Are you interested in hearing what the owl hears as it tries to sleep. In the book Good-Night, Owl! by Pat Hutchins the reader is able to hear what animals annoy the owl as it sleeps.
The book begins with the owl trying to sleep up in a tree. While the owl is trying to sleep the disturbed by the sounds that animals around it begin to make. First, its the bees that “buzz, buzz.” Then come the squirrel that “crunch, crunch,” on nuts. Pat Hutchins utilizes onomatopoeia with all the animals that come near the owl. This gives the students an opportunity to connect the noises that they are reading with an illustration of the animal. The book gives ten different creatures that disturb the owl as it trying to sleep. There is a variation of creatures that Pat Hutchins uses, from jays to cuckoo to doves.
The illustrations are classic and show every animal very clearly for the students to understand. The Illustration also show that it is day time and indicate that the owl is nocturnal. This is a great topic to discuss with your students. At the end the when “the moon came up,” the “Owl screeched, screech screech, and woke everyone up.” The book shows how the owl also makes a distinct sound and the students are able to learn that as well.
Curriculum Connections
The book would be a good read for emergent readers in the first and second grade, who need to understand the sense of hearing. The majority of the words utilized are onomatopoeia words making it easier for the student to recognize and read. The students are also connecting sounds that they might hear in their every day life to actual illustration of animals that make the sounds. If teaching in Virginia this book would cover the Science SOL K.1C which is objects are described both pictorially and verbally and K.2 a, b students will investigate the five senses and sensory descriptions.
Additional Information
- Mrs. Attaya’s first grade class websites has various activities that her students have done with owls and the senses. These activities would be great to do through the year and like Mrs. Attaya did take pictures so the class can see them.
- Listen to the Desert/ Oye Al Desierto, by Pat Mora is also a great book to read to your student. This book focuses on the sounds that are made in the desert but they are in Spanish and English. This book could be read if there are children that speak Spanish and need to make the processing skill in a second language.
- Father’s Day Lesson Plan and Craft is another activity that focuses on sounds and onomatopoeia words. Students will create any type of gift they want to give their father as a father’s day gift and they incorporate an onomatopoeia word.
Book: Good-Night, Owl!
Author/Illustrator: Pat Hutchins
Publisher: Aladdin
Publication Date: 1990
Pages: 32 pages
Grade: K-1
ISBN: 978-0689713712