Lesson 1 — Five Senses, Five Doors

Summary

Learners meet the five senses as five “doors” the world comes in through. They match each sense — sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch — to the body part that does the sensing, then draw and label their own five doors.

Objectives

• Match each of the five senses to the body part that does the sensing. (D03.S1.02.01)

Connection

You already know your body has parts — in Grade 1 you named your head, arms, legs, hands, and feet. Now think of the five doors your body opens to the world: your eyes are the doors for light, your ears for sound, your nose for smells, your tongue for flavors, and your skin for touch. Every door is a way the world comes in to you.

Materials

• Senses matching cards (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch and eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin)
• A small mirror (optional)
• Paper and crayons

Preparation

• Print or draw a matching card set: five sense cards and five body-part cards.
• Set out mirrors if using them.
• Prepare paper and crayons for the “five doors” drawing.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”) so it works in a classroom and for a self-directed learner. Prepare the cards and mirrors, then guide the matching game and drawing. This lesson spirals up from Kindergarten, where learners named the five senses, and from Grade 1, where they named body parts — today the two come together. Five is one useful map people use in many places, but it is not the only one: other knowledge traditions also name senses such as balance, movement, warm-and-cold, and the inner feeling of the body, and this unit honors those in Lessons 2–4. Today the five-door map is a starting place, not the whole truth. Honor every body: a learner may use a hearing aid, glasses, a communication device, or a friend to help point. Point to the matching card as you say each sense so learners who are deaf or hard of hearing can follow; the touching-and-pointing is already a tactile path for learners with low vision. There is no “correct” body to match to — every body has its own way, and every way is good.

Procedure

1. Gather (5 min). Think back. Do you remember the five senses from when you were smaller? Say any you remember. Today we match each sense to the body part that does the sensing.
2. Meet the five senses (10 min). Look at the sense cards and say them together: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. Each sense has a body-part “door”: sight uses the eyes, hearing the ears, smell the nose, taste the tongue, and touch the skin. Point to each door on your own body as you say it.
3. Matching game (15 min). Lay the five sense cards in a row. Pick up a body-part card and put it next to its matching sense: eyes next to sight, ears next to hearing, nose next to smell, tongue next to taste, skin next to touch. If you have a mirror, look at your own eyes, ears, nose, and tongue.
4. Draw your five doors (10 min). Draw your face and your hand. Label each door: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin. A friend may help you label, and pointing or telling counts just the same.
5. Close (5 min). Say the five doors once more: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, skin. That is how the world comes in to you.

Differentiation

• Support: Introduce two senses at a time; hold up a body-part card and have the learner echo the sense and touch their own matching part.
• Extension: Ask learners to name a sixth thing their body can sense, like warm and cold, and point to where they feel it.

Assessment

• Formative (observation): Can the learner match each of the five senses to its body part and point to each on their own body?
• Artifact (portfolio): The labeled “five doors” drawing, kept in the learner’s portfolio.

Resources

• BBC Bitesize (KS1) — What are the senses?: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z6882hv/articles/zsbntrd

Home connection

Teach the five senses and their five doors to someone at home, and point to each body part together.