{"id":1736,"date":"2009-09-13T22:54:33","date_gmt":"2009-09-14T03:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/archives\/1736"},"modified":"2009-09-13T22:54:33","modified_gmt":"2009-09-14T03:54:33","slug":"teaching-life-science-with-childrens-literature-oodles-of-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/2009\/09\/13\/teaching-life-science-with-childrens-literature-oodles-of-animals\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Life Science with Children’s Literature: Oodles of Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"temp3.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Introduction\/ Summary:<\/strong>
\nThe book, Oodles of Animals<\/a>, written and illustrated by Lois Ehlert, is a helpful resource for young students learning about different animals and different animal characteristics. The book consists of short, rhyming poems that\u00a0study many traits and features about tons of different animals. The\u00a0creatures explored range from caterpillars to frogs, lobsters to chickens, and porcupines to\u00a0elephants, just\u00a0to name a few. Over 50 animals are studied, in\u00a0concise and catchy rhyming poems, that are each\u00a0about 4-5 lines in total. The poems are short and easy-to-read and reveal what is unique about various animals:<\/p>\n

“Caterpillar:
\nA Caterpillar’s
\nfuture plan
\nincludes a
\nbutterfly wingspan”<\/p>\n

“Skunk”
\nIf her tail’s raised,
\ngive a skunk room,
\nunless you like
\npee-yoo perfume”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These poems, included within the story, are important examples\u00a0because within a few simple lines, a student\u00a0discovers the important features of caterpillars (changing into\u00a0a butterfly) and\u00a0skunks (having a terrible odor).
\nThe most distinctive and interesting feature of this story is the illustrations that fill the pages.\u00a0The pictures portray the animals\u00a0consisted of just\u00a0a few different shapes and colors. The author designed each animal to show it’s distinctive features, while giving young students an introduction to shapes and colors. The title is clever and catchy as well, attracting the student’s attention\u00a0right away. Using\u00a0nine basic shapes\u00a0to\u00a0visually depict\u00a0animal characteristics as well as short, witty poems to explain different animals, is a great way for young children to learn about\u00a0animals.<\/p>\n

Curriculum Connections:
\n<\/strong>This book is a wonderful resource for young elementary\u00a0students to learn basic facts and characteristics of specific animals. It can be used to help students learn about animals and how they grow and\u00a0change\u00a0(SOL K.6a, K.8c), as well as different animals’ physical characteristics\u00a0(SOL1.5b). Students can use this book’s illustrations to learn about different physical properties, such as color and shape (SOL K.4a,b) as well. Kindergarten or first grade students can use the short,\u00a0yet informative and entertaining, rhyming poems and illustrations provided in this book, to learn about many different animals.<\/p>\n

Additional Resources:
\n<\/strong>1). “Explore Animal Homes<\/a>“- This site comes from\u00a0Springboard Magazine and it\u00a0explores the many different animal habitats (barns,\u00a0caves, burrows, etc.) and which animals occupy each “home.” The site\u00a0includes pictures and lists to help students learn about where animals live.<\/p>\n

2). This website<\/a>, for young children, is a site with many pictures of sea animals, including a\u00a0quiz, that explores the many different animals\u00a0that inhabit the ocean\u00a0and\u00a0characteristics of sea life creatures.<\/p>\n

3). In this show<\/a>, students will learn about animals and their young, through visual representations.\u00a0Young students will also begin to understand how animals are born and how they grow.<\/p>\n

4). “All\u00a0About Farm Animals<\/a>” includes farm animal facts, lots of illustrations, coloring sheet templates, clipart, and\u00a0a variety of songs. This site can be used for various activities studying animals that live in the farm habitat.<\/p>\n

General Information:
\nBook<\/strong>: Oodles of Animals<\/a>
\nAuthor<\/strong>:Lois Ehlert
\nIllustrator<\/strong>:Lois Ehlert
\nPublisher<\/strong>:\u00a0Harcourt, Inc.
\nPublication Date<\/strong>: 2008
\nPages<\/strong>: 56
\nGrade Range<\/strong>: K-1
\nISBN<\/strong>: 978-0-15-206274-3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction\/ Summary: The book, Oodles of Animals, written and illustrated by Lois Ehlert, is a helpful resource for young students learning about different animals and different animal characteristics. The book consists of short, rhyming poems that\u00a0study many traits and features … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4424,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,758],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-life-science"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}