Page 2 - Kind News, Jr. Sept/Oct 2022, Teacher Guide

COMMON CORE, NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS (NGSS), AND CASEL-ALIGNED ACTIVITIES

Kindergarten: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.5 Add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions as desired
to provide additional detail. CASEL Core Competencies: Self-Awareness, Self-Management

To go with “Careers with Animals: Board Game Designer”: After reading the article together, talk to students about what
Alex Lu’s dream was. What does it mean to invent something? Do they think it would be hard to create a board game? Why
or why not? Ask them if they have ever thought about what they want to do when they become an adult. As a class,
brainstorm some ideas for careers. Ask students to pick one job they would like to do and draw and label a picture of
themselves doing it. To extend the activity, ask students to show and describe their pictures in small groups or to the class.
For inspiration, check out these career feature issues, free to view at KindNews.org/archive!
• May/June 2022: Ethologist • September/October 2021: Dog Photographer
• March/April 2022: Animal Control Officer • May/June 2021: Entomologist

First grade: NGSS 1-LS1-2. Read texts and use media to determine patterns
in behavior of parents and offspring that help offspring survive.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations
with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and
adults in small and larger groups. CASEL Core Competency: Social Awareness
To go with Amazing World, “Why Do Birds Sing?”: After reading the article, ask students
why they think baby birds listen so intently to their parents’ songs. What basic needs do
the baby birds have? How do students think learning to sing helps the baby birds survive?
Then ask them to think about other wild animals they know who raise their young. Make a list
as a class. What do those young animals do to get their parents’ attention? Make another list
with things parents do to help the babies grow and thrive (see examples below). Then ask
students to choose one animal and draw a picture of its needs being met.
To extend the activity, students can play a game to match baby animals to their needs:
Create an even number of index cards with “animal need” and “how the need is met” with visuals, enough for one card per
student. Give each student a card and have them find their “partner,” the person who has either the matching need for their
animal or how that need is met.
Examples of how animal babies get their parents to meet their needs:
• Baby elephants “trumpet” to get their parents’ attention. • Puppies whine and nudge their mothers to get milk.
• Wolf pups lick the mouths of adults to get them to throw • Cheetah cubs nuzzle their mothers’ necks to “ask”
up food for them! them to play.

Second grade: NGSS 2-LS4-1. Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life
in different habitats. CASEL Core Competency: Social Awareness

To go with Amazing World, “Why Do Birds Sing?”: After reading the article, ask students, “What do you remember about
why birds sing? Were you surprised to learn birds sometimes sing to communicate with each other? Why or why not?” If
possible, turn off the lights and ask students to find a quiet place in the classroom. Play video or recordings of animals
making noises in their natural habitats and ask students to close their eyes and listen closely for 5-10 minutes. Afterwards,
pose these questions for discussion: What habitat were the animals in? What animals did they hear, and what noises did they
make? Why do they think the animals make these noises? Alternatively or as an extension, students could do the activity
outdoors at school or home.
Video ideas (search YouTube):
• Whalesong: Search “Oceania project whalesong”
• Wolf howls: Search “Wolf's Sweet Voice Inspires 50 Wolves to Howl”
Check out these apps to help identify bird songs by the Cornell Lab
of Ornithology on Apple or Android:
Merlin Bird ID • BirdNET Sound ID

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