This lesson is for ESL students in grade 1-8 and follows the TESOL's ESL Standards for Pre-K-12 Students.

Lesson topic

Categorizing and classifying animals

Proficiency/Grade level

Advanced Beginner (Grades 4-8) and Intermediate ESL students in Grades 2-3

Content Concepts & Skills

Categorizing and classifiying animal; learning to prepare an animal report.

Vocabulary needed

Students can learn the vocabulary in context as the material is covered. They will need to know the following: fur, scales, fins, beaks, wings feathers, horns,flippers, antennae, claws, exoskeleton, head, thorax, abdomen, web, backbone, lungs, breathe, gills, hatch, alive, warm-blooded, cold-blooded, skeleton, feelers, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, desert, polar region, ocean, forest, grasslands, jungle.

Materials or Resources

Pictures of a large number of animals from different classes; pictures of animal body parts and skin coverings; Concept Science: Animals or another very easy book on animal classification.

Instructional Sequence for grades 2- 8

1. Make a KWL chart with your students. Begin by asking them what they (K)now, and what they (W)ant to know about mammals. At the end of the unit you will ask what they have (L)earned and compare it to what they knew at the beginning.

2. Introduce animal skin coverings and body parts to all students. This vocabulary is more specialized and even intermediate students may not know words such as webbed, scales, antlers , claws and whiskers. Ask students to point to the animal that has fur, the animals with claws, etc. ELLs at this level should be able to describe the animals that you name. Give them a frame to play a guessing game with pictures. For a picture of a turtle they may ask, "What has a head, two eyes, and a shell?"

3. Give students a variety of experiences with animals by reading books to them on different animals. Students in grades 2-6 love the Barron's series on The Fascinating World of Ants, The Fascinating World of Snakes. You can also use a computer program to introduce this unit. The Junior Adventure Series is good for intermediate students in grades 4-8. See list of more animal resources for grades 2-8 below.

4. Introduce the classification of animals to students in grades 2-6 by using Concept Science Mammals Are Animals or a similar simple book on animal classification.

• Have students point to the mammals in the book and show what attributes mammals have. As you read each page, review the names of various mammals and their skin coverings.
• Explain "backbone" by having students touch their own backbone and "breathing with lungs" by having students take deep breathes and feeling their chests move.
• Explain concepts such as "warm-blooded/ cold-blooded "by showing students how a small rock gets warm if you put it under a lamp and cold if you put it in cold water." This concept is best taught in contrast.
• Ask students if a baby puppy eats dog food or drinks milk from its mother. Explain "live birth" to very young children by contrasting it with "hatched from an egg." Ask students, "Do dogs lay eggs? Are puppies hatched from an egg? No, they are born alive." (download: Classifying Animals, 21.9K .PDF).

5. Fill out the "Is It a Mammal?" chart with the students. If all of the responses are "Yes," then that animal is a mammal (download: Is it a Mammal?, 25.9K .PDF).

As you read each book, discuss what different animals eat. Use the terms omnivore, herbivore, carnivore as appropriate to the age and language level of your students.

6. Repeat this process with the books on birds, reptiles, amphibians, spiders, fish and insects. Fill out each chart with students at the end of the book. (downloads:Is it a reptile? Is it a bird? (25.8K .PDF), Is it a spider? (26.3K .PDF), Is it an insect? (26.2K .PDF), Is it a fish? (25.2K .PDF) Is it an amphibian? (24.7K .PDF) .

7. Advanced beginning students in grades 1-3 can practice animal names in a meaningful context; by grouping animals according to their classification. Teach the vocabulary of the following classifications using pictures of animals and their characteristics to demonstrate meaning: Mammal, insect, bird, fish, amphibian, and reptile. For example, under the heading "mammal," use three or four typical mammals and pictures of hair or fur. Mix up your sample animals to see if students can place them in the correct column. Have students sort their cards into the six groups. Have them copy the names of the animals in the correct columns. Provide a frame for students to write about the different animals: "A lion is a mammal. It has fur and live babies.."

8.

Use computer programs such as The Animals!, Amphibians & Reptiles, Birds, Insects, Eco-Adventure in the Rainforest and Kid's Zoo to provide variety.

9. Use Venn diagrams or other types of charts to have students compare different kinds classes of animals. (downloads: Whale or Shark? ( 13k .PDF), Spider or Insect? ( 26k .PDF).

Bulletin Board Ideas

• Have students in Grades 1-3 make a group mural of animals in their classifications. Divide a large piece of white paper into six sections and have students label 6 different classifications and draw the animal that belong in each.
• Make a class mural of animals in their habitats. By the end of our Rainforest unit, for example, first and second graders could name the layers of the rainforest, pick out which animals live on each layer (from a list of 20 to 30 animals), and tell what class the different animals are in.
• Using additional material from your school library, study the animals which seem to interest your students in more depth. Have students prepare a short report about an animal. Using their charts, students can choose an animal to report on. Have them draw a picture of their animal in its habitat with its food. Have students write sentence about where their animal lives, what it eats, how it moves, and what class it belongs to. how it breathes, Show them how to find the information and provide them with plenty of easy resource books. Display these reports on a bulletin board.

Books for grades 3-8

Animals
Frank Schaffer Publications, Inc., Palos Verdes, CA

Animal Kingdom
Instructional Fair Inc., Grand Rapids, MI

Berger, Melvin
Amazing Sharks
Newbridge Educational Publishing, New York: 1995

Berger, Melvin
Call of the Wolves
Newbridge Educational Publishing, New York: 1995

Berger, Melvin
Life in the Desert
Newbridge Educational Publishing, New York: 1996

Berger, Melvin
Life in the Polar Regions
Newbridge Educational Publishing, New York: 1994

DePauw, Debby
Tropical Rainforests
Evan-Moor Corp., Monterey, CA: 1993

Holloway, Judith & Harper, Clive
Animals: Concept Science
Modern Curriculum Press, Cleveland, Ohio: 1993

Julivert, Maria
The Fascinating World of Ants
Barron's Educational Series, Hauppauge, NY: 1991

Julivert, Maria
The Fascinating World of Snakes
Barron's Educational Series, Hauppauge, NY: 1993

Molengraff, Lisa
Oceans
Instructional Fair, Inc., Grand Rapids, MI

Moore, Jo Ellen
Sharks
Evan-Moor Corp., Monterey, CA: 1991

Moore, J., Evans, J., Tryon, L.
Wolves
Evan-Moor Corp. Monterey, CA: 1993

Computer software for grades 1-8

Amphibians & Reptiles
Jr. Nature Guides, Toronto, Canada: 1996

The San Diego Zoo Presents: The Animals
The Software Toolworks, 1992

Birds
Jr. Nature Guides, Toronto, Canada: 1996

Curious Creatures
Curriculum Associates, Inc., North Blilerica, MA:1998

Eco-Adventure In the Rainforest
Chariot Software Group, San Diego, CA: 1994

Insects
Jr. Nature Guides, Toronto, Canada: 1996

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