Running Head: Balanced Literacy List: African Animals

Balanced Literacy List: African Animals Study Skills and Content Literacy EDU 742 University of New England December 2, 2011

Running Head: Balanced Literacy List: African Animals

Websites
WildCam Africa National Geographic Society (1996-2010) from: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/wildcamafrica/ ! This website shows live streaming video 24 hours a day of wild animals at Petes Pond in Mashautu Game Reserve in Africa. National Geographic Kids- Dare to Explore! National Geographic Kids (1996-2011) from: http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals/creaturefeature/ ! This website allows students to browse animals by species or habitat and includes amazing photo and video footage.

Especies Fact Sheets Kids Planet, Defenders of Wildlife Home from: http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/map.html ! This website offers links of 21 different African animals to a fact sheet for each one. The fact sheet for each animal touches on diet, population, range, behavior, climate change, threats and additional information.

Movies
Africa The Serengeti Narrated by James Earl Jones (2005) ! This forty minute movie, as presented in IMAX theaters, takes the viewer on an amazing journey to see The Great Migration as millions of African animals make their way across the Serengeti Plains. The viewer will be left feeling privileged to be a part of this extraordinary spectacle.

Running Head: Balanced Literacy List: African Animals

Non-Fiction Books
SAFARI Bateman, R. (1998). SAFARI. New York: Scholastic, Inc. ! This non-ction book takes readers on a safari in Africa and introduces fourteen different animals that live there. It contains beautifully painted pictures by painter Robert Bateman that will captivate readers of all ages. The text also includes an box insert that list each animals habitat, height, weight, food and range.

World Book Encyclopedia presents WILD ANIMALS Wild Animals Fecher, S. (1998). Wild Animals. Chicago, IL: Two-Can Publishing Ltd. ! This encyclopedia allows the reader to nd out about lots of exciting wild animals. All of the animals in this book live in Africa. The book takes a closer look at the rhinoceros, giraffe, hippopotamus, zebra, lion, elephant, cheetah, chimpanzee, amazing birds, and animals by the water. Also included in this informational text are puzzles (including matching and guess what it is close up) and a end of the book quiz and index. Another added feature in this book that makes it fun is that the borders on each page have questions all around the edges for the reader to further increase interest. The pictures contain a variety of real photos and drawing by illustrator Peter Utton. A Picture Book of WILD ANIMALS WILD ANIMALS Gise, J. (1990). WILD ANIMALS. Mahwha, NJ: Troll Associates ! This text introduces the reader to twelve wild animals including the giraffe, zebra, elephant, lion, hyena, hippopotamus and African buffalo and offers many facts about each. There are wonderful pictures illustrated by artist Roseanna Pistolesi of African animals in their natural surroundings. Disney Nature AFRICAN CATS Sista the Cheetah Driscoll, L. (2011). Disney Nature African Cats, Sista the Cheetah. New York: Disney ! Press ! This book is based on the Disney feature lm, Sista the Cheetah. It follows a mother cheetah, Sista, as she raises ve new cheetah cubs on the African plains. The real photos in this book make it very enticing as the baby cheetahs try to stay safe from

Running Head: Balanced Literacy List: African Animals a pack of hyenas and try to chase down a gazelle. The engaging real-life story characters in this book will make this book a student favorite for sure! African Animals African Animals Arnold, C. (1997). African Animals. New York: HarperCollins Publishing This book offers young readers a straight-forward look into the world of the animals with fantastic colored photos of about twenty ve different African mammals (sorted by the habitats in which they reside). The book offers great leads to capture the reader as they learn about each different animal and it also gives students real-life comparisons that they have had experiences with in order to convey the size of some of the animals. It is very well-organized and it proves to be a text that children will revisit and enjoy time and time again.

Fiction Books
Nelson the Baby Elephant Nelson, the Baby Elephant Randell, B. (1998) Nelson, the Baby Elephant. Crystal Lake, IL: Reed Elsevier Inc. ! This ction book tells a story about the rst few hours of life for Nelson, the baby elephant and explains how he learns to walk and drink his mothers milk. This book is a part of the Rigby PM Collection and is leveled at a J/18. How the Giraffe Became a Giraffe How the Giraffe Became a Giraffe, A Traditional Story Bond, N. (1996). How the Giraffe Became a Giraffe. Bothell, WA: Wright Group Publishing, Inc. ! This traditional story tells about a golden antelope that wishes to be different. He meets a magic man who grants his wishes which consist of such things as I wish I had horns and I wish I had a long, swishing tail. Ultimately, all of these wishes turn the golden antelope into what we now know today as the giraffe.

Learning Games
Sheppard Softwares Kids Corner from: http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/gamesforkids.htm

Running Head: Balanced Literacy List: African Animals ! There are two different African animal games to play on this website. One is African Savannah Animals in which an animal appears and the player clicks on the category that the animal belongs to (mammal, reptile, bird, insect, etc.) The other game follows the same guidelines only with African River Animals. ! Serengeti Photo Safari MPBN PBS from: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/serengeti/multimedia/serengeti-game.html ! This game allows you, the player, to drive around the Serengeti plain in a safari jeep with a camera. When you get to a spot occupied by an African animal, take a picture. You have to be back to the camp by sundown or you will be stuck on the plain for the night. When you make it back to camp, you have the chance to review all of the pictures you have taken and make your own movie.

Reflection
! I really enjoyed this assignment especially because this is a global studies unit that I teach my second grade students and it is so nice to have all of this helpful information and resources in one convenient spot to use as a reference. In teaching, one of our most valuable resources is time and this lesson gave me the chance to really dig into all of the wonderful websites, games and resources that are online for my students to explore. I have added them to my classroom portaportal page and it felt good to update that as well with this new found information. My students are sure to benet greatly from this project which offers them a variety of ways in which to discover the wonders of African animals!