Image of a bat and a flying squirrel
Shutterstock.com (Background); Barry Mansell/NaturePL.com (Bat); Tony Wu/NPL/Minden Pictures (Flying Squirrel)
Paired Texts,

Whoosh!

Look up! Two furry creatures zip through the sky. One is a bat. The other is a flying squirrel. Come along on their adventures through the air!  

By Laine Falk
From the October/November 2023 Issue

Learning Objective: Children compare and contrast two short, parallel nonfiction articles

Lexile® measure: 300L
Featured Skill: Compare Two Texts,
Vocabulary: swoop, soar, fliers, liquid, glide
Common Core Standards
  • Science Focus:
    Animal adaptations
  • Common Core Standards:
    RI.2.1 Key details RI.2.4 Vocabulary RI.2.5 Nonfiction text features RI.2.7 Use visuals RI.2.9 Compare two texts on a similar topic RI.2.10 Read grade-2-appropriate informational text SL.2 Participate in conversations about grade-2 texts
TEKS Standards
  • Science
    (9) Organisms and environments. The student knows that living organisms have basic needs that must be met for them to survive within their environment. The student is expected to: (A) identify the basic needs of plants and animals; (C) compare the ways living organisms depend on each other and on their environments such as through food chains. (10) Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms resemble their parents and have structures and processes that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to: (A) observe, record, and compare how the how the physical characteristics and behaviors of animals help them meet their basic needs

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Think and Read

As you read, think about how bats and flying squirrels are alike and different.

Fly With Bats

Shutterstock.com

Fantastic Fliers

All bats fly. They flap their wings and zoom through the air. Some bats swoop down and catch fish to eat. They soar in the sky. What fabulous fliers!


iStockPhoto/Getty Images

Slurp! Yummy liquid.

Why Fly?

They fly to get food. Many kinds of bats catch insects in the air. One kind of bat can catch 1,000 insects in an hour!

Other kinds of bats drink the sweet liquid inside flowers. Or they munch on tasty fruit. Yum!


Tony Wu/NaturePL.com

Home Sweet Home

Bats live in forests, deserts, and caves. After all that flying, bats need to sleep. They go to their different homes. They hang upside down. Sleep tight, bats!


Glide With Flying Squirrels

Tony Wu/NPL/Minden Pictures

Great Gliders

Flying squirrels don’t actually fly! They glide through the air.

They don’t have wings. They open their arms and legs. Their skin stretches out, like an open umbrella. They jump into the air.


Kim Taylor/NPL/Minden Pictures

Why Glide?

Flying squirrels glide to get food. They eat fruit, nuts, and bugs. They also glide to get away. Tree snakes eat flying squirrels. If a squirrel sees one, it leaps into the air to get away. Go, squirrels!


Shutterstock.com

Home Sweet Home

These fuzzy gliders go from tree to tree. They live in forests. The squirrels sit on branches. They sleep inside holes in trees. Sometimes they cuddle together to keep warm.


video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (4)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (4) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)

More About the Article

Science Focus

Animal Adaptations

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Implementation

  • Small group; whole group; independent reading

Pairings and Text Connections

In this issue, these texts all go with the creatures theme:

  • “Squirt!,” p. 2
  • “Creatures!,” p. 4
  • “Creature of the Mountains,” p. 6
  • “Whoosh! Bats and Flying Squirrels,” p. 18
  • “Betty Met a Yeti,” p. 32

From the Storyworks 2 archive:

Before-Reading Resources

  • Text Preview Bookmarks:
    (10 minutes) Kids can cut out the nonfiction bookmark
    and use it to preview the text.
  • Video: Compare and Contrast:
    (5 minutes) Watch our new Skill Power video on comparing and contrasting. It will teach kids about this important skill.
  • Play the Vocabulary Slideshow
    (5 minutes) Help students become familiar with vocabulary
    words they will see in the article.

Suggested Reading Focus

Compare and contrast (30 minutes)

  • Ask the Think and Read question: Think about how bats and flying squirrels are alike and different. 
  • Read the bat side. Note how the subheads tell what the text will be about. 
  • Read the flying squirrels side. Ask kids to compare and contrast the two animals. 

After-Reading Skills Practice (15 minutes for each activity)

  • Quiz: Comprehension check
  • Venn diagram: Compare and contrast
  • Creature Chart: Compare and contrast the themed texts in the issue.

Text-to-Speech