My First Day A RIF GUIDE FOR COMMUNITY COORDINATORS
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My First Day
A RIF GUIDE FOR COMMUNITY COORDINATORS
Themes: Animals, Growth and Development, Authors and
Families Illustrators:
Book Brief: How do newborn animals spend their Steve Jenkins
first day on the planet? Read to and Robin Page
find out!
TIME TO READ!
Before reading: Have any of the children ever been around newborns or very young
babies? How good are babies at taking care of themselves? Explain that some animals
can live on their own right away, but some animals rely on their families to take care
of them while they grow up.
RELATED ACTIVITIES
OTTER NONSENSE Make your own cut-paper picture! Cut out pieces of
(AGES 5-12) construction paper and glue them onto white paper
in the shape of an animal. Use more paper to give
Materials: paper, markers or crayons
your animal a face. Color in the background with
Watch this video about an otter mom who finds a crayons or markers.
creative way to take care of her pup: www.youtube.
com/watch?v=o0OyhHeelyo. Baby otters can float MY FIRST DAY
but not swim, so their moms have to watch them (AGES 5-9)
constantly. Design a playground/water park for baby
otters. What kinds of things do otters like to do? Materials: paper, pencils or
What would keep a pup happy and safe while Mom pens, markers or crayons
is away? Draw your design What was your first day
and share it with the group. of school like? What about
your first day in a new
CUT-PAPER CRITTERS city? Your first day as a
(AGES 5-12) big brother or sister? Write
a story or draw a picture or
Materials: construction
comic strip about a first day
paper, white paper,
you’ve experienced. What
scissors, glue, crayons
happened? Were you afraid?
or markers
Happy? Display your story
The illustrations in this or picture on a wall or bulletin board.
book are cut-paper.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
OTHER BOOKS BY THESE AUTHORS
Sisters and Brothers (2012)
Time to Sleep (2011)
What Do You Do with a Tail like This? (2008)
My First Day
A RIF GUIDE FOR EDUCATORS
Themes: Animals, Growth and Development, Authors and
Families Illustrators:
Book Brief: How do newborn animals spend their Steve Jenkins and
first day on the planet? Read to Robin Page
find out! Content Connections:
Science, Social Studies, Health
TIME TO READ!
BEFORE WE READ, Prior Knowledge: Do any of the students have
LET’S LOOK AT… younger siblings? Do they remember their siblings’
first days? How much does a newborn human rely
The Cover: Have students on its parents? Explain that some animals can take
make predictions about the care of themselves right away, but other animals—
book based on the cover. like humans—need a lot more help from their
What animal is in the picture? What does the subtitle families.
mean? Is this book fiction or nonfiction?
Vocabulary: hatched, trotted, herd, underbrush
The Pictures: Flip through the pictures. Do students
see any animals they recognize? What do most of Purpose for Reading: As we read, make
the pictures have in common? With whom are the comparisons. What do the different
animals? animals have in common?
WHILE WE READ
MONITORING COMPREHENSION u Where does
it live?
For each animal, ask:
u Does it need help
u What kind of animal is this? from its parents?
u Is it born or hatched from an egg?
LET’S THINK ABOUT
Our Purpose: Which animals need the most help from their parents? What do
those animals all have in common? Which animals need the least help?
Extending Our Thinking: Make a chart on the board showing all the different
classifications of animals in the book (e.g., mammal, bird, amphibian, etc.). Do the
animals in each class spend the same amount of time with their parents? What
other groupings or categories can students think of to explain why some animals
need more help than others? Why would some animals need to be self-sufficient
almost immediately?
NOTE TO EDUCATORS
u Extension Activities for Educators also available.
u Vocabulary Scaffolding Sheet also available.
My First Day
A RIF GUIDE FOR PARENTS AND FAMILIES
Themes: Animals, Growth and Development, Authors and
Families Illustrators:
Book Brief: How do newborn animals spend their Steve Jenkins
first day on the planet? Read to and Robin Page
find out!
TIME TO READ!
Before reading, build Which one needed more help from its parents?
background: Tell your child
After reading, ask questions:
about the day they were
born, or about a different u Which baby animal needed the most help from
first day you’ve shared its parents?
together. u Which animal needed the least help?
While reading, make connections: Has your child u How did the parents help?
ever seen a baby animal? What about a baby human? u Which animals live near you?
RELATED ACTIVITIES
A FROG IN YOUR THROAT A ZEBRA BY ITS STRIPES
Ingredients: green apple, green grapes, toothpicks Materials: paper, paint, pencil,
popsicle sticks, scissors
Cut a green apple into thick wedges. Cut a thin slice
lengthwise into the peel of one apple wedge to make A mother zebra can recognize
the frog’s mouth. Lay the wedge flat on its side. Cut her baby by its stripes. Make
a grape in half widthwise. Using toothpicks, attach a zebra with its own unique
the grape halves to the flat top of the wedge to make pattern! Draw or trace the
the frog’s eyes. Yum! outline of a zebra on paper.
Dip one long, skinny edge of the
CUT-PAPER CRITTERS popsicle stick in paint and press it
onto the zebra to make a stripe.
Materials: construction paper, white paper, scissors, Repeat. Use different colors,
glue, crayons or markers if desired. Cut out your zebra.
The illustrations in this book are cut-paper. Make
your own cut-paper picture! Cut out pieces of TECHNOLOGY LINK
construction paper and glue them onto white paper
Watch this video about an otter mom who finds a
in the shape of an animal. Use more paper to give
creative way to take care of her pup: www.youtube.
your animal a face. Color in the background with
com/watch?v=o0OyhHeelyo.
crayons or markers.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
OTHER BOOKS BY THESE AUTHORS
Sisters and Brothers (2012)
Time to Sleep (2011)
What Do You Do with a Tail like This? (2008)
My First Day
A RIF VOCABULARY SCAFFOLD
blend in: to look the
same as the things
around you
piggyback: riding
doze: to sleep; to
on someone’s back
take a short nap
or shoulders
drift: to move snuggle: to sit or lie
slowly through close to someone or
the air or water something; to cuddle
speckled: dotted;
heap: a pile; a bunch spotted; covered
of something in bits or spots of
different colors
memorize: to trot: to walk like a
learn; to know; horse; to run slowly
to remember and steadily
paddle: to swim; to
move through water
using your hands,
feet, or a special stick
My First Day
RIF EXTENSION ACTIVITIES FOR EDUCATORS
STEAM-THEMED: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math
SCIENCE, ART ENGINEERING,
BLENDING IN SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY, ART
Materials: paper, markers or crayons
OTTER NONSENSE
Several animals in this book use camouflage to blend
in with their habitats. Research to find 3-5 animals Materials: paper, markers or crayons
that use camouflage. Watch this video about an otter mom who finds a
Draw a picture of each creative way to take care of her pup: www.youtube.
animal blending into com/watch?v=o0OyhHeelyo. Baby otters can float
its surroundings. but not swim, so their moms have to watch them
Label each picture constantly. Design a play area/water park for baby
with the name of the otters. What habitat does an otter need? What kinds
animal and where it of things do otters like to do? What would keep a pup
lives. happy and safe while Mom is away? Draw your design
and share it with the class.
SCIENCE,
TECHNOLOGY ART
WHAT A STINKER CUT-PAPER CRITTERS
Parent bugs protect their Materials: construction paper, white paper, scissors,
babies by giving off a nasty glue, crayons or markers
smell to scare away attackers. What other bugs use
The illustrations in this
chemical defenses? Research to find 3-5 examples.
book are cut-paper. Have
Share your findings in a PowerPoint. For each bug,
students make their own
give its name, a picture, and a description of how it
cut-paper pictures. They
protects itself from other animals.
should cut out pieces of
construction paper and
TECHNOLOGY glue them onto white
CRITTER CAMS paper in the shape of
an animal. Let them
Watch baby animals live! Check out the kitten cam use more paper to
(http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/too-cute/ give the animal a face,
games-more/kitten-cam.htm) and the puppy cam then color in the background
(www.apl.tv/puppies.htm). How do kittens and with crayons or markers.
puppies spend their first days? Make a chart to
compare the
two. MATH
FIRST DAY MATH
There are 24 hours in a day. Pick one of the animals
in the book and make a timeline of its first day, hour
by hour. What does the animal do? Sleep? Eat? Play?
After you’ve drawn your timeline, make a pie graph to
show how many hours your animal
spends doing each activity.
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