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More About... Lesson:
Dream Diaries
Overview:
Students consider their own sleep habits and keep a dream diary.
Curriculum Focus:
Materials:
Activity:
Print out the Dream Diary sheet. Make five photocopies for each student to use. Review the More About... story. Ask students to discuss their sleep patterns: how many hours they sleep, if they awaken during the night, if they toss and turn, and so on. Ask students to describe how they feel when they don't get a good night's sleep. Begin a group discussion about dreams. Ask the following questions: Do you sometimes/often/never remember your dreams? Do you feel like you understand your dreams? Do you ever have silly dreams that make no sense? When you dream, are you a watcher or are you part of the story?
Discuss what meaning dreams might have, in particular their connection to what happens during a person's waking hours. Encourage students to share examples of dreams that demonstrate this, such as dreaming about the plot of a movie, or dreaming about an upcoming test. Remind students that everyone dreams, although not everyone can easily remember their dreams. Explain that some people keep a dream diary to help remember dreams and try to understand them. Tell students they will be keeping a dream diary for one school week. Students' diaries will be private, although they will be asked to share their general dreaming experience (and specific dreams, if they'd like to) at the end of the assignment. Review the Dream Diary sheet. Discuss the 10 Tips to Remember Dreams sheet (you may wish to provide each student with a copy). Stress that remembering dreams takes "practice," and some students may not have much luck. In this case, students can write about a vivid dream they remember, make up a silly dream, or interview a family member. At the end of the five days, have students write about the assignment and hold a class discussion. Older students can try interpreting their dreams using a dream dictionary (check out books from the library or do an Internet search for "dream symbols.").
Extension Idea:
Discuss the drawings of animal dreams at the end of More About... and have students draw their own ideas about animal dreams