Lessons & Units :: Two Bad Ants 2nd Grade Unit

Read-Aloud Lesson: Two Bad Ants

Lesson Plan

Two Bad Ants | 780L

Two Bad Ants
Learning Goal
Analyze the language and illustrations to identify the settings in the story, and then determine the theme.
Necessary Materials
Provided:
  1. Detailed lesson plan
  2. Graphic organizer for guided practice
  3. Independent student worksheet


Not Provided:
Two Bad Ants

 
  1. This lesson is a close reading of the entire text. So it’s important to engage students often, to enhance their learning. Here are two tips:
    •   When you ask the more complex questions from the lesson, ask students to “turn-and-talk” or “buddy-talk” before answering.

    •   Once you are deep into the lesson, instead of asking students every question provided, ask them to share with you what questions they should be asking themselves at that point in the text. This is also a great opportunity to use "turn-and-talk."
       
  2. Suggested teacher language is included in the lesson.

  3. We recommend you read the book once to your students, either the day or morning before teaching the lesson.

  4. This research-based, read-aloud lesson may seem long. Why do students need the lesson to be this way?
 

Part 1: Teacher Modeling and Questioning

 

Write the following student-friendly learning goal on the board, then read the learning goal out loud with the class:

We will use the words and pictures in this story to figure out where the characters go.

 
Transition Students into the Text
 
Teacher says: Imagine you are an ant. How would the world around you look different? Let’s read a story about two ants to find out.
 
Read pages 4 and 5 (the first two pages of the story) out loud, then stop. Page 5 ends with, “...a happy place.” Show illustrations. Unless otherwise directed, always show students the illustrations on the pages you read throughout the lesson.
1.
Teacher asks: What does the scout ant bring to the ant queen?
 
Students answer: The scout ant brings a crystal to the ant queen.
2.
Teacher asks: What happens after the ant queen takes a bite?
 
Students answer: The ant queen quickly eats the entire thing.
3.
Teacher asks: Does the ant queen like the crystal? Support your answer with information from the story.
 
Students answer:
  • Yes, the ant queen likes the crystal. She quickly eats the entire thing.
  • Yes, the ant queen likes the crystal. She thinks it is the most delicious food she has ever tasted.
  • Yes, the ant queen likes the crystal. Nothing could make her happier than to have more.
4.
Teacher asks: The book tells us that the ant queen is the mother of all the ants. Where does this ant family live? If you cannot remember from what we read, use the pictures to help you. [show illustrations again]
 
Students answer (may vary but should resemble the following):
  • The ant family lives in a nest.
  • The ant family lives in tunnels.
  • The ant family lives in a hole under the ground.
5.
Teacher says: Let’s review what we just read. A scout ant has brought a crystal to the queen. The queen thinks the crystal is the most delicious food she has ever tasted. Now the ants want to gather more crystals because they want to make their queen happy. Let’s see whether they are able to gather more crystals.
Read more
 
Read pages 6 and 7, then stop. Page 7 ends with, “...dark forest.”
6.
Teacher asks: Where are the ants going away from?
 
Students answer (responses may vary in wording but should resemble the following): The ants are going away from their underground home.
7.
Teacher asks: What are the ants walking into?
 
Students answer (responses may vary but should resemble the following): The ants are walking into the woods.
8.
Teacher says: We just saw a change in the setting of the story, or where the story is happening. The ants are leaving their underground home and going into a forest.
9.
Teacher asks: What is a forest?
 
Students answer: A forest is a lot of trees in one place. (If students cannot define forest, you may do so for them.)
10.
Teacher says (models thinking): A forest is usually made up of tall trees. However, ants are so small that something that looks like a forest to them might not seem like a forest to us humans. In these pictures, the “trees” look more like stems of plants or blades of grass. The pictures and the small size of ants make me think that the forest in the book is really just grass or weeds. The author calls it a forest because that is how it looks to the ants.
 
Read pages 8-10, then stop. Page 10 ends with, “...higher and higher.”
11.
Teacher asks: The ants have reached the edge of the forest. Look at the picture and think about what the forest really is. What could the edge of the forest be?
 
Students answer (responses may vary but should resemble the following): The edge of the forest could be where the grass or weeds stop growing.
12.
Teacher asks: What is at the edge of the forest?
 
Students answer: A mountain is at the edge of the forest.
13.
Teacher says: The setting has changed again. The ants were in a forest, and now they are climbing a mountain.
14.
Teacher asks: Look at the picture and think about what the forest is. What could the mountain be?
 
Students answer: The mountain could be a wall.
 
Read pages 11 and 12, then stop. Page 12 ends with, “...sky was gone.” Do NOT show the illustration on page 12 yet.
15.
Teacher asks: The ants are now in a strange world. What has vanished, or gone away?
 
Students answer (elicit all three responses):
  • Smells the ants had known all their lives, smells of dirt and grass and rotting plants, have vanished.
  • There is no more wind.
  • The sky is gone.
16.
Teacher asks: Where could the ants be now? Support your answer with information from the book.
 
Students answer (responses may vary and include the following):
  • The ants may be under something that does not let them see the sky.
  • The ants may be indoors somewhere with a roof.
  • The ants may be inside a box that protects them from the wind and does not let them see the sky.
  • The ants may be inside a house.
 
Read page 13, then stop. Page 13 ends with, “...sparkling treasure.” Now show the illustrations on both pages 12 and 13.
17.
Teacher asks: Now look at the pictures. Were you right about where the ants are? Why or why not?
 
Students answer: Answers will vary, depending on the prediction made. For example, students who thought the ants were inside a house would be right. Students who thought the ants were in a box would be wrong.
 
Read page 14-15, then stop. Page 15 ends with, “...fell asleep.”
18.
Teacher asks: Two ants decide to stay behind and eat the crystals. I am wondering what these crystals could be. What has the book told us about these crystals?
 
Students answer (responses may vary and include the following):
  • The book has told us the crystals are beautiful.
  • The book has told us that the crystals sparkle.
  • The book has told us that the crystals are tasty.
19.
Teacher asks (showing pictures on pages 14 and 15): Look at these pictures of the crystals. Remember what we read about the crystals. We know they sparkle and taste good. What could the crystals be?
 
Students answer: The crystals could be sugar. (If students cannot reach this conclusion on their own, you may reveal it yourself, provided you make clear the reasoning that leads you to it.)
 
Read pages 16-19, then stop. Page 19 ends with, “...bitter water.”
20.
Teacher asks: Where does the book tell us the two ants are now?
 
Students answer (responses may vary but should resemble the following):
  • The book tells us that the ants are in a brown lake.
  • The book tells us that the ants are in hot brown liquid.
 
If students respond that the ants are in a cup of coffee or tea, point out that the book does not say that. Right now you are simply gathering details from the book about where the ants are. Once those details have been gathered, students may make inferences and draw conclusions.
21.
Teacher asks: What does this brown liquid taste like?
 
Students answer: The brown liquid tastes like terrible, bitter water.
22.
Teacher asks: Look at the picture of the silver scoop stirring the hot brown liquid. Think about the liquid’s terrible, bitter taste. Think about the sugar crystals that were dropped into it by the scoop. What could the hot brown liquid be?
 
Students answer (both of the following are acceptable):
  • The hot brown liquid could be coffee.
  • The hot brown liquid could be tea.
23.
Teacher says: We read that the ants were sucked under the surface of the coffee or tea and came up gasping for air. Then they spit out mouthfuls of the terrible, bitter liquid. These details make me think that the ants do not like being in the hot brown liquid and are not feeling very good.
 
Read pages 20-25, then stop. Page 25 ends with, “...too strong.”
24.
Teacher asks: The setting has changed again. Now the two ants are on a silver tube, and a waterfall is pouring out of it. What could this silver tube with a waterfall pouring out of it be?
 
Students answer: At minimum, students should recognize that the tube is part of a sink. Students may be more specific, responding that the tube is a spout.
25.
Teacher says (models thinking): As we read, I notice that the setting of the story keeps changing. First the ants were in their nest under the ground. Then they went through a dark forest of grass. Now they are crawling on a water spout above a sink. I wonder where they will go next.
26.
Teacher asks: Make a prediction. Where will the ants go next?
 
Students answer (responses may vary and include the following): The ants will go into the sink.
 
Read pages 26-29, then stop. Page 29 ends with, “...fell fast asleep.”
27.
Teacher asks (showing picture): The ants crawl up a wall and into two long, dark openings. What could the dark openings that the ants crawl into be?
 
Students answer: The openings could be the holes in an electrical socket.
 
If students struggle with this question, help them out by reminding them about the strange force that shocks the ants inside the holes.
28.
Teacher asks: What do the ants do after they are blown out of the two dark holes?
 
Students answer: At minimum, students should respond that the ants fall asleep. They may also respond that the ants crawl into a dark corner.
29.
Teacher asks: How are the ants feeling now? Support your answer with evidence from the story.
 
Students answer (responses may vary and include the following):
  • The ants feel very tired. That is why they crawl into a dark corner and go to sleep.
  • The ants feel weak and hurt. They were blown out of the holes they crawled into and are too exhausted to go on.
 
Finish reading the story.
30.
Teacher asks: Where are the two ants now?
 
Students answer (responses may vary and include):
  • The ants are at the edge of their ant hole.
  • The ants are back home.
31.
Teacher asks: How do the ants feel to be back at their ant hole?
 
Students answer: The ants feel happier than they have ever felt before.
32.
Teacher asks: How did the ants probably feel when they were in the hot brown liquid?
 
Students answer (responses may vary but should resemble the following): The ants probably felt bad.
33.
Teacher asks: How did the ants probably feel when a strange force passed through them and shot them out of the dark openings in the wall?
 
Students answer (responses may vary but should resemble the following):
  • The ants felt exhausted.
  • The ants felt bad.
34.
Teacher asks: Think about all the places the two ants have been and what has happened to them. Why might they feel happy to be back at their ant hole?
 
Students answer (may vary and include the following):
  • The ants are happy to be back home.
  • The ants are happy to be with their family.
  • The ants are happy to be somewhere safe.
 

Part 2: Guided Practice and Discussion

 
For this oral lesson, it is suggested to have the student version of the graphic organizer on the board. Draw a line between the appropriate images when students make the corresponding mental connection. For example, when students identify the “forest” as grass or weeds, draw a line between the image of the forest and the image of grass or weeds.
1.
Teacher asks: Where do the ants go after they leave their underground home?
 
Students answer: The ants go into a forest.
2.
Teacher asks: What could the forest be?
 
Students answer: The forest could be grass or weeds.
3.
Teacher asks: The ants reach the edge of the forest. What is at the edge of the forest?
 
Students answer: A mountain is at the edge of the forest.
4.
Teacher asks: What could the mountain be?
 
Students answer: The mountain could be a wall.
Read more
5.
Teacher asks: Two ants fall asleep in the crystals. Then a giant silver scoop picks them up. Where does the scoop drop the ants?
 
Students answer: The scoop drops them into a brown lake.
6.
Teacher asks: What could the brown lake be?
 
Students answer: The brown lake could be a cup of tea or coffee.
7.
Teacher asks: Later on the two ants are crawling along a silver tube. A waterfall is pouring out of the tube. What could this silver tube with a waterfall pouring out of it be?
 
Students answer: This tube could be part of a sink.
8.
Teacher asks: Later on the ants crawl up a wall into two long, dark openings. What could these openings be?
 
Students answer: The openings could be holes in an electrical socket.
9.
Teacher asks: At the end of the story, the two ants go back home. What is the ants’ home?
 
Students answer: The ants’ home is a hole in the ground.
 
After the answers for the graphic organizer have been completed and discussed with the class, ask and discuss the following two extension questions.
 
Teacher asks: There are many different settings in this book. Do the ants like being in any one place more than they like being in other places? Explain why or why not, using evidence from the book.
 
Students answer: Responses may vary but should recognize that the ants like their ant hole more than any other place. The hole is their home, and they feel happier there than anywhere else.
 
Teacher asks: Imagine that the two ants go out again with their fellow insects to gather crystals. Will they stay with the group this time? Explain why or why not, using evidence from the book.
 
Students answer (responses may vary and include the following):
  • Yes, the ants will stay with the group this time. After all the bad things that happened to them when they left the group before, they will not want to do anything except get the crystals and go back home.
  • No, the ants will probably not stay with the group. Now that they know about the different dangers around the crystals, they will be able to avoid them. This knowledge could make them want to leave the group and eat crystals again. This time they would be on the lookout for danger.
 

Part 3: Student Independent Practice

 
Read each question out loud to your students and have each student complete the worksheet independently. The worksheet can be found in the materials section.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

(To see all of the ReadWorks lessons aligned to your standards, click here.)

User Comments

Would all of this be done in one lesson? Or, does Pt1, pt2, and pt3 indicate a three day lesson and the partner text would be day 4?
Thank you

Submitted by Jeanie Handy on 1/12/16
Hello Jeanie, These lessons can be implemented in a number of ways. Either approach is reasonable depending on how much classroom time you can devote to a lesson of this nature and the stamina of your students. You can also complete the read-aloud lesson on day one and save the paired text activity for day two. If you're saving part of the unit for another day, you may choose to quickly reread aloud the text to your students at the start of the activity to refresh your students' memory and help them fully engage in the lesson. I hope this was helpful. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any other questions or comments. Happy teaching!
Submitted by ReadWorks Team on 1/26/16

I look forward to using this lesson with one of my favorite stories TWO BAD ANTS. This follows an informative story about ants.

Submitted by Kathymabe on 10/26/15

Thank you

Submitted by hollyschwieg_1259400 on 9/24/15