Daylight Starlight Wildlife, by Wendell Minor

This book explores animals that are diurnal/awake during the day and those that are nocturnal/awake at night. Mr. Minor has painted beautiful lifelike pictures to bring this story alive.

Materials

Star cutouts
Tissue paper in 1-inch squares
Animal cards to sort
1-2 small flashlights
1-4 small blankets or towels from dramatic center
Packet of star stickers

Vocabulary

Soars- flies high in the sky
Kits-baby rabbits are called kits
Forage-to look for food
Luminous-glowing or shimmering
Fearless- to be unafraid
Sprightly-active, always moving
Scope-checking out
Diurnal-awake during the day
Nocturnal-awake during the night

Before Reading the Story

Tell the children that you are going to read a book about nocturnal animals (animals who come out at night) and diurnal animals (animals who come out during the day). Have the children repeat the words. Ask them if they can think of an animal that might be nocturnal, remind them that nocturnal means to come out at night. Then ask them if they can think of an animal that is diurnal. Allow them a chance to brainstorm and write their responses on a piece of paper. Look at the cover; Ask the children if they can tell which side represents daylight and which represent the night or starlight? How can they tell? (It’s yellow like the sun, it’s got stars and the moon on it). Ask them if they can name the animal that is diurnal, nocturnal. Introduce the book.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, living things, and natural processes.

Reading the Story

Stop on the first page and see how many of the animals the children can name. Stop on the page with the red fox and ask the children if they can see what he is pouncing on (a mouse, dinner). Take your time turning the pages, allowing the children the opportunity to share any experiences they might have about the animal/s on the page.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, living things, and natural processes. AND Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; develops increasing abilities to understand and use language to communicate information, experiences, ideas, feelings, opinions, needs, questions; and for other varied purposes.

After Reading the Story

Post your list from before reading the story onto the wall and re-read it aloud to the children. Ask them if they can recall any other animals that might have been mentioned in the story. When they name an animal, ask if it should be written on the nocturnal side or the diurnal side?

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows growth in matching, sorting, putting in series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size.

Discovery

Cut around the many animal cards and put into a bowl. Put out one piece of dark paper with the word ‘nocturnal’ written across the top and one piece of light paper with the word ‘diurnal” written across the top. The children can take the animal cards and sort them onto the correct sheet of paper. Once they are finished, ask them if they can name the animals.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows growth in matching, sorting, putting in series, and regroup objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size.

Music and Movement

Remind the children that nocturnal/night and diurnal/day are opposites. Sing Everything I Always Say to Pop Goes the Weasel verse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtfpkI-2CKg

Everything I always say, you always say the opposite.

When I say up, you say down.

Everything I always say, you always say the opposite.

When I say diurnal, you say nocturnal.

(As you sing and name the first half of the opposite, stop and see if the children can name the 2^nd half. Continue naming opposites until the children loose interest).

Do the following as a chant.

Left foot, right foot I am cool Tap left foot and right foot accordingly.

Left foot, right foot I learned at school.

Do left hand, right hand, left ear, eye, nostril, etc

Social & Emotional Development/Self-Concept; begins to develop and express awareness of self in terms of specific abilities, characteristics, and preferences.

Blocks

Encourage the children to use the blocks to make patterns. Show them how to stand a rectangle block, square block, rectangle block, square block, etc.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement;enhances abilities to recognize, duplicate, and extend simple patterns using a variety of materials.

Art

Make stained glass windows by laying a sheet of waxed paper on the table. Put out many 1-inch square of tissue paper and a cup/bowl of glue and a paintbrush for each child. Show them how to paint the glue onto the tissue paper and then lay a piece of tissue paper on top of the waxed paper. Continue painting on the glue and adding tissue paper. As the pieces of tissue paper overlap, new colors will appear. Encourage the children to paint the tissue paper on flat instead of balled. Allow it to dry flat. When it is dry, cut a star shape out of black construction paper. Staple the child’s tissue art behind the star cutout. These look lovely in a sunny window.

Creative Arts/Art; develops growing abilities to plan, work independently, and demonstrate care and persistence in a variety of art project.

Sand and Water

Add baby dolls, a washcloth and several dish towels for bathing the babies. While the children are bathing the babies, ask them if they take a bath or shower at home? Do they take it in the morning/day or at night?

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; develops growing awareness of jobs and what is required to perform them.

Library and Writing

Put the book into the center and add a flashlight for fun reading.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest in reading related activities, such as asking to have a favorite book read; choosing to look at books; drawing pictures based on stories; asking to take a book home; going to the library; and engaging in pretend reading with other children.

Dramatic Play

Darken your dramatic corner as much as possible and tell the children that you have added some blankets to the center so they can pretend that it is nighttime. Ask them what else they might need and help them to supply what you can and to problem solve those items you cannot supply. (My group said they needed more books and toothbrushes. We got more books but problem-solved using their fingers as pretend toothbrushes). Encourage them to act out their nighttime rituals.

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; progresses in understanding similarities and respecting differences among people such as genders, race, special needs, culture, language, and family structure.

Math and Manipulatives

Bring a dice and the star stickers to the table. Give each child a half a piece of dark construction paper. Let the children take turns rolling the dice and adding that many stars on to their paper. When children have had 4 turns, help them to count the number of stars on their paper. With a white pencil or crayon write their name and the number of stars they counted. (Kerry has 17 stars). If your children are wild dice rollers, bring a box top or a cubby to roll the dice into.

Mathematics/Numbers & Operations; develops increasing ability to count to 10 and beyond. AND Mathematics/Numbers & Operations; begins to use one-to-one correspondence in counting objects and matching groups of objects.

Outdoor Play

Take the book out onto the playground and re-read the story. Open the book and go through the pages having the children act out the different animal walks or flights.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; shows increasing levels of proficiency, control, and balance in walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping.

Transitions

Play category with the children. Say the word nocturnal/during the night or diurnal/during the day and the child must name something they do during that period.

Approaches to learning/Reasoning & Problem-Solving; develops increasing ability to find more than one solution to a question, task, or problem. AND Language Development/Speaking & Communicating; uses an increasingly complex and varied spoken vocabulary.

Resources

Out of the Woods, By Rebecca Bond

A forest fire brings animals and people together in an unlikely place. This is a real story of an unforgettable event.

Materials

A bag of thin sticks, 3-8 inches long (use a fallen branch and break into many smaller sticks)
Small disposable drinking cups
A gallon of school glue
An index card for each child with their name written upon it. If you have access to a camera, you can add a picture of the child also.
2 sets of Forest Animal Cards
1 set of other animal cards
I set of jumping bean cards

Vocabulary

Unforgettable Event- something you do not forget, even when you are old.
Hotel-a place where people can stay for a vacation or for a longer time.
Stoking a stove-to put the wood into the stove and make the fires in the stoves before there was electricity.
Boisterous-noisy and over the top, crazy
Dense-thick with lots and lots of trees

Before Reading the Story

Before reading the story, spend a few minutes talking to the children about fire safety. Explain that there are several rules one should always follow if there is a fire. 1. Don’t be scared, be smart. 2. Never hide, get outside and get outside quickly. 3. Sit and wait outside until your parent/an adult tells you it’s all safe. 4. If it’s smoky crawl on your knees. Have the children repeat the rules back to you as you say them. Tell the children that your story today is about a little boy who’s home got caught in a forest fire. Encourage the children to think about the fire safety rules you have just talked about as you read the story.

Physical Health & Development/Health Status & Practices; builds awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

Reading the Story

When you get to the page where Antonio is looking into a travelers room, ask the children if they think that Antonio should go into the room to explore or not? Why? (“It’s not his room”, “I’m not allowed to be near a gun”, “The man might get mad”, “My big brother would go in the room and see the fishing stuff cause he likes to fish”.) On the page where everyone is standing in the lake, ask the children if they can find the baby, find Antonio and his mother. Ask them if they remember what fire safety rules Antonio and all the people were remembering. (Never hide, get outside and get outside quickly). When you get to the page where the animals come out into the water with the people, ask the children why they think this is happening? (Water puts out forest fires so all are safest in the water). Explain that all the people and animals were remembering rule #1, don’t be scared, be smart.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction and non-fiction, and poetry.

After Reading the Story

Go over the four fire safety rules with the children. Did the people in the story follow any or all of them? Talk to the children about your fire safety plan. Make sure they understand what they are to do when they hear the school fire alarm sound. Talk about the importance of staying as a group and walking out of the building. Use a bell or another sound to make a mock fire drill and practice it with the children.

Physical Health & Safety/Health Status & Practices; builds an awareness and ability to follow basic health and safety rules such as fire safety, traffic and pedestrian safety, and responding appropriately to potentially harmful objects, substances, and activities.

Discovery

Make a copy of the forest animal cards and the other animal’s card. Put out a piece of paper with a line down the middle. On one half write ‘forest animals’, on the other write ‘not forest animals’. Have the children sort the cards accordingly.

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows growth in matching, sorting, putting together in a series, and regrouping objects according to one or two attributes such as color, shape, or size.

Music and Movement

Make one copy of the forest animal cards. Cut out and put into a container that the children cannot see inside. As you put them in, have the children name the animal. Add one jumping bean card per three children. Put these into the container also. The children take turns picking out a card and naming the animal. If they pick out a jumping beans card, they shout “Jumping Bean!” and everyone gets up and jumps. Continue until everyone has had or turn or the children grow tired of playing.

Language Development/Listening & Understanding; shows progress in understanding and following simple, and multiple-step directions. AND Social & Emotional Development/Cooperation; develops increasing abilities to give and take in interactions; to take turns in games or using materials; and to interact without being overly submissive or directive.

Blocks

If you have fire trucks add them to the center today. Encourage the children to build a firehouse that the trucks can go inside of.

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; begins to be able to determine whether or not two shapes are the same size and shape.

Art

Pour school glue, an inch or two into the disposable cups. Let the children add sticks into the cup and leave it until it dries. This will take several days. After it is dry, show the children how to take a paintbrush, dip it into a color of paint, and allow it to drip over the sticks. When they are dry, group the cups together for a 3d modern art forest sculpture. Ask the children if they think it looks like a forest, why or why not?

Creative Arts/Art; begins to understand and share opinions about artistic products and experiences.

Library and Writing

Put out cards with the words EXIT and 911 on them for the children to practice copying. Talk to the children as they write about the importance of these two ‘words’. EXIT, find the exit and explain that in an emergency to look for the EXIT sign to get out of a building quickly. 911 are the numbers you call in case of an emergency. Talk about what is an emergency and whom one would ask for when they call 911.

Literacy/Early Writing; progresses from using scribbles, shapes, and pictures to represent ideas, to using letter-like symbols, to copying or writing familiar words such as their name.

Sand and Water

Fill the table with a very small amount of water. Add rubber style animals and people that you might have. Encourage the children to stand an animal next to a person. Can they name all the animals in the water? Can they tell you anything about what happened in the story that put the animals and people in the water or what happened after the fire went out?

Dramatic Play

Add any play tools that you might have so the children can help maintain the center and fix the broken chair or door to the stove. As they play, ask them to name the different tools, do they know what they are used for?

Social & Emotional Development/Knowledge of Families & Communities; develops a growing awareness of jobs and what is required to perform them.

Math and Manipulatives

Lay several of the name index cards on the table saying and pointing out whose name is on each card. Ask a child to pick a card from the pile. Can they name the name on the card? Ask them to put it onto the table with the others ones but in a specific location. (Can you put Ryan’s card under the card that says Paula, can you put Alison’s card next to the card that says Sean?). Continue, naming the cards and putting them in positional places on the table with the other cards (under, over, next to, beside, on top, underneath).

Mathematics/Geometry & Spatial Sense; builds increasing understanding of directionality, order, and positions of objects, and words such as up, down, over, under, top, bottom, inside, outside, in front, behind. AND Literacy/Alphabet Knowledge; Knows the letters of the alphabet are a special category of visual graphics that can be individually named.

Outdoor Play

As you prepare to go outside, remind the children that in the story Antonio loved to look for signs of animals when he went outside. Challenge the children to look for sign so of animals on your playground. Encourage them to look carefully at the ground for signs of insects or, squirrels, birds, or any other creature that you are lucky enough to find.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

Transitions

Ask the children if they can remember the 4 rules of fire safety? Help them if they cannot. Number four is, “If it’s smokey, crawl on your knees”. Have the children crawl to the next activity.

Dear parent, today we read a story about a forest fire and how all the animals and people stayed safe. There is a good link for talking to your child about forest fire safety. Check out the web site; www.smokeybear.com.

Resources

Baby Alligator, by Ginjer L. Clarke

This story shares alligator facts with children in a way that is easy to understand.

Materials

Alligator- make about 9” long
Alligator puppet or draw eyes on the back of your hand to be an alligator puppet
Deck of cards, face cards removed.
Plastic eggs

Vocabulary

Fade away (will disappear)
Male (father’s and brother’s are males. Boy animals)

Before reading the Story

Do animal riddles with the children. (I’m thinking of an animal that lives far away in the jungle or the zoo. It looks kind of like a giant cat and has stripes all over its body and long whiskers beside its nose. It is a meat eater and hunts in the night/tiger). End by saying; I’m thinking of an animal that has many sharp and fearsome teeth. It lives beside the swamps. It’s body is long and it has short legs but a very long and strong tail. It is a fast swimmer and eats many kinds of smaller animals/alligator. Tell the children that this is who we are going to read about today, the alligator. Let the children make any comments they have about alligators before you begin.

Approaches to learning/Reasoning & Problem Solving; develops increasing abilities to classify, compare and contrast objects, events, and experiences. Language Development/Listening & Understanding; understands an increasingly complex and varied vocabulary.

Reading the Story

This book is full of facts. Take your time and let the children talk about the pictures if they like.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes.

After Reading the Story

Introduce an alligator puppet/ hand. Tell the children that you are going to pretend that the cards from the deck of cards are fish. Pass out the cards so everyone has at least one. Do a quick movement activity with the children pretending the cards are ‘fish’. Can you make your fish swim high, low, behind your back, etc. After a moment of this tell them that you are going to play a game using the numbers on their fish/card.

Teach the children the chant; Alligator, Alligator.

Alligator, alligator in the swamp,

How many fish can you chomp?

After the children are able to repeat this, have the alligator call up two children. The children repeat the chant. The Alligator then states “Well, I’m very, very hungry, so I will eat whatever is more. Look at the children’s numbers; ask the children if they know what the numbers are holding? Then the Alligator says, ____is less then ____, ____ is more then ____so I will eat _____. Have the alligator grab the number and say yummy, thanks. The child who lost his card to the alligator then calls up another child to take his place and the chant begins again. (Hmmm, I’m a very hungry alligator so I will eat which ever has more. Let me see, 5 is less than 6, 6 is more than 5 so I will eat six! Oh yummy, yummy, yummy, thanks)

Mathematics/Number & Operations; begins to associate number concepts, vocabulary, quantities, and written numerals in meaningful ways.

Discovery

After reading the story, put the book in the discovery center with any other alligator books/pictures that you might have.

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest in reading-related activities, such as asking to have a favorite book read, choosing to look at books; drawing pictures based on stories; asking to take books home; going to the library; and engaging in pretend reading with other children.

Music and movement

Make a feeding the Alligator game. Take a brown grocery sack and tape it to a chair with the top opening facing the children. Make a line for the children to stand at. Let the children use bean bags to try to throw them into the alligators mouth.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; demonstrates increasing abilities to coordinate movements in throwing, catching, kicking, bouncing balls, and using the slide and swing.

Sand and water

Add plastic eggs and long wooden blocks to the water table today to simulate an alligator Mother and her eggs, the children can open the eggs and pour and scoop.

Creative Arts/ Dramatic Play; shows growing creativity and imagination in using materials and in assuming different roles in dramatic play situations.

Blocks

Encourage the children to make “stepping stones” and “logs” all over the floor of the block center. They can then walk on these and try not to fall into the alligator water/rug. This is a balancing game.

Physical Health & Development/Gross Motor Skills; shows increasing levels of proficiency, control, and balance in walking, climbing, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, marching, and galloping.

Art

Make copies of the alligator for each child on green paper. Cut out many one inch squares of green tissue paper. Show the children how to scrunch these into tiny balls and glue onto their alligators back.

Physical Health & Development/Fine Motor Skills; develops growing strength, dexterity, and control needed to use tools such as scissors, paper punch, stapler, and hammer. AND Approaches to Learning/Engagement & Persistence; grows in abilities to persist in and complete a variety of tasks, activities, projects, and experiences.

Library and Writing

Make a copy of the alligator for each child. Ask the child to share any information that they have about alligators with you. As they share the information, write it down on the alligator page. When they have finished sharing information, let them use crayons to color the alligator. Write whatever they say about alligators, whether you know it to be true or not. This is their dictation of information. (I’ve had children say, “I don’t know”,”Alligators eat people and dogs so you better watch out!””I have a alligator at home named Bo”. I did not ask if these were true statements, this is what the child told me so this is what I wrote)

Literacy/Book Knowledge & Appreciation; demonstrates progress in abilities to retell and dictate stories from books and experiences; to act out stories in dramatic play; and to predict what will happen next in a story. AND Literacy/Early Writing; develops understanding that writing is a way of communicating for a variety of purposes.

Dramatic play;

Math and Manipulatives

The story states that a mother alligator can lay up to 40 eggs at a time. Use a set of manipulatives that has many pieces and have four children at a time come and count a set of ten items. Put them all together and that’s how many baby alligators a mother alligator can have at once! That’s a lot of babies.

Mathematics/Number & Operations; demonstrates increasing interest and awareness if numbers and counting as a means for solving problems and determining quantity.

Use the alligator copy and make about 10 to use for measuring. Have the children measure how many alligators tall their friend is by having them lay on the floor. Measure how many alligators long the table is, the carpet, the path from the cubbies to the bathroom. Is there anything in the classroom that is about the same size as a baby alligator?

Mathematics/Patterns & Measurement; shows progress in using standard and non-standard measures for length and area of objects.

Outdoor play

Dampen the sand in the sandbox and dig deep tunnels, homes for alligators in the winter.

Approaches to learning/Engagement & Persistence; demonstrates increasing ability to set goals and develop and follow through on plans.

Transitions

Ask the children if they can remember any alligator fact as they head off to the next activity. If you have to, turn to different pages of the book to help the children recall facts.

Science/Scientific Knowledge; expands knowledge of and abilities to observe, describe, and discuss the natural world, materials, living things, and natural processes. AND Literacy/Book KNowledge & Appreciation; shows growing interest and involvement in listening to and discussing a variety of fiction and non-fiction, and poetry.

Resources

Baby alligators are about 9 inches long.