After creating our large animal diorama several weeks ago, we decided to make a few animal reports to go with it. The kids each picked an animal they really liked and created a report on it. I made them each two folders: (1) one folder for some fun animal worksheets and (2) one folder that contained their actual report.
Mini Unit on Animals
Before we actually started researching our specific animal, we learned a lot of general information about animals. Below are several websites that have excellent worksheets for preK/K about (1) living vs. nonliving things, (2) difference between plants and animals, (3) animal homes, and (4) characteristics of animal groups.
https://www.myteachingstation.com/science/plants-animals/understand-living-things-animals
http://cleverlearner.com/science/living-and-non-living-things-preschool-worksheets.html
https://www.myteachingstation.com/math/sorting-categorizing/animal-and-plant-sorting
https://www.myteachingstation.com/venn-diagram-animals-in-water-and-on-land
http://cleverlearner.com/science/animal-houses-preschool-printables.html
https://thisreadingmama.com/animal-classification-cut-paste-vertebrates/
Animal Reports
I created a simple template in Word for our animal reports but here are some very good (free!) templates that you might want to use/adapt. The first is very simple and ideal for young kids while the others are suited for older children.
Research
Because my kids are so little, all of our research was parent-guided. We read many books about animals together. My favourite non-fiction choice for reports is still the "old school", slightly outdated Nature's Children Collection. However, If you don't have any of those collecting dust on your shelf, check out https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/. They have so many great animal facts and videos! Here are a few more really good non-fiction picture books we love:
My Very First Animals Book by Alice James
Peek Inside Animal Homes by Anna Milbourne
Let's Read and Find Out Science Books (eg. How Animal Babies STAY SAFE by Mary Ann Fraser, Where Do Polar Bears Live? by Sarah L. Thompson, Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft)
National Geographic KIDS Levelled Readers
Any Usborne books about animals!
Read, Read, READ!
Reading non-fiction can be tiring for young kids. We also read a lot of fiction stories about animals for a bit of balance. Here are just a few of our favourite titles:
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin Jr./Eric Carle
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What do you see? by Bill Martin Jr./Eric Carle
From Head to Toe and Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, said the Sloth by Eric Carle
ALL the bear books by Karma Wilson (Bear Snores On, Bear Says Thanks, Bear's New Friend, Bear's New Tooth, etc.)
The Nearsighted Giraffe by A.H. Benjamin
Can I Come Too? by Brian Patten
The Gobble Gobble Moooooo Tractor Book by Jez Alborough
Duck in the Truck by Jez Alborough
Stellaluna and Crickwing, by Janell Cannon
ROAR, A noisy counting book by Pamela Duncan Edwards
Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae
Rabbit Pie by Penny Ives
Little Lion and the Footprints by Mark Marshall
Animal Antics A to Z by Anita Lobel
Say Please Little Bear by Peter Bently
Wild About You by Judy Sierra
Brown Bear's Wonderful Secret by Caroline Castle
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