Are you planning on teaching your Pre-K students about lemurs this year? Perhaps you are just looking for a new word to incorporate into a letter “L” lesson plan. Either way, you may find the following ideas useful:
Geography
Kick off the lesson plan by showing the children where the lemurs live (Madagascar) onto a map. Then read an excerpt from Mary N. Oluonye’s book “A Ticket to Madagascar.” It contains color photos and information about the area. When you are done reading, give each child a copy of the “Madagascar Coloring Page” available through the Enchanted Learning website.
Science
Next, show the children color photos of an array of different lemurs (i.e. ring-tailed, white-fronted and red ruffed). Explain that the creatures live on Madagascar and point out the animal’s distinguishing, physical characteristics. Then play audio clips of a lemur’s vocalizations. Audio files featuring assorted vocalizations are available on several websites, including Sound Board, BBC, National Geographic and Jungle Walk.
Once that’s done, show the children video clips of lemurs engaging in normal behaviors. Such video clips are available through websites like Arkive and the Honolulu Zoo. Use the videos to launch into a discussion about the lemur’s behaviors, diet, life cycle and place in the food chain.
Afterward, wrap up the science segment by reading Anita Ganeri’s “A Day in the Life: Rain Forest Animals: Lemur” aloud. It contains color photos and basic information that you could use to make your lecture on lemurs more interesting. If you can’t find a copy of the book, Deborah Dennard’s “Lemur Landing” would make a suitable replacement.
Continue the lemur lesson by giving the children a few coloring sheets. There are age appropriate ones available through the Education, Lemur Life and Twisty Noodle websites. You may also want to let the students make lemur puppets.
The Lemur Reserve website contains instructions and a template for making paper puppets as does DLTK Kids. Should you want to let the kids work with felt or foam sheets, I’d suggest visiting the Ideas 4 Kids website instead. It features instructions and a template for making lemur puppets with those materials.
Music
Later, let the children listen to “The Ballad of Lisa the Lemur” song. They could use their puppets to act out parts of it. Just in case you are not familiar with it, the song’s lyrics are posted on the British Council’s Learn English Kids website.
Finish the lesson plan by teaching the children how to write the word “lemur” as well as the upper and lower case letter “L.” Once they learn how to do it, let them practice for awhile. When they are done, you may want to help them write an acrostic poem based on what they learned about the lemurs.
Source: Personal Experience
More from this contributor:
Lemon Themed Goodies for Pre-K Students
Great Books about Hyenas for Pre-K Students
Best 5 Monkey Themed Snacks for Pre-Kindergarteners
Best Way to Make Homemade Craft Paste for Long-Term Storage
