Overview of Series

The Guess Who series has children read to find out what animal each book is about. Each time a page is turned, a new photograph highlights one part of the animal, allowing the reader to use the text and picture clues to figure out what animal it is. The text is descriptive, exposing children to rich adjectives and adverbs and strong action verbs.

Comprehension Strategy

Making Connections

Prior to reading, children need to activate prior knowledge by making connections to what they already know. This prepares them for the vocabulary and concepts they will encounter while they read. And while reading, learning to make connections to the text will help children better understand what they are reading.

"I Do" (Teacher models strategy)

Teacher: "The cover of this book Guess Who Hunts shows part of an animal. I think about what animals I know that live in the water and hunt. I know that sharks have a fin that sticks out of the water like this fin. This book might be about sharks. I’ll read to find out. Page 2 says ‘I am big. I live in the ocean.’ I think about what animals I know that are big, live in the ocean, and hunt. I know some sharks are big, and they live in the ocean and hunt. Whales are also big and live in the ocean. I think some whales eat other animals, too. "

"We Do" (Teacher and children practice together)

Teacher: "Let’s read the next page together. What do you know about animals that have tails like this? Think about what you know about sharks. Do sharks do this with their tails? No, I don’t think so either.

I think whales do this though. Let’s read the next page. I think about what I know about whales. I know whales have flippers. But this doesn’t look like a picture of a whale that I’ve seen before. Maybe it’s a different kind of whale. What do you think? Let’s read to see what other connections we can make to what we already know.

"You Do" (Children use the strategy)

Before children read one of the other books in the Guess Who series, tell them to take a minute to look at the cover and think about what they know. Instruct them stop, while reading, to think about what they know about a page spread before turning the page.

Textual Supports

Simple sentence structure
Mostly familiar vocabulary
Picture support for unfamiliar vocabulary

Sentences are short and use a simple sentence structure. Most of the words in each sentence are either high-frequency words or words children can sound out. This and the pictures, which correspond closely to the text, provide a meaningful context for unfamiliar words.

Textual Challenges

Content-specific vocabulary
Index

The content-specific vocabulary may be unfamiliar for young readers but it is introduced on page 29 of these books. The index may be another unfamiliar element.

ESL Connections

Animal Names

Find a picture of each of the animals in this series: cat, frog, honeybee, penguin, pig, whale. Name each animal with children. Write the name of each animal on a sticky note and place it on the picture. Invite children to share names of the animals in their own languages. Take off the sticky notes, and ask children to help you place the correct sticky note back on each picture.

Language Acquisition

Using Describing Words

Use the pictures from the ESL activity or show children the pictures from page 27 of each book. Ask children to brainstorm words that describe each animal. Write the words on sticky notes, and stick them on the board. Once the list of describing words is complete, randomly read aloud a word, and ask children to tell which animal or animals the word describes. Write the following sentences on the board: "I am ___ and ____. What am I?" Ask volunteers to select describing words from the list to create an oral riddle for others to guess. If a child guesses correctly, he or she can put the sticky notes into the sentence on the board, and the whole group can read the sentence together.

Integration of Literacy,Science, and Art

(Science) Help children complete a class chart comparing the animals in the series.

Animal	Where it lives	What it looks like	What it does
cat
frog
honeybee
penguin
pig
whale

(Art) Have children make Guess Who books about themselves by focusing on one aspect of themselves on each page, such as eyes, freckles, hair, etc. encourage them to write a sentence to go with their picture.

Internet Links

http://www.kidsfarm.com
This site lets children meet the farm animals and wild animals that live on a ranch in Colorado. It includes pictures, crossword puzzles, downloadable coloring pages, and information about farms. (Children)

http://kids.cfa.org/stuff.html
This site, from the Cat Fancier’s Association, has information about cat breeds, cat shows, and careers with cats, as well as online word puzzles and downloadable pages. (Children)

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/coloring/amphibians.shtml
The site includes information about amphibians and types of amphibians, as well as diagrams of different amphibian types, and worksheet ideas. (Teacher)

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/penguins/
This site includes facts about penguins, photographs, and video clips from PBS nature shows. (Teacher and children)

http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/insects/ahb/
This site provides lesson plans about honeybees, as well as supporting information sheets and activity sheets. (Teacher)

http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/KillerWhale/home.html
This site from SeaWorld features facts and a video clip about orcas, a book list for young readers, and lesson plans for older children that you can adapt. (Teacher)

Word Study Skills

-	Initial blend cl: clean, claws, climb
-	Vowel digraph aw: paws, claws, yawn

Multiple Intelligence Extensions

-	Linguistic and Interpersonal: Read a cat poem to children, such as Eleanor Farjeon’s "Cats Sleep" or Walter de la Mare’s "Five Eyes." Help children work together to compose their own group cat poem.
-	Bodily-Kinesthetic: Have children act out cat movements and emotions, for example: an angry cat, a hungry cat, a frightened cat, a sleepy cat, and so on.