ELA Lesson: Animal Adaptation in Fiction
Lesson Plan
1 hourGrades3English Language Arts
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Written by Cari Gallagher, Sustainable Jersey for Schools
About this lesson
Students explore animal adaptation and literary genres through a silly book of fiction, then write their own stories.
Inquire: Students make predictions about a fictional book in which wooly mammoths try to adapt to a change in climate.
Investigate: Students listen to the story, identify the genre, order the story sequence, and discuss the plot.
Inspire: Using story sequence, students write their own fictional story about animals adapting to changes in climate.
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Everything you need to teach it
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Suggestions
- This lesson can be taught in conjunction with an environmental science unit on weather, climate, or animals, or used to introduce storytelling or writing units in ELA.
- The Investigate and Inspire sections can be taught on different days, in separate reading and writing blocks, or in an extended ELA block. Both sections can also be extended to support varying classroom contexts. See Unit Plan for a suggested pacing guide.
- The teacher can provide examples of other fiction books students have read during the year, and discuss subgenres such as historical fiction, humorous fiction, fantasy, fables, myths, and legends.
- In the Investigate section, students curious about wooly mammoths can view this video before discussing which elements in the story are realistic and which are unrealistic. The video also identifies climate change as a suspected factor in the extinction of wooly mammoths.
- Students can include illustrations for their stories in the Inspire section to stress the setting of the story and the characters’ emotions.
Prerequisites
- This is lesson 1 of 3 in our 3rd grade ELA Unit: Animal Adaptation in Literary Genres.
- Students should have a basic understanding of animals and their habitats and the concepts of weather versus climate.
- Students should understand the differences between fiction and nonfiction.
Differentiation
- To support students who need more scaffolding, the teacher can review the Vocabulary Cards before reading the story or print out the vocabulary cards to create a word wall to refer to while reading the story.
- In the Investigate section, the teacher can read the sentences out loud, and then students can mark the sequence on their Student Document, or students can read the sentences out loud in pairs.
- Instead of the writing task, students can create their story sequence using illustrations and tell their stories orally.
- Higher-level learners can identify the following concepts in Hot, Hot, Hot and then incorporate them into their own stories:
- Use of onomatopoeia
- Words that express cause and effect
- Words that express calendar time and duration
- Problem-solving strategies
From the scientist review
Students will learn about the effects of climate change on animals and how animals can respond and adapt under a changing climate through fiction and literary genres. We reviewed this lesson and it has passed our scientific validity process.
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About the teacher writers
Cari Gallagher
New Jersey State Lead
Dr. Cari Gallagher holds a B.A. in Elementary Education from Rider University, an M.A. in Education from The College of New Jersey, Educational Leadership certificates from NJExcel, and a Ph.D. in Teaching and Curriculum from National University. She is an elementary school teacher in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, with more than 25 years of experience teaching students in grades PreK–6. In addition to her work in K–12 education, Dr. Gallagher serves as an adjunct professor and student teacher supervisor in the School of Education at The College of New Jersey. She is committed to preparing future educators while fostering innovative, student-centered teaching practices. As the New Jersey State Lead for SubjectToClimate, Dr. Gallagher continues to advance environmental and climate literacy through interdisciplinary education initiatives and provides professional development across the state. Her scholarship and advocacy focus on integrating climate education across the curriculum to empower students as informed, engaged citizens. Dr. Gallagher's insight has been published in Climate Change Education Across Disciplines K–12, The Washington Post, Edutopia, the NJEA Review, and ProQuest. Cari enjoys being outside in her free time, watching her kids play sports, gardening, and cooking.
Sustainable Jersey for Schools
Sustainable Jersey is a network and movement of municipalities, schools and school districts working collectively to bring about a sustainable New Jersey. Acting with state agencies, non-profit organizations, foundations, academia and industry, Sustainable Jersey researches best practices for what communities could and should do to contribute to a sustainable future.
