Who is Batty About Bats?

Stellaluna By Janell Cannon (1993). A fruit bat is separated from her mother and has to survive with a family of birds, mimicking the behavior of this different species. 

I would use this book as an online interactive read aloud with a first grade class, focusing on the following standards:

  •  NGSS LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms: Adult plants and animals can have young. In many kinds of animals, parents and the offspring themselves engage in behaviors that help the offspring to survive. (1-LS1-2)
  • CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.1.7: Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.

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I would use this online read aloud to focus on the behaviors of young birds and bats and how they survive.

After the students finish the online read aloud, they will be asked some questions about the book which will check for their understanding.

After the students have completed the form and we are ready to transition into the next lesson, I would create a picture dictionary with the students about bats and birds such as echolocation, what they eat, why they hang upside down etc. and then have the students complete a venn diagram to compare and contrast behaviors of young bats and birds. We would also brainstorm as a class questions we still had about bats after reading the book and then use additional lessons to read other informational books about bats and draw, write, and share new ideas about bats with the whole class.

This book will build background knowledge of features of a bat (mammals, thumbs, fur, echolocation, nocturnal) would allow for conversation about types of bats (some bats eat fruit, some eat bugs, where do bats that eat mangos live?) as well as predators and prey and why the owl attacked the bats…) 

Integrating literacy and science helps students understand the purpose of reading and writing (to learn and share ideas) and using books to learn science gives context for learning vocabulary such as ‘echolocation.’ 

2 Replies to “Who is Batty About Bats?”

  1. Excellent. A good use of Google form to check for understanding. Your detailed explanation of the lesson does a good job of explaining how the test will be integrated into the lesson. I tried the form and see that it’s self graded with explanations for correct / incorrect answers. (though I think you missed setting correct answer for #1)

    Only one change needed – the book cover you use is copyrighted material. So it will have to go. How about using a public domain image of a bat? Shouldn’t be hard to find.

  2. Allie, this activity is super cute! I really like how you highlighted which standards you focused on in the description. Kids will love the book, and you could even add a question or two about comprehension to the form to enhance the experience. Great job!

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