Day One

Tell the students that today they are beginning an exploration in search of city wildlife. Give them Attachment One: Knowledge about City Wildlife. Before you arrange the students into groups, have them reflect quietly about the words “city wildlife.” Ask them to consider how the words work together to help us predict or define its meaning. Arrange the class into groups of two-three students. Allow about five minutes for students to discuss and write about the two sentences on the handout. Bring the students back as a class. Engage students in a discussion by asking students to offer their perspectives on the meaning of the term. Record their responses on the overhead transparency and save for review during the lessons that follow.

• Explain to the class that you will be dividing the class into four groups. Each group will form a “literature circle.” Each group will be assigned a book to read and discuss.

• Give the students name tags with colored circles on them. The colors indicate which group they are in so all members of a group will have the same color.

• Every member of the group is responsible for reading the assigned book. Students are responsible for taking their own notes as they read. When the group meets to discuss the book, each student writes notes on Attachment Two: Literature Group Discussion. See the materials list for the four books to assign. Assign the books and let them get started reading. The members of the groups may read alone, pair up or read all together. Encourage them to read the questions on the handout before they start reading: What wild animals are able to dwell/live in the city? What makes wildlife wild? What do wildlife creatures need to survive? How can humans create and maintain a healthy relationship with city wildlife?

• It is the responsibility of the group members to make sure each person in the group has read the story and is prepared to discuss the book with other members of the class that have not read the book.

• When the groups have finished their reading and writing, move on to Day Two.

Day Two:

• Put the overhead transparency back on the overhead and ask the students to add to or change what they know about city wildlife based on the reading they have done.

• In order to learn about the different books read, the students will “piece together” key words/ideas from the different books to form a “literature jigsaw.” Regroup the students so each member of the new group has read a different book. Hint: Regroup using the colors on the name tags. Each new group should have only one of each color. It may be helpful to give each member of the original groups a number. For example, the ones from each original group move into a new group together.

• Tell students that they are the experts for the book that they read on Day One. They will tell the members of their new group about the book they read. Allow each student about five minutes to report on the book—using the notes from Day One—to the rest of the group. The other students should listen carefully and take notes on Attachment Three: Literature Jigsaw Notes.

• After the discussion in the new group, have students write individual summations/observations of their findings on a separate sheet of notebook paper. They should focus on the four questions from Day One.

• Debrief with the whole class and define philanthropy and discusshow it impacts environmental stewardship. Ask students to define the words sensitivity and balance as they relate to the natural world. How does what they learned today relate to these words?

• Write the five essential questions for the unit on the board. Discuss any of the questions that seem relevant to this lesson. 1) Can humans and animals coexist in the same habitat? 2) If so, are there dangers that exist? For whom? 3) What is a community? 4) What do humans and wildlife share? 5) What is Common Good? Does it include wildlife?

None for this lesson.

• Davis, Wendy. City Park (Habitat). New York: Children’s Book Press, 1998.
  ISBN: 0516203703
  
  

• Green, Jen. In a Backyard. Crabtree Pub., 2002.
  ISBN: 0778701557
  
  

• Peet, Bill. Farewell to Shady Glade. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1981.
  ISBN: 0395311284
  
  

• Thornhill, Jan. Wild in the City. Owl Communications, 1999.
  ISBN: 1895688728