Title: Saving
Lilly (Kehret, P. (2001). Saving Lilly. New York: Pocket Books).
Author: Peg Kehret
Copyright 2001 by Peg Kehret
Published by: Simon
& Schuster
Reading level: Interest level grades 3 – 5, grade level
Equivalent: 4.9, Lexile: 740L, Guided Reading: T
Suggested Delivery:
Independent or read aloud
Awards: ASPCA Henry Bergh Award Honor
Description: science
fiction
Heartfelt, Courageous,
Enthralling, Humorous, Comforting
Electronic resources to support reading:
a. This
is the authors’ website for children to view and collect facts about the author.
It is complete with a photo gallery,
blog, biography, tour dates, and even contact information.
a. This
is a great resource for teachers to get teaching ideas, discussion questions,
and activities to increase comprehension of the text for all levels of
readers.
a. This
is a website to raise awareness for students about the need for real life elephant
sanctuaries and what students can do to make a difference in elephant
conservation efforts.
Teaching suggestions:
1.
Vocabulary:
a. Snickered
(pg 5)
b. Electrified
(pg 9)
c. Accusations
(pg 24)
d. Existence
(pg 51)
e. Conniption
(pg 61)
f. Sanctuary
(pg 85)
2.
Teaching strategies
a. Before
reading: Have students complete a KWL
chart relaying all of their current prior knowledge about elephant sanctuaries. The students may leave the “L” section blank
at this point. The students can then imagine
they have encountered a circus in town and just realized that many of the
animals in the circus are being mistreated.
Start a class discussion encouraging students to share their emotions regarding
the treatment of these animals. The
students can relate these feelings to the characters in the book as they begin
to read Saving Lilly.
b. During
reading: Throughout the reading, the
following discussion questions can be used by teachers to transfer into either
a study guide or worksheet to distribute to students to complete in their
journals. After the students have
answered these questions independently, the teacher can lead a discussion on each
question in depth as a whole class.
i. “Do
you think it is realistic for a group to raise $7,500 in three weeks? How would
you go about raising a large sum in a short time?”
ii. “Do
you think that it is right to do as an adult tells you, even if you believe it
is wrong? “
iii. “Do
Erin and David actually disobey their teacher? What would your parents do or
say if you passed out a petition in school against the teacher's wishes?”
iv. “A
math problem for you: if they all read the same number of books a day, how many
days should it take Erin and David's class to read the three hundred books?”
v. “Do
you think that Mrs. Dawson's behavior was justified? How would you feel if your
teacher acted the way she did about the permission slips?”
vi. “Do
you think that the principal was right to support Mrs. Dawson? Why or why not?”
vii. “Do
you think that it is all right for people to have animals perform for their
entertainment? If yes, under what circumstances is it ok? Does it make a
difference to you what kind of animal it is?”
viii.
“Read again the passage starting on page 139
through page 143 (paperback version). How does it make you feel? Do you think
you could talk to an adult the way Erin did?”
All questions modified from: www.nutmegaward.org/print/2005/Lilly.doc
c.
After reading: To further understand the need for elephant
sanctuaries and conservation efforts, students can learn more about elephant
sanctuaries in their area by doing independent research. Inform students to utilize the internet and
research wild animal sanctuaries. This will provide the opportunity to support
learning in other content areas, such as science. Have students answer the following questions:
i. Are
there any elephant sanctuaries in your area?
ii. What
can you find out from going to the web sites in the Author's note at the end of
the book?
iii. How
expensive is it to have an animal adopted by a sanctuary in the sites you find?
iv. Research
the current population of wild elephants in the world today. How many species
of elephants are there in the world and what are they? Are elephants
endangered?
v. What
you think a good elephant sanctuary would look like and what would it consist
of? Draw or paint a picture of an ideal elephant sanctuary.
d.
To continue the “after reading teaching
strategies” students can now complete their “L” section of their prior KWL
chart to be used for assessment of desired objectives.
3.
Writing activity:
a.
At the end of the book, the Author’s Note
includes an informational excerpt about elephant sanctuaries that exist in our
world today. The author provides an
address for students to write to further raise awareness of conservation
efforts. Students can write a letter to
the provided sanctuary address and include the following:
i. Introduction,
name, class grade, school attending
ii. The
students should state why they believe sanctuaries are important and the need
for such facilities in our world.
iii. Request
for more information about how students can get involved in elephant
conservation efforts
iv. Appropriate
closure including a return address.
This book seems like one that students would greatly enjoy. All younger students love books about animals, and this is one that would help build their awareness about elephant sanctuaries. All of the comprehension and reading activities you suggested would be great to be used in a conservation unit in a science curriculum. This book reminds me of the book I read for my blog, Hoot. The two can be used together as a literature connection to a conservation unit, and students could compare and contrast the two.
ReplyDeleteCreating a KWL chart before reading is a great way not only to see what students already know, but will help get them thinking about what else they want to learn about it. The questions you provided in your during reading activity will require students to use a good mix of inferential and literal comprehension skills. Lastly, I love your writing activity. It gives students an opportunity to see how letters can be used in a real-life situation, and it's also done for a good cause.