Objectives  Compare and contrast, make predictions, make inferences,  

Teaching Guide
identify animal traits and behavior
¿Quién me mira así?
Materials  paper, crayons or colored pencils, magnifying glasses, mirrors,  
sticky flags or strips of paper

30 minutes, Days 1–3

Build Background
Activate Prior Knowledge  Tell children: Hoy vamos a leer sobre los ojos de los
animales. Los animales y las personas ven con sus ojos. ¿Son todos los ojos iguales? ¿Son los ojos
de diferentes colores? Distribute magnifying glasses and mirrors and have children
compare and contrast their eyes with a partner’s. Ask children: ¿De qué color son sus
ojos? ¿De qué color son los ojos de sus compañeros? ¿Y sus pestañas? Have children draw a
picture of their eye using crayons or colored pencils.

Introduce the Focus Skill: Compare and Contrast  Explain to the class that
comparing means telling how things are the same or alike and contrasting means
telling how they are different. Tell children to compare and contrast the drawings they
just made. Ask them to tell you how they are similar and how they are different. For
example: Yo dibujé un ojo azul porque mis ojos son azules. Timoteo dibujó un ojo verde porque sus ojos
son verdes. Mis pestañas son castañas y rizadas. Las pestañas de Laura son castañas y rizadas también.

Acquire New Vocabulary  Introduce the following words that appear in the book: depredador, pantanoso, ulular,
volar, escamas, pacífico, tropical, trompa, desierto, and bramar. Write the words on the board. Have children scan the text
to find the words. Ask them to use flags or strips of paper to mark the pages that they appear on. Tell children to be on the lookout
for a vocabulary word that appears more than once (i.e. volar appears on pp. 11, 12, and 22). Then have children write the words.
Review spelling and pronunciation as a class.

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 play a guessing game as you read. As you do a picture walk of the book, point to each eye and ask children to guess
what animal is shown. For example, point to the eye on p. 18. Ask: ¿A qué animal pertenece este ojo? (un camello) Also, encourage children
to compare and contrast the animal eyes throughout the book and make inferences. For example: El ojo de la página 10 (búho) se parece
mucho al de la página 11 (águila). Tal vez ambos sean aves. Have children list their guesses. When they are done, have children vote on the
answer for each page. The majority votes will decide the answer. Check answers at the back of the book when reading is complete.
Discuss incorrect answers as a class. Then ask and answer questions to review the vocabulary words and make connections to the
animals. For example, point to the word desierto on p. 18. Then ask: ¿Qué animal es? (un camello) ¿En dónde vive? (en el desierto) ¿Cómo lo
saben? (porque “Por el desierto le gusta caminar”.). Repeat with other pages and vocabulary words.

60 minutes, Days 4–5

L Curricular Enrichment: Science

SCIENCE
  Explain to children that eyes are very important for both animals and people
because we couldn’t see without them. Without our eyes, we wouldn’t be able to read road signs, see shapes, or know what
animals look like. Tell children that they are going to draw a picture of an animal eye and label it with the animal name. They
will also write a Fun Fact or two about the animal they chose, for instance: Las águilas pueden ver desde muy lejos. Tienen muy buena
vista. Las ranas tienen párpados transparentes para que puedan ver debajo del agua. Los gatos ven muy bien en la oscuridad. You may want to
provide access to a computer for children to conduct additional research. Then compare and contrast the drawings as a class.
Encourage children to read their Fun Facts out loud.

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
Ask your child to tell you what he/she learned about eyes in Mathematics: Numbers PK-2.1, PK-2.2; Algebra PK-2.1, PK-2.4; Geometry PK-2.1—PK-2.4;
school. Encourage him/her to compare and contrast his/her Measurement PK-2.1; Data & Analysis PK-2.1, PK-2.2; Connections PK-12.3
Science: K-4.1, K-4.2, K-4.3, K-4.4
eyes to yours. For example: Tengo ojos castaños. ¿De qué color son los Social Studies/Geography: K-12.1, K-12.2, K-12.3, K-12.4
tuyos? (Los míos son castaños como los tuyos.) or (Los míos son de color Visual Arts: K-4.1, K-4.2, K-4.3, K-4.5, K-4.6
Technology: K-12.1, K-12.2, K-12.3, K-12.4, K-12.5
miel como los de Papá.) Then point out the eye parts, such as the
pupil, iris, etc. Use a flashlight to show your child how the pupil
contracts when light is shone directly into it, and how it dilates  
when the light is diverted. Ask your child why he/she thinks this happens.

For more books and teaching guides • www.BrickHouseEducation.com