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Illustrations © Mary Davy
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Creature Features (Grades K–3)
Informazing series
by David Drew Illustrations by Mary Davy
Just outside your back door are some strange creatures with twelve eyes and sixteen legs. Come inside this book if you want to find out more about them.
Grade level K–2
Visual literacy
Tables: to read lists of information
Subject areas
English/Language Arts
- Questions and statements: use of question mark and period (full stop), use of initial capital letters.
- Making notes when reading nonfiction.
- Speech bubbles; ways to record direct speech
- Writing your own Q&A puzzle book.
Science/Technology
- Animal features and how they are used.
- What different animals eat, and how they catch their prey.
Mathematics
- Counting in groups: singles, pair, groups of 3, groups of 4, groups of 6
- Numbers as figures (8) and words (eight)
- Shapes in nature
Learning strategies
Close observation of detail in illustrations is a basic research skill. Children learn this in the context of playing a problem-solving game.
Research practice using illustrations and tables.
Modeled writing: children write their own puzzle book, modeled on Animal Clues.
Samples from the book
This is a guessing book in which children turn the page for the answer. To see how this works on our website, follow these rules:
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Informazing is a science/ literacy series for K–6 by David Drew Titles in this series: Animal Acrobats Animal Clues Animal, Plant, or Mineral? The Book of Animal Records Caterpillar Diary Earth in Danger The Gas Giants The Life of the Butterfly Millions of Years Ago Mystery Monsters Postcards from the Planets Skeletons Somewhere in the Universe Tadpole Diary What Is It? |
How to play:
1. Read the clues.
2. Look at the pictures closely.
3. Guess the answer.
4. Roll over the pictures with your mouse to see if you are right.
Make a list of possible answers before you "turn the page". You can "turn the page" by rolling over the image with your mouse:
(Pages 4-7 of Creature Features)
(Pages 10-13 of Creature Features)
Ideas to get you started
Make the most of the children's guesses to build a fact file about animals:
- Cover the clues with a piece of cardboard, to reveal them one at a time.
- On a large sheet of paper pinned to an easel, make a list of the children's guesses. Ask them to give reasons for their guesses, and note these on the sheet.
- Ask children to count the eyes before revealing the word "eight".
- Discuss creatures with two or more legs or eyes. List them on a graph: bird: 2 eyes, 2 legs; crab: 2 eyes, 10 legs; bee: 5 eyes, 6 legs; and so on.
Make your own book
Children can also write their own puzzle book, modeled on Creature Features. Children work in pairs. Each pair of children write and draw clues on one side, and the answer on the other side of the sheet. They can draw the clues in the form of a table as in the book Creature Features. For the answer page they can cut photographs out of old magazines. Staple the children's work together to make a book. Show the book to another class: can they guess the answers?
Contents of Creature Features
Spider
Earthworm
Caterpillar
Snail
Other guessing books that also teach visual research skills include:
These books are now out of print
Second-hand copies can sometimes be bought from
Copyright © Black Cockatoo Publishing PL 2006
