Are you in need of several children’s books to round out a Pre-K lesson plan on snakes? Have you already found a few titles that are to your liking? If not, you may want to rundown my list. Based on my experience, each tome on it has classroom value. Here’s the list:
When it comes to starting the lesson and giving the kids an overview of the reptiles, there are three books that I would recommend reading. They are Melissa Stewart’s “National Geographic Readers: Snakes!”, Christiane Gunzi’s “The Best Book of Snakes” and Nic Bishop’s “Snakes.” All three books contain basic information about the creatures as well as stunning photographs. However, Gunzi’s is the most comprehensive of the three and may be broken down into manageable segments.
“Hide and Snake”
If you want a cute book to introduce an art segment or a rudimentary discussion about camouflage, I’d suggest reading Keith Baker’s “Hide and Snake.” It is short on information but long on great illustrations that show a snake blending in with various objects.
It could feasibly be paired with Janell Cannon’s book “Verdi.” Its storyline focuses on a fictional, juvenile python that is in the process of changing its color. Thus, it does contain references to moments in a snake’s life cycle. The book’s title is also the Spanish word for green (verde). Therefore, you could work a bit of language arts into the art lesson plan as well by teaching the children to recognize colors in both Spanish and English.
Keeping with the bilingual snake theme, you may want to read Ann Whitford Paul’s book “Count on Culebra: Go from 1 to 10 in Spanish.” It is designed to reinforce a child’s ability to count in both English and Spanish. There are also Spanish animal names used in the book that could be factored into the children’s vocabulary list too.
“Rattlesnake Dance”
Want to incorporate snakes into a musical activity? If so, I’d suggest checking out a copy of Jim Arnosky’s book “Rattlesnake Dance.” Its storyline consists of a song and dance routine. Thus, it may also be used as an action rhyme and a precursor to a dramatic play session. The kids should appreciate the book’s illustrations as well.
If you do decide to read it before a dramatic play session, you may want to think about pairing it with Ann Whitehead Nagda’s book “Snake Charmer.” It should help to add a bit of cultural diversity to your lesson plan.
“The Singing Snake”
Speaking of cultural diversity, you may want to think about throwing a few snake folktales into the mix. There are several different ones to choose from. I’d suggest going with Stefan Czernecki’s “The Singing Snake”, Isaac Olaleye’s “Lake of the Big Snake” and Marguerite Davol’s “The Snake’s Tales.” All three stories are fairly entertaining and feature snakes as one of the main characters.
“Slithery Jake”
Lastly, Rose-Marie Provencher’s book “Slithery Jake” is one book to consider reading just for fun. Its storyline focuses on a boy’s wayward pet snake. I found favor with the flow of the book’s text and the charming illustrations. It would pair well with Randy Siegel’s book “My Snake Blake.” After reading both books, you could start a discussion about what it means to be a responsible snake owner.
