© 2012 Deborah A. Johnston. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 2/14/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4678-7043-6 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4678-7049-8 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011962050

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Cover illustration by: Kennedy Kirby

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Library of Congress Copyright Registration Number: TXu 1-674-057

Effective date of registration: February 22, 2010

CONTENTS

Hunting Trips in the Classroom

Acknowledgments

Subjects/Skill Sets

Classroom Management Tool

Hunt Steps

Helpful Hints for a Successful Hunt

How to Act Out the Hunts

Blue Mountain (Rainbow) Lorikeets

Blue Mountain (Rainbow) Lorikeets Hunt

Emperor Penguin

Emperor Penguin Hunt

Great White Shark

Great White Shark Hunt

Hammerhead

Hammerhead Hunt

Octopus

Octopus Hunt

African Elephant

African Elephant Hunt

American Bison

American Bison Hunt

Cheetah

Cheetah Hunt

Grizzly Bear

Grizzly Bear Hunt

Koala

Koala Hunt

Polar Bear

Polar Bear Hunt

Siberian Tiger

Siberian Tiger Hunt

Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tyrannosaurus Rex Hunt

Velociraptor

Velociraptor Hunt

King Cobra

King Cobra Hunt

Komodo Dragon

Komodo Dragon Hunt

Appendix – Related State Testing Modules (TEKS Checklist)

Resources

About the Author

Hunting Trips in the Classroom

BY: Deborah A. Johnston

Are you ready to go on a HUNT? I hope so! These hunts are a lot of fun, and they are educational. By spending fifteen to twenty minutes, you and your students will be able to do the following:

1)   Learn about animals, including their descriptions, habitats, predators, diets, and babies.

2)   Learn interesting facts about things, including geographical terrain and climate.

3)   Touch on several subjects and skill sets, such as social studies, literacy, visualization, Bi-Lingual (foreign languages), and more.

4)   Understand how you can apply classroom management to your classroom using the hunts for positive classroom behavior.

5)   See how the Texas state testing module is aligned to the hunts.

There are sixteen hunts ready for your classroom. Enjoy them!

HAPPY HUNTING!

Deborah A. Johnston

Acknowledgments

Putting this teacher manual together was something I truly enjoyed doing. However, it was not done without a lot of encouragement and support. I would like to thank the following people who encouraged me to write this manual in so many ways.

My wonderful family

My husband, Randy: Not only did he support me, but he also came up with the title for this manual.

My children:

  Kara: She was the person who gave me the initial idea of Hunting Trips in the Classroom.

  Rachel: She gave me some great pep talks as I was going through the writing process.

  Matthew: He actually attended some of the hunts and gave me ideas as to what worked and what could be done differently.

My sister Donna: Not only did she support me, but she also helped with my initial editing.

My father, James: His support through this process was very much appreciated.

Other family and friends:

  Jean: She listened, read some of the hunts, and gave me support.

  Cindy: She got very excited, wanted to know more about the weekly hunts, and kept me going.

I also want to include my son-in-law, Jeremy, and my grandchildren Jameson and Brigitte as part of the dedication of this manual.

My wonderful Pecan Creek Elementary coworkers

Marci Kirby: Second-grade inclusion classroom teacher who has been right there from the beginning, encouraging me to practice the initial hunts in her classroom. She also encouraged me not to give up and to follow my dream of sharing these hunts with other teachers and families.

Jacqui Jenkins: Second-grade inclusion classroom teacher who welcomed weekly hunts in her classroom and encouraged me to move forward with my dream.

Jennifer Bautista: Third-grade inclusion classroom teacher who gave me many ideas for hunts and encouraged me to conduct hunts in her classroom.

Emily McLarty: Principal who encouraged me to follow my dream of being published.

Natalie Mead: Assistant principal who spoke to me about publishing books and encouraged me to never give up.

Rebecca Parker: Special education director at the Texas Education Centers who encouraged me to keep on with the dream.

Veronica Montes: Second-grade bilingual teacher who welcomed these hunts in her classroom and followed up with parents in getting permission for their children to be in a video demonstrating these hunts.

Cornelius Anderson: Encouraged me to continue writing this book and gave me the idea to include the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), and edited them for me.

Countless others who have been there, listening and supporting me through this process.

Subjects/Skill Sets

I found the hunts to be a fun way to touch on the following subjects and skill sets within a fifteen- to twenty-minute period:

-   Bilingualism

-   Social studies

-   Science

-   Literacy

-   Speech

-   Visualization

-   Imagination

For the purpose of this manual, I used the TEKS for school year 2010–2011. Updated TEKS can be found at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index.aspx.

Classroom Management Tool

One thing we did for classroom management was require the students to, as a class, earn their invitations to the weekly hunts. The classroom teacher and I did this by giving them opportunities to earn two points each day. For example, if we had a five-day week, then they needed ten points. However, if we had only a four-day week, they needed eight.

We kept tally marks on the white board where all of the students could see the number of points they had at any given time.

Students had to work together and strive for 100 percent positive behavior. If they were asked to transition from their tables to the carpet, they had to do it in a manner that met our expectations. If they were able to do it, they earned a point. If not, they lost a point