When God Made Light Content Area Connections

When God made you, God made light.... 

Lessons ideas or connections drawn from the book: 

Matthew Paul Turner shares 5 ways to encourage your children to be the light on Ann Voskamp's blog. 

Writing/Reading:  

• Introductions/Launches of a written work are important to set the tone, setting, and characters. This book's launch is: "LET THERE BE LIGHT! That's what God said. And the light began shining and started to spread." The teacher would read this aloud twice, and then the students can use it as the inspiration to change the concept, tone, character and would write their own launch idea in their notebook."  So I might be inspired to write: "Let there be snow! That's what the weatherman said. And the snow began to fall, faster and faster until it spread as far as I could see."  Kids love mirroring the work of published authors, but changing it up to fit their own topics, narrative, persuasive, or expository pieces.  
• Style/Description: This book has amazing style, lots of great word choices to describe light. The style has a rhyming pattern.  Uses great active verbs to describe light. Examples of Alliteration.  A teacher could do a bunch of mini-lessons on style (number, colors, names, places, faces, that describe and bring the story to life.) 
• Guided Discovery/Inferences or Connections- have the students read and re-read the book searching for all the science concepts the author brought into the book. I'd call the lesson- Unveiling hidden gems, perhaps.  I'd have them make a T chart and on one side put the words from the text and the other side what is.  So the first note I'd make is: Planets (this is tricky it's only in the images) and on the right side: Science: Planets, Universe, Galaxy

Here is my draft or notes if I were leading this T chart...

Other Content:

• Science Concepts: Light, Light rays, Dark, Night/Day, Space, Galaxy, Planets, Sun/moon/stars, Weather, Plant growth: photosynthesis, farming, seeds, fire 
• Math Connections: Shapes: bolt, star, Calendar: Day/Night, Counting (all the ways He made light)
• Social Studies: Camping (culture, experience)- smores 
• Character Education: Family, Gratitude/Thanks, Light in You: Self Esteem, Worth, Self Efficacy, Value, Kindness, Helping Others, Love, Shining bright (forgiveness).