Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the activity & exploration you just completed.

• Lesson Assessment
• Activity: Vocabulary Cards let students practice reading and writing skills while learning science vocabulary.
• Readings: Three readings about shadows for Kindergarten and first grade.
  
• Read-aloud: Get students thinking and talking about shadows with three read-aloud books..
• Activity: These activities are great for a sunny day — Where's the Shadow? and Shadow Partners.

These Common-Core-aligned readings are free with registration on ReadWorks. All readings include comprehension questions.

• Me and My Shadow— A girl learns about making shadows in the sun. (Kindergarten)
• Maria Makes a Snake— Two friends make shadows with a flashlight. (Grade 1)
• Light— A reading about light and how it makes shadows. (Grade 1)

For a simple, well-illustrated explanation that introduces students to the fun of making shadows of their own, read What Makes a Shadow? by Clyde Robert Bulla.

For an entertaining tale of a rabbit who bets a woodchuck that he can outrun his shadow, read Nothing Sticks Like a Shadow by Ann Tompert. You might want to ask your students if they think the rabbit will win.

To encourage students to think about how their own shadows change, read My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson. Ask students if their shadow has ever been taller than they are.

For this activity, you'll need:

• an outdoor area with blacktop or pavement
• a sunny day
• sidewalk chalk

Have students choose the shadow of a wall or building that makes a straight line. Mark that line with chalk.

Ask students to guess where the shadow will be in fifteen minutes & mark their prediction with chalk.

While waiting for 15 minutes to pass, try the "Shadow Partners" activity.

Activity: Shadow Partners

When you are outdoors on a sunny day, have students work with a partner to answer these questions.

• Can you touch your partner’s shadow without touching your partner? Can you make your shadow touch your partner’s shadow?

• Can you and your partner make a shadow that looks like a person with four arms?

• What’s the most interesting shadow you can find? Do all the shadows you find look like the objects that cast them?