 Adirondack
Curriculum
Project - www.adkcurriculum.org 
NYS Content Area Standard
√ELA
Standard #1 - Speak & write for information and
understanding.
Present information in a variety of oral and written forms; use
details, examples to explain or clarify
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Title: Nightime
in the Adirondacks
Grade Level: 2nd
Author: Margaret O'Leary
Email: oltup@verizon.net
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Adirondack Curriculum Content Area
_√_ Natural History
___ Human History
___ Culture & the Arts
___ Government & Civics
___ Economy
___ Health, Recreation &
Life Skills |
Investigative Question or Issue: What kind of
nocturnal animals might you see on a night time walk in the
Adirondacks?
Challenge:
Context for this Challenge: In
preparation for this challenge, the teacher should lead the class in a
formal brainstorm of a list of nocturnal animals that
live in the
Adirondacks. The teacher may add animals if
necessary to come up with enough so each child will have an
animal. Sort these animals on a KWL chart.
The Challenge: With
the help of your teacher, choose an animal that is of interest to you.
Using the handouts provided from learning.com, research your animal and
find out about the following questions:
- What does your animal look like (color, size, special features)?
- What kind of habitat does your animal live in?
- What does it eat?
- Why is the Adirondacks a good place for your animal to live? How does
your animal "fit" in?
You may want to highlight the information you need in your resources.
Check with your teacher to make sure the information you have gathered
answers the questions and is accurate.
Once you have completed your research, do the following:
- Complete a graphic organizer
that shows how you connect all your information to the questions
above. Check with your teacher to make sure you've done this correctly.
- Use your graphic organizer to complete
a well written paragraph about your animal. This paragraph
should start with a topic sentence. The paragraph should contain at
least four sentences that show use of proper spelling, capital letters
and periods for each sentence, and handwriting that is neat and
legible. All the information in the paragraph must be accurate. Be sure
to have your teacher check a rough draft of your paragraph before
writing your final copy onto
special oaktag picture storywriting paper.
- Create a detailed and colorful
illustration of your animal to go with your paragraph.
- Prepare and give a short oral
reading of your report to the class and show your illustration
of them. Your teacher will help you prepare for this oral report.
Comment:
As a concluding activity Mrs. Ingeborg Sapp, a story teller and artist
who lives on Arab Lake in the summer and Plattsburgh in the winter will
come in and tell some stories about Adirondack animals that the
children have written reports on. She may do some drawing activities
with the children as well.
During the unit of study, students will be reading a variety of
fiction and nonfiction books on nocturnal animals. They will be
required to keep a book list and read at least 10 different books. The
teacher will have a wide range of reading material available.
Students will be partner reading, reading in small groups, and reading
independently.
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Quality Standards:
- Graphic organizer is filled with correct information addressing the
research questions
- Paragraph starts with a topic sentence
- Paragraph contains 4
complete, accurate sentences addressing the required information
- Handwriting is neat
and legible.
- Student uses capitals
and periods correctly in each sentence
- Illustration is detailed and colorful
- Student orally
presents report to the class. It is read in an audible voice and there
is fluency
Examples of Student Work: 1 2 3
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Adapted for the Adirondack
Curriculum Project from
the work of Education By Design TM and Leading EDGE, LLC
©ACP 2002
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