Activities
for
On
the Banks of the Amazon
by Nancy Kelly Allen
Read
aloud the story. Ask the following
open-ended questions:
1.
What did you learn from the story?
2.
Who do you believe should read this story?
Why?
3.
Which animal or plant
interested you the most? Why?
4.
What are your
responsibilities in caring for animals and plants?
Explain your answer.
5.
If
you could be any animal, what animal would you chose to be?
Why would you want to be that animal?
How would you act? What would you do?
Describe a day in the life of that animal.
6.
What are animal habitats? Why
is it important to protect animal habitats?
7.
Do people have different ideas as to how rainforest land should be
used or protected? Explain.
Assign selected words from the story that are grade-level appropriate. Assign two words to each child. Ask child to create flash cards that explain and illustrate what each word means. Use flash cards to create a “rainforest” word wall.
Assign
child partners to complete the chart below.
Refer to the book and other resources.
(List 8 animals)
Identify
as
Identify an activity
Describe or draw a
Rainforest
animal of that animal
picture of animal
_____________________________________________________________
Pink dolphin Swims slowly (Picture or description)
Inform children that they have an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned about rainforests through a performance or activity.
1. Talk show host-Interview the animals or the two hunters
2. Act out the activities of a particular animal and let other children guess the animal being portrayed.
3. Create a rainforest postcard. Design one side of the postcard with an illustration/picture of the place. Write a message about the rainforest on the opposite side. Place all the postcards in a box so children can look at the cards as time permits.
4. Create a greeting card in the shape of a caiman. Write a message on the card. (Directions and materials list are attached
5. Make animal masks of animals in story. Children wear mask and act out the behavior of the animal. Photograph children wearing masks and display pictures on wall.
6. Make a rainstick. Children use the rainsticks to create the sound of rain in a rainforest. Rainstick Materials:
 | A
paper towel tube or wrapping paper tube |
| Aluminum
foil |
| Small
dried beans, unpopped popcorn, or dry rice. |
| Crayons
or markers |
| Construction
paper |
| Glue |
| Scissors |
Decorate the tube using
crayons or markers. Cut two
aluminum foil sheets that are twice as long at the tube. Crush one sheet of foil into a long rope and twist the rope
around your finger to make a coil. Keep
twisting until the entire foil rope is a coil.
Repeat with the second sheet. Place
the two coils into the tube. Spread
the foil so that it reaches from end-to-end in the tube.
Cut a circle larger than the end of the tube to use as a cover for one
end of the rainstick. Glue the circle over the end of the tube so the material will
not come out when the rainstick is shaken.
Pour one cup of dried beans, unpopped corn or dried rice into the open
end of the tube. More or less beans
may be used, depending on the sound you want.
Cover the open end of the tube with a circle of construction paper and
glue into place. Shake!
Shake! Shake!
7. Each child will cut out a shape of a rainforest animal or plant. Child will write a poem or riddle on the shape, color it and attach to a green string to make a rainforest vine. Hang vines in classroom to create a rainforest. (Directions and materials list are attached)
8.
Make
an A to Z class book, On the Banks of the
________________. (Use name of creek or river near school, rather than
Amazon. Also, use plants and
animals associated with the selected creek or river).
Each child will write and illustrate one page of the book, each child
using a different letter of the alphabet. Bind
the book together to keep in the classroom.
9.
Children will make animal
books, with each book consisting of three sheets of white construction paper,
folded in half and stapled into book form.
Each child will select a rainforest animal from one of the following
categories: Animals with Shells,
Animals with Feathers, Animals with Fur, Animals with Scales.
On the front cover, the child will write a title for the book and the
child’s name as the author of the book, along with a picture of the animal in
the rainforest. Each page inside
the book will contain other animals of the same category, such as Animals with
Shells. Different types of animals
with shells will be drawn, one per page, in their habitats.
Either below or above the illustration, the child will write information
about the animal. In upper grades,
children will incorporate more information than those of lower grades.
Kindergarten and first grade children may draw the animals and the
teacher/aide write a statement about the animal as dictated by the child or just
write the name of the animal.
10. Each child will draw on a sheet of white paper one rainforest animal in its habitat. Select an animal from the following categories: Animals That Hop, Animals That Run, Animals That Walk, Animals That Swim and Animals That Fly. Children will draw the animals in action and write a description of the animal and its movements on the same page. Older children may use reference books to research their selected animals. Bind the pages into a book and place on display in the classroom/meeting room for children to read when time permits.
11. Each child will select an animal whose physical attributes would make the child's life easier. Children will draw a picture of them exercising their new ability and write a sentence. Example: If I could fly like a parrot, I wouldn’t need to ride the bus to school. Older children will write a paragraph or a short story comparing physical attributes and abilities of animals to people. This is a good exercise for adding details and expanding a thought.
12.
Children will write sentence pyramids to form poems.
Use animals that live in a rainforest.
I saw
a parrot.
I saw
a squawking parrot.
I saw
a squawking parrot flying.
I saw
a squawking parrot flying to a tree.
I saw
a squawking parrot flying to a kapok tree.
I saw a squawking parrot flying to a kapok
tree in the rainforest.
13. Assigned a letter of the alphabet to each child. Assign all letters. The letter “x” may have to be omitted. Children will research rainforest animals whose names begin with their assigned letters of the alphabet. The child who receives the letter “P” may choose to research parrots or piranhas. Children will record interesting facts on the bottom of a sheet of paper and will illustrate the animal in the upper section. The papers will be arranged in alphabetical order and bound into a classroom book.
Each child will receive a sheet of construction paper cut into an oval shape. Beginning on the outer edge, children will cut a one-inch “snake” by cutting in a circular pattern to the center of the sheet. Children will write interesting facts on the “snake” and hang it by its “head” on the wall so the body of the snake will curve downward.