Text Set

Virginia Science,3rd
grade
Theme: Life Processes

SOLs addressed:
SOL 3.4 The student will investigate and understand that adaptations
allow animals to satisfy life needs and respond to the environment. Key
concepts include
a. behavioral adaptations; and
b. physical adaptations

Objective: To provide students with linguistic and nonlinguistic materials that encourage
deeper discovery of adaptations animals must have to survive in different environments.
Students will be able to identify whether an adaptation is behavioral or physical.

Below Grade Level Texts (1st and 2nd Grade Level):

Wallace, K. (2000). A bed for the winter. Dorling Kindersley Pub.

This nonfiction book helps the reader understand hibernation through the adventure of a
dormouse in search of a home for the winter. Through the frantic search for a home, the
author introduces the reader to several animals and where they hibernate. The author
takes it a step further to show the reader what those animals do while hibernating in the
winter. Vocabulary words are written in boxes outside of the text and accompanied with
a picture to visualize the terms meaning. Written on a second-grade reading level (470
Lexile), this text would be great for on-grade level students to read independently to
further their understanding of hibernation.

Perdew, L. (2020). Stink fights, earwax, and other marvelous mammal adaptations.
Nomad Press.

This informational book, written on a second-grade reading level, contains facts about
uncommon animal adaptations. The author captures the attention of the reader through
humor, eye-catching illustrations, and engaging introduction questions. The book is
accompanied with back matter, a glossary, and a hands-on project to encourage deeper
discovery. This book is very entertaining which would make it perfect for an independent
reading for students on-grade level.

Evans, S. (2018). Animal homes. National Geographic Kids.

Written on a second grade reading level (130 Lexile), this nonfiction book details the
homes of various animals through the use of vocabulary trees, photographs, humorous
informational jokes, and much more. National Geographic has determined the perfect
formula for informational books that keep the reader engaged and searching for deeper
discovery. This book would be great of a student that is reading below grade level or
has a reading disability such as dyslexia.
Bancroft, H., & Van Gelder, R. G. (1996). Animals in winter. HarperCollins.

This nonfiction book, written on a 480 Lexile, details the various ways animals survive in
the cold weather including hibernation and migration. Beautiful illustrations support the
information detailed within the pages. The author encourages deeper discovery by
providing different ideas for feeding animals during the winter. Within the classroom, this
book could be used as an independent note taking read with students on-grade level.

On Grade Level Texts (3rd grade):

National Geographic. (2022). Mammals. National Geographic Kids.

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals

This website allows for students to research the different animals and their adaptations.
It provides facts about every aspect of that animal’s life including communication, diet,
location, habitats, etc. This would be excellent for independent read with on grade level
students. This website encourages deeper discovery as the students can click multiple
links to learn about the different animals. The photographs, videos, and games
accompany the information about each animal to encourage higher level thinking.

Jenkins, S., & Page, R. (2003). What do you do with a tail like this? Houghton Mifflin
Company Boston.

This nonfiction book uses its award-winning dynamic art to explain the fascinating facts
of why animals use their nose, ears, tails, eyes, mouth, and feet. The book is also
written as an interactive guessing book where readers predict the animal that is
associated with specific features and their purposes. This book is written at a 510 Lexile
level and is accompanied by an extend your knowledge section for reader to dive
deeper into the adaptations of various animals. This book would be a great read aloud
to introduction students to the physical adaptations of animals.

Jenkins, S., & Page, R. (2014). Creature features: 25 Animals explain why they look the
way they do. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Written at a 650 Lexile, this engaging non-fiction book details how animals use their
unusual face features in a Q&A format. These unusual features are ones that aren’t the
ones that typically are addressed with the standards for third grade. The author
personifies animals as they explain their adaptations to the reader and emphasizes their
features with a closeup portrait. The author also appeals to the humor of the reader by
having the animals tell jokes within their explanation of their adaptation. The book
concludes with a diagram that maps where each animal’s habitat is located and their
diet.

Marsh, L. F. (2018). Animal armor. National Geographic.

This nonfiction book, written at a 520 Lexile, would be an adequate for a third grader to
read independently and gain an understanding of different physical adaptations animals
must have to help them survive. In addition to various useful text features, this book
provides factual jokes and activities to capture the attention of the reader and
encourage future interest.

Amstutz, L. J. (2011). Polar animal adaptations. Capstone.

This informative trade book, written at a 740 Lexile, details the adaptations animals who
live in the artic area use to help them survive. This book encourages higher level
thinking and deeper discovery through suggested follow up readings in the form of
books and website. The author supports the information with clear photographs. This
would be a great text to read aloud when introducing the different environments of
which an animal much adapt to to survive.

Above Grade Level (4th to 6th grade):

Stewart, M. (2021). Summertime sleepers: Animals that estivate. Charlesbridge.

This trade book exposes the readers to estivate, which is the form of hibernation in the
summer. Written on an 820 Lexile, fifth grade reading level, the author compares
animals that hibernation with animals that estivate. This book has beautifully hand
drawn stretches to elaborate on the facts given within the pages. The book concludes
with additional resources the reader can refer to for further exploring or understanding.

Kalman, B., & Crossingham, J. (2001). What are camouflage and mimicry? Crabtree
Publishing Company.

This nonfiction book extends the readers knowledge on the differences between
camouflage and mimicry. The author incorporated multiple text features to expand on
the information given within the pages. Written on a fifth grade reading level (930
Lexile), this book would be beneficial for students to explode in small sections.

Kalman, B. (2000). How do animals adapt? Crabtree Publishing Company.

Written on a fifth grade reading level (940 Lexile), this nonfiction book has easy-to-
understand explanations of different animal adaptations. The author accompanies the
information with exciting, colorful photographs, clearly labeled diagrams, and a glossary
to support comprehension of vocabulary. This nonfiction book would be beneficial to
students in small sections or utilized as a reference book for research.

Markle, S. (2016). What if you had animal ears? Scholastic, Incorporated.

This imaginative book, written on a fourth grade reading level, is one in a series of What
If You Had books. With a combination of captivating illustrations and real word
photographs, the author has the reader imagine having the ears of various animals to
explore how they help that species survive. The author helps the reader make a
connection to themselves by discussing the importance of their own ears. At a 630
Lexile level, this book has vocabulary that would be appropriate for upper elementary
grades without the length of a normal nonfiction book, making it a great book for a real
aloud in the third grade classroom.

Clare, J. (1995). The badger. Interesting Literature.

https://interestingliterature.com/2018/12/the-badger-a-poem-by-john-clare/

Well-known poetic John Clare writes this poem to detail the life of a badger who is
caught after being hunted. The author uses rhyming couplets to describe the
appearance and habitat of the badger. The Raygor graph estimates this readability of
this poem as sixth grade. This poem would be an excellent addition to an adaptation
lesson if used as a read aloud. The poetic explains the adaptations of a badger through
a narrative that captures the attention of the reader as the story unfolds.

International Masters Publishers, Incorporated. (1998). Wildlife explorer. International

Masters Publishers, Incorporated.

This trade book would be beneficial for research on adaptations. This book is packed
with a variety of animal life information. Each page focus on one animal’s details such
as diet, habitat, adaptations, location, etc. Reptiles, sea life, mammals, and birds are
just a few species from the animal kingdom discussed within this book. For lower
elementary grades, this would be used in small part with scaffolding.

Other Media:

Learn Bright. (2020, September 29). Animal adaptations for kids. Learn about physical,
life cycle, and behavioral adaptations of animals [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2MibjJgyjs

This video details the multiples ways that animals adapt to their environment including
migration, hibernation, body structure, changing colors, etc. The video provides
examples for physical, behavioral, and life-cycle adaptations. This video would help
students make connections between animal adaptations and the ways that humans
adapt to their environment. Social justice critical practices are present from the start of
this video with picture of different ethnic backgrounds and mentions of different cultural
regions that humans must adapt to. This would be great at the beginning of the unit on
adaptations as an introduction.

Flocabulary. (2022). Adaptation [Video]. Flocabulary by nearpod.

https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/adaptation/

Flocabulary is an excellent website to search for content-based video. This video on

adaptions is well thought out with engaging real-time video, upbeat music, and a simple
to understand approach. This would be a video that the students could watch multiple
times throughout the unit on adaptations and never lose interest. It not only details the
adaptations of animals but also plants. This video would be great for grades first
through fifth at the primary level.