# Lesson 58: Reading short articles about animals

📖 READING (40 Lessons) • 🟡 C. Reading for Information

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## Objective

Read short animal articles, tell the main idea in simple words, and name at least two facts from each one.

## Materials

- Pencil/paper for writing main ideas and facts about animals
- The Sound Pad (bottom right corner) to hear letter and digraph sounds

## Letter & Sound Pad

Tap any button to hear its sound.

### Short vowels

### Long vowels

### Consonant sounds

### Digraphs

## Mini-lesson — Reading short articles about animals

Sometimes reading time is a story with characters, feelings, and a beginning, middle, and end.

Other times, reading time is an article. An article gives real facts and information about something.

In this lesson, the articles are about animals. Each article is like a tiny page of facts.

Most animal articles have:

- a title that tells what the article is about (for example, “Penguins” or “All About Ants”)
- a picture of the animal
- short fact sentences in little chunks or paragraphs

Animal articles are different from stories:

- Stories are mostly for fun and feelings.
- Articles are mostly for learning and facts.

For each animal article, you can ask:

- “What is this article mostly about?” (That is the main idea.)
- “What facts did I learn? What does the animal do, eat, or where does it live?”

Helpful frames:

- “This article is about _____.”
- “One fact is _____.”
- “Another fact is _____.”

Today, you will read short animal articles and practice telling the main idea and at least two facts from each one.

Picture strip: Tiny animal articles with titles, pictures, and facts

## Guided Practice — Mini-book: Little animal articles

How to use this mini-book:

- Read each page as a tiny animal article.
- After each page, say what it is mostly about (the main idea).
- Say at least two facts you learned about the animal.

On paper, make three lines for each animal: “Animal: ___ • Main idea: ___ • Facts: ___, ___”. Fill them in after you read.

Helpful words
article main idea facts about lives eats

Frames: “This article is about ___.” “One fact is ___.” “Another fact is ___.”

### Mini-Book: Little animal articles

1

Penguins

Penguins are birds that cannot fly. They have short wings that help them swim. Penguins live in cold places and stay warm together in a group.

What is this article mostly about? What facts did you learn?

2

Giraffes

Giraffes are tall animals with long necks. They use their necks to reach leaves high in trees. Each giraffe has its own pattern of spots.

Can you say one main idea and two facts?

3

Dolphins

Dolphins live in the ocean and breathe air. They are good swimmers and can jump out of the water. Dolphins use sounds to “talk” to each other.

What is this article teaching you about dolphins?

4

Ants

Ants are tiny insects that work together. They carry food that is bigger than their own bodies. Ants live in large homes called colonies.

What facts can you remember about ants?

## Reading Practice — Main idea and facts

Read each short animal article or idea. Drag the word that makes the best main idea or fact idea into the box. Chips stay in their own question. When you are done, press “Check sentences.”

Koalas spend most of their time in trees. They hold on with their strong claws and eat leaves. Koalas rest for many hours each day.
This article is mostly koalas in trees.

under about behind

Cheetahs are very strong runners. They can move quickly for a short time to chase animals for food.
The article’s main idea is that cheetahs are very .

slow fast sleepy

Penguins use their wings like flippers. They move their wings to push through the water and swim.
Penguins use their wings to swim is a from this article.

guess fact joke

Red pandas live in places with many trees and bamboo plants. They like to climb and spend time in the branches.
According to this article, red pandas live in a .

desert forest ocean

Bats sleep upside down. They hang by their feet in dark, quiet places. When it is time to fly, they let go and open their wings.
Bats Sleep Upside Down would be a good for this article.

title snack game

Owls can see well at night. They turn their heads to look around.
After reading, it helps to tell two you learned about owls.

colors facts dreams

The idea of an animal article tells what it is mostly about.

tiny main hidden

To find the main idea, one good clue is to look at the article .

title page-number price

If you forget a fact, you can read that part to help you remember.

backwards again later-only

A strong way to talk about an animal article is: This article is ____. One fact is ____. Another fact is ____.

under about before

## Quick Check (5 questions)

#### What is a short animal article?

A made-up story about magic animals A short piece of writing that gives real facts about an animal A list of random letters

#### Which one is a fact you might read in an animal article?

“Cats can turn into cars.” “Elephants live in the sky.” “Many fish breathe using gills in the water.”

#### What is the main idea of an article?

What the article is mostly about The longest word in the article The color of the pictures

#### Which question helps you find facts in an article?

“What is my favorite animal?” “What does the article say this animal can do or where it lives?” “How big is the paper?”

#### How can you become stronger at reading animal articles?

Only look at the pictures and skip all the words Read short articles and tell someone the main idea and two facts Read one word and stop

## Assessment (parent/teacher)

Can say what a short animal article is (real facts, not a made-up story) Can tell the main idea of a very short animal article in simple words Can remember and say at least two facts from an article just read Uses simple frames like “This article is about…” and “One fact is…” when talking about reading

## Exit ticket (student)

😀 I can read short animal articles and tell what they are about 🙂 I need more practice with main ideas and facts 😅 It still feels tricky

#### I will practice…

Saying the main idea after I read Telling two facts I learned about an animal Reading more short articles about animals
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