Meet Smokey Bear’s Team
Learn about Smokey Bear’s work in wildfire prevention and meet some of the people who help him on his mission. Written for children from kindergarten
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Choose one of Smokey Bear’s rules for fire prevention and illustrate it. You can send Smokey Bear your finished drawing at Smokey Bear, Washington DC 20252. He has his own...Try This! – Meet Smokey Bear’s Team
Choose one of Smokey Bear’s rules for fire prevention and illustrate it. You can send Smokey Bear your finished drawing at Smokey Bear, Washington DC 20252. He has his own...
Standards addressed in this Article:
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ESS3.C-E1
Human activities in agriculture, industry, and everyday life have had major effects on the land, vegetation, streams, ocean, air, and even outer space. But individuals and communities are doing things to help protect Earth’s resources and environments.
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K-ESS3-3
Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.
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Civic Ideals and Practices
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People, Places, and Environments
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Science, Technology, and Society
Welcome to the Educator Guide for the Natural Inquirer Reader series! Natural Inquirer Readers are written for a K-2 audience. Some of the Readers focus on a scientist and what they study and other Readers focus on a specific topic. In this guide, you will learn about the different parts of the Reader and ideas for using the Reader in a classroom setting.
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Parts of a Reader
During kindergarten through 2nd grade, young readers learn about parts of a nonfiction text such as title, table of contents, glossary and bold words.
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Every Natural Inquirer Reader begins with a Table of Contents where students can preview what is coming in the Reader.
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The actual text of the Reader begins after the Table of Contents. Throughout this text, there are captions, bolded glossary words, and other text features for the students to experience.
- To learn more about the specifics, read the Natural Inquirer blog Reader Strategy 2: Elements of Nonfiction – Natural Inquirer.
- A great introduction to this topic is Reader Strategy 1: Fiction and Nonfiction – Natural Inquirer.
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At the conclusion of the main text in the Reader, there are a few critical thinking questions for the students to answer.
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Next, is the glossary and then an activity. Each Reader is formatted in the same way.
Lesson Plans
Check out the great lesson plans we have to use with the Readers!
Lesson Plan – What Is a Scientist? Lesson Map (Reader Strategies Series)
Lesson Plan – Elements of Nonfiction Lesson Map (Reader Strategies Series)
Lesson Plan – Fiction and Nonfiction Lesson Map (Reader Strategies Series)
Lesson Plan – Reader BINGO
Video Read-Alongs and Audio Books
Also check out one of the newest features for our youngest learners! The video includes read-along text that boldfaces as the narrator reads. A helpful guide introduces new words that are highlighted in yellow. These videos are also available in an audio book format – perfect for listening centers!
Meet Smokey Bear’s Team – Video Read-Along
Meet Dr. Hoagland – Video Read-Along
Lessons
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In this lesson, students play bingo while becoming acquainted with sight words from the Natural Inquirer Reader Series. Materials: Natural Inquirer Reader Series (choose one Reader for each day you...
Lesson Plan – Reader BINGO
In this lesson, students play bingo while becoming acquainted with sight words from the Natural Inquirer Reader Series. Materials: Natural Inquirer Reader Series (choose one Reader for each day you... -
In this lesson plan, you will use the visual thinking strategy to elicit prior knowledge from students before reading a Natural Inquirer Reader. After reading the article, you will use...Lesson Plan – Visual Thinking Strategy and Picture Description Strategy
In this lesson plan, you will use the visual thinking strategy to elicit prior knowledge from students before reading a Natural Inquirer Reader. After reading the article, you will use... -
Use the “Take Two” strategy to encourage students to share their personal experiences and outside knowledge regarding topics presented in the text. This lesson plan can be used with any...Lesson Plan – Take Two
Use the “Take Two” strategy to encourage students to share their personal experiences and outside knowledge regarding topics presented in the text. This lesson plan can be used with any... -
Get students moving and listening closely by using “pop ups.” Assign students words from a text, and as you read, students “pop up” (jump out of their seat, then sit...Lesson Plan – Pop ups
Get students moving and listening closely by using “pop ups.” Assign students words from a text, and as you read, students “pop up” (jump out of their seat, then sit... -
Use the Observations-Wonderings-Learnings (OWL) graphic organizer to connect students to a topic and draw out prior knowledge and questions for future exploration. This lesson plan can be used with any...Lesson Plan – OWL
Use the Observations-Wonderings-Learnings (OWL) graphic organizer to connect students to a topic and draw out prior knowledge and questions for future exploration. This lesson plan can be used with any... -
Gauge students’ prior knowledge and knowledge gain by doing true/false questions before and after a Reader. Materials: A Natural Inquirer Reader The anticipation guide that corresponds to your chosen Reader...Lesson Plan – Anticipation Guide
Gauge students’ prior knowledge and knowledge gain by doing true/false questions before and after a Reader. Materials: A Natural Inquirer Reader The anticipation guide that corresponds to your chosen Reader...