Objectives  Learn animal traits and behavior; learn medial sounds; generate sounds

Teaching Guide
using consonant blends in alliteration; read and reproduce rhyming words; compare and
contrast; use picture and context clues Trabalenguas zoológicos
Materials  index cards, pencils, construction paper, crayons or colored pencils, glue,
scissors, popsicle sticks

30 minutes, Days 1–3

Build Background
Activate Prior Knowledge  Tell children: Hoy vamos a aprender sobre los
animales. Open the book and show the animal pictures to the class. Cover up
the text below the pictures and ask children to name the animals they know.
Talk about what the animals are like, what they eat, and where they live. For
example: ¿Es la liebre veloz o lenta? ¿Se alimentan los koalas de plantas o de carne?
¿Dónde viven las cebras?

Introduce the Focus Skill: Medial Sounds  Explain to the class that
words usually have a different sound or syllable in the middle. Ex: chiquita,
playita, sillita have the middle sounds /ki/ and /yi/. Turn to p. 23. Point out
the words tarántula, atraganta, and garganta. Tell children that these words have
the /ran/ and /gan/ sounds in the middle. Then say the words aloud. Tell
children to listen for the middle syllable and clap when you say it. Turn to p.
25. Have children find words with the /sie/, /rie/, and /pie/ medial sounds
(murciélago, andariego, archipiélago).

Acquire New Vocabulary  Point out the bold-faced animal names in the book. Write them on the board. Distribute index
cards and pencils to the class. Tell children to pick an animal and write it on an index card. Then have them write three words or
phrases on the back that describe the animal. For example, for cabra: blanca, come hierba, tiene cuernos. If children have difficulty thinking
of words or phrases to describe their animal, tell them to copy describing words from the book and/or to use picture clues. Then have
partners play “Guess the Animal.” One child will read his/her description and the other partner will guess the animal.

Read and Respond  Display the book. Read the title and author name aloud as you track the print. Tell the class that they are
going to read aloud with you. After reading each page, challenge a volunteer to say the tongue-twister as quickly as possible. Turn to 
p. 12. Ask a volunteer to guess the animal on the page (jirafa). Then turn to p. 28. Have another volunteer guess the animal (león).
Discuss animal traits and behavior as a class.

60 minutes, Days 4–5

Æ Curricular Enrichment: Theater

THEATER
  Tell children that they are going to make animal puppets. Distribute
construction paper, crayons or colored pencils, glue, scissors, and popsicle sticks to the class. Tell them to draw a picture of
an animal, cut it out, and glue it to a popsicle stick. When children have finished, have them present their puppets to the
class, one by one. Guide each child to give the class the same three clues that they gave their partner during the Acquire
New Vocabulary activity. Encourage them to expand upon the clues by forming complete sentences and/or making animal
sounds. Ex: Este es un cerdo bebé. Él nada en el río. Él dice “oinc-oinc”. ¿Qué animal es? (chanchito) Discuss with the class which animals
in the book are found nearby.

Home Connection  (Teacher, you may want to photocopy NATIONAL STANDARDS

this activity for children to complete with a family member.)
Language Arts: K-12.1, K-12.3, K-12.4, K-12.5, K-12.6, K-12.7, K-12.8, K-12.11, K-12.12
Talk with your child about what he/she learned this week. Play Mathematics: Numbers PK-2.1—PK-2.3; Algebra PK-2.1, PK-2.4; Geometry PK-2.1—PK-2.4;
“Guess the Animal.” Encourage your child to use complete Connections PK-12.3
Science: K-4.1, K-4.2, K-4.3, K-4.4, K-4.5
sentences when giving you clues about an animal. When it is Social Studies/Geography PK-12.1, PK-12.2, PK-12.3
your turn to give clues, encourage your child to answer with a Theater: K-4.1, K-4.2, K-4.4, K-4.5
Visual Arts: K-4.1, K-4.2, K-4.3, K-4.5, K-4.6
complete sentence, not just the animal name. For example: Soy
un caballo bebé. Yo puedo trotar. Yo troto entre troncos. ¿Qué animal soy?
(Eres un potrillo.) Then have him/her repeat the answer and all  
of the animal clues in complete sentences: El potrillo es un caballo
bebé. Los potrillos pueden trotar. Los potrillos trotan entre troncos.

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