K-2 Resources for Teachers - Manny the Mastodon

Science

Science Picture Identification Worksheet (Kindergarten)
- Description: Students will be provided a worksheet in which they will be given photos of scientific events/terms discussed in the My Friend Manny text and will be asked to label said pictures with a provided word bank.
Scientific Terms Wordsearch and Crossword (First and Second Grade)
- Description: Students will be provided a word search in which they will be tasked with finding key vocabulary words found in the My Friend Manny text, as well as other key vocabulary words found in relation to the Ice Age, the geological sciences, and other scientific processes such as fossilization. After finding these words, students will be asked to identify their matching definitions through a crossword on the back of the page.

NJ State Curriculum and Learning Standards for Science

For kindergartens: When completing this activity accordingly, it will help students meet the following NJ State Curriculum and Learning Standards for Science:
- LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
  - All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow. (K-LS1-1)
- ESS2.D: Weather and Climate
  - Weather is the combination of sunlight, wind, snow or rain, and temperature in a particular region at a particular time. People measure these conditions to describe and record the weather and to notice patterns over time. (K-ESS2-1)
- ESS3.A: Natural Resources
- Living things need water, air, and resources from the land, and they live in places that provide them. Humans use natural resources for everything they do. (K-ESS3-1)

For first graders: When completing this activity accordingly, it will help students meet the following NJ State Curriculum and Learning Standards for Science:
- Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
  - Constructing explanations and designing solutions in K–2 builds on prior experiences and progresses to the use of evidence and ideas in constructing evidence-based accounts of natural phenomena and designing solutions.
    - Make observations (firsthand or from media) to construct an evidence-based account for natural phenomena. (1-PS4-2)
- LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms
  - Adult plants and animals can have young. In many kinds of animals, parents and the offspring themselves engage in behaviors that help the offspring to survive. (1-LS1-2)
- LS1.D: Information Processing
  - Animals have body parts that capture and convey different kinds of information needed for growth and survival. Animals respond to these inputs with behaviors that help them survive. Plants also respond to some external inputs. (1-LS1-1)
- LS3.A: Inheritance of Traits
  - Young animals are very much, but not exactly like, their parents. Plants also are very much, but not exactly, like their parents. (1-LS3-1)
For second graders: When completing this activity accordingly, it will help students meet the following NJ State Curriculum and Learning Standards for Science:
- LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans
  - There are many different kinds of living things in any area, and they exist in different places on land and in water. (2-LS4-1)
- ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth
  - Some events happen very quickly; others occur very slowly, over a time period much longer than one can observe. (2-ESS1-1)
- ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
  - Water is found in the ocean, rivers, lakes, and ponds. Water exists as solid ice and in liquid form. (2-ESS2-3)

Reading

Character Identification Worksheet (Kindergarten)
- Description: Students will be provided with a worksheet featuring images of notable characters from the My Friend Manny book.
Storyboard Worksheet (1st and 2nd Grade)
- Description: After reading the book My Friend Manny, have students complete the following worksheet to explore their comprehension of the story and introduce them to storyboarding elements.
  - This activity can also be paired with the attached book review sheet, which is meant to gauge children’s comprehension, memory, and enjoyment of the story.

NJ State Curriculum and Learning Standards for English Language Arts

When completing this activity accordingly, it will help students meet the following NJ State Curriculum and Learning Standards for English Language Arts:

RL.CR.K.1. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a literary text (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
RI.CR.K.1. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in an informational text (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
RL.CI.K.2. With prompting and support, identify the central message and retell familiar literary texts, including key details (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
RI.CI.K.2. With prompting and support, identify the main topic and key details of an informational text (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
RL.IT.K.3. With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.
RI.IT.K.3. With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

For first-grade students, ensure they complete the storyboard with complete ideas and aim for them to use full sentences that thoroughly exemplify their understanding of the text and indicate and understand the process of a story. When completing this activity accordingly, it will help students meet the following NJ State Curriculum and Learning Standards for English Language Arts:
- L.RF.1.4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
- RL.CR.1.1. Ask and answer questions about key details in a literary text (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
- RI.CR.1.1. Ask and answer questions about key details in an informational text (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
- RL.CI.1.2. Determine central message and retell a sequence of events in literary texts (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
- Describe characters, settings, and major event(s) in a story, using key details.
- RI.IT.1.3. Describe relationships among pieces of information (e.g., sequence of events, steps in a process, cause-effect and compare-contrast relationships) within a text.
For second-grade students, ensure they fill out the storyboard in full sentences and describe each aspect of the storyboard to a point that demonstrates understanding of both the text and the terminology of a story’s layout. When completing this activity accordingly, it will help students meet the following NJ State Curriculum and Learning Standards for English Language Arts:
- L.RF.2.4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension
- L.WF.2.3. Demonstrate command and use of the conventions of writing including those listed under grade one foundational skills
- RL.CR.2.1. Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of key details in a literary text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.
- RL.CI.2.2. Recount a text in oral and written form and determine central message (in literary texts, e.g. fables and folktales from diverse cultures) .
- RI.CI.2.2. Recount a text in oral and written form and determine main topic (in multi-paragraph informational text, focusing on specific paragraphs).
- RL.IT.2.3. Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges using key details within a text.
- RI.IT.2.3. Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in a sequence within a text.
- RL.TS.2.4. Describe the overall structure of a text, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action, identifying how each successive part builds on earlier sections.

Manny Arts & Crafts

Visit our collection of mastodon-themed activities here.