Linking Literature: Owl Moon Grades 1-3

Don't you just LOVE Owl Moon by Jane Yolen? This is one of my favorite books to read to my class. There are so many skills that you can teach from this book and I can't wait to share them with you! I typically read this book in October when we are studying about owls and bats, and it goes perfectly with our genre study of realistic fiction.

Comparing Fiction/Realistic Fiction 
The students compare two different owl stories: one fiction and one realistic fiction. They write down similarities and differences on their Venn Diagram. Then, as a craftivity, students color and cut out an owl and then label the parts of it. This is one of my favorite craftivities.  My students compared Owl Moon with Owly. 

Owl Moon Craftivity

Another fun activity to try in reading is cause and effect and author's purpose. I've created anchor charts for each of these:

Anchor Charts
Both of these activities could be used for a reading interactive notebook activity:

Owl Moon Author's Purpose

Owl Moon Cause and Effect

Another great extension to this book is to teach the owl life cycle. I've created a craftivity to help the students understand how the life cycle works. The students color and cut out their pictures, and then write an expository piece about the owls.

Owl Life Cycle

I've also created vocabulary cards to show the students the different stages of the life cycle.

Life Cycle Vocabulary Cards

You can also integrate science into this book using energy. Ask your students how do owls use energy? How do they use heat? How do they use light? How do they use sound? You'd be amazed at the answers that the students will think of! They can illustrate their energy and write a sentence about each one. 

Science Interactive Notebook

Another way of integrating science is by teaching force and motion: how do owls move? How do they move zig-zag? How do they move up and down? How do they move side to side? What do they push and pull? How do they go fast and slow? By using this fold-able, students can draw or write sentences under the flaps about how the owl moves using this motion. 

Science Interactive Notebook

I hope you got some great ideas about how to incorporate reading, writing and science with Owl Moon! If you are interested in checking out my packet, click below:

Linking Literature: Owl Moon Grades 1-3

Love, Kara