Riding the Reading Roller Coaster:
Try Animals and Reading/Writing Activities
 
Students love to learn about animals. Use them for some simple reading and writing activities.
 
Learn about animals:
Use animal photos as the basis of descriptive paragraphs and activities.
 
 

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Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Shiloh
Animal stories are great for literature circles. You can find animal stories at all reading levels. Read animal stories such as Shiloh, Shiloh: Info Literacy, and Shiloh: Connecting Ideas.
Rather than "writing a report", develop a simple reading or writing activity using an informational animal site. For example,
  • Select three facts from the article. Write an introductory sentence and three additional sentences using these facts.
  • Write three questions for your friends to answer. Be sure to include the answer.
  • Write about the size of the animal compared to your size.
  • Draw the locations of the animal on a map. Use the map clipart sites for visuals.
  • Create a concept map detailing the information found.
Increase your student's visual literacy. Go on an Art Safari.
  • Ask students to select a picture and write down words that describe the animal.
  • Create a "most wanted" poster for the animal. Write a paragraph describing what the animal looks like.
Create your own activity that matches a particular reading/writing/science standard.
 
Created by Annette Lamb, 1/01