Apes to Zebras

By Liz Brownlee, Sue Hardy- Dawson, Roger Stevens

Yeah! Another new book on my shelf. Thank you to Kylie Watson for introducing me to this awesome book but also for creating these brilliant teaching ideas. I only added a couple of ideas.

I am lucky to work with Kylie at Dana St PS in Ballarat. In her Learning Specialist role Kylie and I collaborate about all things related to Mathematics. I am sure you will agree with me, her expertise is literacy too!

We decided to create our own A-Z of learning experiences for this book. Enjoy!

 

 

A

Annotate your thinking about the poem titled Koala.

Ask – What questions would you ask the authors of these poems.

B

Background knowledge – What do you know about the topic in the poem titled Emperor Penguin? How will you find out more information?

C

Categorise your thinking – Using the poem Paradox Frog research other amphibians that would fit in this species category.

D

Draw – Illustrate a picture that conveys ideas and feelings from the poem Gulls.

E

Express Yourself – Draw or use an iPad to take photos of the emotions you feel when reading certain poems. Why do you feel these emotions?

F

Figurative Language – Identify the figurative language within the poem titled Zebra.

G

Geography – Using the poem titled Quokka, locate on a map where they inhabit.

H

Hunt – Look for adjectives, nouns, adverbs, verbs, or high frequency words in the poems.

I

I Wonder… – Wondering about the poem Bees or any other animals within the poems.

J

Jot down your thinking from the poem Otter.

Justify your selection of your favourite poem.

K

K-W-L – Create a K-W-L chart on the animal in the poem titled Spider.

• What I know?
• What I want to learn?
• What I learned?

L

Label – Draw the animal in the poem titled Stick Insect and label the parts of the animal.

Listen to the author read the poems.

Liz Brownlee reads her poem Narwhal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7f6Yg8sBeo

Sue Hardy-Dawson reads Crocodile

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=or44hgLgTBE

Roger Stevens reads Tiger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIstX6RDWgk

M

Measurement – Use Giraffe poem to identify mathematical language used. Measure the height of a giraffe and compare to student heights.

N

Nouns – Write down the nouns you can associate with Whale poem. Can you think of adjectives to describe the poem?

O

Opinions – Discuss different options formed from the poem Hedgehog.  

Objects – Collect objects to provide clues for a poem.

P

Purpose – Why did the author write this poem? Persuade, inform, or entertain.

Q

Questioning – What deeper thinking questions can be developed form the poem titled Parrots.

Quick Draw – Quickly draw clues related to one of the poems. Can you buddy guess the poem?

R

Rhyming – Identify the rhyming words in the poem Grasshopper

S

Shape Poem – Create your own shape poem to publish and share.

 

Survey – Use Survey Monkey to find out people’s favourite poem.

 

Synonyms – Write down all the adjectives you can see in the poem tilted Unicorn. Write down synonyms to match.

T

Text Connections – make connections from the poems read. They can be text to self, text to text or text to world.

U

Unfamiliar words – Identify and define any unfamiliar words which you come across within the poems.

V

Venn Diagram – Create a Venn Diagram including two of the animals from different poems.

W

Word Splash – Create a word splash of everything we know about the animal in the poem Tiger.

XYZ

Y Chart – Create a Y chart for an animal in a poem; looks like, sounds like, smells like.

 

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Enjoy and take care,

Andrea