Animal-a-Day

Every once in a while you stumble upon a blog that you absolutely adore and want to share with the world, and this is one of those!  Each day another adorable, fascinating, or outright strange critter is given the spotlight on “Animal-a-Day”.  Ranging from cute and cuddly to scary and slimy, “Animal-a-Day” has something for everyone and shows just how diverse the animal kingdom can be.

There is much, much more than just pictures of animals here, you will learn in each entry facts including the scientific names of the creature, its full classification, information about its habitat, its status on the endangered species list, and other fascinating tidbits.

How could you use a daily animal blog like this in your class?  Here are some quick ideas:

• In a science class: get ideas for animals to study for a more involved research project or use each creature or several in learning taxonomy.

• In an English or reading class: use this as a writing prompt for students to write descriptive paragraphs about the animal, or creatively discuss how it might survive in its habitat.

• In an art class: have students try to reproduce one of the animals featured in a specific style.

• In a social studies class: choose those animals that are endangered or extinct and have students create debate arguments or posters promoting various ways to help save the animal based on current economic and environmental attitudes.

• In general: use to intro the day to have students learn about nature and the environment, perhaps in homeroom as part of the announcements or a broadcast.

If you like “Animal-a-Day”, remember that you can always subscribe to it through a blog reader, such as Google Reader,  to have your critter delivered right to you each day!  As always, if you have another idea for using a site, or a success story, please let me know!