I read Jan Brett's "Town Mouse Country Mouse" and held a class discussion on the theme of the book and the traits of the characters that suited them to where they lived and why they couldn't live somewhere else. The students shared where they would like to live and why. We then took at look at things that can be found in both places and things that are unique to each locale. We practiced doing Venn diagrams with the things found in the city or country. For the students' simple Kidspiration 2 project I asked them to sort animals into city or country super groupers. Some animals could go in both. I used this activity as a "sneak preview" for a unit coming up in the spring on habitats and animal life cycles.

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California State Standards:

English/Language Arts

3.0 Literary Response and Analysis Students read and respond to a wide variety of significant works of children's literature. They distinguish between the structural features of the text and the literary terms or elements (e.g., theme, plot, setting, characters). The selections in Recommended Literature, Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve illustrate the quality and complexity of the materials to be read by students.

Narrative Analysis of Grade-Level-Appropriate Text 3.1 Identify and describe the elements of plot, setting, and character(s) in a story, as well as the story's beginning, middle, and ending. 3.2 Describe the roles of authors and illustrators and their contributions to print materials. 3.3 Recollect, talk, and write about books read during the school year.

Science/Life Sciences

Plants and animals meet their needs in different ways. As a basis for understanding this concept: Students know different plants and animals inhabit different kinds of environments and have external features that help them thrive in different kinds of places.