Create pop-up books to remind yourself and others to take good care of that smile.

• 1.

  Find out about the latest recommendations to keep teeth and gums healthy. Contact the American Dental Association. Invite a dentist or dental hygienist to speak to your class during Children's Dental Health Month in February. Search for on-line resources, brochures, and magazine articles.

• 2.

  Plan a pop-up book about oral health. On white paper, use Crayola® Markers to list tips and recommendations to include on each page. Figure out how to illustrate each idea with pop-up figures.

• 3.

  For each page of your book, fold construction paper in half so the shorter sides meet. Make two cuts with Crayola Scissors into the fold for each pop-up tab. Each cut should go in from the fold one or two inches (2-5 cm). Fold tabs away from fold edge and then open paper and pull tabs through to the open side.

• 4.

  Draw pop-up figures with markers on construction paper. Cut out each figure. Put Crayola School Glue on each tab and press on figures. Dry.

• 5.

  Add written text to each page in colorful marker lettering.

• 6.

  Arrange pop-up pages in order. Glue the back sides together.

• 7.

  Fold construction paper around the glued pages and glue to make the front and back cover of your book. Add a title and design the cover with markers.

Standards

• LA: Read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grade level text complexity band independently and proficiently.
• LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade level topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
• LA: Participate in shared research and writing projects.
• LA: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking clearly at an understandable pace.
• MATH: Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of intervals of time, liquid volumes, and masses of objects.
• SCI: Construct explanations of how structures in animals serve functions of growth, survival, reproduction, and behavior.
• SS: Explore and describe similarities and differences in the ways groups, societies, and cultures address similar human needs and concerns.
• SS: Identify and describe ways family, groups, and community influence the individual's daily life and personal choices.
• VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.
• VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.

Adaptations

• Possible classroom resources include: ABC Dentist: Healthy Teeth from A to Z by Harriet Ziefert; Open Wide: Tooth School Inside by Laurie Keller.
• Invite a local dentist or oral hygienist to visit with the class. Prior to the meeting, students compose questions for their guest. After the meeting, students post learning to a class blog.
• Students sponsor a classroom or school dental health poster contest. For judging the posters, students also develop a rubric with specific criteria. Brainstorm important things that should be included on posters. Display posters in hallways as dental health reminders. The Tooth Book: A Guide to Healthy Teeth and Gums by Edward Miller