by Denise Fleming
readability grade one, read aloud kindergarten
Where once there was a wood, there were many different animals from red foxes to brown snakes. Now, where once there was a wood, there stands houses and shopping malls as far as the eye can see. This book, emphasizes to young children that wild lands and wildlife are disappearing even in our own back yards. At the end of the story, Denise Fleming provides children, teachers, and parents with useful factual information about backyard habitats and what everyone can do to help them survive. This is an easy to read book that can have a big impact on its readers.
Make Habitat Books:
If you are doing a unit on habitats, you can use this book to focus on the animals of a particular habitat.
Split your class up into the number of habitats you want to cover, or repeat this activity as a class for the number of habitats you want to cover. From magazines and books, collect pictures and lists of animals that live in the specific habitats. If you need some help, this kind of information can be found at the web sites listed below. Display and/or show the class these pictures. Ask each child to choose one animal and draw it on a piece of paper. Under this picture have them write: Where once there was a (enter habitat), there was a (enter animal name). Make a title page for the books, with the title: Where Once There Was a (enter habitat). Put all of these pages together and bind them into a book using string or staples.