Lesson Plan One:
Introduction to the Five Senses
Lesson Topic/Subject: The Five
Grade Level: 1 /2
Teacher: Michelle Curtiss
This lesson can be used to introduce the entire
mini-unit of the five senses. The activity allows the students to
explore and discover what is in a mystery box through the use of
their five senses. I chose to read for reinforcement of the five
senses See, Hear, Touch, Taste,
Smell by Melvin Berger. The activity
can be done as a whole group or it can be modified for small group or
- Students will use each of the five senses
in discovery of what is inside of a mystery box.
- Students will be able to use their sense of
hearing to listen to the popcorn being popped, sense of smell,
sense of sight to see the popcorn, sense of touch to feel the
popcorn, and sense of taste and see if their guess was
- Students will discover connections
between the five senses and the corresponding sense organs.
- Students will listen to the book
Sense Suspense and respond
- Hot air popcorn popper
- Large box to cover popper
- Popcorn to pop (enough for 24
- Napkins/cups for popcorn
- Place an air popcorn popper filled with
popcorn on a table covered with a box in the classroom when the
students are not present.
- Have students sit on the carpet in front of
the mystery box. Turn on the popcorn popper.
- Ask the students how we could find out what
is in the box: What does it sound like? What does it smell
- Remove the box. Did the students guess
correctly? Tell the students that I will be asking more questions
when they get the popcorn about how it feels, tastes and sounds
like. Pass out popcorn to students.
- Ask the students what they see, feel and
taste. Ask the students to describe each experience: What does it
look like? What does it taste like? What sound does the popcorn
make when you eat it?
- Ask the students to try to explain what
they used to find out what was under the box. Briefly discuss the
five senses, and the sensory organs. Talk about descriptive sense
words: loud, soft, hard, rough, heavy, light, etc.
- If time permits, read the book
Sense Suspense by Bruce McMillan. Ask the students to guess what
the close-up photograph is. Then turn the page to see if they are
right, and ask what senses we use. (For example, if there is a
close-up photograph of a flower, we could see it, smell it, and
it. Could we hear the flower? Could we taste the flower?)
- Quickly review: What are the five
Evaluation of student
- Through discussion after the activity, were
the students able to effectively describe their experience of
using their senses to figure out what was in the mystery
- Were the students also able to identify the
sensory organs used?
- Did the students appropriately respond to
the questions asked during the reading of the book?
Return to the The Five Senses
Return to the 97-98 Lesson Plans