What in the Wild? by David M. Schwartz

Can You Find Me?

National Science Teachers Association Inspiration Books:

What in the wild? : mysteries of nature concealed-- and revealed : ear-tickling poems by Schwartz, David M; illustrated by Kuhn, Dwight— Tricycle Press, 2010--508; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.7 Full-color photographs and text on gatefold pages introduce ten mysteries of the natural world and encourages the reader to decipher the given clues and determine which creature is responsible and why.

Stripes of all types by Stockdale, Susan— Peachtree, 2013. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.8. An introduction to the many ways that animals wear stripes, and includes an afterword with a brief description of each animal and a matching game.

Hide-and-seek science : animal camouflage by Stevenson, Emma— Holiday House, 2013. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.7.  Shows how animals use camouflage in seven different ecosystems by asking the reader to find all the animals in each picture.

Where in the wild? : camouflaged creatures concealed-- and revealed : ear-tickling poems by Schwartz, David M — Tricycle Press, 2007. Dewey: 590; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.9.  Poems with clues prompt readers to guess the identities of ten camouflaged animals, revealed in gatefolds, and fact pages present information on each species, discussing their camouflage and life cycles. OP

Where else in the wild? : more camouflaged creatures concealed--and revealed : ear-tickling poems by Schwartz, David M; illustrated by Kuhn, Dwight— Tricycle Press, 2009. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 5.5.  Photographs, rhyming text, and gatefold pages illustrate how animals use camouflage to blend in with their natural environments and hide from predators. OP

Rationale: My husband, the science teacher, often helps me with a blog post by suggesting activities that fit a particular book that I want to share. That is the case with this post. Years ago when he was the elementary and middle school science supervisor for a district, the sixth graders went to an area nature camp for three days. The students learned about trees, wild flowers, geology, geography, and applications including camouflage. He developed an activity for camouflage that he called “Toother Picker Bugs.” Using food color, he dyed tooth picks a variety of colors (red, yellow, orange, green, brown) and as part of the presentation outdoors, he tossed the toother picker bugs onto the lawn/meadow area. Students had a set time to collect the “bugs” and count them. The same number of tooth picks had been dyed for each color, but the students found very different numbers for each color. The question of the day, Why?

Procedural How To Ideas: I use David Schwartz’s Inspiration Books to reinforce the concept of camouflage when that is the lesson being taught in the classroom. You do not need to use or even have all of the Schwartz books--Where Else in the Wild and Where in the Wild are actually out of print. Here’s what I do:

1. Prepare butterfly or bug shapes from newspapers and colored papers (enough for each student). Then spread a layer of paper in the middle of the story corner and have students sit around the paper. After the students gather, I toss some colored bugs on the newspaper and ask students to find them. Then I mix some newspaper bugs with the colored paper bugs, toss them out, and ask each student to find a bug. Which bugs were easier to find? Why? (And hopefully, students will say the colored bugs.)
2. Read the poetry in whichever Schwartz book you have, and have students try to find the camouflaged item. Go through the book again and read or summarize the facts about each camouflage.
3. Option 1: Have students glue one of the bugs on plain paper and using crayons, try to make a habitat in which the bug is camouflaged.
4. Option 2: Read one of Susan Stockdale’s books: Spectacular Spots or Stripes of All Types. How does the very simple book illustrate the concept of camouflage?
5. Option 3: If you have some of the other books from the “Related Titles” list, provide browsing time for small groups.

Related Titles:

Spectacular spots by Stockdale, Susan— Peachtree, 2015. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 1.5, Brings to life a patterned parade of animals, showing young readers some of the many reasons spots are found so often in nature.

How animals hide (Amicus Readers Level 1: Our Animal World) by Kenney, Karen Latchana — Amicus, 2011. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.0. Photographs and simple text provide examples of how animals use camouflage to hide.

Ocean hide and seek by Kramer, Jennifer E — Sylvan Dell Pub., 2009. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.3. Illustrations and simple rhyming text introduce readers to marine animals and their camouflage abilities. Includes instructions for related activities.

Who am I? : an animal guessing game by Jenkins, Steve— Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. Dewey: 590; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.7. Readers are given clues about an animal's characteristics and must use them to guess the identity of the creature.

Now you see them, now you don't : poems about creatures that hide by Harrison, David L; illustrated by Laroche, Giles— Charlesbridge, 2016. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.4. A collection of poems that discusses how different animals use camouflage to hide in nature.

Toco toucans : bright enough to disappear (Disappearing Acts...) by Suen, Anastasia) — Bearport Pub., 2010. Dewey: 598.7; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.0.  Examines how their coloration helps them to blend in with their surroundings, with photographs and information on other rainforest birds that benefit from camouflage.

Camouflaged creatures (Crazy Nature) by Racanelli, Marie— PowerKids Press, 2010. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.4.  Explains how different creatures, including insects, reptiles, and birds, camouflage themselves to avoid detection, catch prey, and stay safe in the wild.

Animal mimics (Crazy Nature) by Racanelli, Marie  — PowerKids Press, 2010. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.8. Explores how animals, insects, birds, and fish use mimicry to adapt to their environment, protect themselves from predators, and catch prey.

Lots of spots by Ehlert, Lois— Beach Lane Books, 2010. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.6. A collection of poems about a variety of birds and beasts, their camouflage and adornment, with an author's note on animal spots and stripes.

The animal book : a collection of the fastest, fiercest, toughest, cleverest, shyest--and most surprising--animals on earth by Jenkins, Steve — Houghton Mifflin Books For Children/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. Dewey: 590; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 6.0. Contains illustrations of and facts about three-hundred animals. Also available in Follett ebook.

Search and spot : animals! by Ljungkvist, Laura.  Follett eBook  — Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015. Dewey: 793.73; Int Lvl: K-3. Invites the reader to look for various animals hidden or camouflaged in the illustrations.

Now you see me, now you don't by Borando, Silvia— Candlewick Press, 2016. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3. Invites young readers to discover the concepts of visibility and camouflage on spreads depicting a menagerie of colorful animals who seem to "disappear" as the background color changes on sequential pages.

Teacher Resources:

Stripes of all Types-FREE Teaching Resources available for download from Follett.

A Teacher Guide is available from Peachtree Publishers at http://peachtree-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Stripes2016.pdf

Where in the Wild--The Where in the Wild Teacher’s Guide contains other useful suggestions for using the book in the classroom .http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/teachers_guides/9781582462073.pdf

Six Traits Teacher Guide is available at https://sixtraitgurus.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/can-you-find-the-red-spotted-newt-how-about-the-ladybug/

Where Else in the Wild--Teacher Guide available at http://p5cdn5static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_32715/File/Departments/Library%20Services/Armadillo/ArchiveLessons/where%20in%20wild_11-12.pdf

Stripes of All Types by Susan Stockdale. 2014.

Stripes in Multiple Subjects

Inspiration Book:

Stripes of all types by Stockdale, Susan — Peachtree, 2014. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.0. An introduction to the many ways that animals wear stripes, and includes an afterword with a brief description of each animal and a matching game. FREE Teaching Resources available for download from Follett.

Rationale: Early in the school year my kindergarten teacher and first grade teacher do short simple units about patterns of various kinds: color, word, number, shapes, sizes, etc. When they do, I ask them to invite me into the classroom to share Stripes of All Types and a few activities based on the Inspiration Book. There are times when, as an assertive librarian, I weasel my way into the classroom. Both teachers and kids like the change of pace and like the connection that is made that books and book activities don’t need to wait for a scheduled library time. The “lesson” presented here is a sample of what I have done with this book following the aforementioned philosophy. Even though I may use the book in kindergarten and in first grade, what we do is very different. You will also note that I have included ideas for extending the use of this particular title into second and third grade also, but for the upper grades I plan a specific library research activity if the class is studying animal families.

Animals in the book represented and also represented in other books appropriate for Grades K-3 are: purple-striped jellyfish, ring-tailed lemur, phantasmal poison frog, zebra swallowtail butterfly, sixline wrasse, okapi, turkey, mackerel tabby cat.

The Teaching Resources available via Follett are excellent. I use many of their ideas and organize them by grade level and theme below rather than by subject recommendation as found in the Teaching Resources developed by the publisher. I selected activities that fit into a library language arts curriculum: book features, research, interpreting literature, vocabulary thus crossing curricula into art, science, social studies, and physical education.

Kindergarten:

•Show the endpapers. Discuss what pattern the students see and ask what the picture might be showing.

• Show the first page with the title and single image. Talk about what animal has black and white stripes.  Have the students name other animals they know that have stripes in black and white or other colors.

•Look at the patterns on the last two pages of the book. Discuss what a pattern is and use one of those in the book to show the students how to identify it. Then examine the patterns in the back of the book, one at a time, and leaf through the book. Have the students raise their hands as you locate the animal to which it belongs.

•Ask children to describe and then imitate the movement of each animal from the book. Have them show and tell what the animal is going to do next. Set up a starting and finish line. Name an animal and have children discuss and practice how to walk like one. Then have the children line up and race in the style of that animal’s motion. Repeat the race with other animals.

1. Crab Race: Racers are on all fours (hands and feet), and must move sideways.

2. Chimp Race: Racers hold their ankles with their hands or drag their knuckles on the ground.

3. Frog Race: Racers squat in frog position and hop.

• Let the children think of other animals to imitate in

First Grade:

•Show pages on the last spread of the book and identify the animals depicted in the thumbnail images after reading the book.

•Look at the patterns on the last two pages of the book. Discuss what a pattern is and use one of those in the book to show the students how to identify it. Then examine the patterns in the back of the book, one at a time, and leaf through the book. Have the students raise their hands as you locate the animal to which it belongs.

* Talk about the habitat or environment for each animal.

• Even the most effective camouflage can fail if a hidden animal suddenly moves and catches the enemy’s eye. Demonstrate this by showing how movement can attract predators’ attention. Ask two or three student volunteers to be “hawks.” The rest of the class will be prey. Have the class move about the room while pretending to be small animals, such as songbirds and squirrels. When you call out “hawk!” the prey must freeze. The hawks will then visually search for movement; any child that moves even slightly must take his or her seat. Afterwards, discuss with the class what would really happen in the wild, and why camouflage alone does not provide the animals with enough protection.

• Animals hide from predators by using cover, such as bushes, trees, and rocks. Have younger childrenmake their own cover by draping a blanket over a table and hiding under it. Ask them to be still for a period of time, like animals are.

•Together, count the number of stripes on some of the animals in the book, such as the jellyfish, the

snail, and the skunk. Record the information. Make a class graph and pictograph or have the students create the graphs in groups or individually to compare the number of stripes.

•Post a class list naming all the animals in the book. Classify each of the animals into groups: Backbone (Vertebrates) such as the zebra and snake and No Backbone (Invertebrates) such as the jellyfish and bee. Categorize the group further: Amphibians, Reptiles, Fish, Birds, Mammals, Arthropods (insects). (Animal classifications are provided in the back matter.)

•Read a nonfiction book about one of the animals from this book. Write a comparison of the two books and the approach the author took.

Grades 2 or 3:

Text Features or Book Parts:

• Review the meaning of fiction and nonfiction. Ask the students if they think this book is fiction or nonfiction and why. Tell them it is nonfiction.

•Locate  books about some of the animals (see second bibliography below. Read the books to the class and identify facts and text features that provide more information about the animal. [You may see a bibliography, a close-up, a text box, a heading, the main text, glossary, table of contents, or charts, graphs, or maps, among other things.] Use the information they have learned from the nonfiction book or prior research to create a text feature to accompany one of the pages from the book. You might want to choose one spread and have everyone create a text feature.

•Perform the book as a reader’s theater. The third graders, working in groups, can develop a script; for second graders the teacher, librarian or volunteer may need to develop a script. Students may present to the first graders of kindergarteners.

Research:

*Use the back matter pages to identify each animal. Ask each student to choose an animal and write words that describe it. Next, ask them to write about the animal’s habitat. Then ask them to combine their ideas and write a short paragraph about their animal. Have them share their writing with a partner and make any needed changes.

•Group the students and assign each group an animal to observe and discuss. Use the book, other

nonfiction books.

•Ask older students to research an animal from the book using several sources. Have them share

information with others researching the same animal. Individually, ask them to write a report on the animal using grade level writing conventions. Include appearance, habitat, behavior, diet, and lifecycle.

•List all the habitat words found in the book. Assign a word to each student to write, define, and illustrate. Have each student present his or her word and explain how the illustration helps to understand the word.

• In groups, look up the height or length of one of the animals in standard units. Record the data on a chart. Then order the sizes of the different animals researched. 

• As a class, select five animals and find the location of their native habitat on a world map. Use the map to write the name of the animals and the country of origin.

Related Titles:

Now you see me, now you don't by Borando, Silvia — Candlewick Press, 2016. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3. Invites young readers to discover the concepts of visibility and camouflage on spreads depicting a menagerie of colorful animals who seem to "disappear" as the background color changes on sequential pages.

Spectacular spots by Stockdale, Susan  — Peachtree, 2015. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 1.5. Brings to life a patterned parade of animals, showing young readers some of the many reasons spots are found so often in nature. FREE Teaching Resources available for download from Follett.

How animals hide (Amicus Readers Level 1: Our Animal World) by Kenney, Karen Latchana — Amicus, 2011. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.0.  Photographs and simple text provide examples of how animals use camouflage to hide.

Ocean hide and seek (Arbordale Collection) by Kramer, Jennifer E — Sylvan Dell Pub., 2009. Dewey: -E-; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.3. Illustrations and simple rhyming text introduce readers to marine animals and their camouflage abilities. Includes instructions for related activities.

Now you see them, now you don't : poems about creatures that hide by Harrison, David L — Charlesbridge, 2016. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.4. A collection of poems that discusses how different animals use camouflage to hide in nature.

Hide-and-seek science : animal camouflage by Stevenson, Emma — Holiday House, 2013. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.7. Shows how animals use camouflage in seven different ecosystems by asking the reader to find all the animals in each picture. NSTA 2014.

Toco toucans : bright enough to disappear (Disappearing Acts...)by Suen, Anastasia — Bearport Pub., 2010. Dewey: 598.7; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.0. Discusses the behavior, habitat, and physical characteristics of toucans, and examines how their coloration helps them to blend in with their surroundings, with photographs and information on other rain forest birds that benefit from camouflage.

Camouflaged creatures (Crazy Nature) by Racanelli, Marie — PowerKids Press, 2010. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.4.  Explains how different creatures, including insects, reptiles, and birds, camouflage themselves to avoid detection, catch prey, and stay safe in the wild.

Lots of spots by Ehlert, Lois — Beach Lane Books, 2010. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.6. A collection of poems about a variety of birds and beasts, their camouflage and adornment, with an author's note on animal spots and stripes. EZL

Animal mimics (Crazy Nature) by Racanelli, Marie — PowerKids Press, 2010. Dewey: 591.47; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.8. Explores how animals, insects, birds, and fish use mimicry to adapt to their environment, protect themselves from predators, and catch prey.

Books about Other Animals in Inspiration Book:

Gooey jellyfish (No Backbone! Marine Invertebrates) by Lunis, Natalie — Bearport Pub., 2008. Dewey: 593.5; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.4. Examines various types of jellyfish, where they live, and how they catch food and protect themselves from their enemies.

My tail is long and striped (Little Bits! First Readers: Zoo Clues #1)by Markovics, Joyce L — Bearport Publishing, 2014. Dewey: 599.8; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 1.1. Simple text and photographs, shown by increasing puzzle pieces, introduce the ring-tailed lemur.

A frog's life by Kelly, Irene — Holiday House, 2018. Dewey: 597.8; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.8. Text and watercolor illustrations explore many unique species of frogs and describe the characteristics of frogs.

Caterpillar, caterpillar (Read And Wonder) by French, Vivian; illustrated by Voake, Charlotte — Candlewick Press, 2009. Dewey: 595.78; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 3.3. The text does an excellent job of describing the metamorphosis of a swallowtail butterfly, and the closeup, vibrant drawings of each developmental stage are outstanding.

Life-size aquarium : dolphin, orca, clownfish, sea otter, and more--an all-new actual-size animal encyclopedia by Kempe, Barbara Hauley; illustrated by Matsuhashi, Toshimitsu— Seven Footer Kids, 2010. Dewey: 639.8; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.6.  Introduces young readers to nineteen different marine animals including a leafy sea dragon, a luna lionfish, a humphead wrasse, two different varieties of penguins, a sea turtle, a jellyfish, and more.

More life-size zoo : lion, hippopotamus, polar bear and more-- an all new actual-sized animal encyclopedia illustrated by Matsuhashi, Toshimitsur — Seven Footer Kids, 2010. Dewey: 590; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 4.1. More Life-Size Zoo gets readers within arm's length to an orangutan, a baby gibbon, a kangaroo, a wombat, a bison, an okapi, a hippotamus, a bat, a seal, a polar bear, a raccoon, a raccoon dog, a cheetah, a leopard, a wolf, a hyena, a giant tortoise, an alligator, and two lions -- an adorable cub and an adult male that springs out of the book in a magnificent poster-sized gatefold.

Turkeys on the family farm (Animals On The Family Farm) by Stiefel, Chana — Enslow Elementary, 2013. Dewey: 636.5; Int Lvl: K-3; Rd Lvl: 2.8. An introduction to an animal's life on a farm for early readers. Find out what a turkey eats, where it lives, and what they are like on a farm.

A carnival of cats by Ghigna, Charles; illustrated by Bridgeman, Kristi— Orca Book Publishers, 2015. Dewey: 636.8; Int Lvl: K-3. Simple text and colorful illustrations introduce a variety of cats from calico and tabby to Persian and Bobtail.