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

TEACHING

AnimalTraits

Kindergarten Reading Level

ISBN: 978-0-8225-1746-7 Green

T E A C H I N G A N I M A L T R A I T S2

StandardsLanguage Arts– • Uses the general skills and strategies of the reading process.Reading • Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media.

Language Arts– • Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process.Writing

Language Arts– • Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes.Listening andSpeaking

Life Skills • Displays effective interpersonal communication skills.

Mathematics • Understands and applies basic and advanced concepts of statistics and data analysis.

Science • Understands biological evolution and the diversity of life.• Understands the nature of scientific inquiry.

Multiple Intelligences Utilized• Linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, interpersonal, and naturalistic

Books in the Animal Traits seriesinclude:

EarsEyesFeetMouthsNosesTailsWings

Copyright © 2004 by Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.

All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Student pages may bereproduced by the classroom teacher for classroom use only, not for commercialresale. No other part of this teaching guide may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic,mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior writtenpermission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of briefquotations in an acknowledged review.

LernerClassroom A division of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc.241 First Avenue NorthMinneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A.800-328-4929Website address: www.lernerclassroom.com

Manufactured in the United States of America3 4 5 6 7 8 — IG — 12 11 10 09 08 07

Read(teacher)• Read Animal Traits books.

Discuss(teacher, class) • What were the books about?• Did all of the animals have the same body parts? • Ask students to name a few animals from the books. • Write the animal names on the left side of the large

class matrix. • Say each animal name and ask students if that animal

has each of the traits you read about. • On the matrix, put a checkmark under each trait that

the first animal had, then the second, and so on.

Practice(student)• On Animal Parts Matrix p. 9, students will draw or

write the names of seven animals in the animalcolumn.

• Students will put a checkmark in the boxes under thetraits that each animal has.

Discuss(class)• Transfer the information from your individual matrixes

to the large class matrix.• Compare two or more animals from the matrix.

Evaluate(teacher)• Evaluate student matrixes for completeness and

accuracy.

Extension(student)• Students will create their own fictitious animals using

A New Kind of Animal p. 10.• Have students present their animals to the class.

Evaluate(teacher)• Use Project Evaluation Form p. 11 to assess the

extension activity.

Lesson 1Animal PartsPurpose: Students will identify basic animal traits.

Objectives• Recall animal names.• Identify physical traits of several animals.• Ascertain which animals have certain traits. • Analyze a matrix.• Explain a matrix.• Compare the traits of several animals.

Activity Procedures

Prepare(teacher)• On a piece of chart paper, make a large matrix with

a list of animal traits across the top. • Hang the matrix where all students can see it. • Copy Animal Parts Matrix p. 9, A New Kind of

Animal p. 10, and Project Evaluation Form p. 11 foreach student.

Pretest (student, pair)• Draw an animal you know. (Think of a pet, a farm

animal, or an animal found at the zoo.) • Compare your animal with other students’ animals.

How are those animals alike? How are theydifferent? Discuss.

Materials• Animal Traits books • Animal Parts Matrixp. 9

• pencils• glue sticks

• markers or crayons • chart paper • A New Kind ofAnimal p. 10

• Project EvaluationForm p. 11

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

Discuss(class)• Talk about animals and their specific physical traits. • Do any animals have traits that weren’t described in

the books? What are they?

Practice(pairs)• Play a guessing game. Partner One looks at a picture

of an animal and describes that animal’s traitswithout saying the name of the animal.

• Partner Two tries to guess what animal is beingdescribed.

• After Partner Two correctly guesses the animal, switchand have Partner Two describe an animal for PartnerOne to guess.

• Repeat as time allows.• Sort the pictures you and your partner have discussed

into groups.• How else could you sort the pictures?

Evaluate(teacher)• Observe students describing and guessing animals.• Evaluate for accuracy and logic of descriptions and

guesses.

T E A C H I N G A N I M A L T R A I T S4

Lesson 2Guess the AnimalPurpose: Students will use speaking and listening skillsto describe an animal and to guess an animal beingdescribed.

Objectives• Use speaking skills to convey information.• Articulate the traits that describe an animal.• Interpret verbal descriptions to identify animals.• Compare several animals.• Formulate categories for sorting animals.• Recommend new categories for sorting animals.

Activity Procedures

Prepare(teacher)• Collect magazines and photographs of familiar

animals.

Pretest(student, pairs)• Describe an object in the classroom to a partner

without naming the object.• Guess the object that is being described by your

partner.

Read(teacher, students)• Read the Animal Traits books.

Materials• Animal Traits books

• magazines andphotographs ofanimals

Discuss(class)• Focusing on one Animal Traits book, name as many

animals as you can that have that particular trait. • Think about sea creatures, zoo animals, pets, and

farm animals.

Practice(student, pairs, or small group)• Color (optional) and cut out the How Many? cards

p. 12.• Keep the animal cards and the trait cards separate.• With a partner or small group, take turns turning over

one animal card and one trait card.• Tell the number of each trait the animal has. (For

example, if turtle is the animal and feet is the trait,the answer is, “A turtle has four feet.”)

Evaluate(teacher)• Evaluate understanding by observing students as they

play the game.

T E A C H I N G A N I M A L T R A I T S 5

Lesson 3How Many?Purpose: Students will identify how many of eachtrait a variety of animals have.

Objectives• Identify animals’ physical traits. • Articulate the number of a particular trait (such as

legs) an animal has.• Demonstrate basic reading ability.• Construct meaning from written words and images.• Investigate various kinds of animals.• Verify answers.

Activity Procedures

Prepare(teacher)• Copy one set of How Many? cards p. 12 for each

student or pair of students.

Pretest(class, teacher)• Name some human body parts.• After each part, tell how many a person has (for

example, a person has ten toes).

Read(teacher)• Read Animal Traits books.

Materials• Animal Traits books• How Many? cards p. 12

• scissors

• crayons or coloredpencils

Read(teacher)• Read the Feet book.

Discuss(class)• Talk about the different kinds of feet in the book.• How are they alike? How are they different?

Predict(class)• What do you think an elephant’s footprint would

look like? A bird’s?• How do you know?

Practice• Match each animal with its footprints using Whose

Prints Are These? p. 13.• Choose one animal’s footprint to replicate on

construction paper.• Make a larger version of this footprint.• Label your animal’s footprint with the name of the

animal.

Evaluate(teacher)• Evaluate Whose Prints Are These? p. 13 for

correctness.

T E A C H I N G A N I M A L T R A I T S6

Lesson 4Let’s MakeFootprints!Purpose: Students will identify footprints made byvarious animals.

Objectives• Match an animal to its footprints.• Articulate an inference.• Discriminate between objects or images.• Categorize objects.• Compare two or more things.• Apply prior knowledge to new situations.

Activity Procedures

Prepare(teacher)• Copy one Whose Prints Are These? p. 13 for each

student.• Gather hand-printing materials.

Pretest(student, class)• Using finger paints, make single handprints on white

paper.• Try to guess which prints belong to whom.• Explain why you think they belong to a particular

classmate.

Materials• Feet book• Whose Prints AreThese? p. 13

• pencils• construction paper

• scissors• finger paints• white paper• soap and water • paper towels

Read(teacher)• Read Animal Traits books.

Discuss(class)• What animal traits did you learn about?• Do all animals have the same traits?• Why do some animals have different traits?

Practice(student)• Identify the animal traits on Traits Chart pp. 14–15.• Cut pictures from magazines that show each of the

traits on the chart. Find at least two examples ofeach trait.

• Glue the magazine images of each trait in theappropriate box on the chart.

• Compare and contrast like traits in different animals.

Evaluate(student, teacher)• Students will use Traits Chart Self-Evaluation p. 16 to

evaluate their Traits Charts.• The teacher will evaluate Traits Chart pp. 14–15 for

accuracy.

T E A C H I N G A N I M A L T R A I T S 7

Lesson 5Make a Traits ChartPurpose: Students will identify seven basic animaltraits.

Objectives• Identify animal traits.• Contrast animal traits.• Classify like traits.• Compare like traits in different animals.• Assemble a chart.• Evaluate a project.

Activity Procedures

Prepare(teacher)• Collect magazines with animal pictures.• Copy Traits Chart pp. 14–15 for each student.• Copy one Traits Chart Self-Evaluation p. 16 for each

student.

Pretest(student, pairs)• Look at a picture of an animal.• What traits do you and the animal share?• Are there any traits that the animal has that you do

not have?• Are there any traits that you have that the animal

does not have?• How are the animal’s eyes different from your eyes?

What about its ears?

Materials• Animal Traits books• scissors• glue sticks• pencils• magazines

• Traits Chart pp. 14–15

• Traits Chart Self-Evaluation p. 16

BOOKSAndreae, Giles. Rumble in the Jungle. Wilton, CT: Tiger

Tales, 2001.This rhyming storybook introduces children to avariety of jungle animals through poetry. Oil-painted illustrations.

Gibbons, Gail. Bats. New York: Holiday House, 2000.This book gives information and facts aboutseveral varieties of bats. Illustrated with colorfulpaintings.

Jenkins, Steve and Robin Page. What Do You Do WithA Tail Like This? Boston: Houghton Mifflin,2003.This illustrated book describes the unusual waysin which some animals use their body parts.

Milgrim, David. Cows Can’t Fly. New York: Puffin,2000.This story about a boy’s imagination and flyingcows features colorful artwork. It inspireschildren’s imaginations while addressing the logic(or impossibility) of flying cows.

Nelson, Robin. Hearing. Minneapolis: LernerPublications, 2002.Simple text and color photos describe howpeople use their body parts and senses.

Pringle, Lawrence P. Scholastic Encyclopedia ofAnimals. New York: Scholastic Reference, 2001.This encyclopedia of animals features informationand color photos of 140 different animals. Mostanimals featured are familiar to children.

Souza, D.M. Look What Tails Can Do. Minneapolis:Lerner Publications, 2007. Students will be amazed by the interesting thingsthat tails can do. Full color photos accompanyexplanations of animals’ extraordinary uses forordinary body parts. Other books in the LookWhat Animals Can Do series include Look WhatFeet Can Do, Look What Whiskers Can Do, andLook What Mouths Can Do.

Worth, Bonnie. If I Ran the Rainforest. New York:Random House, 2003.This Dr. Seuss book features the Cat in the Hat ashe takes two friends on an adventure throughthe rainforest. This rhyming story explores theplants and animals that live in the rainforest.

T E A C H I N G A N I M A L T R A I T S8

Additional ResourcesWEBSITESAnimal Tales

http://www.oaklandzoo.org/zoo/doyouknow.htmlThis Oakland Zoo site features illustrations of avariety of animals, with short descriptions of eachanimal.

Animals A-Zhttp://www.oaklandzoo.org/atoz/atoz.htmlThis site, sponsored by the Oakland Zoo, lists allkinds of animals. Just click on the animal nameto see a photograph and a description of theanimal, including its habitat, diet, life cycle, andother interesting statistics. Links also allowstudents to browse animals by continent.

Your Big Backyardhttp://www.nwf.org/kidzone/kzPage.cfm?siteId=2This site features nature and science activities forstudents, including coloring pages, recipes, anactivity calendar, and book recommendations.Activities are age-specific.

CalPhotos: Animalshttp://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/fauna/This site features thousands of animal photos. It is part of the Digital Library Project at theUniversity of California Berkeley.

Kids Go Wild!http://www.kidsgowild.com/This kid-friendly site features animal facts, games,and more.

ASPCA Animalandhttp://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=kids_homeThis site contains an animal encyclopedia, animal photos, games, book recommendations,reproducible worksheets and more.

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Project Evaluation Form

Name ____________________________Date ____________________________

5 = Excellent Work, Outstanding Effort4 = Good Work, Good Effort3 = Average Quality Work, Average Effort2 = Work Needs Improvement, Less Than Average Effort1 = Little Work, Little Effort

Creativity(unique, interesting, thoughtful)

Quality of Ideas(accurate information, complete, and thorough)

Presentation(clear, neat, organized)

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1. Did I put the correct pictures under

each heading?

2. Did I find at least two of each trait?

3. Is my work neat?

4. Did I put my name on my paper?

5. Did I draw or glue a picture of my

favorite animal?