teaching baby animals - lernerbooks.com · teaching baby animals 3 standards life science †...

T E A C H I N G G U I D E

TEACHING

BabyAnimals

1st Grade Reading Level

T E A C H I N G B A B Y A N I M A L S2

© 2002 by Lerner Publications Company

All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Student pages may bereproduced by the classroom teacher for classroom use only, not forcommercial resale. No other part of this teaching guide may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or byany means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, orotherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner PublicationsCompany, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in anacknowledged review.

LernerClassroom A division of Lerner Publishing Group241 First Avenue NorthMinneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A.

Website address: www.lernerclassroom.com

Manufactured in the United States of America1 2 3 4 5 6 — JR — 07 06 05 04 03 02

Table of ContentsStandards 3

Multiple Intelligences Utilized 3

Why Teach Nonfiction Skills? 4

Guided Reading 5

Lesson 1 Picture Stories 6

Lesson 2 Survival 7

Lesson 3 My Own Book 8

Lesson 4 Growing Up 9

Additional Resources 10

Reproducible Sheets 11–15

ISBN 0-8225-3338-3 PMS Green 355U

T E A C H I N G B A B Y A N I M A L S 3

StandardsLife Science • Understands the principles of heredity and related concepts.

• Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment.

Art • Understands the characteristics and merits of one’s own artwork and the artwork ofothers.

• Knows how to use structures (e.g. sensory qualities, organizational principles, andexpressive features) and functions of art.

• Knows a range of subject matter, symbols, and potential ideas in the visual arts.

Writing • Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process.• Uses the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing.• Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions.

Reading • Uses the general skills and strategies of the reading process.• Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of literary texts.• Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of

informational texts.Listening and • Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes.Speaking

Viewing • Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media.

Multiple Intelligences Utilized• Linguistic, logical, spatial, naturalistic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal


WHY teach nonfiction skills?• As students grow from beginning readers to fluent

readers, it is vital that they continue to learn andappreciate how nonfiction can be useful to them.

• Increased exposure to nonfiction not only helpsstudents acquire research skills, it can also awakenand broaden a child’s interest in a variety of topicsacross the curriculum.

• To use nonfiction effectively, students must gain afirm understanding of the different types,components, and organizational patterns ofnonfiction.

• The more experience students have reading a varietyof nonfiction texts, the better able they will be togather, synthesize, and summarize new information.

A Nonfiction BookWhat Every Child Should Know• book title• name of author• name of photographer and/or illustrator• photographs and/or illustrations• captions• page numbers• graphic aids:

boldfaceitalicssection headingsboxeslistshighlighted text

WHAT aspects of nonfiction andits use can be introduced to fluent readers? • chapters• subheadings and layers of subdivision• captions• sidebars• timelines• simple charts and graphs• pronunciation guides • identification of main ideas and supporting

information• analysis using thesis statements, supporting

statements, and summaries• fact vs. opinion• use of prior knowledge to help understand new

information• skimming and scanning• note taking• outlining• maps• diagrams• table of contents• glossary• index• The idea that nonfiction exists in all disciplines: fine

arts, geography, health, history, language arts,mathematics, science, social studies, and more.

• The idea that nonfiction exists in many forms:biographies, cookbooks, dictionaries, textbooks,newspaper articles, diaries, and more.


Student Reading• Students read independently to themselves.• Teacher observes and helps struggling students as

needed.

Group Discussion• Discuss and clarify understanding.• Share favorite parts.

Mini-Lesson• Phonics• Spelling• Vocabulary• Word study• Reading strategies

Student Response• Read again.• Read with a partner.• Take home to share.• Reading response projects and extension activities.

Guided Reading

Before Reading• Select four to six students for the group based on

instructional needs and interests.• Select and preview text.• Decide what the students will need help with.• Choose a reading skill or strategy to focus on.

Book Introduction• Allow students to preview the text.• Set the purpose for reading.• Assess prior knowledge.• Make connections.• Discuss plot, setting, title, or author.• Make predictions.• Talk about the pictures.• Introduce challenging vocabulary, language structure,

or concepts.• Discuss reading strategies.

How to Read a Nonfiction Book• Where do you start reading?• What do you do when you get to a picture or a

caption?• What do you do when you get to a word you do not

know?• How do you read the table of contents, index, and

glossary?

Model (teacher)

• Describe a picture from one of the books.• Talk about everything you see in the picture.

Practice(student)

• Draw a picture of something you do in a day. Draw acomparable activity done by one of the baby animalsin the books.

• Teacher circulates and talks to students about theirdrawings.

Discuss (teacher, class)

• Describe the animals, colors, places, behaviors,relationships, and other things you see in thepictures.

• What seems to be happening in the photos? • Why is it happening? • Repeat the activity with as many photos as desired.

Evaluate(class)

• Have students share the pictures they drew.


Lesson 1Picture StoriesPurpose: Students will analyze and discuss theinformation presented in a book’s pictures.

Objectives• Name the objects and animals in pictures. • Describe pictures.• Translate what is happening in pictures.• Analyze the emotions or behaviors portrayed in

pictures.• Formulate what kind of place is presented (home,

beach, desert, etc.) in the pictures.• Compare the activities of animals in the books to the

activities of animals you know.

Activity Procedures

Prepare (teacher)

• Distribute drawing paper and materials for eachstudent.

Pretest (class)

• Discuss the kinds of things baby animals do.

Read (teacher, partner)

• Baby Animals books

Materials• Baby Animals books• drawing paper

• pencil• crayons

Model (teacher)

• Define habitat, needs, and survival.

Read (teacher, class)


Practice (teacher, class)

• On a piece of tagboard or butcher paper, listresources that baby animals need. Were some ofthese things provided by the humans in the books?(List the ideas in a chart according to category.)

Discuss(group, partner)

• In some of the books, why did humans care for thebaby animals instead of the animals’ parents?

Evaluate (class)

• What is a habitat? What kinds of human-madehabitats are shown in the books?

• Students complete the last section of the K. W. L.chart p. 13 by listing what they have learned aboutanimal needs and survival.


Lesson 2 SurvivalPurpose: Through reading and constructing a chart,students will learn what baby animals need in order tosurvive.

Objectives• Define habitat, needs, and survival.• Identify the resources an animal needs in order to

survive (food, shelter, water).• Apply general animal needs to the specific needs of a

baby animal.• List the needs that must be met for a baby animal to

thrive.• Organize the list by type.• Rate the needs by importance, from most important

to least important.

Activity Procedures

Prepare(teacher)

• Copy the K. W. L. chart p. 13.

Pretest(teacher, class)

• Demonstrate how to fill out the K. W. L. chart p. 13.• Complete the first two sections of the K. W. L. chart

p. 13. List what students know and want to knowabout baby animals’ needs.

Materials• Baby Animals books• pencil, pen, ormarker

• K. W. L. chart p. 13• tagboard or butcherpaper

Model(teacher, student)

• Show students how to fill out the Venn Diagram. Inthe “People” circle, write things that are unique topeople. In the “Animals” circle, write things that areunique to animals. Write things that refer to bothpeople and animals in the overlapping “People andAnimals” part.

• Guide students as they complete their own VennDiagram.

Practice(small groups)

• Divide the class into small groups.• Each group will create a book similar to the Baby

Animals books, except theirs will be about thestudents in their group. (For example, students willwrite about the kinds of activities they do and theirneeds at various ages of development. They couldeven extend the story to tell what they will need ordo when they are adults. )

• Share Group Picture Book Rubric p. 11 with the class.• Groups should design their book in the same way as

the Baby Animals books. Students could use drawingsor photos. Text could be written or typed.

• Design a book cover and bind the pages.

Discuss(small group, class)

• Have each group read their book to the class. • Each group could also read a Baby Animals book

aloud and compare the two books.

Evaluate(teacher)

• Complete Group Picture Book Rubric p. 11 for eachgroup.


Lesson 3My Own BookPurpose: Students will create a picture bookcomparing humans and the animals in the BabyAnimals books.

Objectives• Recall information from the Baby Animals books.• Identify similarities and differences between humans

and animals.• Practice completing a Venn Diagram.• Question classmates.• Compile information into a book.• Compare information from two books.

Activity Procedures

Prepare(teacher)

• Divide the class into six groups.• Copy Venn Diagram p. 14 for each student.• Copy Book Plan p. 12 for each group.• Copy Group Picture Book Rubric p. 11 for each

group.

Pretest(class)

• How are people and animals different?• How are people and animals the same?

Read(teacher, student)


Materials• Baby Animals books• Venn Diagram p. 14• Book Plan p. 12

• Group Picture BookRubric p. 11

• drawing paper• colored pencils orcrayons

Model (teacher)

• Using the Baby Animals books, list examples of whateach animal is capable of at various stages ofdevelopment.

• Introduce Growing Up p. 15.

Practice (student)

• Students fill in each square of Growing Up p. 15 withdrawings and descriptions.

Discuss (class)

• How are the animals similar? How are they different?

Evaluate (class)

• Choose two animals from the Baby Animals books tocompare. Discuss how they are the same and howthey are different.


Lesson 4 Growing UpPurpose: Students will complete a timeline thatshows their understanding of how animals change andlearn as they grow.

Objectives• Translate details from a book to written and picture

form.• Diagram the developmental levels of an animal.• Arrange the developmental levels in the correct

order.• Compare how different animals develop.

Activity Procedures

Prepare (teacher)

• Copy Growing Up p. 15 for each student.

Pretest (class)

• Talk about the different stages of animaldevelopment.

Read (class)


Materials• Baby Animals books• Growing Up p. 15

• pencils• crayons

Available for PC or Mac. <http://www.kidsdomain.com>

ThemeWeavers: Animals. Edmark.Choose from dozens of animal-centered activitiessuch as writing pet poems, identifying desertanimals, measuring with snails, and more. Forgrades K-1.Available for PC and Mac.<http://www.edmark.com/>

VIDEOSAll About Animal Needs. Schlessinger Science Library,

1999. 23 minutes.Explore some of the ways animals stay healthyand full of energy. This title includes a teacher’sguide. For grades K-4.<http://www.libraryvideo.com>

Amazing Animals: Animal Babies. Disney Channel,1997. 30 minutes.Join Henry the lizard as he explores someextraordinary wildlife, crazy characters andunexpected animal surprises. Based on The ReallyAmazing Animal Book. For grades PreK-4.<http://shopping.yahoo.com/shop?d=v&id=1803470583>

For the Love of Animals. Animal Adventures VideoCollection, 1994.Travel to Busch Gardens to study animals in theirnatural habitats. Tour the African veldt toobserve a wide range of animals, from rhinos togiraffes, and join the children at the petting zoo.Part of the Animal Adventures with Jack Hannaseries. For grades 3 and up.<http://www.junglestore.com>

Keepers of the Wild. National Geographic, 1993.Learn about the people who protect animals andthe animals that rely on them. Visit a rhinosanctuary in Kenya, take a walk in the Torontosnow with a herd of elephants saved from thecircus, and find out how a mistreated Hollywoodorangutan was rescued. For grades 1-5.<http://www.nationalgeographic.com/store>

ZooLife with Jack Hanna: Bonkers for Babies. AnimalAdventures Video Collection, 1997. Get an up-close look at how baby animals arecared for. Visit the Busch Gardens in Florida,home to more than 300 little ones of all shapes,sizes and species. 40 minutes.<http://shopping.discovery.com/product/1115-1407-177287.html>


Additional ResourcesBOOKSArnold, Caroline. Zoo Animals series (Mealtime for

Zoo Animals, Mother and Baby Zoo Animals,Noisytime for Zoo Animals, Playtime for ZooAnimals, Sleepytime for Zoo Animals, andSplashtime for Zoo Animals). Minneapolis:Carolrhoda Books, 1999.

Hanna, Jack. Jungle Jack Hanna’s What ZooKeepersDo. New York: Scholastic, 1998.

Irvine, Georgeanne. Blanca and Arusha: Tales of TwoBig Cats. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.

Lowry, Linda. Earth Day. Minneapolis: CarolrhodaBooks, 1991.

Rinard, Judith E. At the Zoo: A National GeographicAction Book. Washington, DC: NationalGeographic Society, 1993.

Wallace, Karen. Wild Baby Animals. London, UK:Dorling Kindersley Publishing, 2000.

Welsbacher, Ann. Wading Birds. Minneapolis:Carolrhoda Books, 1999.

WEBSITESThe Birmingham Zoo Animal Omnibus

<http://www.birminghamzoo.com/ao/>This is a child-friendly site where you can findweb sources for many different kinds of animals.Also includes teacher lesson plans.

Smithsonian National Zoological Park<http://natzoo.si.edu/>Take a tour of this zoo near Washington, D.C.

Zoo in the Wild<http://www.naturalia.org/zoo/welcome.html>Students come face to face with Africanmammals and birds. For each creature, studentswill find colorful photos, basic facts, and maybeeven a sound byte.

Zoological Society of San Diego <http://www.sandiegozoo.org/>This site includes the world famous San DiegoZoo, Wild Animal Park, and a live panda cam.

SOFTWAREHop, Skip, Jump-a-roo Zoo. Diamar Interactive, 1997.

This interactive storybook also features six activitycenters to help kids learn animal sounds andnames, animal facts and history, and theenvironments in which animals live.

11

Teaching Baby Animals

Group Picture Book Rubric

Score Elements

3 Excellent• The cover includes a creative and attractive picture, a title, and

the names of the authors.

• The book was constructed carefully and neatly. The artwork iscolorful and neat. The text clearly explains the drawings orphotos.

• The pictures and text directly relate to the topic of the book.

• The group worked together cooperatively.

2 Satisfactory• The cover includes a picture, a title, and the names of the authors.

• Some artwork is colorful and neat, and some may be incompleteor pencil sketches. Some text may not explain the drawings orphotos.

• Most pictures and text directly relate to the topic of the book.

• The group usually worked together cooperatively.

1 Beginning• The cover may be incomplete.

• Artwork may be incomplete. Single-word labels are used in placeof text.

• Pictures and text may not directly relate to the topic.

• The group needed much assistance working together.

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Book Plan

Our book is about __________________________________________________________

Our book will be written by____________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

Cover

Title ______________________________________________________________________

Picture on the cover__________________________________________________________

Cover will be created by ______________________________________________________

Pages

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Growing Up

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