HomeMy WebLinkAboutRead Aloud Book Gr. 1-Lesson 10Have you ever looked around during autumn? You might see the leaves
changing colors. You might also see squirrels or chipmunks working very
quickly. These furry animals are getting ready for winter. They are collecting
and eating lots of nuts, acorns, and seeds.
Squirrels eat a lot of these foods in the fall. When they eat a lot, their
bodies get fatter. The extra fat helps them stay warm when winter comes.
It also gives their bodies energy to live off of during the cold winter months.
Plus, squirrels’ fur gets thicker in the fall. In winter, it is sometimes under zero
degrees outside. That’s freezing! Extra fur keeps the squirrels warmer. It helps
them live in the cold weather.
Squirrels don’t just eat seeds, nuts, and acorns in the fall. They also store
food. This means they gather a lot of food and hide it so that they know where
to fi nd it later. Squirrels take their seeds, nuts, and acorns and bury them in
small holes in the ground. When they are hungry during the winter, they dig up
the buried food and remove it from the ground. You might think the squirrels
would forget where they put the food. But they can smell it in the ground.
When they smell some food, they dig it up. Then they eat it!
Chipmunks also store food for winter. Their way of storing food is a little bit
different than the squirrels’ way. They look around for nuts and seeds. Then they
fi ll their mouths with food. Their cheeks stretch out to hold the food. Soon the
food is almost overfl owing from their mouths. Finally, they bring the food back
to their homes under the ground. They bring enough food to last all winter.
Chipmunks do not fatten up in the fall like squirrels do. They do not grow
more fur, either. Instead, chipmunks stay underground in their homes. They
sleep for most of the winter. They only wake up once in a while. When they
wake up, they eat some of the food they stored in fall.
Squirrels and chipmunks are two animals that know how important it is to
plan ahead. What can you learn from their habits?
COMPREHENSION What do chipmunks and squirrels do to get ready for
winter? What words in the passage tell about too much or too little?
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Little Chip and the other chipmunk children loved to play acornball. The
game was a lot like baseball. They used a stick for a bat, fl at stones for bases,
and an acorn for a ball.
One day, Little Chip was out in the woods searching for a good acorn to use
for the game. It had to be big and round and smooth. After a few minutes of
searching, he saw the perfect acorn beneath an oak tree. He hurried to get it,
but he ran so fast that he stumbled over a rock and fell down.
When Little Chip looked up, he saw a big gray squirrel picking up the acorn
he had found.
“Please don’t take that acorn,” said Little Chip. “The chipmunk children
need it to play acornball.”
“Well I found it fi rst, so I’m going to eat it,” said the squirrel.
“Please don’t!” cried Little Chip. Then he had an idea. “What if you and
your squirrel friends play against us chipmunks in a game of acornball?
Whoever wins gets to keep the acorn! What do you think about that?”
“OK, but just one game,” said the squirrel. “And you should know that my
team is pretty good.”
Little Chip wanted to play anyway. He felt good about the chipmunks’
chances of winning the game. Soon the game began. The squirrels were much
bigger than the chipmunks, and they took the lead very early on. Every time a
chipmunk hit the acornball into the air, a squirrel reached out and caught it.
After a while, it was Little Chip’s turn to bat. The big gray squirrel tossed
the acornball. Little Chip watched closely as the ball moved from the squirrel’s
hand through the air. When it came closer to him, Little Chip swung the bat
with all his might. He hit the acorn way up into a tree!
The chipmunk children cheered loudly. “Yay, Little Chip! You hit a home run!”
Little Chip was so excited. The chipmunks and squirrels played for a while
longer, and the game ended in a tie.
Afterward, the gray squirrel said to Little Chip, “Acornball is so much fun! I
think we should share the acorn and play again.”
Little Chip agreed, happy to have made a new friend.
COMPREHENSION What words in this story tell about actions? What
does the gray squirrel learn from sharing the acorn with the chipmunks?
The Acornball G ame
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