Doreen Cronin's Diary of a Worm, Spider and Fly are silly tales about each of the respective animals. While the stories are far-fetched enough to garner lots of giggle, they are based on real attributes of each of the animals.
If you're looking to have your students do something a bit more creative than the traditional report after researching an animal, consider having them follow Cronin's model and write a "Diary of a _____".
I have used Diary of a Worm with my 6th grade science students. After studying worms in their animal unit, and before moving on to insects, I read the book to my classes. Fun review of facts. Then they do their own diary of a worm, keeping tabs on their individual meal worms. After a couple days some students begin to realize, and write about, the fact that meal worms aren't worms at all. The activity has worked as a nice transition between worms and insects.
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