If you could be any wild animal,
what would you be? Kids can be motivated
by animals any time of year, but in May there are at least four special
days that encourage a focus on animals: Endangered Species Day May 15, International Day for Biological Diversity May 22,
World Turtle Day (who knew?) May 23 and environmentalist Rachel Carson’s birthday May 27.
Gather a collection of books about
wild animals to help children choose a favorite. Fun titles to include are Susan Stockdale's new book Spectacular
Spots as well as her earlier titles such as Fabulous Fishes, Bring on
the Birds and Stripes of All Types (also available in Spanish). Although written for very young children,
these books provide excellent examples of verses students can write and the
kind of information they can collect.
An alphabet book by David McLiman's,
Gone Wild (2007 Caldecott Honor Book) introduces students to endangered
animals all over the world - each with a specially designed letter that will
inspire the young artists in your midst.
Ask students to write down basic
information about their chosen animal’s habitat and food as well as a few interesting facts,
gathered from the books you have collected or the Internet, depending on the
age of the class and the time available.
Ask them to think about the
questions posed in this quiz from the National Wildlife Refuge System as it pertains to
their animal - What is your animal’s idea of a great adventure? What is your best quality? How close are you to your family and friends?
What is your favorite food? How do you escape predators? What super power do
you have (or would you like to have)? Students can actually answer the quiz
questions and see a sample profile. Then ask them to write their own paragraph
or personality profile about their animal - ideally in the first person.
If there is time to expand the
activity, provide a list of animals and the profiles written by students to
another class to see if the new group can match each profile to the correct
animal.
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