Non-Fiction Close Reading

Passages

© Michelle Arold

Common Core Aligned

Ocean Animal Edition

1st and 2nd Grade

THANK YOU for downloading!

Thank you for downloading! In this packet I have included 4 non-fiction close reading

articles with comprehension sheets to go with each one. I am not a close reading expert

but this is how I use these lessons…

First, I cover the text of the article and only show the pictures. We talked about what we NOTICE and also what we WONDER. We might just do this as a discussion or we write them on sticky notes and make an anchor chart.

Day 1

Next, we review what we noticed and wondered the day before. I show the article again and reveal the text. I do one “cold read” where I model strong fluency. I also stop and add comments as I read such as, “Wow, that’s interesting” or “I wonder what that could mean?”

Day 2

Last, we read one more time. I usually ask for reading volunteers. I play more quiet music and they complete the back of the ‘Show what you KNOW’ worksheet. They get to take home the article after day 5 .

THANK YOU for downloading!

This day we focus on vocabulary. I write the words bolded from the article onto the board. We read them together and I tell the children to listen for them as we read. Anytime they hear those words they show me with a signal (usually with wiggling fingers in the air) and we stop and highlight. We reread the article and talk about what those words mean..

Day 3

Then, we review the newly learned vocabulary and read the article straight through together. We model strong fluency. We then complete the front of a ‘Show what you KNOW’ worksheet. I play quiet music as they work.

Day 4

Day 5

HERMIT CRABS Hermit crabs are a type of crustacean. It has a shell that is also their home. They crawl in it and live in it when they need to rest or they fear what is around them. They have a long body and long legs that are very soft. Their bodies are quite vulnerable and that is why they have to rely on that shell to offer them plenty of protection.

FAST FACT: Hermit Crabs cannot

bite because they don’t have any teeth.

However, they do have the ability to

pinch. They will do so if they feel that they are in danger and they aren’t able to

coil up in their shell.

They tend to be in their shells during the day but then come out at night and can be very active. They size of them will vary based on the species. Some of them are extremely tiny but the largest are about the size of a coconut. They can vary in color too but they are usually light brown or a shade of gray.

© Michelle Arold

Show me the EVIDENCE! Name ______________________

1) How is a hermit crab’s shell important for it’s survival? __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

KHighlight each question in one color. KHighlight the evidence to prove your answer from the article with the same color as your question.

2) What size and color can hermit crabs become? __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

Show me the EVIDENCE! Name ______________________

1) Should people be afraid of hermit crabs biting them? __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

KHighlight each question in one color. KHighlight the evidence to prove your answer from the article with the same color as your question.

2) Draw a picture of what a hermit crab might do if it was in danger.

dolphins The dolphin is one of the most playful and intelligent animals on our planet. Even though dolphins spend their lives in the water, they are not fish, but are mammals. Dolphins can't breathe water like fish but need to come to the surface to breath air. They breathe air through their blow holes, located at the top of their head, once they reach the surface.

FAST FACT: There are many kinds of dolphins. Perhaps the

most famous are the Bottlenose Dolphin and the Killer Whale .

Dolphins are very social animals. Many dolphins travel in groups called pods. Some live in pods of 5-30 dolphins for their entire lives. Each pod behaves differently. Some pods migrate and travel around the world, while others have a specific territory. Sometimes pods can group together to make giant pods as large as 1000 or more dolphins! Baby dolphins are called calves. The males are called bulls and the females are called cows.

© Michelle Arold

Show me the EVIDENCE! Name ______________________

1) How come dolphins are not considered to be fish? __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

KHighlight each question in one color. KHighlight the evidence to prove your answer from the article with the same color as your question.

2) Do dolphins like to live alone? If not, how do they like to live? __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

Show me the EVIDENCE! Name ______________________

1) Write one new fact you learned about dolphins: __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

KHighlight each question in one color. KHighlight the evidence to prove your answer from the article with the same color as your question.

2) Draw a female, male and baby dolphin. Label each one with their special names.

jellyfish Jellyfish can be found in every ocean of the world, in deep water, and on the coast. Tentacles hang down from their smooth baglike body and sting their prey. Jellyfish have tiny stinging cells in their tentacles to stun or paralyze their prey before they eat them. Inside their bell-shaped body is an opening that is its mouth.

FAST FACT: Did you know some jellyfish are clear but others are in vibrant colors such as pink,

yellow, blue, and purple, and often are luminescent. Their colors warn

predators!

Jellyfish stings can be painful to humans and sometimes very dangerous. However, jellyfish don't purposely attack humans. Most stings occur when people accidentally touch a jellyfish, but if the sting is from a dangerous species, it can be deadly.

© Michelle Arold

Show me the EVIDENCE! Name ______________________

1) What special features do jellyfish tentacles have? __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

KHighlight each question in one color. KHighlight the evidence to prove your answer from the article with the same color as your question.

2) Where do jellyfish live? Can I find them anywhere? __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

Show me the EVIDENCE! Name ______________________

1) Do jellyfish mean to sting people on purpose? __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

KHighlight each question in one color. KHighlight the evidence to prove your answer from the article with the same color as your question.

2) Draw some jellyfish and color them with colors that can be in real life.

sharks Sharks belong to a family of fish that have skeletons made of cartilage, a tissue more flexible and lighter than bone. They breathe through a series of five to seven gill slits located on either side of their bodies. All sharks have multiple rows of teeth, and while they lose teeth on a regular basis, new teeth continue to grow in and replace those they lose.

FAST FACT: Great whites are the deadliest shark in the ocean. These powerful predators can race through the water at 25 miles per hour!

There are about 368 different kinds of sharks that live all over the world. They range in size from a person's hand, to bigger than a bus. Most sharks are about the same size as people (five to seven feet or 1.5 to 2.1 meters.) The whale shark is the largest shark in the world. It's about the size of a bus and weighs more than two African elephants. The most common is the spiny dogfish shark. © Michelle Arold

Show me the EVIDENCE! Name ______________________

1) Since sharks are fish, how do they breathe? __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

KHighlight each question in one color. KHighlight the evidence to prove your answer from the article with the same color as your question.

2) What happens if a shark loses a tooth? Is it gone forever? __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

Show me the EVIDENCE! Name ______________________

1) What shark is the largest? How big does it grow? __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________ __________________________________

KHighlight each question in one color. KHighlight the evidence to prove your answer from the article with the same color as your question.

2) Draw a great white shark swimming and label it with how fast it can go.

Please check out the following sites where my graphics and fonts came from. Thank you!

Yay!

http://pixabay.com/

http://www.kimberlygeswein.com/