Week 5: Good Night, Gorilla

PRIMARY STORY:
Begin each day by reading the story Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann.

DISCUSSION PROMPTS:
Ask your student the following questions to jump-start a discussion.
Did you like the story, Good Night, Gorilla?
Which part of the story did you like best?
Which animal was your favorite?

ADDITIONAL READING: Check out other zoo books. Our favorites are The View at the Zoo, by Kathleen Long Bostrom and 1, 2, 3 To the Zoo, by Eric Carle.

VIDEO: Here's an animated version from the Scholastic Video Collection, Good Night Gorilla and More Bedtime Stories.

ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Animal Track Process Art

          SUPPLIES
          Zoo Animal Figurines (Here's a Wild Toob with a lot of standing animals)
          Paint              
          Paper
          Paper Plates

Step 1: Pour paint into plates.
Step 2: Allow your child to dip animal feet into paint and make "tracks" on the paper.
Step 3: Ask about the similarities and differences in types of tracks.

 

ENRICHMENT ACTIVITY: Flashlight Play
Gather up some flashlights and teach your student to operate them. Turn off lights and have some fun playing with the flashlights. Make hand silhouettes or play flashlight tag. Look for objects in the dark.

EXPLORATIONS
Visit a zoo!

Read about zookeepers. 

Play the following video of the finale from The Carnival of the Animals from Walt Disney's Fantasia 2000. Allow your watch or explore movement while listening.

Watch this video about being a zookeeper:

Listen to the Raffi song, Going to the Zoo: