LitLinks: 3 easy ways animal action verbs encourage reading and writing

GUEST BLOGGERS TORY CHRISTIE and LUCIANA NAVARRO POWELL

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While Earth Day has passed, every day is Earth Day on the Big Blue Earth! The Big Blue Earth books are lyrical poems and the perfect backdrop for lessons in action verbs (Amicus Ink by Tory Christie, illustrated by Luciana Navarro Powell). They are the perfect backdrop for lessons in action verbs. A Speedy Little Cheetah on the Big Blue Earth is the fourth book in the series. Each book starts with a close-up of a baby animal and illustrates ever-widening views showing that each animal has its own special place on our planet.  

Vibrant verbs

The lively, illustrated poems in the Big Blue Earth series serve as a perfect bridge between creative storytelling and informational literacy. In A Speedy Little Cheetah on the Big Blue Earth, readers are guided from the focus of a single cheetah cub through the African savanna, discovering some vibrant verbs along the way.

You can use the book’s rhythmic prose to inspire students to experiment with dynamic language. Ultimately you’ll discover that even a simple picture book can be a sophisticated tool for building core English Language Arts (ELA) skills and global and special awareness.

Action-packed animals

This vocabulary activity invites young learners to become word detectives. They navigate the relationship between animals, their traits, and their movements. First, read A Speedy Little Cheetah on the Big Blue Earth (or any other Big Blue Earth book). Point out the movement verbs, such as “swaying and stretching.” Encourage the kids to make these movements themselves.

Next, have students complete the MOVEMENT VERBS matching activity sheet. They will connect high-energy verbs like munching, chasing, and swinging to the animals that would make that movement. They will pair descriptive adjectives—such as speedy for the cheetah or slow for a koala—to strengthen their understanding of how specific words add detail to a story. Finally, students draw their own animal and assign it a unique verb. This reinforces their ability to use descriptive language in their own original writing.

Animation

The second activity sheet is a fun way to get kids to show movement in animals. Have them get creative by coloring the cheetah and gazelle on the ANIMATE worksheet. Then follow the directions on the bottom of the sheet:

• Color the cheetah and gazelle and cut out the four squares.
• Place cheetah 1 and gazelle 1 on a new piece of paper.
• Tape the upper side of cheetah 2 exactly above cheetah 1
• Do the same for gazelle 2.
• Lift cheetah 2 and gazelle 2 very fast, back and forth to see them ZOOM!

Extending the connection

Each Big Blue Earth book stresses the idea that we each have our own unique place on the planet. The books can also be used to enrich lessons on geography and special awareness. A Speedy Little Cheetah on the Big Blue Earth provides a unique framework for teaching students about narrative perspective and the utility of nonfiction text features like glossaries and maps.

Featured image credit: “National Zoo’s Cheetah Cubs: April” by Smithsonian’s National Zoo is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

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