“Two Bad Ants”

by Chris Van Allsburg

Thumbs Up or Down?What do you think?

• Ants live in highly organized groups called colonies.

• The outside of an ant's body is made of a hard shell, or endoskeleton.

• Ants have bodies that contain three major segments: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.

• The head of the ant has a pair of large, strong jaws. The jaws open and close like scissors.

• Adult ants cannot chew and swallow solid food, so they spit it out.

• The ant has two compound eyes, meaning that each eye is made of many smaller eyes.

• Ants can lift ten times their own body weight.

• Ants love picnics!

Thumbs Up or Down?What do you think?

• Ants live in highly organized groups called colonies. TRUE!

• The outside of an ant's body is made of a hard shell, or endoskeleton. FALSE- Exoskeleton!

• Ants have bodies that contain three major segments: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen. TRUE!

• The head of the ant has a pair of large, strong jaws. The jaws open and close like scissors. TRUE!

• Adult ants cannot chew and swallow solid food, so they spit it out. FALSE! Ants squeeze the fluid from solid pieces of food.

• The ant has two compound eyes, meaning that each eye is made of many smaller eyes. TRUE!

• Ants can lift ten times their own body weight. FALSE! Ants can lift up to twenty times their own weight!

• Ants love picnics! TRUE!

Guess the Covered WordA Dangerous Adventure

• The scout slowly crept along the canyon’s ledge. The rocky shelf was narrow and steep. He gripped the crystal as blinding sunlight shone off the sparkling stone. This remarkable treasure would make him famous. Suddenly he slipped and sent rocks tumbling over the side. The sound of falling rock echoing off the walls reminded him to be more careful.

Let’s Read!

• Read your questions first, so you know what to look for as you are reading.

• Read the story, “Two Bad Ants,” from page 368 to 383.

• Answer your questions!

• Do your best!

Day Two:

• Let’s review the story!

• Let’s go through the pictures from the story and summarize what happened.

• Then we’ll listen to the story on CD.

• Last, we’ll go over your questions together!

Just for Fun:

• Imagine you are ant-sized. Write about a part of your classroom from an ant's perspective. Get ready to read what you wrote to the class and have them guess what you have described.