Guiding Comprehension

If you are teaching the selection in two days, discuss the main ideas so far and review the vocabulary.

Details and Facts • Inferential

What "lake" are the ants in? What "cave" are they flowing into?

Lake—cup of coffee;
cave—someone’s mouth.

Vocabulary
• Prefixes and Suffixes

Have students reread the paragraph on p. 369. Ask them to identify a word that has a prefix, then explain the meaning of both the prefix and the word.

Possible response: Disappeared; dis-: not; disappeared: not seen anymore.

then… use the vocabulary strategy instruction on
p. 369.

If… students are unable to identify the prefix and its meaning,

Prefixes and Suffixes

Whole Group Discuss the Question of the Day.

Group Time
Differentiated Instruction

Two Bad Ants. See
pp. 354f–354g for the small
group lesson plan.

Reading

Language Arts
Use pp. 379e–379h and
379k–379m.

Whole Group Discuss the
Reader Response questions on
p. 376. Then use p. 379a.

Grouping Options

VOCABULARY STRATEGY

Prefixes and Suffixes

TEACH

Remind students that a prefix, like a suffix, is a word part that changes the meaning of the word. Emphasize that a prefix is added to the beginning of the word and a suffix is added to the end of the word. Explain that students can remember this because the prefix pre- means "before." Therefore, a prefix goes before a word.
Remind students that along with context clues, the meaning of common prefixes and suffixes can help them understand unfamiliar words.
Model identifying the word with a prefix on p. 369.

MODEL The word disappeared begins with the prefix dis-. I know that this prefix means "not." I also see the base word appear in the word disappeared. I know that appear means "to be seen." Disappeared must mean "to no longer to be seen."

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

Have children reread the last sentence on p. 368. Ask them to identify a word with a suffix. Then have them identify the meaning of the suffix and the meaning of the word. (Mouthfuls, -ful: full of; mouthfuls: mouths full of something)

"Two Bad Ants"
by Chris Van Allsburg

Student Edition
Unit 6, pp. 358–375

An animal fantasy is a story with animal characters that behave like humans. What is unusual about these two ants?

The scout came back to the ant hole carrying a huge, white crystal. The queen ant tasted the sugar. It was sweet and delicious. The discovery of the crystal made her joyful. The scout said that to please her, he would take other ants with him to get more.
The ants prepared for the long journey, and the scout led them through a forest of grass. Then they came to a large mountain of bricks. The line of ants climbed up the wall to a large, rectangular opening and entered a strange place. They crossed a huge shiny land and came to the curved wall of a sugar bowl. Each ant climbed in, picked up a crystal, and headed back out. They would give their crystals to the queen. Their goal was to make her happy. When she was happy, the entire kingdom was happy. Two ants decided to stay behind. They liked the land of the crystals. They ate and ate the sweet-tasting stuff until they could eat no more.
They fell asleep and so were unaware that a huge scoop was digging into the bowl. They ended up on the scoop with some crystals and fell into an ocean of hot, brown water. The scoop stirred and stirred. Finally it stopped, and the ocean was lifted up. Some of the brown water poured into a huge mouth. They had to get out of the water! They climbed the walls of the cup and ran to hide in a slice of bread.
Oh, no! The bread was lifted and dropped into a slot. They saw a red glow, and the slot became very hot. Then they were popped up and into the air. They landed near a fast-running stream of water. They went over to get a drink and cool their feet. But they fell in, and the stream swirled them into a dark hole. Half-eaten food was everywhere. Then a grinding noise began, and the food began to spin and break up. The food bits disappeared as water washed the bits down into pipes below. Finally the spinning stopped.
Tired and sore, the two ants climbed the walls and once again saw light. They saw something else too. A long line of ants was heading toward the sugar bowl. The two ants went to the back of the line and pretended to have been there all along. Each grabbed a crystal and marched with the others back to the ant nest.
The two bad ants were happy to be safe at home again. They had had enough adventure!



	Close
	Context Clues Help students use context clues and visualizing to learn the meaning of the word bobbed in the second paragraph on p. 368. Point out clues, such as "sucked the ants deeper and deeper," "held their breath," "bobbed to the surface," and "gasping for air and spitting out mouthfuls of the terrible, bitter water." Vortex The ants in the story got caught in a whirlpool, or vortex, in the coffee mug. This was the result of the spoon stirring the coffee in a circular motion. This motion creates a funnel similar to a tornado. You can make your own tornado using two plastic soda bottles and water. Learn how to make a vortex by searching online.

"Two Bad Ants" by Chris Van Allsburg

"Two Bad Ants"
by Chris Van Allsburg