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Sunday, February 2, 2020

Polar animals: beyond penguins and polar bears

Sure, we all love penguins and polar bears - they're adorable, exotic, kids love them, and they make it so easy to include science learning along with reading, writing and math.  So why doesn't every child learn about moose... mooses?... could that be the hold up right there?  What about lemmings and fur seals and narwhals, oh my?


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I talked about Pebble books from Capstone Press a couple of weeks ago, and have to mention them again.  Life in a Polar Region is beautiful, with full size up close photos of many polar animals, and simple but meaningful text. If you're teaching about non-fiction books you'll appreciate that it includes a table of contents, index, glossary and even on-line resource recommendations, but even if you skip over those text features, you and your children will get a lot out of this book!

Where's Walrus and Penguin is a fun book for younger children who'll love looking closely at the illustrations (there aren't any words) to discover how walrus and penguin blend in.  I see a lot of opportunity to talk about the pictures, and a fun read together session!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0545402956/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=paulabeckerma-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0545402956&linkId=49b9a16e51193aadd13f2032eac63464

To add a walrus and a few other fun polar animals to your math learning - because really, why wouldn't you - check out these Polar Animal Tangrams.
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/2D-Shapes-Center-Polar-Animal-Tangram-puzzles-3595614


Every child ever has probably dealt with a sibling or friend copying them to be annoying, so Don't Copy Me!, with a puffin as lead character, will have wide appeal.  I wish this one had been around when my children were going through this stage - I would have enjoyed it even more than them!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1910126187/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=paulabeckerma-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1910126187&linkId=53eec35246ab352e4a065d3ed2f2e0db 


 Then there's the moose books!  I don't know about you, but I had no idea how HUGE moose can be until I did some research for a moose themed story time!  They can be almost 7 feet tall at the shoulder, with antlers extending even further.  It's little wonder that Ernest the Moose Who Doesn't Fit  doesn't fit into this book!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1529021170/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=paulabeckerma-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1529021170&linkId=ce8d708d346868463a1489dbd7e937e1

So surely it must be easy to find a moose?  Not in Looking for a Moose ! There's evidence of moose on every page - if you know what to look for, but on a first read children seldom notice them.  This book invites a second reading, and maybe a third one too... so you know that makes my teacher heart happy!

While we're looking at moose books, we have to include Margie Palatini's Moosekito and Mooseltoe.  This slightly goofy moose.... okay, this very silly moose... runs into all kinds of problems, but with ingenuity and moose know-how he gets through it all.  I love Palatini's humorous style, and if your children can sit through a slightly longer story, they will too.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439330408/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=paulabeckerma-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0439330408&linkId=bf65fc70e1d6731ec07a4878fded3417

I read Mooseltoe to a group in December, and we all had a lot of fun making our own moose antlers covered in Christmas bits and bobs.  I raided my old Christmas decorations and wrapping supplies, added a few red, white and green craft supplies, and we went to town!  F. U. N!



Read the Book, Lemmings! is adorable!  First, it has lemmings.  Second, they jump off everything.  Even though lemmings don't really.  Which you'll learn, if you just read the book!  Trust me on this one, your students are going to laugh, say "Oh no!", and ask you to read it again.  What more could we ask of a book?!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031634348X/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=paulabeckerma-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=031634348X&linkId=faa42c5ca9a9ef8292c1185fef3de4e1

Want more lemmings?  I created this Arctic Animal Measurement math center to practice non-standard units of measure during our polar animal unit - and what could be more non-standard to measure with than lemmings?!  It's available for download in my TeachersPayTeachers store, along with many other polar learning activities!


Mama, Do You Love Me? is an oldie, but a goodie.  Children will learn a little bit about many different Arctic animals in this book, along with native culture and Inuit words.  It's a beautiful book for mommies and little ones to snuggle up and read together, and the message is universal. 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0811821315/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=paulabeckerma-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0811821315&linkId=090a72d9cff7dbea015e611a9309a2d1

Finally, I'm including Narwhal Unicorn of the Sea - even though it's a graphic novel better suited for early elementary rather than preschool / kindergarten - because it's so awesome to have books about narwhals! Children love the dynamic duo of Narwhal and Jellyfish, the graphic novel encourages children who might not otherwise read, and each book includes "sea worthy" facts.  Check one out at your library!


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