Wonders of Nature - Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans for WONDERS OF NATURE level J

Text Type:
Fact / Informational Text

Reading Level:
J

Word Count:
400

Pages:
14

Text Summary
Wonders of Nature is an introduction to some of the many unique, fascinating members of the animal kingdom. From insects to fish to birds to mammals, many groups of animals are represented. Who ever heard of a lizard that flies? Or a beetle that rolls up leaves? Children will enjoy these glimpses into nature's amazing variety as they develop their reading skills.

Reader Supports

One-to-one picture correspondence

Simple sentence structure

Reader Challenges
Although the language in this book is mostly simple, some of the words might be unfamiliar to readers at this level. Readers may have heard some of the vocabulary before (e.g., chameleon) but never seen it spelled. Alternately, readers might be altogether unfamiliar with some words (e.g., larval). There are also some hyphenated words (e.g., army-worm fly, white-headed bell bird), which might present a challenge.

Lesson Objectives
Reading Strategies
Children should use a variety of strategies to decode words and bring meaning to print. The targeted strategy for this lesson is: One-to-one correspondence
Have children look at pictures that correspond with the printed word.

Word and Print Skills
Phonological Awareness
/f/ and /v/ sounds

Phonics
Letters f and v

Word Work
High Utility Words
Can, with, these, have

Comprehension
You will likely address a number of comprehension skills as children work to understand the text. The targeted comprehension strategy for this lesson is: Rereading for details.
Once children have read through the text, and comprehend the words, they can reread the text to understand the details they might have missed in the first reading. Asking them comprehension questions before they reread the text will help them to focus on ideas, and concentrate more on content than on the process of reading.

Visual Learning
As you read through the book, encourage children to see what they are able to identify in each accompanying picture. Children are likely to ask, "What is that?" when they look at some of the pictures. You might ask: Do you know what anything in the picture is? Encourage children to use their imaginations to expand their minds enough to believe that there really is, for example, a flying lizard. Their curiosity will be sparked, which will increase their motivation to read and understand the text. Also, before reading the text on each page, you might ask children to look at the picture and guess whether some of the images are of animals or plants. If animals, you can ask children to guess whether they are mammals, insects, birds, or fish. Many of the pages contain fun surprises.

Targeted Vocabulary Words
High Utility Words
Can, with, these, have

Content words
trunks, branches, teeth, beak, twigs, flowers, fruit, shells, feathers, wings, bodies, larvae, tails
These content words are associated with animal and plant anatomy and classification. These are words that children will encounter in the reading. You may want to review and discuss what the words are and how they fit in with the reading. You may wish to have children add words to the classroom word wall or dictionary.

Before Reading

Introducing the Book
Introduce the book by showing children the front and back cover, and the title page.
Ask: What do you notice on the covers of this book? What predictions do you have regarding what this book may be about?
Say: Look at the animals on the covers. What might that tell you about what the book will be about?

Building Background
Talk to children about the idea of camouflage in nature. Explain that the job of all animals is to do their best to stay alive, and that many animals accomplish this by blending into their surroundings so that they are invisible to predators. Animals use various other strategies to survive as well. Explain to children that every animal on the planet has a special niche that it occupies. Explain that a niche is a way of making a living—a way of hunting, hiding, nesting, and so on—that is unique to that kind of animal. The animals in Wonders of Nature are examples of very specialized niches that these animals have developed in order to have a unique place in the world and stay alive.

Book Walk
Prior to the model reading, you may want to go through a few pages of the book with children, pointing out the pictures and the names of the animals, which are in boldface. Have children repeat the animal names after you, and ask children to share what they know about each.

Reading Strategies
Remind children to use any or all of the following strategies to help them in their reading:

Break down words you come across that are difficult for you.
Listen to what you are reading and ask yourself if what you have just read made sense.
Reread any page that you had difficulty on, to make sure that you understood the text.

After asking children questions about what strategies they use to help them read, you may want to act as a role model to show them how it might look or sound as they are reading. By pretending to be a new reader, you show them what they can do when they get stuck. Pretend to read and have trouble on a word. Show some strategies, such as looking at the pictures, breaking up the words and/or sounds within the words, skipping the word and going back, and rereading to make sure it makes sense.

During Reading

Model Reading
Read the story aloud to children in order to model the proper intonation and fluency. Pause periodically to discuss and reflect on what has been read, and to check for understanding by asking probing questions that show comprehension on children’s part. Pause on words that children can guess from picture or context clues. As the story continues, you may get some participation with the repetitive reading.

Student Reading
Hand out the books to children to read quietly or aloud at there own pace. Children should point to each word as they read. Remind children to use the various reading strategies discussed earlier.

After Reading

Comprehending the Text
Talk with children about the book. Ask the following questions to check for understanding of the book. Ask: What did you like about this book? Was there anything you didn’t like about this book? What new animals did you learn about that you had never heard of before? Which animal did you like best that was in the book? Why?

Visual Learning
Because this book mostly contains animals that children most likely never heard of, the visual experience will be an important part of their learning. The pictures are of prime importance in helping children to imagine not only what each animal looks like, but also what other animals it might be related to. You can ask children the following questions to see the level of their visual learning.
Ask: Would this book have been interesting without the pictures? If you had only read the words, would you have imagined that the animals looked different from how they really are? What can we learn from the pictures in addition to the shape of the animals’ bodies?

Building Skills

Phonological Awareness
/f/ and /v/ sounds
Have children say the words of and off. Ask: What is the difference between those two words? How do we make the /f/ sound? How do we make the /v/ sound. Have children make a sustained /f/ sound as they gently hold their hands on their throats. Have them do the same with the /v/ sound. .Explain to children that when they say the letter f, their voices are not making sound or vibrating. When they say the letter v, their voices are making sound, and they can feel their vocal cords vibrating.

Phonics
Letter f
Of and if are both spelled with a final letter f. If this is the case, why do they sound different? Explain to children that one letter can sometimes represent two sounds. In this case, the letter f can be pronounced with an /f/ sound, or with a /v/ sound.

Word Work
High Utility Words
Can, with, these, have
Explain to children that these words frequently appear in written form. Once the words are committed to memory, they will not need to be sounded out, and reading will be more fluent.

Expand the Reading

Writing Connection
Ask children to think of an animal they find fascinating that isn’t included in Wonders of Nature. Ask them to write several interesting facts about that animal. Ask them to answer these questions as part of the description:
What does this animal eat? Where does it live? Does anything hunt this animal as food? Is this animal active during the daytime or at night? Where can a person go to see this animal?

Science Connection
This book offers an opportunity to introduce children to the concept of classification in the animal kingdom. The various groups of animals, such as mammals, birds, fish, insects, and reptiles, all have unique features as well as some features they share. This is a topic that they will learn about in greater depth as they grow older, but Wonders of Nature can provide a fascinating introduction to this topic.

Reading Independently
Have children read the book independently or with a partner. You can also encourage them to read other books of their choice at the appropriate level.

Home Connection
Send the book home with children to read with a family member. Encourage them to tell family members about several of the animals in the book. They can create a list of the animals in the book, sorted by the category of animal, and ask family members to help them add other animals to each of the categories.

Assessment

Monitor children’s responses in the Comprehending the Text section to assess how well they understand the text or story.

Monitor reading to see if children are using the effective reading strategies.

Go to "Wonders of Nature" main page