CHALLENGING WORDS
antelope
carcasses
curiously
duiker
filtering
forbidden
penetrate
pygmies
reassures
undisturbed
SUMMARY
While hunting for food in the rainforest for his starving village,
a young boy encounters a panther that teaches him how
to conserve life in the rainforest.
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Big Bird’s Busy Day – Barbara Hamilton -
--- Conversation Questions---
(1) Tell me what Panther Dream was about.
(Answer) Any logical answer.
(Follow Up) Have you ever had a dream that seems real?
(2) Imagine you are Lokuli, how would you feel waking up in the African rainforest?
(Answer) Any logical answer.
(Follow Up) Have you ever awakened and not known where you were?
(3) Assume you are Lokuli’s grandmother, would you be afraid of Lokuli?
(Answer) Any logical answer.
(Follow Up) Tell me about a time you were afraid for someone you love.
(4) Compare a time you had been afraid with the villager’s fear of forest spirits.
(Answer) Any logical answer.
(Follow Up) How did you overcome the fear?
(5) Define “panther”.
(Answer) A black leopard found throughout the rainforest of Africa & Asia.
(Follow Up) Have you ever seen a panther at a zoo?
(6) Recall how the air felt at mid-afternoon in the African rainforest.
(Answer) It felt hot and humid.
(Follow Up) Does it feel hot and humid where you live?
(7) Tell what the pygmies said hunted the meat first.
(Answer) They said the keti, the forest spirits, hunted the meat first.
(Follow Up) Do you know someone who hunts?
(8) Recall who tells Lokuli how to hunt in the forest.
(Answer) Lululi’s grandmother tells him how to hunt in the forest.
(Follow Up) Does your grandmother tell you stories of her childhood?
(9) Find the animals on page 21 that awoke Lokuli.
(Answer) The chimpanzees woke Lokuli.
(Follow Up) Tell me, would you be afraid of the loud cries of the chimpanzees?
(10) Recall where the panther leaves the “gift” of food for Lokuli.
(Answer) He leaves it in the branches of a small tree.
(Follow Up) Do you think a panther would really do this?
Activities
1. Draw and label your favorite rainforest animal.
2. Draw the outline of Africa and shade in the rainforest area. List three countries the rainforest is part of.
3. Write about a dream you have had that seemed “real”.
4. Write a letter to Lokuli thanking him for saving the village.
Introduction
1. Have a globe on the table. Show children where the rainforests are located. Talk about what the rainforest is like. Say, “Today we are going to read about a little boy and the panther he meets as he hunts for food in the African rainforest.”
2. Have a stuffed panther or a picture of one on the table. Ask the child if s/he knows where panthers live. Say, “Today we are going to read about a panther who helps a little boy find food in the African rainforest to save his starving village.”
3. Have pictures of some of the animals in the book out on the table. Ask the student if they know the names of any of the animals. Introduce the animals they don’t know. Say, “Today we’re going to read about a little boy and the many animals he encounters as he hunts for food to save his village”
Book Title: Panther Dream—A Story of the African Rainforest
Author: Bob and Wendy Weir
/ Illustrator: Bob and Wendy WeirISBN: 1-56282-525-9 / # of Text Pages: 33 Book Level:
Building Oral Vocabulary
6 / rainforest / 12 / plumed / 21 / glisten
Prediction Questions
10 / Do you think Lokuli will go hunting in the forest?
23 / Do you think that Lokuli will see the panther again?
31 / Will Lokuli get the meat home before the panther returns?
This resource is provided by KYREADS—Barren County Board of Education, an AmeriCorps project funded in part by the Kentucky Commission on Community Volunteerism and Service and the Corporation for National and Community Service.
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Big Bird’s Busy Day – Barbara Hamilton -