Zoo Keeper Field Notes Teacher Guide
Zoo Keeper Field Notes
Lesson Facilitation Guide
35 Minutes
Grades Pre-K – 1
Lesson Objective
Students will be able to identify an animal and describe one physical feature using descriptive words (adjectives).
Required Materials
- Zoo Explorer Slides
- Zoo Artist Drawing Sheets
- Zoo Talk Anchor Chart
- Crayons, Markers, or Colored Pencils
Key Vocabulary
Trunk Feature Descriptive Really Long
Instructional Steps
1
Animal Warm-Up (5 min)
Invite students to sit in a circle. Ask each student to name their favorite animal and one "special thing" about it.
Prompt: "I like giraffes because they have long necks. What animal do you like? What makes it special?"
2
"Me at the Zoo" Viewing (5 min)
Introduce Jawed, the man in the video. Explain this was the first video ever on YouTube! Watch the clip (19 seconds).
Check for Understanding
- "What animal is he looking at?"
- "What body part does he say is really long?"
Discussion Point
"Why do you think he calls the trunk 'cool'?"
3
My Zoo Video Drawing (15 min)
Distribute the Zoo Artist Drawing Sheets. Students draw themselves at the zoo standing next to an animal of their choice.
Presentation Phase:
Model how to use the Zoo Talk Anchor Chart. Students stand and "present" their drawing as if they are recording a zoo video.
"Here I am with the [Animal]. The cool thing is they have [Adjective] [Body Part]."
4
Closure & Gallery Walk (10 min)
Tape drawings to the wall or place on desks. Students walk around silently, using their "binoculars" (hands) to spot cool animal features.
Differentiation & Support
Emerging Learners
- Provide animal stickers or precut animal shapes if drawing is a barrier.
- Teacher scribes the sentence frame for the student as they dictate.
- Use visual gesture prompts (e.g., stretching arms for "long").
On-Level Learners
- Encourage students to write the descriptive words independently.
- Peer-share in partners before presenting to the whole class.
- Challenge them to find TWO cool things about their animal.
