Animals, Animals by Eric Carle

In the next three lesson plans, I will be talking about some books I recently purchased for my classroom. One of the books I received in my order was Animals, Animals by Eric Carle.

This book is appropriate for the preschool age and has language that is repetitive with easy vocabulary words (ex: “There is only one horse on all the earth and his name is All Horses. There is only one bird in the air and his name is All Wings…”). Children in my classroom enjoy repetitive books so that they can read along with me.   


I would use this book in the classroom when teaching a thematic unit on poetry. Children could learn about specific types of poetry (i.e. haikus) one-by-one, eventually leading to the reading of Eric Carle’s Animals, Animals that has an array of several different types of poetry. Children could act out animals from the book and discuss what they know about each animal. Each week the teacher can focus on a specific type of poetry, like the types in Eric Carle’s Animals, Animals. After introducing specific types of poetry and the reading of Eric Carle’s Animals, Animals, children can create their own poetry book by illustrating pictures for the poems we read in class and discuss their favorite animal from the poems.


Teaching a lesson such as the one above meets the following standards:

• RL.PK.9 I can make connections between a story or poem and my own experiences
• RL.PK.3 I can act out characters and events from a story or poem read aloud
• RL.PK.1 I can ask and answer questions about a story or poem
• RL. PK. 10 I can listen actively as an individual and as a member of a group to literature that is read aloud