- Grade Focus
- Pre-Grade 1
- Age Level
- Under 6
- Subject
- Literature, Science
- Technology Integration Activity
- PowerPoint Presentations
- Estimated Time of Completion
- 5 weeks
Investigating Animals through Non-Fiction Text Features
Downloads for this lesson plan
Introduction
The following activities are designed to teach students about non-fiction text features while investigating animals. Students will take what they have learned about an animal and create a narrated slide show presentation about their animal that displays the use of non-fiction text features. Through this lesson students will understand and investigate the basic needs and life processes of an animal, their physical characteristics, changes in their life cycle, and adaptations.
NOTES: Teachers will need to decide how long to spend on each lesson based on their schedule and the needs of their class. Full day teachers will be able to complete the plan in less time than half-day teachers.
Prerequisite Experience
Students should be able to demonstrate the use of basic keyboarding skills, use word processing, and have had some exposure of how to contribute to the creation of a digital product using TuxPaint.Teacher Prep Time
Teacher will need approximately 10-12 45 min. blocks of time
Teacher will need to teach non-fiction text features ahead of time
Teacher will need a wide variety of non-fiction animal books on various reading levels
Teacher will need to gather books that illustrate non-fiction text features
Teacher will need to upload TUX Paint or have accessibility to PIXIE
Teacher will need to create a voice thread account
Teacher will need to create posters that share examples of each non-fiction text feature (Close-ups, Cut-a-ways, Captions, Comparisons, Labels)
Teacher's Suggested Materials for teaching text comparison: Actual Size and How Big Is It?
The teacher will need for someone to pre-trace his or her body onto a sheet of bulletin board paper and take a picture of his or her face to attach to the neck)
Project
The students will create a narrated non-fiction text feature slide show presentation about an animal of their choice.Assessment/Grading
Rubrics and ObservationsTime Management Tips
Prep-work:
1. Upload TuxPaint or have PIXIE installed onto computers
2. Create a voicethread account
3. Each computer needs to have Tux Paint downloaded and installed on it.
4. Since Tux Paint's 'Open' dialog only displays pictures you created with Tux Paint, if you want to load some other picture or photograph into Tux Paint to edit, you simply need to convert the picture into a .bmp image file, and place it in Tux Paint's "saved" directory.
5. Converted slides that students will work in Tux Paint are attached to this lesson. These need to be placed into the following folder (based on the Operating System that your computers are running)
a. Windows Vista - Inside the user's "AppData" folder, e.g.: "C:\Users\(user name)\AppData\Roaming\TuxPaint\saved\"
b. Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP - Inside the user's "Application Data" folder, e.g.: "C:\Documents and Settings\(user name)\Application Data\TuxPaint\saved\"
6. Schedule computer lab or laptops ahead of time
7. When all of the student’s images are completed, the teacher will need to upload their works to the Voice Threads site. I would suggest creating a separate folder in voice threads for each student, as opposed to placing all of their pictures in a single folder. This might take a little time before the students start uploading, but it will save a ton of time later trying to figure out which pictures belong to each student.
8. Once all of the images are uploaded to the Voice thread site, the students can record their ‘narration’ for each slide and after saving each, they can play them back as a slide show.
Lesson Plan Details
Engage
Performance Task: The librarian has asked us to create new non-fiction books for the virtual library. Over the next few weeks we are going to be learning about non-fiction text features. You have been asked to create a non-fiction text feature book about an animal that you will share with other students to teach them about your animal. Share the cover of the non-fiction text features book by projecting it onto the Smart Board. The teacher will read aloud what they consist of: Title Page, Bold Print, Labels, Captions,Comparisons, and Close-ups.
Explore
1. Share covers of various books about owls. Ask, "What are somethings that you think authors might do when they are creating titles for their books?" Allow time for children to brainstorm. Say authors come up with good titles of books because they want readers to read their books. Today, I would like for you to think of a creative title for our class's non-fiction book about owls. Allow children to turn and talk and come up with some ideas of titles. Have children share their ideas allow as the teacher lists them. Students can vote on what they would like for the tittle to be. Display the title page slide on the Smart Board. Model how to enter the title. (could record voices here)
2. Read aloud Barn Owls. Say, today we are going to look at special words in our book as we are reading, it is called BOLD PRINT. While reading the teacher will record on the Smart Board the bold print words that are found in the book.
3. Pass out non-fiction books and ask the children to work together with a partner and find samples of bold print through looking in these non-fiction books. When they find examples they are going to put sticky notes to mark the page. Then, the children will share the bold print that they found.
4. Display the BOLD FACE PRINT slide on the Smart Board. Model how to write a bold faced word and how to use it in a sentence that helps to tell more about the word. The children will choose one of the bold print words from the owl list and create their bold face print page using their pencils and crayons. This graphic organizer can be glued into their reader's workshop notebook. Students will share with a partner their sentence. Assessment: Teacher will look to see if the student applied their knowledge of what a bold face word looks like and to see that they used their bold face word in a sentence that helps to tell more about the word.
5. Yesterday we learned about bold print, today we are going to look at another element of non-fiction text, and it is called labels. Read aloud Owls -Rourke Enterprises (pages 9-13). Share the poster about labels. Teacher will pair children together and they will explore non-fiction texts to finds examples of labels and mark them with sticky notes. They will then come to the carpet to share their findings. Next, projecting the label graphic organizer onto the Smart Board, the teacher will model for them them how to use the label page using the picture of the owl. The teacher will share how to label the parts of the owl. After completing a few labels allow for students to add labels to the owl. Then, the teacher will pass out the label graphic organizer and the students will create their own. Assessment: At the conclusion of the lesson the students will teach a partner about the owl parts once they have completed their organizer. The teacher will be looking to see that the students have applied their knowledge of labeling. Their work can be glued into their Reader' Workshop Notebook.
6. As an opening to today's lesson ask for volunteers to share what is in their schema for bold print and labels and why authors use them. Say, today we are going to learn about another non-fiction text feature that will help you when you are writing your non-fiction text feature book. Students will learn about where owls live. "What type of tool do you think we should use to show someone where owls live?" (Hopefully children say a map.) Teacher will play a short video clip from United Streaming called:Exploring the Adaptations of Owls Part Two and Where on earth do owls live? (A teacher may choose any online video that teaches children where owls live.) Students should listen to find out where owls live because when the video ends they are going to take what they have learned and create a map. At the conclusion of the video, display on the Smart Board a world map. Ask the students to share ways that we could show where owls live (examples: color in the continents, draw owls on the various locations where they can be found). Pass out maps for children to use. As the teacher is modeling on the board the children will be filling in their map. Their work can be glued into their Reader's Workshop Notebook. Revisit with the students why maps help readers learn more about where an animal lives and why the animal lives in these locations.
7. Over the last few days we have learned about many text features today we are going to explore another text feature called captions. Share the poster about captions. Explain that a caption tells more about the picture. It is different than a label because it is usually a sentence or more. Today, you and a partner will look for examples of captions in non-fiction books.. Students will work with a partner to find examples of captions and place a sticky note on them. Next, read aloud OWLS By Gail Gibbons. As the teacher is reading show the students the captions. Display the caption graphic organizer. Ask the students to share some important facts that they have in their schema about owls. Say, today I want you to think about a picture that you can draw that shares an important fact that you remember about owls . Then, you need to write a caption to go with your picture. At the conclusion of this, students will find a partner and share their caption. Allow time for partners to share aloud what they have learned from their peer. Assessment: Teacher will be looking to see that the student's picture matches their words, that their pictures are neatly drawn, that they have a sentence or sentences that begin with uppercase letters, finger spaces between words, sounded out their words, and has punctuation at the end of their sentences.
8. Ask questions, Have you ever wondered what the inside of a beetle looks like? Or what a spiders nest looks like with eggs in it? Have you ever seen the inside of a cricket to see its muscles? Well today, we will learn how we can see inside of something so that we can learn more about it. What can we do to find out? Hopefully students will say a microscope, cut it open, a magnifying glass. Teacher will share a cut-a-way poster that displays these examples. Cut-a-ways tell the readers who want to learn more about a particular part of an animal or how it lives. Teachers should allow time for children to look through non-fiction books to find examples of cut-a-ways and mark them with sticky notes. Allow time for children to share their findings. Why would it be important for us to know what an owl eats and how it eats it? (Teachers who have covered how people affect the environment can revisit this at this time.) Next, read OWL PUKE page 49. Share with the student what the inside of the owl looks like and how digestion happens. Display the cut-a-way graphic organizer on the Smart Board. Say, together we will draw a cut-a-way that shows our readers how this process works inside of an owl. Teacher will need to distribute to students their own copies of the cut-a-way graphic organizers and together we will complete creating our owl cut-a-way. At the conclusion of this lesson, students can share with one another what they have learned about cut-a-ways and glue them into their Reader's Workshop Notebook. Teacher can observe and listen to the conversations that they children are having and decide if this non-fiction text feature needs to be revisited.
9. Review cut-a-way diagrams. Ask: Why was this a good non-fiction text feature to learn? How can cut-a-way diagrams help us to learn more about an animal, plant, and person? Today we are going to learn about another text feature called close ups. Ask, how many of you have taken a picture with a camera? Think of a close-up as zooming in with your camera. Teachers can lead the students in pretending to zoom in with their pretend cameras. Close-ups help readers to see things that they usually cannot get close to. For example, if you wanted to see a butterflies scales on its wings you would need to get a close up. A giant squid, did you know that they had a beak? We could not get close enough to one so a close up would help us to see what the beak looks like. Teacher will share the close-up poster.Teachers should allow time for children to look through non-fiction books to find examples of close-ups and mark them with sticky notes. Allow time for children to share their findings. Today we are going to take a closer look at the owls body parts. We have learned that owls have very special body parts that help to keep them safe. Can you share some owl body parts that help to keep them safe and able to survive in nature? (example: talons, ears, head, beak, wings, eyes etc...)Revisit one of the owl books that display close up views of the owls parts. Display the close-up graphic organizer on the Smart Board. Say, you may chose one of the owls body parts and create a close-up view of that part. Once students have completed their close-up drawing and glued it into their Reader's Workshop Notebook allow time for them to share their close-ups with a classmate. Assessment: The teacher can observe and listen to the conversations that they children are having and note if close-ups need to be revisited.
10. This piece of the lesson may need to be completed over 2-3 days. Students will learn about nonfiction comparisons and why authors use comparisons in non-fiction. Students will explore non-fiction books to locate examples of comparisons. Students will examine comparisons to help them to visualize something by comparing it to a familiar object. Students will create original text comparisons when writing their own non-fiction book on an animal of their choice. Teacher will begin by sharing what comparisons are and how they work in nonfiction books. Students will see examples through the teacher showing them comparisons in books. Teacher will explain to students why authors use comparisons in nonfiction.
Guided Practice DAY 1: Teacher will share a comparison poster and explain to the students that we can't always have the actual animal that we are learning about in our classroom. Authors use comparisons to to help us visualize something by comparing it to a familiar object. The teacher will display the comparison graphic organizer on the Smart Board. Read aloud, "A giant squid is as long as a house." "A polar bear if it stands up on its hind legs is as tall as the roof of our school." The teacher will illustrate the polar bear example onto the graphic organizer. Then, the teacher will pass out the comparison graphic organizer and the students will illustrate other examples by visualizing and then drawing them. At the conclusion of the lesson remind students that comparison help the reader to see how large or small something may be compared to something in real life.
(The teacher will pre-trace his or her body on a large sheet of bulletin board paper) and take a picture of his or her face.) Guided Practice DAY 2: Yesterday we talked about comparisons. Review the comparison poster. Teacher will read aloud the book Actual Size, (Houghton Mifflin, 2004 by Steve Jenkins.) This book shares the sizes of animals by showing them their actual size. It is through learning from this book that the students will take their knowledge and create life sized comparisons compared to you. For example, a giant squid’s eyeball is a big as Mrs. __________'s head.
Independent Practice: During this lessons pair students together. Students will create their life sized comparisons. For example, the giant frog is as large as a computer keyboard. Explain to the students that they want to try to create life-sized versions of their (animal) objects compared to Mrs. __________. The students will need to draw and cut out of paper a computer keyboard (the size of an actual keyboard) and then the giant frog as large as the keyboard. Students will share during sharing circle their findings. Lastly, display the students’ comparisons on a wall around the life-sized version of the teacher for them to use as reference when they are creating their own text comparisons.
11.Next, read page 7 of Gail Gibbons OWLS – Share comparison of the elf owl and the great grey owl. Use actual measurement and find something in the classroom that compares to these owls. Distribute comparison graphic organizer and allow time for students to create and record their comparison. Once students have completed their owl comparison drawing and glued it into their Reader's Workshop Notebook allow time for them to share their comparison with a classmate. Assessment: Teacher will assess student knowledge of making comparisons by looking at the students drawings to see that they compared either the elf owl or the great grey owl to something in the classroom.
Explain
What are non-fiction text features? Choose an animal and learn about that animal through using non-fiction text features to display what you have learned.Elaborate
Now that you have learned about non-fiction text features you will chose an animal and create a non-fiction presentation that includes the important information about your animal. The information that you share will help your readers to learn more about that animal.
1. Chose a creative title for your book and type it into your title slide. Using the title slide and TuxPaint or PIXIE create an illustration for the cover of your book.
2.Read at least one or two non-fiction books that are on your reading level about your animal. (teacher may need to pre-organize books for the children to chose from) Chose one important word from your book that you think your readers need to know in order for them to better understand your animal. Using your bold face word slide, type your bold faced word and use the word in a sentence. It is important that your word is bold so your readers know it is an important word. (Teachers will need to model the font tool.)
3.Using your labels graphic organizer draw a picture of your animal. Create at least 3 labels for your picture.
4.Students will draw a picture in Tux Paint or PIXIE into their caption slide that depicts something that they feel is important about their animal. (Some examples: How they move? What they eat? How they look when they are young? What they do during the various seasons-hibernate,migrate. How they care for their young. Where they live? ) Type a caption that tells about your picture.
5.Students will chose a part of the animal that they have learned is an important body part in order for the animal to survive and adapt in nature. They will create a drawing that "zooms in" on that part. Students will complete this task in the close-up slide.
6. Students will compare their animals (size, height, weight, color) to something that is familiar to them through drawing their comparison in the comparison slide using TUX PAINT or PIXIE.
7. Once all students have created each page of their non-fiction text feature book, the teacher will upload their books into voice thread. Once in voice thread, students will narrate each page of their book. (Teacher will need to assist with recording and saving student work.)
*Map diagram can be a slide that a student may create if this is something that the teacher feels his or her students can successfully complete.
*A cut-a-way diagram can be a slide that a student may create if this is something that the teacher feels his or her students can successfully complete.
Now that you have learned about non-fiction text features you will chose an animal and create a non-fiction presentation that includes the important information about your animal. The information that you share will help your readers to learn more about that animal.
1. Chose a creative title for your book and type it into your title slide. Using the title slide and TuxPaint or PIXIE create an illustration for the cover of your book.
2.Read at least one or two non-fiction books that are on your reading level about your animal. (teacher may need to pre-organize books for the children to chose from) Chose one important word from your book that you think your readers need to know in order for them to better understand your animal. Using your bold face word slide, type your bold faced word and use the word in a sentence. It is important that your word is bold so your readers know it is an important word. (Teachers will need to model the font tool.)
3.Using your labels graphic organizer draw a picture of your animal. Create at least 3 labels for your picture.
4.Students will draw a picture in Tux Paint or PIXIE into their caption slide that depicts something that they feel is important about their animal. (Some examples: How they move? What they eat? How they look when they are young? What they do during the various seasons-hibernate,migrate. How they care for their young. Where they live? ) Type a caption that tells about your picture.
5.Students will chose a part of the animal that they have learned is an important body part in order for the animal to survive and adapt in nature. They will create a drawing that "zooms in" on that part. Students will complete this task in the close-up slide.
6. Students will compare their animals (size, height, weight, color) to something that is familiar to them through drawing their comparison in the comparison slide using TUX PAINT or PIXIE.
7. Once all students have created each page of their non-fiction text feature book, the teacher will upload their books into voice thread. Once in voice thread, students will narrate each page of their book. (Teacher will need to assist with recording and saving student work.)
*Map diagram can be a slide that a student may create if this is something that the teacher feels his or her students can successfully complete.
*A cut-a-way diagram can be a slide that a student may create if this is something that the teacher feels his or her students can successfully complete.
Evaluate
At the end of the lessons students should have the following pages in their book:
title page, bold print page, labels page, captions page, close-up, and comparison
The student's non-fiction text feature book will be assessed using a rubric. Did your students respond to each section of their non-fiction text feature book? Do they have illustrations where illustrations are needed? Do their illustrations match their words? Do their illustrations accurately depict the non-fiction text feature? Students will also be assessed based upon their participation during each of the activities.
Extend
Consider these ideas for extending this lesson:
1. Students can choose to act out their animal and show how their animal survives in nature.
2. Students can create a poem about their animal.
3. Each student could then have one parent's E-mail address to share their finished work, or the teacher can embed the finished voice threads onto a class website where others can view and comment.