to a chapter book, pick a character from that book.

2. Hand out the Potato Head Worksheet and have the students complete the questions regarding their own created character.  Allow them to be as creative as possible.

3. Older students may then go on to write a story starring their own created Potato Head.  Younger students may present their Potato Head to the rest of the class, sharing it's characteristics.

4. If desired, have this potato character serve as the basis for the creation in the Art Lesson.

Other Lesson Ideas

1. Write recipes which contain potatoes.

2. Read Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett.  Focus on the ending of how the hill of snow looks like mashed potatoes.  Have the students think of other landscapes that resemble food.  Introduce the term "simile".  This activity may also be combined with the Art Lesson listed under Other Lesson Ideas #2.