Do Foxes Wear Scarves? Lesson Plan

1. Preview the Issue

Provide students with some background on animal adaptations in the winter.

Build background knowledge (10 min.)

Watch our video "Cool Winter Animals.” After children have finished watching the video, discuss the following question:

  • What are some winter animals you learned about?

2. Read the issue.

Set a purpose for reading (5 min.)

  • Pass out the issue, and discuss the cover. Can students tell how foxes keep their faces and bodies warm?
  • Next, read the As You Read prompt on page 2: “Think about how each animal’s body helps it survive in the winter.” Encourage children to think about this prompt as they read.

Read together (20 min.)

Pass out the Read and Think skill sheet. Use it to check comprehension as you read the issue together, pausing to ask the questions. 

Review vocabulary (3 min.)

Next, play the online vocabulary slideshow. This issue’s featured word is adaptation.

Assessment: Reading Quiz 

Pass out the Reading Quiz to review key concepts from the issue and assess students’ proficiency on key nonfiction reading skills.

Shook’s Books

Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner (20 min.)

This book treats readers to the secret kingdom under the snow where the smallest forest animals stay safe and warm. Readers will build background knowledge on the animals featured in this issue, and also peek at voles, bullfrogs, and black bears!

3. Play the online game.

  • As students identify the correct punctuation needed for a sentence in the “Run, Reindeer, Run” game, they help the reindeer run through the snowy forest!

4. Focus on ELA Skills

You can use our printable worksheets to focus on ELA skills. Here’s how.

ELA Focus: Vocabulary (15 min.)

  • Use the Word Work printable to deepen students’ understanding of the term adaptation.

Editor’s Pick: Writing (15 min.)

  • Students can imagine replacing a tool in their life with a cool adaptation like the animals in this issue! They will write and illustrate their idea with the If I Had an Adaptation . . . skill sheet!

ELA Focus: Main Idea and Details (15 min.)

  • The Main Idea and Details skill sheet provides organization for students to review each portion of the issue and recall key concepts.

From the Archive

 Here are two past issues you can use to extend your lesson on animal adaptations in the winter:

  • “One Cool Cat,” January 2023. Students will examine how a snow leopard’s body helps it survive in the snowy mountains.
  • “World’s Coolest Bears,” January 2021. This issue identifies five distinctive characteristics of polar bears.

Differentiation Station

You can find a higher-Lexile-level and a lower-Lexile-level version of the article online here:

  • Higher Lexile level: 600L
  • Lower Lexile level: 460L