READY TO ROW:
Reading Shelf:
I was excited to set out our woodland themed books for this row.
Story Disk:
Parker colored the disk and put it over California. After all, we have many beautiful deciduous forests on the west coast.
Cover Art:
Parker created an adorable representation of the “night animals” for his cover art.
Kick-Off Breakfast:
I should have made a woodland animal themed breakfast, but whole grain chocolate chip pancakes made my kiddo’s morning!
BIBLE:
Memory Verse:
I created a word art in Parker’s FIAR notebook since I hadn’t created a Bible verse printable before this row. Sometimes, life is too busy and you improvise!
I created a Bible verse printable for this mini unit. You can purchase your copy here. There’s a bonus FREEbie in the Preview.
SOCIAL STUDIES:
Conservation:
I decided to study a different conservationist each day, using the suggested picture book read-alouds.
Teddy Roosevelt:
We read You’re on Your Way Teddy Roosevelt and quickly decided to make this book our next row!
John Muir:
We read John Muir America’s Naturalist, and based this row in California.
Rachel Carson:
Parker and I studied Rachel Carson last year, while rowing The Tree Lady. As I started reading Rachel Carson and Her Book That Changed the World, Parker instantly remembered her! I love the connections we make while rowing FIAR books!
Birch Tree Art:
LANGUAGE ARTS:
Reading:
I chose to read-aloud The Truth of Me and Appleblossom the Possum. I was afraid the book about the possum would be too kiddish and “girlie”, but my son loved it more than my first choice!
Story Review:
I created a Night Animals Story Review for this row.
You can purchase your copy here at our TPT Store.
Idioms:
We talked about idioms and read Will Moses’ Raining Cats and Dogs. Parker recognized many of the idiom mentioned in the book. Afterwords, we perused through Mad as a Wet Hen, looking specifically for animal related idioms.
Parker worked on the Crack-the-Code Mystery Idioms from our Story Review.
MATH:
Measuring:
While measuring animal tracks, I created mini science units for each of night animals, plus a few more.
Opossums:
We started our research by focusing on North American skunks.
Parker read North American Animals Opossums on our Epic app.
Afterwards, he used the classification worksheet, from our Story Review, to draw his animal (artprojectsforkids), sketch the tracks and jot down his research notes.
We read Possum’s Harvest Moon just for fun.
Skunks:
Parker read North American Animals Striped Skunks on our Epic app.
Afterwards, he used the classification worksheet, from our Story Review, to draw his animal (artprojectsforkids), sketch the tracks and jot down his research notes.
Bears:
First, Parker read North American Black Bears.
Afterwards, he read Every Autumn Comes the Bear, because it’s fall and we just love Jim Arnosky’s books.
Afterwards, he used the classification worksheet, from our Story Review, to draw his animal (artprojectsforkids), sketch the tracks and jot down his research notes.
Wolves:
Parker read Wolves by Gail Gibbons then used the classification worksheet, from our Story Review, to draw his animal (artprojectsforkids), sketch the tracks and write his research notes.
Bats:
Parker read Bats by Gail Gibbons.
While studying bats, we read Stellaluna, for fun.
After reading about bats, Parker used the classification worksheet, from our Story Review, to draw his animal (artprojectsforkids), sketch the tracks and write his research notes.
Owls:
First, we read Owls by Gail Gibbons.
Afterwards, he used the classification worksheet, from our Story Review, to draw his animal (artprojectsforkids), sketch the tracks and jot down his research notes.
Afterwards, we read an old favorite, Owl Moon by Jane Yolen.
Moths:
Though moths weren’t included in the storyline, I decided to add this animal to our “study group”.
We read Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing Butterflies & Moths by Jim Arnosky.
Afterwards, he used the classification worksheet, from our Story Review, to draw his animal (artprojectsforkids), sketch the tracks and jot down his research notes.
SCIENCE:
Eyeshine:
We read Night Animals and looked up the eyeshine color for each of our night animals in the story.
Light:
After reading through Night Animals, we looked through Flashlight. I honestly don’t care for wordless picture books, but the illustrations were beautiful.
Since we were appreciating the beauty light revealed, I thought Oscar and the Moth might be another excellent science lesson about light and dark.
ARTS, CRAFTS & FUN:
Goodnight Gorilla:
I added an animated version of Goodnight Gorillato our Night Animals playlist.
Birch Tree Art:
First, we used black tempura paint to give our night sky backdrop. Next, Parker drew birch tree outlines. Later, we used cardboard and tempura paint to make marking on our trees. Once dry, I cut the trees out and Parker glued them in place.
Parker added googly eyes for the finishing touch. It was just the perfect touch to make the night animals come to life in their birch tree forest!
HELPFUL LINKS:
Pinterest Board:
You can find most of the activities, ideas, and printables from this post on our Night Animals Pinterest Board.
Youtube Playlist:
As with our other rows, we created Night Animals playlist with read-alouds, music, science, and other clips.