Literature Unit for The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer (31 Days of Literature Unit Ideas)

The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer is a beautiful and creative book that chronicles the ideas of a little boy who has a salamander for a pet. Young children can enjoy the simple story, and older children can learn much from activities that can extend the themes and topics in the story.

This post is part of the 31 Days of Literature Unit Ideas series. You can find all of the books in the series here. You can get this literature unit study as well as 44 others and lots of great literature unit study resources here in my free ebook The Ultimate Book of Unit Studies for Literature Lovers.

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About the book…

A young boy finds a salamander in the woods and brings it home. His mother begins to ask him about where he will keep it and how he will take care of it. As he makes plans for his salamander, his ideas will slowly transform his room into a salamander room.

Geography…

• Salamanders live in temperate zones all over the world. Use this printable world map and color in temperate areas where salamanders can be found. (This Wikipedia article has a map you can use for reference.)
• Read more about temperate forests here.

Science…

• Learn more about salamanders and newts here.
• See some great pictures and information about the various species of salamanders here.
• Read from this site to learn more details about salamanders and newts and to find some great pictures and information about where to find them.
• Salamanders are amphibians. You can learn more about amphibians from this video.
• Try this sponge experiment to see how amphibians “drink” through their skin.
• Learn about the life cycle of a salamander on this site.

Language arts…

• Write a story about what would happen if you found a salamander in the woods. (Let younger children dictate.)
• Talk about the problems that Brian’s mother brings up and Brian’s solution to each. Draw a chart with two columns. In the first column, you can write each problem. In the second column, the child can write or draw a solution.

Crafts and Hands-on…

• Make your own salamanders with salt dough like the ones found here. (Here is a good recipe for salt dough.)
• Use the instructions here to make a salamander armband.
• Create a diorama to show how Brian’s room would look if he changed it for the salamander. You can learn how to make a diorama here.

Other resources…

• Homeschool Share has a free lapbook for The Salamander Room.
• This video has a reading of the book.
• This is the author’s website– Anne Mazer

Booklist…

• Fun Facts About Salamanders by Carmen Bredeson
• Snakes, Salamanders, and Lizards by Diane Burns
• Big Night for Salamanders by Sarah Marwil Lamstein
• The Secret Pool by Kimberly Ridley
• Salamander Rain: A Lake and Pond Journal by Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini

You can get this literature unit study as well as 44 others and lots of great literature unit study resources here in my free ebook The Ultimate Book of Unit Studies for Literature Lovers.

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