Overview
of Series
These simple books give young readers
information about animals that live in different habitats: desert animals,
mountain animals, ocean animals, plains animals, rain forest animals, and
wetland animals. The rebus pictures provide an interactive feature for even the
earliest reader, and photographs enhance comprehension by providing a strong
text to picture match. The sentence structure is repetitive to support beginning
readers, and each book ends with a
twist.
Concept
of Print Strand
A sentence begins with a capital letter. A sentence ends
with a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point.
Have children turn to page 8 in
Wetland Animals
.
Ask children to frame the first word in the sentence with their fingers. Explain
that sentences begin with a capital letter. Then ask children to use their
fingers to frame the period at the end of the sentence. Tell children that
sentences end with periods, question marks, or exclamation points.
Have children work with a partner to find and frame the beginning and
end of other sentences in the book. Discuss the sentence on page 20 that ends
with a question mark.
Show children page 20 in
Plains Animals
.
Invite children to frame the word with a capital letter at the beginning of the
sentence and the exclamation point at the end of the
sentence.
Making
Sense Strand
Good readers are actively involved in
their reading. As they encounter new information in pictures or text, they ask
themselves questions and then read on to find out if their questions are
answered. Beginning readers can learn to ask themselves "I wonder"
questions while they read and look at illustrations or
photographs.
"I
Do" (Teacher models strategy)
Teacher:
"When I read, I pause to ask myself questions about what I am reading. I
will read
Plains
Animals.
" [Read page 4.] "I see giraffes and zebras
in the photograph. I wonder if I will read about what they do to keep busy. When
I read on, I will look for this answer in the
text."
"We
Do" (Teacher and children practice
together)
Teacher: "When I read, I pause to ask
myself questions about the pictures, too. Let’s turn to pages 6–7.
Look at the photograph. What are some ‘I wonder’ questions that you
have? Now, let’s read page 6 and see if our questions are
answered."
"You
Do" (Children use the strategy)
Have children
work in pairs, and give each pair the book
Plains Animals
.
Teacher: "Look through pages 10–13. Tell a partner an
‘I wonder’ question about these pages. Remember your ‘I
wonder’ question. We will read these pages to see if the book answers your
questions."
Concept
Development
Animals
live in different kinds of places.
Learning
Stations
Science
Center: Invite children to draw their favorite animal from the books in
its habitat. Then add a written or scribed description that tells about the
animal and its habitat.
Art
Center
:
Have children make stick or paper bag puppets of some of the
animals in the books. Children may use the puppets to retell the information in
the books.
Math
Center: Make copies of the rebus pictures of animals listed in the
Picture Words section. Give children cards explaining ways to sort the pictures.
For example, sort the animals by their number of
legs.
Reading Station:
Collect some other books about animals that live in the habitats featured in
this series. (The bibliographies at the end of each book are
excellent.)
Language
Development
Compare
Animals: Choose two animals for children to compare, such as the bighorn
sheep and the mountain goat in
Mountain Animals
.
Ask children how the animals are alike and different. Make a chart of their
ideas.
Animal Study:
Choose one of the animals to study as a group. Create a K-W-L chart about the
animal. Read books and search online to help children find answers to their
questions.
Make a
Mural: Divide a large sheet of chart paper into six sections. Label each
section with the name of one of the animal habitats in this series. Invite each
child to draw a small picture of a favorite animal from the books to place on
the chart. Have the children show their pictures to the group and explain what
they drew and which habitat it belongs
in.
Assessment
Young
learners need multiple opportunities to become independent at using the skills
we teach. Record their progress, and celebrate their growth. Add "Concept
of Sentence" and "Asking Questions" to your ongoing
assessment.
Home
Connections
With their caregiver’s permission,
ask children to cut out pictures of the animals from magazines at home to bring
in to share. Create a collage with the pictures they bring.
Children
whose family members speak a language other than English can find out the names
of some of the animals in that language. Invite children to share the animal
names with the group. Label pictures of the animals with the names the children
share.
Invite caregivers who work with animals to speak to the group
about their jobs.
