I hope you like Grant the Ant and will enjoy reading it to your students or children. This book was designed to be fun to read while laying a foundation to prepare children for proficiency benchmarks for kindergarten through third grade.
Learning to prepare for proficiency tests (or any learning for that matter) is accomplished through reflecting upon experience (King, 1996). The learning experience could be sitting in a classroom, going on a field trip or listening to a great story. There is a significant body of research seeking to quantify and identify the benefits and teaching methods of experiential learning.
With Grant the Ant, I hope to create an experience that is both fun and useful in the classroom or at home. As the reader of the book, you play an important part in accomplishing this goal by facilitating reflection of the Grant the Ant experience.
First, while reading the book, get creative. The dialogue is written to give the reader the opportunity to use different voices for different characters and for the reader to pause at different points to ask the listeners questions (What would you do? What if? Why?). This can greatly improve the experience for the listeners by getting them actively involved in the story (Leonard, 1990). The photo-illustrations have been designed to stimulate questions and conversation from the listeners. The book is meant to be read over the course of multiple days, as it is likely too lengthy to be read all at once (particularly for very young children). When picking up where the story left off, the listeners have a great opportunity to review the events leading up to the current point in the story.
Additionally, I have designed some experiential learning activities and research questions that encourage further reflection of the book. The activities offer fun ways for children to spend time learning in new surroundings, just like Grant the Ant. These activities encourage parents/teachers to spend time with the children outside of the traditional classroom setting to help prepare them for the proficiency benchmarks they will be expected to achieve as they progress through school. A complete listing of the related experiential learning activities and the proficiency guidelines they address (based on the standards developed by the Ohio Department of Education) is available at www.granttheant.com. (This Web site has not yet been developed, but could include activities listed at the conclusion of the story, or these activities could be included in the book itself).
To get the most out of this book it should be read, re-read, reflected upon and combined with the experiential learning activities. It is my sincere hope that Grant the Ant, when in the proper hands - your hands - will be used in a manner that it can effectively serve as a fun, positive experience, a fond childhood memory and a very powerful learning tool for your students or children.
- Matt Reese
Grant’s Antonyms (Kindergarten-First Grade)
The students and parents/teachers can go through the book and find antonyms (big/little, up/down, east/west, etc). Then they can go to the park or backyard and find examples of those opposites and others. They can also find synonyms throughout the book (tiny/ small, large/humongous).
Complete the rhyme (Kindergarten-First Grade)
After reading the book to them a few times, have the students complete the rhyme in the book and think of other words that could complete the rhyme.
Sun spot (Kindergarten- First Grade)
On a clear day, go outside at sunrise, noon and dusk and take note of the sun’s location (east, west, mid-day). Compare these locations to Grant’s days in the book and discuss how the sun moves.
Scavenger hunt (Kindergarten- First Grade)
Make a poster for both big and little things from the story (tree, bug, ant, barn, grass) for the kids to find with parents/teachers in their backyard or a park. The students should draw a picture of the things they find on a Post-It Note and attach it to the appropriate poster if it is bigger or smaller than they are. Once the items are placed on the poster, the kids can go back through the book to see if these things are bigger or smaller than Grant. They can also use the words in the book to learn to spell the big and little things they found (HOUSE, TREE, BUG, etc).
Scavenger hunt (Second and Third Grade)
Work together with the student to make a list of some of the nouns in the book (stars, bug, tree, ant, grass, worm, barn) that the students have to read and find on a trip to the park or backyard. When they find them, instead of crossing them off the list they have to re-write them next to the original word.
After the scavenger hunt, arrange all the nouns they found on the following scale:
←----------------------------------------------------------→
Tiny Little Mid-sized Big Humongous
Book search (Kindergarten-First Grade)
Identify what is predator, prey, living, non-living and pretend in the photo-illustrations in the book.
Ant math (First Grade-Third Grade)
Figure out how big Grant really is by measuring the height of the student’s pinky toe with a ruler. Talk about how the length is measured in inches. Draw two lines on a piece of paper with the pinky toe height between them (in inches). Then divide this distance into four equal sections. Count out the four sections and discuss how Grant’s approximate height is less than one of the sections, or “one-quarter the size of your pinky toe.”
Once that is done, calculate Grant’s height mathematically. Divide the toe height by four (or multiply by .25) to calculate one-quarter the size of the pinky toe measurement. The following is the mathematical formula for determining Grant’s approximate height: (Pinky toe height) x .25 > Grant’s height.
Timeline (all ages)
Reorganize the following events from left to right so they coincide with the order they occurred in the book:
Grant and Stanly meet Mandy Moth.
Grant meets Stanly.
Grant returns to his ant hill.
Grant sees the blue jay.
Grant leaves his ant hill.
Grant hears the toad.
Grant and Stanly meet Wanda Worm.
Habitat search (all ages)
Identify some of the different habitats in the book (tree, worm burrow under ground, ant hill, grass) and the animals that live there. Then go to a natural setting and try to find the habitats and the animals that live in them.
Research question development (Second - Third grade)
Re-read the text and develop more research questions.
The following Research Questions are derived from “Big and Little” and can be answered by using encyclopedias, the Internet or other reference materials. These are for the second or third grade age level and require teacher/parent assistance. The student should present the findings in a written report and/or an oral presentation.
1. In “The First Night” Grant watched the stars but there was no moon. Why is that? What will the moon be on the second night in the book?
2. In “The First Night” Grant saved the life of Stanly Stinkbug, or at least he thought he did. Toads are predators, but do they eat ants and stinkbugs? Did Grant really save Stanly’s life?
3. The photo with the stars in “The First Night” was taken by leaving the camera shutter open all night. Why do the stars appear in a circular pattern?
4. Identify three creatures in the book that go through specific developmental stages in their lives? Here’s a hint: One creature is a predator, three are potential prey.
How do at least two of those creatures change throughout their lives?
5. The blue jay considered Mandy Moth and Stanly Stinkbug a “take-home dinner” but not Grant. Why is that?
6. Is it realistic for Wanda Worm’s underground tunnel to travel horizontal (length-wise) through the grassy area to the base of the cherry tree? Why or why not?
Bibliography
King, K. V. (1996). The role of adventure in the experiential learning process. The Journal of Experiential Education, 19 (1), 4-7.
Leonard, L. S. (1990). Storytelling as experiential education. The Journal of Experiential Education, 13 (2), 12-17.
Ohio Department of Education Office of Curriculum and Instruction
Academic Content Standards K-12 Science
Academic Content Standards K-12 English Language Arts
Academic Content Standards K-12 Math
Academic Content Standards K-12 Social Studies
www.ode.state.oh.us/ca/ci/
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