UNIT 4

READING/WRITING
COMPANION
READING/WRITING
COMPANION
Cover: Nathan Love, Erwin Madrid

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We l c o m e to Wo n d e r s
Read exciting Literature, Science, and
Social Studies texts!

L E ARN about the world around you!

T H INK , SPE AK , and W RI TE about genres!

CO L L AB ORAT E in discussions and inquiry!

E X P RE SS yourself!

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Use your student login to read texts
and practice phonics, spelling,
grammar, and more!
 Read
Essential Question
Shared Read How do animals’ bodies
Find Text Evidence help them?

Think of a
question about the
story. Use the title
and illustration to
help you. Read to
find the answer.

Circle and read

aloud the word
with the long a
sound spelled ai.

12 Unit 4 • Week 1
n
Sail and Frog Folktale

Race

Animal Features 13
 Read

Shared Read
Find Text Evidence

Underline and
read aloud the
words about and
our.

Circle and read

aloud the words
with the long a
sound spelled ay.

This is a tale about Frog and Snail.

One splendid day, Snail sat in the
grass. Just then, Frog hopped past.

14 Unit 4 • Week 1
 Folktale

“Let’s play!” said Snail.

“Yay!” said Frog. “Let’s race to our
school.”
“Yes,” said Snail. “To win, we must
get inside the gate.”

Animal Features 15
 Read

Shared Read
Find Text Evidence

Ask any questions

you may have
about the text.
Read to find the
answer.

Underline and
read aloud the
words animal,
give, and carry.

Snail was not a fast animal.

He inched his way along the
trail. Then Frog hopped past,
fast, fast, fast!
16 Unit 4 • Week 1
“I will give you a tip,” yelled Frog.
“Hop like me. And don’t carry that Folktale
big shell!”
“I can’t hop. I don’t have long legs,”
said Snail. “And this shell is home.”

Animal Features 17
 Read

Shared Read
Find Text Evidence

Ask any questions

you may have
about the text.
Read to find the
answer.

Talk about Frog.

How did she get
to the gate first?

“I will win, then!” yelled Frog.

“At this rate, it will take you
eight days!”
Frog hopped past, fast, fast, fast!
Snail inched along the trail.
18 Unit 4 • Week 1
 Folktale

Then Frog came to the gate.

“I made it,” she bragged.
But the gate was locked!
Frog hopped up. But the gate
was too big.

Animal Features 19
 Read

Shared Read
Find Text Evidence

Ask any other

questions you have
about the story.
Then retell the
story to find the
answers.

Focus on Fluency
Take turns reading
aloud to a partner.
• Read each word
carefully.
• Read so it sounds
like speech.
Frog sat and waited for Snail.
At last, Snail came.
“I can’t get in!” wailed Frog.

20 Unit 4 • Week 1
 Folktale

Snail used his special sticky body

to slide past the gate.
“I win!” said Snail. Then he rested.
It had been a big day.
Animal Features 21
 Reread Shared Read
Vocabulary
Listen to the sentences and look at the photos.

Talk about the words.

Write your own sentence using each word.

special

Penguins move in a special way.

splendid

A peacock has a splendid tail.

Digital Vision/Getty Images; Corbis/SuperStock

22 Unit 4 • Week 1
Use a Dictionary
If you don’t know the meaning of Your Turn
a word, you can use a dictionary Use a dictionary to find the
to learn its meaning. meaning of wailed on page
  Find Text Evidence 20. Write the meaning.
I’m not sure what bragged means.
I will use a dictionary to look up
brag, the base word of bragged.
I learn that brag means “to talk
about yourself in a proud manner.”

Then Frog came to the

gate. “I made it,” she
bragged.

Animal Features 23
 Reread Shared Read
A folktale is a genre. A folktale is a story that
has been told for many years. Folktales may
have animal characters that act like humans.

Reread to find out what makes this

story a folktale.

Share how you know it is a folktale.

Write two clues from the story that

show it is a folktale.

24 Unit 4 • Week 1
 Folktale

Animal Features 25
 Reread Shared Read
Authors often give information in sequence, or
the order of events. Think about what happens
first, next, then, and last in the story to help you
understand sequence.

Reread “Snail and Frog Race.”

Use sequence words to talk about the

events in the story.

Write about what happens first, next,

then and last.

26 Unit 4 • Week 1
 Folktale

Animal Features 27
 Read
Essential Question
Shared Read How do animals help
Find Text Evidence each other?

Read the title.

Look at the photo.
Think about what
you want to learn
from this text.

Circle and read

aloud the word
with the long e
sound spelled ea.
Martin Strmiska/Alamy

42 Unit 4 • Week 2
A Team Nonfiction

of Fish

Animals Together 43
 Read
Fish swim in lakes and creeks.
Shared Read Fish swim in deep blue seas or
Find Text Evidence oceans.
Underline and Let’s dive into the water. Let’s
read aloud the
words blue, into, look at fish!
and or.

Ask any questions

you may have
about the text.
Read to find
the answer.
Georgette Douwma/Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images

44 Unit 4 • Week 2
 Nonfiction

Fish can swim alone. Fish can

swim with a partner.
Fish can swim in a bunch,
too. A bunch of fish is called
a school.
Animals Together 45
 Read
A school has lots of fish.
Shared Read They are a team.
Find Text Evidence
The fish help each other. They
Talk about why
look for food together.
a school of fish
is a team.

Underline and
read aloud the
words other
and small.
Reinhard Dirscherl/Alamy

46 Unit 4 • Week 2
Fish eat lots of things. Some Nonfiction
fish eat small animals. Some
fish eat other fish!

These catfish eat

together for safety.

(inset) Andre Seale/Alamy

Animals Together 47
 Read
It can be unsafe to swim alone.
Shared Read What is the chief reason? Danger!
Find Text Evidence A fish can get snapped up!
Circle and read But a fish can hide in a school.
aloud the word
with the long e
sound spelled ie.

 sk any questions
A
you may have
about the text.
Read to find
the answer.
Georgette Douwma/Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images

48 Unit 4 • Week 2
Fish in a school have a neat trick.
Nonfiction
The fish swim close together.
Big fish will not mess with them
because they look like one
huge fish.

These crescent-tail
bigeye fish swim in a
school to fool big fish.

(inset)Richard Carey/iStock/Getty Images

Animals Together 49
 Read
This big fish wants to eat. But
Shared Read it stays away. The school
Find Text Evidence looks like a huge fish that may
Retell the text eat him!
using the photos
and words.

Focus on Fluency
Take turns reading
aloud to a partner.
• Read each word
carefully.
• Read so it sounds
like speech.
Georgette Douwma/Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images

50 Unit 4 • Week 2
Fish in a school keep each
Nonfiction
other safe.
A school is a good place for a
fish to be!

Hundreds of barracuda fish

swim in a school together.

(inset)Purestock/SuperStock
Animals Together 51
 Reread Shared Read
Vocabulary
Listen to the sentences and look at the photos.

Talk about the words.

Write your own sentence using each word.

danger

Mom keeps her cub out of danger.

partner

A partner is a big help.

John Pitcher/Design Pics; Somos/SuperStock

52 Unit 4 • Week 2  
Context Clues
If you don’t know what a word Your Turn
means, look at other words in What words can help you
the sentence for clues. figure out the meaning of
  Find Text Evidence school on page 45?
I’m not sure what oceans means.
The words swim in deep blue seas
give me hints about the meaning.
I think oceans are some kind of
water.

Fish swim in lakes and

creeks. Fish swim in deep
blue seas or oceans.

Martin Strmiska/Alamy
  Animals Together 53
 Reread Shared Read
Nonfiction is a genre. A nonfiction text can give
facts about real things. It can be organized
by description.

 eread “A Team of Fish” to find out how

R
the text is organized.

 hare what the author is describing on

S
page 44.

Write about what the author describes

on page 45 and page 47.

54 Unit 4 • Week 2
 Nonfiction

Animals Together 55
 Reread Shared Read
The main idea is what the text is mostly about.
Key details give information about the main
idea.

Reread “A Team of Fish.”

 alk about the main idea and key details in

T
the text. Use the words and pictures.

Write the main idea and key details

about why fish swim in schools.

56 Unit 4 • Week 2
 Nonfiction

Animals Together 57
 Read
Essential Question
Shared Read What insects do you know? How
Find Text Evidence are they alike and different?

 ead to find out

R
about what some
insects are like.

Circle and read

aloud the word
with the long i
sound spelled -y.

102 Unit 4 • Week 4

 Fantasy

Creep Low,
Fly High

Insects! 103
 Read
Bug Boasts
Shared Read The Sun came up over a big field.
Find Text Evidence Five bug pals met to chat and laugh.
 Grasshopper boasted a bit. “I can
hop to the top of any plant!”

104 Unit 4 • Week 4

“Well, I can dash fast,”
bragged Ant. Fantasy

“Listen!” hummed Bee.

“I can buzz as I fly high.”
“And I can zip around on
fancy spotted wings!”
smiled Ladybug.

Insects! 105
 Read

Shared Read
Find Text Evidence

Think about how

Caterpillar feels.
Why does he sigh
and creep away?

 ircle and read

C
aloud the word
with the long i
sound spelled -igh.

“Not I,” sighed Caterpillar.

“I just creep, creep, creep.”
Then he crept away.
“Come back!” his pals wailed.
But Caterpillar did not.
106 Unit 4 • Week 4 TEKS: 1.2(B)(iii), 1.8(B)
 Missing!
It was time for lunch. The bugs did Fantasy
not see Caterpillar. He was missing!
Where did he go?

Insects! 107
 Read
“I think I know where he is!”
Shared Read cried Ant. “He is hiding because
Find Text Evidence he feels bad.”

 alk about what

T “I think that’s right,” nodded
Bee says. Picture Grasshopper. “Let’s find him.
the bird in your
We can cheer him up!”
mind. What do you
think it was doing? The two rushed away.
 nderline the
U
words know,
where, flew
and caught.

108 Unit 4 • Week 4

 Fantasy

“What if he is not hiding?”asked

Bee. “I saw a bird when we were
chatting,” added Bee. “It flew low
in the sky.”
“What if it caught our pal?” cried
Ladybug. “We must find out!
Maybe we can save him!”
The two flew away.
Insects! 109
 Read
Still a Pal
Shared Read The bugs did not find Caterpillar.
Find Text Evidence Many days went by. The pals
Retell the
were sad. Then one day they
story using the saw a beautiful bug with
illustrations and gold wings.
words from the
story. “Hi! I’m back!” the bug called
Focus on Fluency
as he flew by. “I wrapped up
Take turns reading and rested. Then I popped
aloud to a partner. out like this!”
• Read each word
carefully.
• Read so it sounds
like speech.

110 Unit 4 • Week 4

“It’s me—Butterfly! I used to be Fantasy
Caterpillar!” cried Butterfly.
“But you are not the same,”
sighed Ant.
“But I am still a pal,” said Butterfly.
“And now I can flit and dip!
Let’s go have some fun!”

Insects! 111
 Reread Shared Read
Vocabulary
Listen to the sentences and look at the photos.

Talk about the words.

Write your own sentence using each word.

beautiful

The butterfly has beautiful wings.

John Foxx/Stockbyte/Getty Images; LWA/Dann Tardif/Blend Images/Getty Images

fancy

We are wearing fancy hats.

112 Unit 4 • Week 4  

Context Clues
When you are not sure of what a Your Turn
word means, you can look at how What is the meaning of dash
it is used in the sentence. on page 105 of the story?
  Find Text Evidence
I’m not sure what chat means.
The word laugh is a hint. I know
that the bugs are pals so they
must have been talking together.
I think chat means to talk in a
friendly way.

Five bug pals met to chat

and laugh.

Insects! 113
 Reread Shared Read
A fantasy story can have characters that
could not exist in real life. It often has a
problem and solution.

 eread to find out what the problem

R
and solution are in this fantasy story.

 hare how you know the characters

S
could not exist in real life.

Write about Caterpillar’s problems.

How does he solve them?

114 Unit 4 • Week 4

Fantasy

Insects! 115
 Reread Shared Read
Point of view is the way that a character
in the story thinks or feels.

Reread “Creep Low, Fly High.”

 alk about each character’s point of

T
view in the story.

Write about how each character feels.

116 Unit 4 • Week 4  

Fantasy

Insects! 117
 Read

Shared Read
A Buddy-to-Be
Find Text Evidence Mickey is a cute and clever puppy.
He runs, jumps, and plays. One day,
Underline and
read aloud the
when he grows up a bit, Mickey will
word found. be a helping dog. He will be a daily
 icture in your
P buddy to a person who cannot see.
mind a lazy or
fussy dog. Why do
you think it could
not be a good
guide dog?
(l) Juniors Bildarchiv GmbH/age fotostock; (r) Cone 6 Productions/Photodisc/Getty Images

134 Unit 4 • Week 5

 Nonfiction
Helping dogs are called guide dogs.
To be a guide dog, a puppy must be
bright. It cannot be lazy or fussy. The
puppy will need to learn many skills.
A new home is found for the puppy
when it is eight weeks old.

Guide dogs can be big or tiny. Fact

Most guide dogs are
Labrador retrievers.
They are very
intelligent and easy
to train.

Ryan McVay/Photolibrary
Working With Animals 135
 WondersMHE.com

Grade 1 • Unit 4