Hamsters Don’t Glow in the Dark Topic:

Hamsters Don’t Glow in the Dark
Tumble through oral communication, written communication, visual arts, and dramatization:
Curriculum Integration
Topic: Critical thinking and engagement with the themes of the
text, the author’s message, and relevance of the text to the students’
lives.
Time Period: 35-40 minutes, over a 5-7 day period
Grade Level(s): K-3
Objective(s): This novel study is intended to facilitate ongoing
engagement with the text Hamsters Don’t Glow in the Dark by Trina
Wiebe. Students will view the e-book and work independently and
co-operatively in small groups for an understanding of the text, the
themes of the text, and the author’s message.
Hamsters Don’t Glow in
the Dark
By Trina Wiebe
Materials and Resources Required:
e-book Hamsters Don’t Glow in the Dark by Trina Wiebe
computer/laptop
projector
chart paper
markers
Type of Assessment:
Diagnostic
Formative
Summative
Possible Tools and Strategies for Assessment:
Student Work Samples
Teacher Notes
Observation
Oral Assessment
Rubric
Other
Peer-assessment
Checklist
Self-assessment
One-to-One Interview
1|Page
The award-winning "Abby
& Tess Pet-Sitters" series
features Abby, an aspiring
veterinarian who
desperately wants a pet but
lives in a "no pets allowed"
apartment building, and
her younger sister, Tess.
The girls go into the petsitting business and
discover new things about
animals and new ways to
solve problems. In
Hamsters Don't Glow in
the Dark, Abby gets to
bring the class hamster
home for a week, and is
horribly disappointed that
Mr. Nibbles prefers her
sister, Tess.
BEFORE Students Tumble: Activating Prior Knowledge
Class predictions. Show your students the cover of the e-book
Hamsters Don’t Glow in the Dark by Trina Wiebe. Have the students
predict what the text is about.
WHILE Students Tumble: Reading Comprehension,
Critical Thinking & Co-operative Learning
The following are a variety of reading comprehension and critical
thinking activities for the students to complete:
Word Study
Students are to select 3-5 words and create word families. In their
word families, students are to use a rhyming dictionary to find words
that rhyme with and have the same letters as the original words. For
example: sleet/feet and/or cage/stage
Climax Scrutiny (page 5)
The climax of a text occurs towards the end of a text, after the rising
action and before the falling action. A climax includes three parts: 1)
the main character experiences a form of change; 2) the protagonist
discovers something about himself/herself and/or another character;
and 3) the theme is revealed in its entirety. In this activity, the
students will thinking critically about and actively critique the climax
of the text.
Film Strip Story (page 6)
For this activity, students will use words and illustrations for various
parts of the text including: the main characters, the setting, the
problem/situation, the resolution, and the conclusion.
What would it have been like when…?
This activity is great to get students to respond verbally and nonverbally to what happens in the text. Students will use facial
expressions, gestures, and movement strategies to respond to various
events that take place in the book.
For this activity, you will pose a question to the students such as:
“How did the class react when they saw the nine baby hamsters”.
Using facial expressions, gestures, and movement strategies, students
will offer their ideas.
2|Page
Word Study Challenge:
Challenge the students to
find words in the text that
belong to the same word
families. Have the
students make a list of
these words and then
present them to the rest of
the class.
Vocabulary Enrichment
The following are words that appear throughout the story. The
students are to complete a journal entry and/or a letter to the author or
main character in the text using a minimum of 10 words below.
cage
[ch. 1, pg. 1]
foolproof
[ch. 8, pg. 4]
enthusiasm
[ch. 1, pg. 2]
hamster
[ch. 8, pg. 5]
volunteer
[ch. 1, pg. 4]
rodent
[ch. 9, pg. 5]
homework
[ch. 1, pg. 8]
indignant
[ch. 10, pg. 1]
relented
[ch. 2, pg. 7]
secretively
[ch. 10, pg. 6]
blabbermouth [ch. 3, pg. 1]
crestfallen
[ch. 11, pg. 1]
allergic
[ch. 3, pg. 5]
impatient
[ch. 11, pg. 4]
dense
[ch. 3, pg. 6]
unsupervised [ch. 12, pg. 7]
sympathetic
[ch. 4, pg. 3]
mournful
[ch. 12, pg. 9]
reproachful
[ch. 4, pg. 4]
gaze
[ch. 13, pg. 1]
persistent
[ch. 4, pg. 5]
abruptly
[ch. 13, pg. 9]
homework
[ch. 5, pg. 1]
illusion
[ch. 14, pg. 3]
cage
[ch. 6, pg. 6]
baffled
[ch. 15, pg. 3]
vivarium
[ch. 6, pg. 7]
puppies
[ch. 15, pg. 3]
walkman
[ch. 6, pg. 7]
reject
[ch. 15, pg. 5]
environment [ch. 7, pg. 2]
canine
[ch. 15, pg. 5]
concentrating [ch. 7, pg. 3]
frenzy
[ch. 15, pg. 5]
doubtfully
[ch. 7, pg. 6]
exercise
[ch. 15, pg. 6]
investigate
[ch. 7, pg. 6]
nesting
[ch. 15, pg. 9]
inquisitively [ch. 7, pg. 6]
furry
[ch. 15, pg. 10]
distaste
[ch. 7, pg. 6]
hairless
[ch. 16, pg. 1]
odor
[ch. 8, pg. 1]
interior
[ch. 16, pg. 1]
dresser
[ch. 8, pg. 1]
territorial
[ch. 16, pg. 3]
backpack
[ch. 8, pg. 1]
distraught
[ch. 16, pg. 5]
nocturnal
[ch. 8, pg. 1]
revel
[ch. 17, pg. 4]
awake
[ch. 8, pg. 1]
hangdog
[ch. 17, pg. 7]
3|Page
Tumble Idea: Modify this
activity by pre-selecting
words for students. Have
them find the definition of
the word and use the
word in a sentence.
AFTER Students Tumble: Culminating Task
Visit a local pet store. Students are to visit a local pet store and select
an animal that is of interest to them. Students will research and collect
information and pictures about the animal they have selected.
Using the information collected, students will write a mini-research
report on their animal. Some questions to guide their research may
be: What is the name of the animal? Where does it live? What does it
eat? How does one care for this animal? Why did the student select it?
Why is this animal interesting? Etc.
Students will present their information in the form of a research report
and present their findings in a 5 minute presentation to the class.
4|Page
Tumble Idea: Have the
students self- and peerassess their research
reports.
Climax Scrutiny
The climax of a text occurs towards the end of a text, after the rising action and before the falling action. A
climax includes three parts: 1) the main character experiences a form of change; 2) the protagonist discovers
something about himself/herself and/or another character; and 3) the theme is revealed in its entirety.
In the space below you are to indicate your reactions to the climax of the text through the questions provided.
In your own words, describe the climax of the story. _______________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Were you surprised by the climax? Why? Why not? Explain. ___________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
How would you have written a climax that is more dynamic? What would have
happened?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
5|Page
Film Strip Story
Characters:
Setting:
Conflict/Situation:
Resolution:
Conclusion
6|Page