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Curriculum Connections

One-A-Day

Throughout your grasslands, Africa or animal unit, begin the day with a Safari! poem that is related to one of the day's main themes. Read and listen to the selected poem as a class. To ensure that all students are involved in the deciphering process, instruct students that they should not guess out loud, but rather should write down their guess when they think they've got the animal figured out. If you want to extend the activity a bit, have students also write down key clues that steered them to their conclusion. Once all of your students have written down their guesses, click forward to the photo. Once the 'Mystery Animal' has been revealed, make a smooth transition into the day's theme, for example: 'Hippos are herbivores because they only eat plants. Today we are going to talk about herbivorous animals....' or 'Lions present a constant problem for the Masai herdsmen of Kenya. Today we are going to study the Masai....'

If your classroom computer setup is such that you control the clicking when exploring the Internet, you may want to try a fun suspense-adding variation to this activity: wait until the end of the lesson to look at the photo and reveal the identity of the animal. If you choose to do this, after revealing the animal, ask students to explain how that animal applies to the theme of the lesson you just completed.

Tip: Plan ahead! Once you've got your unit plans made, go through Safari! before the unit begins so you can choose animals that match the daily themes best. Also, check the 'Tell Me About It' pages (which link from the photo pages) for possible connections to your daily themes.

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