Literacy Engagement: Toolkits for Elementary Teachers
Students have a natural affinity for animals. Harness that connection to inspire meaningful reading and writing experiences while building literacy skills and nurturing compassion for all living beings. Feed two birds with one scone.
Making the Most of These Toolkits
These toolkits were created to help teachers integrate high-quality literacy instruction with engaging, meaningful content that students naturally connect with. Research and classroom experience show that children are highly interested in animals, making animal-themed texts and activities a powerful way to capture attention, build background knowledge, strengthen literacy skills, inspire meaningful discussions, and encourage students to consider other animals’ experiences and needs.
The resources are organized by literacy domain and grade band so teachers can easily find materials that align with their instructional goals. Use the toolkits as a source of standalone lessons, literacy centers, read-aloud extensions, small-group activities, writing prompts, intervention supports, or enrichment opportunities. Teachers can select individual resources to supplement existing curriculum or combine multiple activities to build deeper knowledge around a topic.
By connecting reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities to topics students genuinely care about, these toolkits help increase engagement, support knowledge building and vocabulary development, encourage critical thinking, and create meaningful learning experiences for all students—including reluctant readers—while also developing empathy, respect, and consideration for other animals. At the same time, they provide teachers with ready-to-use, standards-aligned resources that make literacy instruction both effective and enjoyable.
💡 Teacher Tip: Start with a resource that matches your current literacy objective, then extend learning with a related book, video, discussion, or writing activity from the toolkit. Revisiting the same topic across multiple formats helps students build deeper knowledge while strengthening essential literacy skills.
As you read through these toolkits, you will come across:
- ➡️ Blue arrows pointing to accompanying resources (i.e., videos, Kahoot! quizzes)
- 🎁📚 Gift and book icons highlighting free books you can request from TeachKind
🌎 Support for Multilingual Learners (ELLs/MLLs)
Students’ natural interest in animals can be a powerful bridge to literacy development. Animal-themed reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities can help multilingual learners connect everyday language with academic language. Because compassion for animals resonates across cultures and languages, it can increase engagement, motivation, and meaningful communication.
Try these strategies with any resource in this toolkit:
- Activate prior knowledge by inviting students to share experiences with animals.
- Use photos, videos, graphic organizers, and realia to support comprehension.
- Provide opportunities for partner talk and small-group discussions.
- Encourage speaking, drawing, and writing to share ideas about animals.
- Allow students to express ideas in their home language as they build English proficiency.
