lizards, frogs, and polliwogs

This book takes an offbeat subject like lizards and makes the subject fun and entertaining, while it also informs. Very much like Jim Cherry's book, Loco for Lizards, a laugh-out-loud funny book that packs an amazing wealth of information in at the same time. Highly recommended!

This is a collection of funny poems, each having to do with different reptiles, such as the tortoise, gecko, crocodile, iguna and cobra. This is another book that could be utilized for k-3 students.
* To be used in k-3 classroom, read aloud, vocabulary. ( )

Share these poems (maybe one or more a day) during a unit of reptiles and amphibians. They would present a good change of pace for kids who may get bogged down with research or learning a lot of factual information.

If students are researching a certain animal, have them create a poem, like Florian's, to demonstrate something they have learned about the animals.

These poems just beg to be read out loud. Students could choose a poem to practice and then read for the class. This would be good practice in public speaking and fluency. Plus, the kids could figure out different voice styles they could use for the different animals (croaking for the frog, slow for the tortoise, slithery for the snakes, etc.)

Recommend this book to a student who is interested in reptiles and amphibians but may not want a text-heavy informational book. Recommend to a student who likes poetry but has mostly been exposed to the more silly poetry of Silverstein and Prelutsky. ( )

http://www.rif.org/art/illustrators/florian.mspx Tells about the illustrator of these poems. This book is an awesome way to introduce a unit on reptiles. All the poetry in this book talks about amphibians in very descriptive ways and is excellent to get children tuned into reading or writing poetry. ( )

This is a collection of 21 poems all about reptiles and amphibians, such as the bullfrog, newt, gecko, cobra, and iguana. It is a great mix of humor and nonfiction accompanied by creative and unique paintings.What can I say? I liked Insectlopedia so much that when I saw this one on the shelf I had to pick it up too. I like Insectlopedia better, but I can’t put my finger on why. Again, Florian uses a variety of types of poems and invented words. My favorite word was ‘toadally’ because I’ve used that one before in a display. I liked best the two concrete poems, one about a cobra and one about a gecko. I also enjoyed the way the letters were written in ‘The Polliwogs’ – they match the movement of the animals described. I love that creativity! These two books are must-haves for any elementary science teachers. They would be a great way to integrate the language arts into science, or science into language arts! ( )