Judy Rank – School: Mountain View Elementary

Lesson Summary:
Time allowance for this activity will be three or four 45-minute session depending on the grade level. Teacher may also choose to have the students present their cotton paper bag puppets to the class.

OBJECTIVE:
Students will make a paper bag puppet and list facts about cotton on the back. Teacher may choose to have facts listed or placed in a paragraph. With younger students teacher may want to use framed sentences.

MATERIALS:
“The Cotton in Your T-shirt” (Young Discovery Library, ISBN 0-944589-40-5, Chart paper & pen lined paper & pencil, 1 paper, glue, scissors, crayons or markers, 2 pieces of white art paper (6X6), and 1 green art paper (4×6).

ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS:
Day 1-Read book, “The Cotton in your T-Shirt”, dealing with facts about cotton, then Brainstorm facts about cotton. List these facts on the board.

Day 2—Students record facts about cotton. Then write a paragraph as if the cotton boll is talking. See Sample Paragraph below. Note: cut paper to fit the back of the bag before students start writing.

Day 3—Students make a puppet and glue the facts or paragraph on the back then share with a friend.

Day 4—Optional for presentation of puppets

DIRECTIONS FOR PUPPET:
Cut the white paper in to half circle shapes. Place one piece with the straight edge on the lip of the bag and the other tucked underneath so that the two piece will look like a cotton boll talking. Students then cut a stem and leaves out of the green paper and glue below the cotton boll. Finally finish up by adding a mouth, nose, and eyes to the cotton boll. Glue the written paragraph on the back of the bag. Students then practice having their puppet talk.

EXTENSIONS OF ACTIVITY:
1. Oral presentation of puppets to the classroom or to other classrooms.
2. Older students may wish to make an oral presentation to a younger classroom.

ASSESSMENT:
1. Younger students need to list 3-5 facts about cotton for the back of their paper bag puppet. Older students need to place facts in paragraph form.
2. Teacher may want to grade older students papers on a rubric to grade their writings.

SUGGESTIONS:
1. Teacher may want to have students type their paragraphs on the computer.
Sample Paragraph: “Hello, my name is Cotton. I am grown in the San Joaquin Valley. You might be wearing something made from me today. It might be your T-shirt, jeans, dress, sweater, jacket or even your shoes. Let me tell you how I grow. I am planted in the Spring as a seed. I need sunlight, water, fertilizer, and time to grow. After about 2 months you will see little flower buds called squares. These blossoms will open and the flower will change from creamy white to yellow, then pink and finally red. The blossom falls off and you see the cotton boll. The boll is tiny but grows and grows. Inside the boll there are seeds with cotton fibers growing on them. Finally they grow big and split open. You see cotton that looks like big fluffy white cotton candy. The machines pick the cotton and take it to the cotton gin where the cotton is separated from the seeds. The cotton then is put into big bales and sent to a factory where it is spun and then woven into many things. Now you know about how I grow. Don’t forget to check and if you are wearing something made from me.”

2. Frame sentences may be helpful for younger students: “Hello, my name is (Cotton). I grow in the San Joaquin Valley. I am planted in the (Spring). I need (water), (sunlight), (fertilizer), and (soil) to grow. I start out as a (seed), then I grow into a (plant). My plant has (flowers) on it. The flowers change color. When the flowers fall off they leave a (boll). Inside the boll the fibers are growing into fluffy (cotton). I am picked in the (fall). My (seeds) and (cotton) are separated. The cotton is then made into (yarn) or (thread) and spun into (cloth). You might be (wearing) something made from me today.