Animal habitats (which animal lives in which environment) is a commonly-covered topic in preschool and kindergarten programs and curricula. A House is a House for Me by Mary Ann Hobermann is a book that uses sing-song repetitive text and fun illustrations to run down an extensive list of animals and objects and the homes they “live” in. The line “A House is a House for Me” is repeated throughout the book, making for a fun predictable reading experience.
Here’s a free animal habitat printable activity to go with A House is a House for Me that I worked on over the weekend:
A House is a House for Me blanks.
This activity goes with the book but can be also be used as a stand-alone. It looks like this:
There are three sheets of fill-in-the-blanks (only one is shown) and one page of cards to cut to use to fill in the blanks. I made these up as PEC boards – laminated all the pages and cut the page of fill-ins. Then opposing Velcro to the empty squares and the cards was applied.
Directions:
Read the text, “A (fill in the blank) is a home for a . . .” and allow your child to pick out the correct animal and place it in the empty square. Remember, if your child has special needs, he may need more time to process the question than typical children. If you give him extra time and he is still struggling, silently point to the correct card and allow him to pick it up and put it in the right spot. This way your child experiences success no matter what is ability level is. Depending on where he is in cognition, you may find it will take a few times of you pointing to the animals before he will be able to select them independently. No worries – give your child as much support as he needs to be successful. Also, don’t forget to say the word on the card once your child has selected it. If your child tolerates repetition, now that the card is in the box, go back and repeat the entire sentence from the beginning. Repetition is so important for our special little ones.
wordsofhisheart 