World's Nicest Shark? Lesson Plan

Download this lesson

Academic Standards

 

Reading Objective:

Children will follow scientists as they investigate the bonnethead shark.

 

Science Focus:

sharks, scientific inquiry

 

ELA Skills:

key details, vocabulary, sequencing

 

Page 4 Skill:

read a diagram

 

Vocabulary:

carnivores, seagrass, digested, nutrients, omnivores

 

CCSS:

SL.2.3, RI.2.1, RI.2.4, RI.2.10, RI.2.3

 

Guided Reading Level:

M

 

Lexile Level: 

540L

Download TEKS Standards
Download California State Standards
Download Common Core Standards

Provide students with some background on sharks.

Build background knowledge (10 min.)

  • Watch our video “Get Close to Sharks.” After children have finished watching the video, discuss the following question:
    • Which shark did you think was the weirdest? Describe it! (Answers will vary.)
    •  

Preview vocabulary (3 min.)

  • Next, play the online vocabulary slideshow. This issue’s featured words are carnivores, seagrass, digested, nutrients, and omnivores.

Set a purpose for reading (5 min.)

  • Pass out the issue, and discuss the cover. After reading the text, point out that this shark is surprising because it seems so different from other sharks. When something is surprising, we want to learn more about it. So do scientists!
  • Next, read the As You Read prompt on page 2: “Think about how the scientists learned the answers to their questions.” Encourage children to think about this prompt as they read.

Read together (20 min.)

Pass out the Read and Think printable. Use it to check comprehension as you read the issue together, pausing to ask the questions. 

Assessment: Reading Checkpoint (15 min.)

  • Pass out the Reading Checkpoint to review key concepts from the issue and assess students’ proficiency on key nonfiction reading skills.
  • The Ocean Animal Concentration game not only sharpens children’s memory skills—it also introduces a wealth of content vocabulary!

You can use our printable worksheets to focus on important ELA skills. Here’s how.

ELA Focus: Vocabulary (15 min.)

  • Use the Word Work printable to deepen students’ understanding of the words carnivore, seagrass, omnivores, digested, and nutrients.

Editor’s Pick: Sequencing (15 min.)

  • The Shark Scientist Sequencing skill sheet helps children practice their sequencing skills as they learn about the scientific process. Children cut out each step the scientists took and then put the steps in correct order.

ELA Focus: Solve a Word Puzzle (15 min.)

  • The Ocean Crossword skill sheet is a super-fun way to practice vocabulary from the issue! Each clue is a cloze sentence, so children have to find a word from the bank that makes sense and fits in the grid!

 Here are two past issues you can use to extend your lesson on animal scientists:

  • Bear Cub Checkup!, November/December 2019. This issue introduces kids to a bear scientist! She checks on cubs while their mom is hibernating.
  • The Fox That Shocked Scientists, January 2020. This issue tells the story of an arctic fox that traveled across the world all by herself, much to the surprise of the scientists who were tracking her.

You can find a higher-Lexile-level and a lower-Lexile-level version of the article online here:

  • Higher-Lexile level: 620L
  • Lower-Lexile level: 510L