Introduction                             

Welcome detectives! 

Did you ever wonder what a hedgehog eats for breakfast? What about snowshoe rabbits? Do they really wear snowshoes? This is your chance to find out more about some interesting forest animals on the Web. Kindergarten students will pair up with their grade three reading buddies to investigate some of these animals from the fantastic book "The Mitten" by Jan Brett. 

Working with your partner you will:

• Listen to your teacher read the story "The Mitten" by Jan Brett

• Investigate four web-sites about forest animals from the book
• Fill out a table with information from the forest animal websites
• Vote on your favorite forest animal from the book

Here are the four Web Sites about forest animals that you should investigate:

    Click on this picture to learn more about hedgehogs.

Click on this picture to learn more about red foxes.

             Click on this picture to learn more about owls. 

                 Click on this picture to learn more about snowshoe rabbits. 

Here is what you have to do to become a Forest Animal Detective:

1. Listen to your teacher read the story "The Mitten" by Jan Brett.
2. With your reading buddy,  you should click on one forest animal picture at a time. Each picture brings you to a different animal web site. 
3. Grade three students should read aloud the information on the sites to their kindergarten buddies.                     
4. Find the Forest Animal Table. Work together with your partner to fill this out.  Put an x in the boxes that have the information that you are looking for. Leave the box blank if you can't find the information or the picture that you need.
5. Now it is time to vote for your favorite forest animal in this project. Your teacher will give both of you a ballot. You should mark an x beside the picture of your first choice. 
6. When everyone is finished, your teachers will help you to count all of the votes. 

Good luck! 

Here is the table that you need to fill out with your partner.  Remember to put an x when you find the information that you need. If you do not find the information leave the box blank. 

Information
Site gives you a picture of the animal
Site tells you what the animal eats
Site tells you the size of the animal

The students will be evaluated using the following rubric. 

Student	Listened attentively to the story	Was able to work cooperatively with a partner when investigating sites	Was able to accurately complete the information table about sites	Was able to make a choice about favorite site (vote)
Yes
No

The students can do self-evaluation of their work on the project by completing the following table:

Name	I listened carefully to the story	I worked well with my partner when looking at the sites	I was able to fill out the table about the sites with my partner's help	I voted for my favorite forest animal
Yes
No

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have completed the project and you are on your way to becoming Super Forest Animal Detectives! However, there is much more to learn about these interesting animals. Ask your teacher for help to find new sites about some of the other animals in the book "The Mitten".