ELA 2-3 Two Bad Ants

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts: K-12 Close Reading Task

MS Word version

Standards & Objectives

Essential and guiding questions:

What was the “remarkable discovery” the ant scout found? What sentence in the text tells you this?
Why did the ants want to get more crystals for the ant queen? Use evidence from the text to answer the question.
In the text on page 8, the author said, “But all they heard was the call of crickets echoing through the woods like distant thunder.”
How is the call of crickets like thunder?
The author identifies objects in the story as things of nature. Can you identify two objects from the story and its natural counterpart?
(Building-mountain, sugar-crystal, coffee-lake, mouth-cave, garbage disposal- dark chamber, electricity-strange force.
Why did two of the ants decide to stay in the “unnatural place”? Use evidence from the text to answer the question.
Why is the story called, Two Bad Ants? Support your answer with evidence from the text.
What lesson did the two bad ants learn from their trip to the “unnatural place” (theme)? Use evidence from the text to answer the question.
How do the illustrations add meaning to the text to help you understand the story at a deeper level?

Activity/Task Variations

Blooms taxonomy level:

Understanding

Differentiation suggestions:

Scaffolding and support for special education students, English language learners, and struggling readers:
This story is presented as a whole class read-aloud. Hearing the story read fluently and with prosody can support special education students, ELLs,
and struggling readers. The teacher will pose several text dependent questions, as well as give students an opportunity to ask questions and
participate in a discussion of the story. The teacher will pose questions then give time for students to talk in partnerships or in small groups
(accountable talk). This gives students opportunities to hear other perspectives and ask questions in small group settings. The structure for the
students’ partnerships can be strategically orchestrated to incorporate strong readers that can collaborate with at-risk readers. The questions posed
by students and the discussion that follows will allow students time to process and comprehend the story. These students could also benefit from a
small group discussion of the story to be sure the vocabulary words are clear and there are no misunderstandings about the story.
These students may need additional support with the writing prompt. In small group, students can talk about the ants’ adventures and facilitate an
oral retell. Next, the teacher can discuss with the students what the two bad ants might be thinking and feeling as each event is discussed. After
discussing orally, I would encourage students to write the prompt including information that was discussed. If students are struggling with this, the prompt could be constructed as an interactive writing prompt with the students and teacher.

Originator:

Tennessee Department of Education