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The Leafcutter Ant Who Carried the Wrong Leaf

4th grade fiction passage about listening, ant colonies: 206 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade fiction listening, ant colonies 206 words

The Leafcutter Ant Who Carried the Wrong Leaf

Leafcutter ants march in long lines to their nest, each one holding a piece of leaf above its head like a little green sail. The ants do not eat the leaves. They use them to grow a special fungus in the nest, and the fungus is their food.

A young ant named Pim wanted to bring back the biggest leaf piece ever. While the others cut small, thin pieces from a soft, light-green bush, Pim chose a thick leaf from a tough old plant. It took her twice as long to cut. She staggered all the way home, wobbling under the weight.

At the nest, the gardener ants sniffed her leaf and shook their heads. "This one is too hard," said the oldest. "The fungus will not grow on it. We need the soft leaves."

Pim felt her cheeks burn, though ants do not blush as people do. She had worked hard, but she had never asked what the nest needed.

The next day she walked beside an experienced ant and asked questions along the way. This time she cut a small, soft piece. It was the smallest leaf she had ever carried, and the gardeners welcomed it with a happy wave of their antennae.

Questions

  1. Why do leafcutter ants carry leaves to their nest? in the text

  2. What kind of leaf did Pim choose? in the text

  3. Why did the gardener ants reject Pim's leaf? in the text

  4. What did Pim forget to do before she cut her leaf? in the text

  5. How did Pim change her plan the next day? think about it

  6. What is the lesson of this story? think about it

Words to know

fungus
a living thing, like a mushroom, that grows without sunlight
staggered
walked in an unsteady way, as if about to fall
experienced
having done something many times and knowing it well
antennae
the two thin feelers on an insect's head
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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 · 180 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.4

Leafcutter ants march in long lines to their nest. Each ant holds a piece of leaf over its head like a green sail. The ants do not eat the leaves. They use them to grow a fungus in the nest. The fungus is their food.

A young ant named Pim wanted to bring home the biggest leaf piece ever. The other ants cut small, thin pieces from a soft bush. Pim picked a thick leaf from a tough old plant. It took her twice as long to cut. She wobbled all the way home under the weight.

At the nest, the gardener ants sniffed her leaf and shook their heads. "This one is too hard," said the oldest. "The fungus will not grow on it. We need soft leaves."

Pim felt bad. She had worked hard, but she had not asked what the nest needed.

The next day she walked beside a wise ant and asked questions. This time she cut a small, soft piece. It was the smallest leaf she had ever carried. The gardeners waved their feelers happily.

▲ This passage · 206 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.5

Leafcutter ants march in long lines to their nest, each one holding a piece of leaf above its head like a little green sail. The ants do not eat the leaves. They use them to grow a special fungus in the nest, and the fungus is their food.

A young ant named Pim wanted to bring back the biggest leaf piece ever. While the others cut small, thin pieces from a soft, light-green bush, Pim chose a thick leaf from a tough old plant. It took her twice as long to cut. She staggered all the way home, wobbling under the weight.

At the nest, the gardener ants sniffed her leaf and shook their heads. "This one is too hard," said the oldest. "The fungus will not grow on it. We need the soft leaves."

Pim felt her cheeks burn, though ants do not blush as people do. She had worked hard, but she had never asked what the nest needed.

The next day she walked beside an experienced ant and asked questions along the way. This time she cut a small, soft piece. It was the smallest leaf she had ever carried, and the gardeners welcomed it with a happy wave of their antennae.

■ Harder · 215 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.9

Leafcutter ants march in long, orderly lines to their nest, each one holding a piece of leaf above its head like a little green sail. The ants do not eat the leaves themselves. Instead they use them to cultivate a special fungus in the nest, and that fungus is their food.

A young ant named Pim was determined to bring back the biggest piece of leaf that anyone had ever seen. While the other ants snipped small, thin pieces from a soft, light-green bush, Pim selected a thick leaf from a tough old plant. It took her twice as long to cut, and she staggered all the way home, wobbling beneath the weight.

At the nest, the gardener ants sniffed her leaf and shook their heads. "This one is far too hard," said the oldest of them. "The fungus will not grow on it. We need the soft leaves."

Pim felt deeply embarrassed. She had worked tremendously hard, but she had never thought to ask what the nest actually needed.

The next day she walked beside an experienced ant and asked questions along the way. This time she cut a small, soft piece. It was the smallest leaf she had ever carried, yet the gardeners welcomed it with a cheerful wave of their antennae.

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 fungus, staggered, experienced and antennae on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the story 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 retell the story in three sentences: how it began, what the problem was, and how it ended.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "The Leafcutter Ant Who Carried the Wrong Leaf"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 206 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.5. 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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