Objectives  Compare and contrast, make predictions, make inferences,  

Teaching Guide
identify animal traits and behavior
Who’s Looking At Me?
Materials  paper, crayons or colored pencils, magnifying glasses, mirrors,  
sticky flags or strips of paper

30 minutes, Days 1–3

Build Background
Activate Prior Knowledge  Tell children: Today, we will read about animal eyes.
Both animals and people use their eyes to see. Do everyone’s eyes look the same? Do eyes come
in different colors? Distribute magnifying glasses and mirrors and have children
compare and contrast their eyes with a partner’s. Ask children: What color are your
eyes? What color are your partner’s eyes? How about your eyelashes? Have children draw a
picture of their eye using crayons or colored pencils.

Introduce the Focus Skill: Compare and Contrast  Explain to the class that
comparing means telling how things are the same or alike and contrasting means
telling how they are different. Tell children to compare and contrast the drawings they
just made. Ask them to tell you how they are similar and how they are different. For
example: I drew a blue eye because my eyes are blue. Timmy drew a green eye because his eyes are
green. My eyelashes are brown and curly. Laurie’s eyelashes are brown and curly, too.

Acquire New Vocabulary  Introduce the following words that appear in the book: predator, hunt, scales, swamp,
feathers, hoots, tropical, trunk, deserts, and stuns. Write the words on the board. Have children scan the text to find the
words. Ask them to use flags or strips of paper to mark the pages that they appear on. Tell children to be on the lookout for vocabulary
words that appear more than once (i.e. hunts appears on p. 5 and hunt appears on p. 7). Then have children write the words. Review
spelling and pronunciation as a class.

Read and Respond  Display the book. Read the title and author name aloud as you track the print. Tell the class that they
are going to play a guessing game as you read. As you do a picture walk of the book, point to each eye and ask children to guess what
animal is shown. For example, point to the eye on p. 18. Ask: What animal do you think this eye belongs to? (a camel) Also, encourage children
to compare and contrast the animal eyes throughout the book and make inferences. For example: The eye on page 10 (owl) looks a lot like
the one on page 11 (eagle). Maybe they are both birds. Have children list their guesses. When they are done, have children vote on the answer
for each page. The majority votes will decide the answer. Check answers at the back of the book when reading is complete. Discuss
incorrect answers as a class. Then ask and answer questions to review the vocabulary words and make connections to the animals.
For example, point to the word deserts on p. 18. Then ask: What is the animal? (a camel) Where does it live? (in the desert) How do you know?
(because “It walks in deserts, mile after mile.”). Repeat with other pages and vocabulary words.

60 minutes, Days 4–5

L Curricular Enrichment: Science

SCIENCE
  Explain to children that eyes are very important for both animals and people
because we couldn’t see without them. Without our eyes, we wouldn’t be able to read road signs, see shapes, or know what
animals look like. Tell children that they are going to draw a picture of an animal eye and label it with the animal name. They
will also write a Fun Fact or two about the animal they chose, for instance: Eagles can see from very far away. They have very good
eyesight. Frogs have transparent eyelids so they can see underwater. Cats can see really well in the dark. You may want to provide access to a
computer for children to conduct additional research. Then compare and contrast the drawings as a class. Encourage children
to read their Fun Facts out loud.

Home Connection  (Teacher, you may want to photocopy NATIONAL STANDARDS

this activity for children to complete with a family member.)
Language Arts: K-12.1, K-12.3, K-12.4, K-12.5, K-12.6, K-12.7, K-12.8, K-12.11, K-12.12
Ask your child to tell you what he/she learned about eyes in Mathematics: Numbers PK-2.1, PK-2.2; Algebra PK-2.1, PK-2.4; Geometry PK-2.1—PK-2.4;
school. Encourage him/her to compare and contrast his/her Measurement PK-2.1; Data & Analysis PK-2.1, PK-2.2; Connections PK-12.3
Science: K-4.1, K-4.2, K-4.3, K-4.4
eyes to yours. For example: I have brown eyes. What color are Social Studies/Geography: K-12.1, K-12.2, K-12.3, K-12.4
yours? (Mine are brown like yours.) or (Mine are hazel like Daddy’s.) Visual Arts: K-4.1, K-4.2, K-4.3, K-4.5, K-4.6
Technology: K-12.1, K-12.2, K-12.3, K-12.4, K-12.5
Then point out the eye parts, such as the pupil, iris, etc. Use a
flashlight to show your child how the pupil contracts when light
is shone directly into it, and how it dilates when the light is  
diverted. Ask your child why he/she thinks this happens.

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