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Sea Otters and Their Stone Tools

3rd grade nonfiction passage about sea otter habits: 172 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade nonfiction sea otter habits 172 words

Sea Otters and Their Stone Tools

A sea otter spends almost its whole life in the ocean. It eats, sleeps, and raises its young in the water. How does it stay safe and warm there?

An otter has the thickest fur of any animal. Its fur traps tiny bubbles of air close to the skin, and that keeps the cold water out. The otter spends a lot of time grooming, or cleaning and fluffing, its fur so the air stays in.

An otter also uses tools. After it dives for a clam or a crab, it floats on its back with a flat stone on its chest. It bangs the shell against the stone until the shell cracks open. Then it eats the meal inside. Some otters keep a favorite stone in a loose pocket of skin under the arm.

When otters rest, they sometimes wrap themselves in long strands of kelp, a sea plant. The kelp works like an anchor, so the otters do not drift away while they sleep. Mother and baby may hold paws, too.

Questions

  1. Where does a sea otter spend almost its whole life? in the text

  2. What does an otter's thick fur trap close to its skin? in the text

  3. What does an otter use to crack open a shell? in the text

  4. What do otters sometimes wrap around themselves when they rest? in the text

  5. Why does an otter spend a lot of time grooming its fur? think about it

  6. Why is the kelp like an anchor? think about it

Words to know

grooming
cleaning and fluffing fur
kelp
a tall sea plant that grows in the ocean
anchor
something heavy that holds a boat in place
clam
a small sea animal with a hard shell in two parts
drift
to be carried slowly along by water
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 164 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2

A sea otter lives in the ocean almost all its life. It eats, sleeps, and raises its young in the water. How does it stay safe and warm?

An otter has very thick fur. The fur holds tiny bubbles of air close to the skin. This keeps the cold water out. The otter spends a lot of time grooming, or cleaning and fluffing, its fur. Then the air stays in.

An otter also uses tools. It dives for a clam or a crab. Then it floats on its back with a flat stone on its chest. It bangs the shell on the stone until the shell cracks. Then it eats the meal inside. Some otters keep a favorite stone in a pocket of skin under the arm.

When otters rest, they sometimes wrap themselves in kelp. Kelp is a long sea plant. It works like an anchor. The otters do not drift away while they sleep. A mother and baby may hold paws, too.

▲ This passage · 172 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.8

A sea otter spends almost its whole life in the ocean. It eats, sleeps, and raises its young in the water. How does it stay safe and warm there?

An otter has the thickest fur of any animal. Its fur traps tiny bubbles of air close to the skin, and that keeps the cold water out. The otter spends a lot of time grooming, or cleaning and fluffing, its fur so the air stays in.

An otter also uses tools. After it dives for a clam or a crab, it floats on its back with a flat stone on its chest. It bangs the shell against the stone until the shell cracks open. Then it eats the meal inside. Some otters keep a favorite stone in a loose pocket of skin under the arm.

When otters rest, they sometimes wrap themselves in long strands of kelp, a sea plant. The kelp works like an anchor, so the otters do not drift away while they sleep. Mother and baby may hold paws, too.

■ Harder · 200 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.8

A sea otter spends nearly its entire life in the ocean, where it eats, sleeps, and raises its young. How does such a small animal manage to stay safe and warm in the cold sea?

An otter has the thickest fur of any animal. The fur traps tiny bubbles of air close to the skin, and those bubbles keep the freezing water from reaching the otter's body. To make sure the air stays in, the otter devotes a great deal of time to grooming, which means cleaning and fluffing its fur.

An otter is also a clever user of tools. After diving for a clam or a crab, it floats on its back with a flat stone resting on its chest. It bangs the hard shell against the stone until the shell cracks open, and then it eats the meal inside. Some otters even keep a favorite stone in a loose pocket of skin under the arm.

When otters rest, they sometimes wrap themselves in long strands of kelp, which is a large sea plant. The kelp acts like an anchor, so the otters do not drift away while they sleep. A mother and her baby may also hold paws.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put grooming, kelp, anchor, clam and drift on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 2 minutes to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Sea Otters and Their Stone Tools"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 172 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.8. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 2 minutes read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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