A strike at the zoo? Not during our zoo trip!

This week a few of my classrooms visited the zoo. So, what better time to pull out one of my FAVORITE zoo books (from one of my VERY favorite authors) - Animal Strike at the Zoo. It's True! By: Karma Wilson.

My students loved talking about the zoo animals and all of their wacky demands (Do zebras really drink root beer floats?) Click on the link below to check out the book companion I created to go along with this book in my TpT Store.

Animal Strike at the Zoo. It's True! (Speech and Language Book Companion)

Pages 2 – 5 target story sequencing. The larger pictures (pages 2-3) can be used for a classroom story board, or for individual students. The smaller pictures (pages 4-5) are included on a worksheet. The students can cut them out, sequence the story at the top, re-tell it, and take it home. Parents love to hear and see the story that you read with their kids during school! 

Pages 6 – 7 target story comprehension (and identifying the types of questions being asked - what, where, who, how). The first set (page 6) asks a variety of questions without picture supports for responses. So students must think of the responses on their own (or look back in the book). The second set (page 7) was made with picture supports. Each question has a choice of three responses (1 correct; 2 foil).

Pages 8 – 11 target picture identification and matching. Name (or receptively find) the animal on the first page (page 8) then cut out the pictures on the second page (page 9) and glue to the match on the previous page.  On page 10, the animals are listed by name, find the matching picture (page 11) cut out and glue to the correct name on the first page (page 10).

Page 12 – 13 are game boards. The first one targets picture identification and negation (zoo animal or NOT a zoo animal?). The second one is blank…use it for your own language and/or articulation targets!

Pages 14 – 17 target prepositions. These pages are differentiated, so you can target the same skill at different ability levels. Each page asks, “Where is monkey?” – on page 14, there are two pictures (a tree and a monkey) cut out each picture and give your students auditory directions to follow (e.g., move the squirrel around the tree, put the squirrel under the tree, etc..); on page 15, the student is given a choice of two picture responses (1 correct; 1 foil); on page 16 the student is given the choice of 3 prepositions to circle to complete a sentence; on page 17 the student is asked to fill in the correct preposition (by writing their response on the blank).

Page 18 - 24 target sorting by qualitative concepts (big, bigger, biggest, etc...). The first two pages (pages 18-19) are the sorting boards. These can either be printed out for students to take home, or printed on card stock and laminated for continued use. Qualitative concept words can either be written on the blank rectangles below the sorting boxes, or you can cut out and use the concept words on page 20. Page 21-24 are the animal pictures used for sorting (elephant, lion, hippo, tiger, zebra, giraffe, monkey and otter).

Pages 25 - 26 target expressive language and written language for older students. Both pages ask the student to draw a picture and/or write a short story, given a structured sentence starter. On the first page, the following writing prompt is provided - “If I joined the animal strike at the zoo, I would ask for…” On the second page, the following writing prompt is provided – “One animal that lives at the zoo is a (n)…”

This is one of my favorite lessons to pull out right before a trip to the zoo! My students love it!

Enjoy!