The end of the calendar year provides a perfect opportunity to have a discussion about time and how to indicate time with language . The Common Core Standards for first grade require that students “use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (e.g., Yesterday I walked home; Today I walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home)”   (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1.E).

Both narrative and informational books allow students to identify various temporal signals in the text. This week, I will focus on using informational texts to familiarize students with time-related words and different tenses.

Arctic Fox ,   part of the   Zoozoo Animal World   Arctic Habitat set, describes the different changes that arctic foxes undergo from season to season. Your students will be intrigued to learn facts about this wintry and majestic animal!

 Before reading:

• As a class, brainstorm a list of words and phrases that indicate time. The words can be specific (one minute, December, two o’clock) or relative (next, yesterday, now). Encourage students to consider different scales of time, from seconds and minutes to months and years.

During reading:

• While reading, emphasize the verb “is” and its present tense. For example, page 3 states that the arctic fox, in the moment captured by the picture, is cold.

After reading:

• Scan the book and add any other time-related words to your list. (Summer, winter)
• Discuss the passage of time in this book.   When is the arctic fox white? When is it gray?
• What season are we in right now?   What color is the arctic fox?   (It is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, so the arctic fox is white.)

Writing activity:

• Have students complete the following sentences to demonstrate their understanding of different verb tenses.
  • Last summer, the arctic fox _______ ( conjugated “to be” verb ) _______ ( adjective ).
  • Now, it is winter. The arctic fox _______ ( v ) ________ ( adj .).
  • Next summer, the arctic fox ___ ___ ( v ) _______ ( adj .) again!
• Using the book as guidance, students can either write about the different colors of the arctic fox or seasonal temperature differences.

As an extended reading activity, read   Brown Bear   from the Mountain Habitat Set. Challenge your students to identify the verb tense used in this book.   Is the verb tense different from the one used in   Arctic Fox ?

With   Zoozoo Animal World , your students can learn about different animals and achieve Common Core Language Standards!   Next Thursday, I'll take a look at using fictional narratives to learn about different verb tenses and the concept of time in books.

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Click the image below to download the FREE   Zoozoo Animal World   Teacher's Guide!