UNDER THE SNOW

By Melissa Stewart
Publisher: Peachtree
ISBN 13: 978-1-56145-493-8

FROM THE FLAP: When snow falls, we love to sled and skate and have snowball fights. But at the end of the day, we go home where it is warm and safe. What about all those animals out there in the chilly winter weather? What do they do when snow blankets the ground?

Journey to fields, forests, ponds, and wetlands to see how animals survive. Watch as ladybugs crowd together in a gap in a stone wall and a chipmunk snoozes in its burrow. Take a side trip to the pond, where a carp rests quietly on the bottom and a frog nestles in the mud, scarcely breathing.

And then as winter passes and the sun’s rays grow stronger, join all animals as they get ready for spring.

Award-winning science writer Melissa Stewart offers a lyrical tour of a variety of habitats, providing young readers with vivid glimpses of animals as they live out the winter beneath the snow and ice. Constance Bergum’s glowing watercolors perfectly capture the wonder and the magic that can happen under the snow.

KATE'S TAKE: About this time of year I begin to fantasize about what's the underneath all the snow. Read UNDER THE SNOW to find out.

ANIMAL ANTICS (Bodily/Kinesthetic and Interpersonal)

At the end of the book, the snow melts and the animals come out from underneath the snow. In a circle on the rug, invite children to physically impersonate one of the animals in the book, and ask the students to guess which animal the student is impersonating.

GUESS WHO? (Verbal/Linguistic and Interpersonal)

Have students fill in the blanks to the following questions:

I live in a __________ (habitat).
I am (color) _________ and (color) ________.
When spring comes, I ________ (movement)
Who am I?

Then ask the other students to guess who each student is.

HABITAT POSTERS (Naturalist and Visual/Spatial)

Divide the class into four groups. Give each group a large poster and have each group illustrate one of the four different habitats mentioned in the book: wetlands, ponds, fields, and forests. Post one poster in each corner of the room.


HABITAT SORT (Naturalist and Bodily/Kinesthetic)

Assign each child an animal. Then ask all of the animals that live in each habitat to find the poster that represents their habitat. When they move to their habitat, they should move as their animal moves.

PUPPET PLAY (Visual/Spatial)

Gather a bunch of supplies such as socks, juice concentrate cans, margarine containers, and ask students to make a puppet representing one of the animals in the book.

BOOK BUDDIES:

-Animal Camouflage in the Snow by Martha E. H. Rustad
-Animals in the Snow by Margaret Wise Brown
-Footprints in the Snow by Cynthia Benjamin
-Footprints in the Snow: Counting by Twos by Michael Dahl
-When Rain Falls by Melissa Stewart

Why Are Animals Blue?

By Melissa Stewart

Publisher: Enslow

ISBN-13: 978-0-7660-3251-4

FROM THE BACK COVER: “Discover a rainbow of animals. Animals come in all colors of the rainbow. Learn the fascinating reasons why animals are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple in the RAINBOW OF ANIMALS easy-to-read Science books. Find out about animals with blue faces, blue feet, and blue tongues in this fascinating book. Kids will be mesmerized by the quality color photos and intriguing facts in this easy-to-read title.”

A Rainbow of Animals Habitat Walk (Naturalist)

Take students to a local habitat and ask them to search for a “Rainbow of Animals.” Have them draw pictures of the animals they see. Back in the class, determine whether or not students were able to find a complete “Rainbow of Animals.

Animal Movement (Bodily Kinesthetic)

Lead the students through the various actions of the animals in the book: swimming, hopping, flying, dancing, snapping and flicking. Ask students to correlate each movement with the appropriate animal.

Attraction, Camouflage, or Warning Graph (Logical-Mathematical)

Stewart teaches students that animals are blue for three different reasons: 1) To blend in, 2) To attract a mate; and, 3) To scare away predators. As a class, go through each animal in the book and determine if the animal uses blue to attract a mate, scare away a predator, or to hide. Make a bar graph of the results. Are there more animals in one category? Why?

Guess Who? (Verbal-Linguistic)

Brainstorm a list of animals from the book. Ask a student to pick an animal from the book. Then, the other students can ask questions to try and guess which animal the student chose. Students should ask questions about habitat, how the animal uses its color for its benefit, and what animals are the prey and predator of the chosen animal.

Wax Resist Watercolors (Visual-Spatial)

The blue shark’s color helps it stay hidden from its predators in the water. Have students draw a picture of a blue shark using crayon. Then ask students to use blue watercolors and paint over their drawing. Since wax resist the watercolors, students do not need to worry about painting over their work.

Book Buddies:

-Animal Camouflage in the Ocean by Martha Rustad

-Predators and Prey by Marcia Freeman

-Swimmy by Leo Lionni

-What Color is Camouflage by Carolyn Otto

-Why Are Animals Orange? by Melissa Stewart