Amazing Animals Camp

[sheila]

Here are some worksheets that I have put together to go with a simple book that my school bought me.  It had one big book which I laminated to do with the students, as well as an activity were they can make smaller books.  Based on that, they are broken down into five different days. The book is All About Animals Aroung the World from the Early Childhood Thematic Series published by Evan-Moor.  I've tried to get a lot of things together on here so hopefully this helps.  I used it for my 2010 winter camp and my kids had a really great time.

[sheila]

here are some more...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qoYPLtqqVk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQx852mnXAc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYnQt-mzWJE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J-GL5FJ0wQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB_GisVFboU&feature=related

[sheila]

Here is the website for the book that I used.  It looks like you can get the hard copy of the book, the exact same thing in an e-book, and they come with enhanced e-books also.  They also come in different themes that you might want to check out.  They are a really good resource for elementary students and a great time saver for you.  Here's the description for this book...

All About Animals Around the World is the ultimate resource for teaching children about different types of animals and the habitats in which they live. The activities practice important language and math skills that help children make cross-curricular connections. This wonderfully illustrated thematic unit has an easy-to-use format that makes it a must-have!

The five Animals Around the World themes explored are:

Animals of the Savanna
Animals of the Forest
Animals of the Desert
Animals of the Arctic Tundra
Animals of the Rainforest
The five sections in this book are overflowing with fun stories and activities such as:

storybooks: "Animals of the Savanna"; "Animals of the Forest"; "Animals of the Desert"; "Animals of the Arctic Tundra"; "Animals of the Rainforest"

full-color storyboard pieces that make it easy and fun to review concepts while you re-tell the story

art projects: Paper Bag Giraffe; Beary Hungry; Desert Collage; Cornstarch Clay Walrus; Monkey Headbands

cooking: Camouflage Cookies; Robin’s Nest; Snake Sticks; Arctic Hare Cookies; Banana Dogs

story comprehension, language, and math activity pages that are engaging and offer essential skills practice

learning centers: Savanna Animal Match; Forest Animal Puzzles; Patterning Snakes; Animals Magnified; Hungry Anteater

outdoor: Savanna Relay; Bear, Bear, Bee!; Roadrunner Races; Catch the Hare; Walking Through the Rainforest

music/dramatic play: "Going to the Savanna"; "Big Bear"; "Five Little Bears"; "All the Bobcats"; "Down in the Desert"; "Five Snowy Owls"; "The Rainforest Song"

alphabet cards: charmingly illustrated, full-color, theme-based, upper- and lowercase alphabet cards

http://www.evan-moor.com/Series.aspx?CurriculumID=8&SeriesID=5

[sheila]

Here also is a powerpoint that I had used for third grade "How Many?" last fall.  It covers animals, what they look like, size, and how many there are. Hopefully this is a nice addition for this.

[sheila]

Here are some more activities that I've found online that may work for some of you.  They are at different levels so you'll have to go through and find what's best for your classes.  All are in pdf format.

[lkvorders]

Wow, this is a really great camp idea. You did a great job organizing this camp it looks like. I am curious about the books that you had the students create. Was it a project that lasted throughout the week adding pages? Did you use the coloring pages?

Thanks for your great ideas!

[sheila]

The books that I was probably talking about are part of the book that I had mentioned in my first post.  They have full size pages for the teacher and then black and white copies for the students that are half size to make like a mini book.  We did use the coloring pages when we had a little extra time and the students had to cut out the names of the animals they saw on those pages and glue them next to the animal.  Sometimes it was their "homework" which they got stickers for.  If they got ten stickers they get a 'special prize' which definitely motivated them to do it all.  All of the PDF files I put in my last post I didn't use so you may not need to use all of the coloring pages.  The papers were all bound together in advance so the students just needed to take the pages out for the books. It gave them something that was organized that they could take home and show their parents after the week was done.  I got some very good reviews. Also, we did this in the winter so we couldn't go outside because it was way too cold.  You may want to think up some games that you could add in to get your kids out of the classroom.  Best of luck!

[sheila]

I just thought about adding this and this might be a lot of fun for your students.  It's a cross-curricular connection to music.  There is this website which has an interactive exploration into music and musical instruments.  It is the The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, by Benjamin Britten.  As it goes through the game, it goes on an instrument/animal safari.  When I was teaching elementary music in the states, my 5th or 6th grade students loooovvved to do this.  What's also nice is they can create their own user name and try it at home on their own time.  I would recommend alloting at least 90 minutes in the computer lab for this one.  Students should also be asked to bring in their own headphones since it gets kind of loud if they're all playing at once.  I'd say this is good for upper elementary students but you can try it out and see how it goes for you.  Good luck!

http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/explore_and_learn/art_online_resources_listening_adventures.html

[sheila]

Here are some pictures for the art parts that are included in this lesson.  The first is the hanging snake mobile for the desert day and the second is a bear getting honey for the forest day.

[sheila]

Here are a few more pictures.  The first two show our Very Hungry Caterpillar craft.  The second two show the Animal Habitat Race Game.  This game is the coloring cards made small, laminated, and attached to magnets. Enjoy.

[angela]

You have lots of great ideas. I was wondering what program you used for your writing works sheets?  I am unable to open them as I do not know what program to use.

[sheila]

They are all in microsoft 2007. If you have microsoft 97-2003, go on google and look up 'file converter pptx to ppt' or 'docx to doc'. This should solve all of your problems.

[kate.d]

Thanks so much-this stuff is saving my life.  One note though for people using this-you might want to change the name of the "Arctic Animals" lesson to either "Arctic and Antarctic" or "polar regions" if you throw in the penguin videos since there are no penguins in the arctic.

[heatherbnm]

Hi, just wondering if you still have  a copy of the Ebook for this camp plan? Thanks a lot it looks like you put a lot of work into this

[sheila]

I actually never purchased the Ebook for this.  A hard copy was available at my school when I got here.  However, they're fairly cheap and you can find it on www.evan-moor.com.  I would recommend getting the regular ebook because I can't figure out how to work my enhanced one.  It's a little difficult with it all in Korean.  If you do purchase it though, please load it up on here.  That would be great!

[sheila]

Okay, so here are some more resources for this lesson which I've found today.  I'm not sure if I'll be using them but I'm sure they might be helpful for some of you.  Many of them are higher level (suitable for middle or high school) so if you were concerned that the others were too easy, these may be worth taking a look at.  But I believe there are some lower level ones, too.  Enjoy~!

[sheila]

and some more...

[summerthyme]

Sheila, this is the most amazing thing I have ever seen.  I think it is also the first time I've ever wished I taught elementary ha ha

[sheila]

I know, it makes me wish I still taught elementary... but boo, I'm now in middle school. But some of the later worksheets are much higher level so you could definitely modify the camp to make it suitable for middle or high school.

If you have some computer lab time for your camp, this one might be a fun one to try for lower level students.

http://funschool.kaboose.com/formula-fusion/animal-adventure/index.html
http://funschool.kaboose.com/formula-fusion/pets/index.html
http://funschool.kaboose.com/formula-fusion/birds-of-a-feather/index.html
http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/index.html

[dgales]

I didn't look at length at your camp but it looks amazing...

Here is a site for a few different worksheets that look like they could go along with this camp.

http://bogglesworldesl.com/kids_worksheets/biomes.htm