Template for Lesson Plans - Arbordale Publishing€¦ · Questions to ask children before reading the book ... porcupine hop happy ... skink raise pointy skunk scamper prickly

Teaching Activities for

Questions to Ask Before & After Reading the Book 2 • Questions to ask before reading the book • What do children already know? With charts • After reading the book – writing prompts & thinking it through • Re-read the book looking for more information • Comprehension questions • What do children already know activity conclusion

Language Arts 7 • Developing a “word wall” • Vocabulary game • Putting it all together • Suggested vocabulary list • Silly sentence structure activity • Sequencing sentence strips • Riddle me this • Word search • Write about it!

Science 14 • Classifying animals • Activity or sorting cards • Animal card games • A day in the life of . . . • Tail adaptations • Science journal • Label the skink • Venn diagram

Math 22 • Animals by class graph

Research & Geography 23 • Skink range & distribution

Character 25 • Feeling good about yourself

Teaching Activities are intended for use at home, in the classroom, and during story-times. Copyright © 2007 by Arbordale Publishing formerly Sylvan Dell Publishing

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Questions to ask children before reading the book

• What do you think the book is about by looking at the cover (or one or two of the inside illustrations)? Sometimes it is easy to tell from the cover, other times it is not.

• What does the cover illustration show?

• Does the title tell you what the book is about?

• Is there a subtitle to give more information?

What do children already know? • Young children are naturally inquisitive and are sponges for information. The

whole purpose of this activity is to help children verify the information they know (or think they know) and to get them thinking “beyond the box” about a particular subject.

• The children should write down their “concepts” (or adults for them if the children are not yet writing) on the provided chart found on the next page.

• Use the questions to get children thinking about what they already know. Feel free to add more questions or thoughts according to the child(ren) involved.

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What do children already know—activity chart Ask children to write down what they think they know before reading the book. If the information is verified while reading the book, they check “yes.” If the information is wrong, they mark “no” and cross it off, then write the correct information. Have the children note how the information was verified.

What do I think I know? Yes No Verified What do I know about skinks or lizards?

Text Illustration Info in FCM Other

What type of animal is a skink (mammal, bird, or reptile)?


How do lizards protect themselves?


What happens to the lizard after it loses its tail?


Why do skinks, lizards, & turtles like to bask in the sun?


Why are tails important to some animals?


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Use this chart for any other thoughts the children might have. What do I think I know? Yes No Verified









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After reading the book—writing prompts & thinking it through

• Did the cover “tell” you what the book was about?

• If not, how does the illustration on the front relate to the story?

• Draw your own cover.

• Write a song about Little Skink trying on new tails.

• Can you think of another title for the book?

Re-read the book looking for more information Go back and re-read the book studying each page carefully.

• In the story, the skink loses its tail but the tail grows back. There is another animal that goes through a change too. Tell the children to look for it changing in the illustrations.

• If possible, give the children a copy of the map of Skink’s woods and ask them to track where the skink is on the map as you read the story to them.

Comprehension Questions

• What happened to Little Skink’s tail and why?

• What did the crow do with the tail?

• How did Little Skink feel (two different feelings) after she lost her tail?

• What did Little Skink imagine?

• What other animals lived in the woods with Little Skink?

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What do children already know activity conclusion

• Do the children have any more questions about skinks or lizards? If so, write them down on the chart.

• Identify whether the information was verified and how.

• If the concept is correct, make a note of how the information was confirmed (illustration, in text, in fun fact notes in the “For Creative Minds” section).

• If the concept was not correct, what IS the correct information – with confirmation notes as above.

• If the concept was neither confirmed nor denied, look the information up in a reliable source and note where it was confirmed.

• Wrap it all up by adding notes with new information that the children learned either through the reading or the research while looking up something else.

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Language Arts Developing a vocabulary “word wall”

If using the book as a way to introduce a topic or subject, this is also a great way to introduce subject-related vocabulary words. If you don’t have the time (or the inclination) to develop the “word wall” by playing the Vocabulary Game (below), we have provided a vocabulary list for you. Vocabulary words for the “word wall” may be written on index cards, on a poster board, or on a chalk board. If writing on poster board or chalk board, you might want to sort into nouns, verbs, etc. right away to save a step later. Leaving the words posted (even on a refrigerator at home) allows the children to see and think about them frequently.

Vocabulary game This activity is designed to get children thinking of vocabulary words which will then be used as the beginning vocabulary list for a science lesson. Select an illustration and give children a specific length of time (five minutes?) to write down all the words they can think of about the particular subject. If you do not have classroom sets of the book, it is helpful to project an illustration on a white board. Check Web site (www.ArbordalePublishing.com) for book “previews” that may be used for this purpose. The children’s word list should include anything and everything that comes to mind, including nouns, verbs, and adjectives. At the end of the time period, have each child take turns reading a word from his/her list. If anyone else has the word, the reader does nothing. If however, the reader is the only one with the word, he/she should circle it. While reading the list, one person should write the word on a flashcard or large index card and post it on a bulletin board or wall. At the end, the child with the most words circled “wins.” And you have a start to your science vocabulary list. Note if a child uses an incorrect word, this is a good time to explain the proper word or the proper usage.

Putting it all together The following activities may be done all together or over a period of several days.

• Continue to add words to the vocabulary list as children think of them. • Sort vocabulary words into nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. and write what they are

on the back of the cards. When the cards are turned over, all you will see is “noun,” etc. (These can then be used to create silly sentences, below)

• Now sort the vocabulary words into more specific categories. For example, nouns can be divided into plants, animals, rocks, minerals, etc. They can be divided into living/non-living, or into habitat-related words.

• Have children create sentences using their vocabulary words. Each sentence could be written on a separate slip of paper.

• Have children (individually or in small groups) sort and put sentences into informative paragraphs or a story.

• Edit and re-write paragraphs into one informative paper or a story.

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Suggested vocabulary list

nouns verbs adjectives butterfly balance blue crow bask bottom deer chase bright feathers dream bushy owl escape dark porcupine hop happy quills imagine hungry rabbit jump large shadow picture light skink raise pointy skunk scamper prickly spray slink puffy squirrel snap sad tail steer stinky turtle trick top twitch warn wriggle

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Silly sentence structure activity

This is a fun activity that develops both an understanding of sentence structure and the science subject. Use words from the “word wall” to fill in the blanks. After completing silly sentences for fun, have children try to fill in the proper words by looking for the information in the book. Little Skink __________ off her __________ when the crow verb noun

attacked her. The crow __________ the tail and Little Skink __________. verb verb

A rabbit’s tail is _________on top and light on the bottom. adjective

It __________ its tail to warn other _________s of trouble. verb noun

A __________ uses its __________ tail to balance. noun adjective A deer raises its tail to __________ other deer of danger. verb

A __________ raises its tail and squirts a _________ spray. noun adjective A porcupine releases __________ into other animals. noun

An owl uses its tail to __________ and steer as it flies. verb

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Little Skink’s Tail Sequence sentence strips

Preparation: Cut into sentence strips, laminate if desired, and place in a “center.” Have children put the events in order. Children may work alone or in small groups. Cards are in order but should be mixed up when cut apart. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Little Skink was happily chasing ants for

breakfast.

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The crow attacked and Little Skink snapped off her bright blue tail to escape.

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Little Skink was sad to have lost her tail.

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Little Skink imagined having other animals’ tails.

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None of the other tails were right for her.

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Little Skink’s own tail grew back!

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Riddle me this

Use the list of animals in the book to answer the riddles. Skink Crow

Rabbit Squirrel Skunk

Porcupine Owl

Turtle Deer

I am a lizard with a bright blue tail – who am I? _________________

I am a mammal that some humans hunt in the fall – who am I? _________________

I am black and white and have a stinky spray – who am I? _________________

I am a smart bird and say “hooo” – who am I? _________________

I have a hard shell and pull my head in when scared – who am I? Box _____________

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Little Skink’s Tail Word Search

Find the hidden words. Even non-reading children can try to match letters to letters to find the words! Easy – words go top to bottom or left to right. For older children: identify the coordinates of the first letter in each word (number, letter). For beginning readers: what other two or three letter words can you find?

A B C D E F G H I J 1 T H R E E S K I N K 2 U E A O N E S O T O 3 C R O W E B Q M U M 4 O A S L F O U R R T 5 T B K E Y W I N T L 6 E B U T T E R F L Y 7 A I N I W H R T E E 8 T T K M O D E E R S 9 C A K E S I L L Y N

10 P O R C U P I N E O SKINK CROW RABBIT SQUIRREL SKUNK PORCUPINE OWL TURTLE BUTTERFLY DEER

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Write about it!

After Little Skink snaps off her tail to distract the crow, she imagines having other animals’ tails. Pick four different animals and imagine that you have part of their bodies. Write a description of what you would look like with your new body part and how it would help you. Draw pictures of you with your new body parts.

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Science Little Skink’s Tail: Classifying and Sorting Animals

Scientists sort or classify things into groups that are similar. They will ask questions about the item to see where it belongs. Sometimes it is easy to know to which group an item belongs, other times it is very hard. The first question they will ask is whether the item is (or was) alive or not. Both plants and animals are living things. If the item in question is an animal, like the animals in the story, scientists will then ask other questions. By answering these (and other) questions, scientists can sort or classify the animals into “classes” such as mammal, bird, reptile, fish, amphibian, or insect.

• Does it have hair or fur, feathers, or dry skin or scales? • Does it breathe oxygen from air through lungs or water through gills? • Are the babies born alive or from eggs? • Does the baby eat milk from its mother? • Is the animal warm or cold-blooded? (does it get heat from inside its body—

warm-blooded, or does it get heat from outside its body—cold-blooded?) Information on classes of vertebrates (animals with backbones) is given in the table below. Using information found in the book or below, fill in the blanks for each of the animals mentioned in the book (text and the For Creative Minds section). Some of the information may be determined by looking at the illustrations. For example, if the animal breathes water, it will be shown living in the water. If the information is not in the book, it has already been filled in. Have the children use the chart to determine to which class each animal belongs (mammal, bird, fish, amphibian, or reptile). Animals may also be sorted by what they eat: plants (herbivores), meat (carnivores), or both (omnivores).

Animal Classification Chart at Class Level (Vertebrates) Breathes

oxygen from air or water

Warm or cold-blooded

Lays eggs or live birth

Skin covering

Eats:

Mammals Air Warm Mostly live Hair or fur --- Birds Air Warm Eggs Feathers --- Fish Water Cold Varies Scales --- Reptiles Air Cold Mostly eggs Scales --- Amphibians Water, then

air Cold Eggs in

water Naked & smooth

---

Little Skink air Eggs Scales Rabbit air Warm Live Fur Deer air Warm Live Fur Owl air Warm Eggs Animals that like to bask in the sun, like skinks, snakes, & turtles, are all cold-blooded. What type of covering does the owl have? Little Skink was enjoying a breakfast of ___________. That means skinks eat plants AND ___________. Rabbits and deer nibble on leaves. Does that mean they eat plants or animals? The owl has sharp talons (claws) to grab and catch prey. Does that mean it eats plants or animals?



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Activity or sorting cards

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Animal card games Memory Card Game Make two copies of each of the sorting card pages and cut out the cards. Mix them up and place them face down on a table. Taking turns, each player should turn over two cards so that everyone can see. If the cards match, he or she keeps the pair and takes another turn. If they do not match, the player should turn the cards back over and it is another player’s turn. The player with the most pairs at the end of the game wins. Who Am I? Copy or download the cards. Poke a hole through each card and tie onto a piece of yarn. Each child should put on a “card necklace” so that the card is on his/her back. Children should ask “yes/no” questions to guess the animals.

A day in the life of . . .

• Pick an animal from the book and pretend that you are that animal. • Explain where you live (habitat). • What do you eat? • What animals might eat you? • How do you protect yourself from those animals? • Where do you sleep or rest? • Write a paragraph about what you do during the day (or night if nocturnal)?

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Tail adaptations

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Science journal Tail adaptations

Have children draw a picture to define the vocabulary word or concept.

tail for protection tail(s) for balance tail(s) to warn of danger tail to steer while flying

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Venn diagram

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Math

Animals by class graph

5 4 3 2 1 Mammals Reptiles Birds

Graph the animals found in the book by their animal class:

Skink Crow

Rabbit Squirrel Skunk

Porcupine Owl

Turtle Deer

Which animal class has the most?

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Research and geography

http://herpcenter.ipfw.edu/index.htm?http://herpcenter.ipfw.edu/outreach/accounts/reptiles/lizards/Broadhead_Skink/&2

Western Skink

CA: http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/lizardsmaps.html CA Catalina Island: http://www.catalinaconservancy.org/ecology/research/richmond.cfm CO: http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/field_guide/reptiles/skink.cfm# ID: http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/bio/reptile/lacer/eusk/euskfram.htm MT: http://fwp.mt.gov/fieldguide/mediaDisplay.aspx?id=1395&elcode=ARACH01110 WA: http://www.dnr.wa.gov/nhp/refdesk/herp/html/map_eusk.html

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http://www.californiaherps.com/lizards/lizardsmaps.html

http://www.catalinaconservancy.org/ecology/research/richmond.cfm

http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/field_guide/reptiles/skink.cfm

http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/bio/reptile/lacer/eusk/euskfram.htm

http://fwp.mt.gov/fieldguide/mediaDisplay.aspx?id=1395&elcode=ARACH01110

http://www.dnr.wa.gov/nhp/refdesk/herp/html/map_eusk.html


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Five-lined skinks live from the lower peninsula of Michigan, southern Ontario, and eastern New York to northern Florida, and west to Wisconsin, part of Michigan's upper peninsula, Missouri, and eastern regions of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Isolated populations also occur in northeastern Iowa, and west central Minnesota. http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Eumeces_fasciatus/

http://faculty.maryvillecollege.edu/wbcash/ATBI%20Reptile%20Web%20Pages/GSMNP%20Reptiles/Eumeces_fasciatus.html

There are several kinds of skinks that have blue tails. Some of the more common types are called Broadhead, Western, or Five-lined skinks. Some types are considered threatened or endangered in their areas.

• Are there any blue-tailed skinks that live in your area?

• What type?

• There may be other types of blue-tailed skinks that live in your area. Check with a local reptile group, the Department of Natural Resources or other wildlife agency.

• Why do you think there aren’t skinks living in the Arctic Circle?

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http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Eumeces_fasciatus/




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Character Feel good about yourself

Little Skink felt sad without her tail. She started imagining what it would be like to have another animal’s tail. But, she soon realized that she needed her tail and that it was just right for her. Have you ever wanted to be more like someone else? Sometimes that can help you to be a better person but it can also make you forget about what is good about you. Here are some ideas to help you feel good about yourself:

• Do something to help someone else

• Do something that you are good at and keep practicing so that you do it really, really well

• Don’t be afraid to try something new, it might just be something that you are really good at doing or that you really like

• If you do try something and you don’t do a good job, don’t give up but keep trying

• Be proud of the things you can do

• Being a good person comes from inside you—it is not something that other people can do for you

• Being pretty from the inside is more important than being pretty on the outside

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Template for Lesson Plans - Arbordale Publishing€¦ · Questions to ask children before reading the book ... porcupine hop happy ... skink raise pointy skunk scamper prickly