Unit 4 Week 4

Interactive Read Aloud

Insect Hide and Seek Oral Vocabulary

protect
Define: When animals or
What insects have you seen outdoors? Did you look at them closely? people protect themselves,
they keep themselves safe.
What did you see? Example: A car seat can
protect you from getting hurt.
Ask: How can you protect
Insects are all around us, but they can be hard to find. That’s yourself while skating?

because some insects are good at hiding. Their colors and shapes resemble
blend with their surroundings and protect them from enemies. In Define: Things that resemble
one another look alike.
order to spot these insects, you have to look very closely.
Example: Many people tell me
Have you ever looked at the stem of a rose? The stem has sharp that I resemble my father.
Ask: Do you resemble anyone
points called thorns. A thornbug’s shape makes it look like one of that you know? How?

these thorns. Since thorns aren’t tasty, most hungry animals will go
right past thornbugs. Look at the stem in the photo. Can you find
the thornbug? How does it resemble the thorns?
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Young thornbugs have another way to protect themselves. They LEARNERS
shake together when they sense danger. Their mother feels the stem Write Sentences Help children
write about insects they have
move and comes to help. seen and tell where they have
seen them. Provide sentence
frames, such as: I saw a(n)
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. It was .
DeAgostini/Getty Images

Intensive Vocabulary Support

Introduce the underlined words
using the routine on How to Use
the Interactive Read-Aloud Cards.
1
 Unit 4 Week 4
Interactive Read Aloud

Look at the twig in the photo. Can you find the walking stick Oral Vocabulary
hiding? It looks as if it is part of the twig. That is its disguise. different
The name “walking stick” fits this insect perfectly, because the Define: If two or more people
or things are different in some
shape of its body makes it look like a stick. It is like a thornbug way, they are not the same in
that way.
because it is shaped like a part of a plant. This helps the insect to Example: My friends and I
enjoy reading different kinds
hide. However, its texture—the way it feels when you touch it—
of books.
is quite different from the thornbug’s. This insect has the rough Ask: How are you and your
friends different? How are you
texture of a branch or twig. and your friends alike?

Walking sticks are among the longest insects in the world. One
kind of walking stick is thirteen inches long! Most of the time, these
insects keep still. If they move at all, they move very slowly. When a
tree branch sways in the wind, the walking stick sways right along ENGLISH LANGUAGE
LEARNERS
with it.
Compare and Contrast Display
the photos on cards 1 and 2
side by side. Ask questions to
help children compare and
contrast the two insects. Ask:
Where is the thornbug? Where
is the walking stick? Which
insect looks sharp? Which
insect is long? Why would a
hungry animal pass both of
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these insects by?

Creatas Images/PictureQuest

Insect Hide and Seek

2
 Unit 4 Week 4
Interactive Read Aloud

When you smell a flower, are you also sniffing an insect? It’s Oral Vocabulary
possible, because when a praying mantis sits on a flower, its green flutter
or brown color blends right in. As the mantis flutters and lands on Define: To flutter is to move
through the air lightly and
a flower, it seems gentle and harmless. And for people, that is true. quickly.
Example: Leaves flutter to the
However, this insect hides on flowers in order to catch and eat other ground as they fall.
insects! Look at the photo. Can you find the praying mantis on the Ask: Would a dog or a
butterfly flutter? Explain why.
flower?
The praying mantis, like the walking stick, sits very still. However,
when another insect, such as a bee or butterfly, comes by—watch
out! The mantis has legs that look like knives and a mouth like a
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
can opener. It uses them to trap and eat the insect. In this way, LEARNERS
the praying mantis is different from both the walking stick and the Generate Antonyms Ask:
What does the word harmless
thornbug. mean in the sentence, “As the
mantis flutters and lands on
a flower, it seems gentle and
harmless.” (safe) What are
some words that mean the
opposite of harmless? (harmful,
dangerous)
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Creatas Images/PictureQuest

Insect Hide and Seek

3
 Unit 4 Week 4
Interactive Read Aloud

Birds search for food in a tree, but they probably don’t notice a Oral Vocabulary
treat that’s right in front of their beaks! That’s because a katydid imitate
has a body shape and color that imitates a leaf. It even has veins Define: To imitate is to act like
someone or something else.
in its wings that look like the veins on a leaf. So the katydid stays Example: Parrots can imitate
the sounds they hear.
safe by blending with its surroundings, just as the praying mantis,
Ask: Did you ever imitate
walking stick, and thornbug do. Look at the photo. Can you find the someone to learn how to do
something new?
katydid?
While a katydid may not be seen, it can certainly be heard! On
warm nights, you might hear groups of them singing to one another.
Retell
They make their distinctive sound by rubbing their front legs
Help children use the pictures
together, and some people think they sound like they are singing to retell the selection.
Card 1: What does a thornbug
the words, “Katy did! Katy didn’t! Katy did! Katy didn’t!” In this way, look like? How do thornbugs
protect themselves?
the katydid is quite different from the praying mantis, walking stick,
Card 2: How does a walking
and thornbug. stick hide? How is it different
from a thornbug?
Card 3: Why does a praying
mantis hide on flowers? How
is it different from the walking
stick and thornbug?
Card 4: How does a katydid
Brian Gordon Green/National Geographic/Getty Images

hide? What makes the katydid

different from the thornbug,
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

walking stick, and praying

mantis?

Insect Hide and Seek

4