As you read the book "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown, explain to your students that the moon is rising higher in each of the book's illustrations. As you continue reading the story, have students raise their hands silently when they see the moon getting higher in the sky. Next, point to the clock and show your students that as the moon gets higher in the sky, the clock shows that it is getting later in the day.
Copy the illustrations that show the moon rising higher and trim them with scissors, if necessary. On a piece of poster board, write the phrases "Moon rising" and "Time on the clock" at the top of the board. Then draw a line between the two phrases to make a chart. When you read the story to your students again and as they raise their hands to indicate that the moon is getting higher in the sky, find and attach a picture of this page under the words "Moon rising." Then under the words "Time on the clock," write the time shown on the clock for that page. When the chart is completed, discuss the movement of the moon as it gets later at night.
Place pictures of the moon's changing phases on the board and discuss them with your students. Point out to them that the moon goes through these same phases each month, depending on the alignment of the sun shining on the moon. Then watch the movie "Papa Please Get The Moon For Me" by Eric Carle and have students silently raise their hands each time they see the moon change its shape as it goes through its monthly phases. After the movie is over, ask your students: "What phase was the moon in at the beginning of the story?" Then choose a student to go up to the board and point to that phase. Also ask: "What phase was the moon in at the end of the story?" and choose a student to go up to the board and point to the phase. (You may want to have a copy of the book to help remind the students of the phases.) Ask more questions about the story and about the moon's phases. Finally ask: "Can someone really pick up the moon and bring it down to earth? Why or why not?"
On dark blue or black sheets of construction paper, let each student paint a phase of the moon in the night sky using white tempera paint and a small paintbrush. Your students can also paint stars to fill in the night sky and then use white chalk to write their name. When the pictures are dry, display them as a part of your science bulletin board.
For this activity, you will need small pictures of the phases of the moon, a calendar, a bulletin board, push pins and a current phase of the moon website on your class computer. Cut out the phases of the moon pictures for the calendar. Make a science bulletin board with the calendar in the middle and different phases around it attached by push pins. Each day, show the phase of the moon website to your students. Discuss the current phase of the moon for the day and predict the next moon phase. Have a student come to the board and find a picture of the current phase of the moon for the day and then attach it to the correct date on the calendar.