The Mantis Shrimp: read-along
The Mantis Shrimp as a read-along for the projector: 11 pages, 1392 words, level 15, beyond grade 8.
Page 1 of 11
The mantis shrimp is a small ocean animal with a name that manages to get nearly everything wrong, because it is not a mantis, which is an insect that lives on land, and it is not really a shrimp either. It belongs to a separate group of crustaceans called stomatopods, which are distant relatives of crabs, lobsters, and true shrimp. Scientists have described more than four hundred different kinds, and almost all of them inhabit warm, shallow seas in the tropics, where they are found from sandy lagoons to coral reefs. Most are only a few inches long, although the largest species grow to more than a foot, which is longer than a school ruler. The name comes from the two folded arms beneath the head, which resemble the arms of a praying mantis waiting patiently beside a leaf.
Keys: ← → or Page Up and Page Down turn the page, Space starts and pauses the voice, Home and End jump, F fills the screen. Tapping the right side of a page goes on; the left side goes back.
How to use it
- Press Full screen (F) to put the book on the projector.
- Press Read to me (Space), or read it yourself and turn pages with the arrow keys or a tap. Pick the Pace that suits the class.
- After the last page, three questions come up to talk about.
About this book
- Level 15, beyond grade 8
- 11 pages, 1392 words, about 10 minutes aloud
- A true book, gentle
Related
About The Mantis Shrimp
The mantis shrimp is neither a mantis nor a shrimp, and it throws one of the fastest punches in nature. This true book is full of facts about its club, its strange eyes, and its colors.
Words to preview
- stomatopod (stuh-MAT-uh-pod)
- mantis shrimp group
- cavitation (kav-ih-TAY-shun)
- bubble blast effect
- polarization (poh-ler-ih-ZAY-shun)
- light's wiggle direction
- plankton (PLANK-tun)
- tiny drifting life
- ultraviolet (ul-truh-VY-uh-lit)
- invisible sunburn light
Questions that fit any book
- What is one new thing you learned from this book?
- Which page told you the most? What did it say?
- What would you still like to find out about this?
Questions
How long does The Mantis Shrimp take to read aloud?
It has 11 pages and 1392 words, so about 10 minutes at the Steady pace and a little less at Quick. If you stop to talk on the way, plan for more.
What reading level is The Mantis Shrimp?
Level 15, beyond grade 8. The library numbers its levels from 0 to 18 and puts the level of a book on its cover; levels above 13 are beyond grade 8 and have no grade. A level is a guide for choosing, so look at the pages yourself.
Whose voice is it?
Your browser's own. Read to me uses a speaking voice already on the computer, so it sounds like that computer and works without a sign-in. Voices differ: some light each word as it is spoken, and some do not, in which case the highlight follows a steady pace instead. Some browsers use an online voice; if yours does, the browser, not us, sends the words of the page to its speech service. If no voice is installed, turn the pages and read it aloud yourself.
Do students need an account?
No. Nothing is asked of anyone and nothing is sent to us. Project the page, or share the link and let students open it on their own screens.
Where does this book come from?
It was written for Peabody's library as a true book. It is not copied from a textbook or another site.
Nothing you do here is sent to us. The voice is your browser's own. No sign-in, no ads.