Scott Foresman Reading Street

Two Bad Ants
Group Time

for Fluency

Use Decodable Reader 29.

Word Study/Phonics

LESSON VOCABULARY Use p. 356b to review the meanings of crystal, disappeared, discovery, goal, journey, joyful, scoop, and unaware. Have students blend decodable words: disappeared, discovery, goal, journey, joyful, scoop, unaware. Then say and spell the nondecodable word crystal. Have students practice with word cards.

DECODING MULTISYLLABIC WORDS Write whirlpool and model how to use meaningful word parts to read it. First I ask myself if I see any parts I know. I see whirl at the beginning of the word and pool at the end. I know that whirl means "to spin" and that a pool is a place where there is water. So I think a whirlpool is spinning water.

Use the Multisyllabic Word Routine on p. DI•1 to help students read these other words from Two Bad Ants: delicious, departed, surrounded, twilight, anxiously, echoing, delicate, unnatural, hovered, and violently. Be sure students understand the meanings of words.

Two Bad Ants, pp. 358–367

BEFORE READING Yesterday we read how having too much freedom put Leo the fish in danger. Today we will read how two ants end up in an unsafe place because they don't use their freedom wisely.

Using the Picture Walk Routine on p. DI•1, guide students through the text, asking questions such as those listed below. Then read the question on p. 359. Together, set a purpose for reading.

pp. 362–363 Why do the plants look so big? (because the ants are so small) Yes, in this story the author and illustrator wants you to see the world the way ants see it.

p. 365 Where are the ants going? (into a house) The ants have left their underground home and are now crawling into a kitchen window.

DURING READING Follow the Guiding Comprehension routine on
pp. 360–367. Have students read along with you while tracking the print or do a choral reading. Stop every two pages to ask what students have learned so far. Prompt as necessary.

When the other ants return home, what do the two ants do? Why?
How do the two ants end up in a boiling brown lake?

AFTER READING What has happened so far? What do you think will happen next? Reread passages as needed.

Extend Vocabulary

WORD STRUCTURE Choose and read a sentence or passage containing a difficult word with a prefix or suffix, such as this sentence from p. 18 of A Fantastic Field Trip: "Everyone stopped to watch an adult cicada crawl out of its skin, almost like unwrapping a present." What does the word unwrapping mean? (the opposite of wrapping) How did you figure out the word's meaning? (I looked at the prefix and the base word. The prefix un- can mean "the opposite of," so unwrapping is the opposite of wrapping.) Using word structure is helpful because it can help you figure out the meaning of an unknown word. Remind students to use the strategy as they read Two Bad Ants.

Two Bad Ants, pp. 358–367

BEFORE READING In "The Boy Who Stopped Time," you read about Julian, who found himself alone when he didn't obey family rules. Today you will read a story about two ants who find themselves alone when they don't follow the rules of their ant colony.

Have students predict why the ants in the story are bad. Have them enter their responses in their Strategy Response Logs (p. 358).

CREATIVE THINKING Have students read pp. 358–367 independently. Encourage them to think creatively. For example, say:

The two ants want to eat the tasty treasure every day, forever. What does this remind you of from another story? What does it remind you of from your own life?

AFTER READING Have partners discuss the selection and share their Strategy Response Log entries. Have them revise their old predictions or make a new prediction about the rest of the story for their Strategy Response Logs (p. 367). Then have students answer the question: Can you ever have too much of a good thing? Have them support their opinion with examples. Encourage them to think of examples other than those that relate to food or drink. When students are finished, have them meet with you to discuss their opinions.