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Home : 2004 : January : 17

Sorting
By Jennie

You might consider sorting the animals by classification groups (mammals, reptiles, birds, etc.) This would be a wonderful way to introduce scientific vocabulary and concepts.

Use scales to weigh the beanies and then compare
weights. Find out how much each animal really weighs (in the wild) and compare. (My beanie weighs 25 pounds less than a real _________)
Try to locate legends that use the animals as main characters. Try Bruce Lansky's poetry for animal topics - I believe a web site called "Giggle Poetry" might help you.
Include the animal names in some of your spelling lists, along with other

words that have the same consonant blends, vowel patterns, etc.

Have students create a diorama of their animal's natural habitat. This will require research, so get plenty of books from your library or find kid-friendly animal sites on the Internet. You might even consider making a web quest.

Read "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See" Have the children write and illustrate a class book using the same rhyme pattern and their beanies as characters.

Use a world map to locate where the animals live. Place colored thumbtacks or small pictures of each beanie on areas where it naturally lives.

Separate the animals into endangered or extinct categories. Discuss what those words mean.

Find picture books that include the animals as characters. This would be a great time to discuss what a fantasy book is. Students can write their own fantasy about their beanie.

Just a few ideas.....hope it helps!