Exploring Animals Through Reading, Writing, and Hands-On Learning
Module 3 of HMH Into Reading is always such an exciting one for first graders — and honestly, for me too. There’s something about animal-themed stories and informational texts that immediately pulls students in. This module gives them plenty of opportunities to observe, compare, predict, describe, and wonder. It’s a perfect blend of literacy and science thinking, and my students stay highly engaged from start to finish.
In this post, I’m sharing a few of my favorite activities from the module and how they build important literacy skills while still allowing room for creativity, curiosity, and fun.
🐿️ Ol’ Mama Squirrel: Character Traits & Problem-Solving
“Ol’ Mama Squirrel” is always a student favorite — and it leads to some of the best comprehension discussions of the entire module. Her determination, bravery, and resourcefulness make her the perfect character for exploring traits, problem/solution, and central message.
A few of our favorite activities include:
- A simple character traits chart with evidence from the text
- A problem/solution organizer that helps students track Mama Squirrel’s clever responses
- A comic-style retell, which lets students sequence events with illustrations and speech bubbles
The comic retell is especially powerful because it gives even hesitant writers an accessible, visual entry point. Students love recreating Mama Squirrel’s dramatic squirrel scolding scenes — and I love that they’re sequencing and summarizing without it feeling like a heavy lift.
👀 Eyes & Feet: Comparing Animal Features
Another highlight of Module 3 is exploring animal adaptations, especially through Whose Eye Am I? and Best Foot Forward. These texts naturally lead into activities where students compare how different animals see, move, and survive.
One of the biggest hits every year is when students get to compare an animal’s eyes or feet to their own.
They draw their foot or eye (depending on the text) and complete a comparison.
It’s silly, it’s hands-on, and it helps students build a deeper understanding of function, adaptation, and key details — all while supporting comprehension standards such as comparing information and using illustrations to gather details.
🐦 Thinking Like Scientists: Observing Nests & Birds
Module 3 also includes several texts that invite students to observe the natural world — The Nest, Bluebird and Coyote, and Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? all spark curiosity and close reading.
Simple activities that make a big impact:
- Creating a new story about how an animal got its features
- Writing poems about the birds from the text
- A STEM “Build a Nest” challenge with a reflection page
It’s the perfect blend of literacy, science, and engineering — and students feel like real researchers as they build, test, and reflect.
📚 Standards-Based Learning in Action
One of the things I love most about Module 3 is how students get to show what they know in so many different ways. Even though all activities are aligned to the first-grade Common Core Standards, the learning never feels repetitive or worksheet-heavy. Instead, students are constantly applying skills through projects, class books, observations, and creative thinking.
Some of the ways students demonstrate their understanding include:
- Creating Class Books:
After reading stories like Ol’ Mama Squirrel or Step by Step: Advice from the Animal Kingdom, students turn their writing into class books — sharing animal advice, retelling stories, or teaching facts. This allows them to practice narrative, opinion, and informational writing in an authentic way. - Inventing Their Own Animal Feet:
While exploring Best Foot Forward, students design a new type of animal foot based on the functions they’ve learned (running, digging, climbing, swimming). They draw, label, and write about how their invented foot helps the animal survive — a perfect blend of science, literacy, and creativity. - Hands-On Research Projects:
Students “research” squirrels, birds, and other animals using text features, diagrams, and illustrations. They then share their learning through fact pages, diagrams, or comparisons. It’s a strong application of main topic and details, vocabulary development, and using pictures to gather information. - Creative Retells & Sequencing:
Whether it’s a comic-strip retell of Ol’ Mama Squirrel or a “step-by-step” advice page inspired by Step by Step, students practice sequencing and central message in formats that feel fun and meaningful.
Across the module, students are reading closely, comparing features, analyzing characters, and gathering key details — all while expressing their learning in kid-friendly, hands-on ways.
💡 Wrapping It Up
If you’re teaching Module 3, leaning into the animal theme is such a fun way to keep students excited about reading and writing. These activities encourage observation, comparison, problem-solving, and imaginative thinking — all while helping students build essential comprehension and writing skills.
This module strikes such a nice balance between fiction and nonfiction, giving students a variety of lenses through which to explore the animal world.
🌼 Note for Teachers
These activities were created by a classroom teacher to supplement the HMH Into Reading curriculum and support first-grade standards in engaging, hands-on ways. Please follow your district’s curriculum pacing and instructional guidelines when implementing any supplemental materials.
