Book Review: What will I do without you? (lower elementary fiction)

Jefferson Bear and Figgy Two Socks are best friends.  But when Jefferson Bear must go hibernate, Figgy must figure out how she will occupy herself in his absence. She feels abandoned, sad, and angry when he must leave. And nothing seems fun anymore. She starts out exploring by herself and finally finds a new friend in Hoptail the Squirrel. Gently and permissively this book explores the more challenging emotions that can come from interactions with friends. Especially, you will love the gentle watercolor pictures that make the winter forest so playful and inviting. There is much to talk about in the backdrop. And in case you are wondering, yes, red foxes really do enjoy red worms- but even more so in the spring and early summer.

Admittedly, I probably am drawn to this book in part because it makes a top carnivore and a lowly scavenger lovable. After so many children's books that vilify them and perpetuate stereotypes of them as raging man-eaters or worthless competition that warrant extreme fear and thoughtless hunting, it is a welcomed change when they are featured as the main characters. I feel that introducing animals in such fanciful ways in children's books is one way we can start altering public perceptions towards them. (For two GREAT explanations and definitions of the importance of Keystone species and the crucial role of predators see these links. These are direct links to articles in Mother Earth News that I have found to be among the best non-technical and compassionate explanations I have ever seen. These would be a great review before teaching about food webs).

This is a great early elementary book for introducing curricula related to topics such as winter, snowmen, real verses pretend, hibernation, snow tracks, seasonal animal (and plant) adaptations, carnivore verses omnivore, and signs of winter coming verses signs of spring coming. On a social level this book discusses giving our friends space to be different from us, not being clingy, playing alone, dealing with teasing, and making new friends. 

You can share with your students what a real baby fox looks like:

Image borrowed from Lylaandblue.com

And you can remind them that in real life bear/fox interactions are much more intense. Go here to see an amazing photograph of the two chasing each other.

Winter outdoor education curricula ideas

Photo by Oakley originals at creativecommons.org

For early childhood/lower elementary:

From Growing Up WILD, Exploring Nature With Young Children:

• Hiding in Plain Sight- Use Hide and Seek to teach adaptation
• Tracks!- Explore and make tracks
• Oh Deer- Explore parts of habitat
• Field study fun- Explore a plot over time

From Project WET- Water Education for Teachers

• Cold cash in the icebox- Make an insulator to keep ice from melting
• Molecules in motion- Act out three states of water  

From Project WILD

Thicket game- use hide and seek to teach adaptation.

Non-fiction books

• Tracks, Scats, and Signs by Leslie Dendy
• Wild Tracks! A Guide to Nature's footprints by Jim Arnosky
• When Winter comes  by Laan and Gaber

Fiction books

• Footprints in the Snow by Cynthia Benjamin
• In the Snow: Whose Been Here? by Lindsay Barrett George
• Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Lee
• Stranger in the woods! by Sams and Stoick
• What will I do without you? by Sally Grindley and Penny Dann

 For upper elementary:

From Project WET- Water Education for Teachers

• Cold cash in the icebox- make an insulator to keep ice from melting
• The Incredible Journey- act out the water cycle
• Hanging together- act out hydrogen bonds in surface tension, ice formation, etc.
• Just passing through- Imitate how water moves down a slope (*Adaption: Change the game by declaring different temperatures in different rounds)
• Molecules in motion- Act out three states of water
• Water crossings- simulate various water crossing situation (*Adaptation: build a replica of something used historically or modern day to pull cargo across ice or snow. OR simulate a sled dog race)

From Project WILD

• How many bears can live in this forest?- Students become bears and look for components of a habitat.
• My kingdom for a shelter- Construct a lifesize habitat replica 
• Oh Deer- students use tag-like game to learn about carrying capacity
• Urban Nature Search- gather data about what habitats exist in your area. (Winter is great time to find bird's nests).
• Quick Frozen Critters- Use freeze tag to teach adaptations.

Fiction books

• Julie of the Wolves
• Narnia series by C.S. Lewis
• Little house in the Big Wood by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Nonfiction books

• Arctic Tale by Wolverton, Richards, Gore
• Snowflake Bentley by Martin
• Learning about Winter with Children's literature  by Bryant, Keiper, and Petit
• Who lives in the Snow? By Jones and Powell
• The Kids' Winter handbook by Drake and Love

For middle school
From Project WET- Water Education for Teachers

• Hanging together- act out hydrogen bonds in surface tension, ice formation, etc. 
• Just passing through- Imitate how water moves down a slope (*Adaption: Change the game by declaring different temperatures in different rounds)
• Water crossings- simulate various water crossing situation (*Adaptation: build a replica of something used historically or modern day to pull cargo across ice or snow. OR simulate a sled dog race)

 From Project WILD

• How many bears can live in this forest?- Students become bears and look for components of a habitat.
• My kingdom for a shelter- Construct a lifesize habitat replica
• Oh Deer- students use tag-like game to learn about carrying capacity
• Urban Nature Search- gather data about what habitats exist in your area (Winter is great time to find bird's nests).

 For high school:

From Project WET- Water Education for Teachers

• Hanging together- act out hydrogen bonds in surface tension, ice formation, etc. 
• Water crossings- simulate various water crossing situation (*Adaptation: build a replica of something used historically or modern day to pull cargo across ice or snow. OR simulate a sled dog race)

 From Project WILD

• Artic survival- Do a simulation of hunter gather lifestyle in the artic. 

What active winter curricula have you found useful?
Bonus points: What animal makes the footprints in the above photo?