Learning Features of Creatures Day 3 Animal Poems

I. General Information:
Grade Level: 1st
Discipline: Life Science
Unit Topic: Diversity of Life
Time Frame: 45-50 minutes
Text: Creatures Features by: Steve Jenkins
Other Materials:
Bones by: Steve Jenkins
Poems for Multiple voices activity/reading strategy
Smartboard
Science journal
Sentence starter how does the skeleton help animals survive?
II. Essential Understanding/Questions:
What internal features do animals have that help them live?
Can you compare and contrast different animals internal features?

III. Standards/Indicators

Grade 1 - Life Science - Diversity

Topic A. Diversity of Life
Indicator
- 1. Compare and explain how external features of plants and animals help them survive
different environments.
Objective
2. Compare similar features in some animals and plants and explain how each of these
enables the organism to satisfy basic needs.

RI2: Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text. (SC,1)
-Describe people, places, things, and events with relevant details, expressing ideas and
feelings clearly. (CCSS 1 SL4)

W2: Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some
facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.
-Produce complete simple and compound sentences. (CCSS 2 L1.f)

IV. Lesson Objectives

Using the anchor text as a guide, students will compare and contrast features of mammals
and use the companion book for further research.
Students will complete the poem for multiple voices activity with the teacher using the
Smartboard.
Once students complete the poem for multiple voices activity with the teacher (whole
group), students will write an entry into their science journal explaining how they know
the skeleton helps animal survive.
Students will write an entry into their science journal describing a new animal they
learned about and describe a feature it has that helps it survive.

V. Evaluation/Assessment:
Assessment of Objectives
Informal assessment participation of comparing and contrasting anchor
text to companion text
Informal assessment participation of poem of multiple voices activity
Formal assessment completion of writing piece skeleton help
Formal assessment completion of journal entry new animal and feature
VI. Procedures:
Introduction
To introduce the lesson, the teacher will have students sit on the reading carpet. The
teacher will read the anchor text, Creatures Features, to the class; only reading the
animals that are mammals. The students should have prior knowledge of what
mammal, amphibians, birds and reptiles mean.
Teaching/Activities
1. Ask the students what they think theyll be learning about today. Let them
make predictions and come up with possible ideas.
2. Show them the book Creatures Features, most students should remember this
book from the day before. Explain to them that today they will be focusing on
the animals that are considered as mammals. This includes the: Mandrill,
Leaf-Nosed bat, hamster, bighorn sheep, babirusa, star-nosed mole, mole rat,
bearded seal, giant panda, red squirrel, giraffe, sun bear, and rock hyrax.
Explain that these animals are mammals because they are warm-blooded
animals of a class that is distinguished by the possession of hair or fur. These
are the same animals that was visited the day before
3. Explain to students that they will be learning about the inside of mammals
today; meaning theyll be learning about animals skeletons and how they
help the animal survive. The companion book, Bones, is divided into different
sets of bones hands, feet, torso, legs, backbones and the skulls of many
different animals. After each section, ask questions such as How does this
bone help the ___(name animal) survive? How do you think this feature is
different from the animal we just read about? Ask students if there are any
animals in the anchor text that is described in the companion book giraffe,
monkey, frog.
4. For the poems for multiple voices activity, students will be split into two
groups. Each group will choose an animal from either the anchor text or the
companion book. A chart will be created on the Smartboard with 3 columns
the first will be what feature each animal has in common, the middle column
will be opinions of the animals and the third column will be a fact about that
animals skeleton; something interesting. When the columns are read aloud, it
will create a poem (non-rhyming).
5. Once the animals in the companion book are read, have the students return to
their seat to complete their next science journal entry. The sentence starter
should be passed out and each student can glue it into the top of their journal.
 It should say how does the skeleton help animals survive? The teacher
should model this using the Smartboard as guidance. Tell students to write 2-3
sentences to answer this question. Reference that they can use the Poem
activity columns to help remember some attributes of specific animals.
Closure
To close this lesson, students will also write another journal entry about a new animal
they learned about and describe its features it has. Tell students to write 1-2 sentences
about their animal and its feature. Explain that every day for this unit, they will be writing
a new animal they learned about.

References:

Altieri, J. L. (2014). Powerful content connections: nurturing readers, writers, and

thinkers in grades K-3. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Jenkins, S. & Page, R. (2014). Creatures features. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt.

Jenkins, S. (2010). Bones. New York, NY: Scholastic.