Is it really February already? As we kick off this month of love, what better to focus on than something that many kids love... animals! More specifically, we will be spotlighting ANIMAL ADAPTATIONS this month. Many grade levels have standards related to animals and animal adaptations, so this should provide a great opportunities to make connections to previous standards taught OR to incorporate with current science standards from this quarter.
Please be sure to check out the supplemental resources on all things Engineering and Engineers for teachers to use in conjunction with these texts. There are videos to serve as hooks/activators for the read aloud or to serve as background knowledge-building resources and/or inspiration for our Mableton Jaguar Scholars during their aligned STEAM Challenges. There are also additional fiction and informational texts listed you can check out as well as the emoji book reviews available for each grade level.
Please be sure to check out the supplemental resources on all things Engineering and Engineers for teachers to use in conjunction with these texts. There are videos to serve as hooks/activators for the read aloud or to serve as background knowledge-building resources and/or inspiration for our Mableton Jaguar Scholars during their aligned STEAM Challenges. There are also additional fiction and informational texts listed you can check out as well as the emoji book reviews available for each grade level.
Primary Book: What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Synopsis:
A nose for digging? Ears for seeing? Eyes that squirt blood? Explore the many amazing things animals can do with their ears, eyes, mouths, noses, feet, and tails in this interactive guessing book, beautifully illustrated in cut-paper collage, which was awarded a Caldecott Honor. This title has been also been selected as a Common Core Text Exemplar!
(From amazon.com)
Synopsis:
A nose for digging? Ears for seeing? Eyes that squirt blood? Explore the many amazing things animals can do with their ears, eyes, mouths, noses, feet, and tails in this interactive guessing book, beautifully illustrated in cut-paper collage, which was awarded a Caldecott Honor. This title has been also been selected as a Common Core Text Exemplar!
(From amazon.com)
Intermediate Book: Would You Survive? by John Townsend
Synopsis:
Imagine you are lost in a desert. The sun is beating down and you are alone. Would you be able to survive? How does anything survive in such a harsh environment? Find out in this informative title.
(from amazon.com)
Synopsis:
Imagine you are lost in a desert. The sun is beating down and you are alone. Would you be able to survive? How does anything survive in such a harsh environment? Find out in this informative title.
(from amazon.com)
Additional Resources
Videos on Animal Adaptations | Additional Animal Adaptation Books |
Fun to watch list of 25 animals who have adaptation down! This is a great video showing the names of different animals in their natural camouflage. This would be a great slideshow to have class discussion about the type of camouflage shown and how it might help the animal survive. Although this is a lengthy video, this 4H produced video does a great job of discussing how bird adaptations affect feeding behaviors! You may want to pick and choose what you show for time's sake. This is a great informational video on the adaptation that kesep arctic animals warm. | Biggest, Strongest, Fastest by Steve Jenkins Claws, Coats, and Camouflage by Susan Goodman Creature Features by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page Eye to Eye by Steve Jenkins Move! by Robin Page and Steve Jenkins What If You Had Animal Teeth? by Sandra Markle & Howard McWilliam What If You Had Animal Feet? by Sandra Markle and Howard McWilliam *Plus many more in the "What you had animal... " series! This is a great arts and crafts activity that has students create an animal camouflaged in its natural habitat.
Check out the video to the left (<---) to find out how to make blubber gloves to feel how the blubber in arctic animals helps to keep them warm! |
App Snip-it taken from http://igamemom.com/. This app is great because it is FREE and you can use it as a science integrated writing opportunity .
STEAM Challenges & Writing Response
Please check out the "February" Office 365 folder within the "Book of the Month" folder for this month's aligned STEAM challenges as well as the writing response resources.