City Critters: Wild Animals Live in Cities, Too

1. City Critters:Wild Animals Live in Cities, Too Written by Richard Chevat

2. GENRE: Informational Text

3. Informational Text • Non-fiction • The author’s purpose is to inform the reader about a particular topic using TRUE facts • “Time for Kids” magazine is an example of an informational text

4. Activate Prior Knowledge • What wild animals have you actually seen in your neighborhood or town? • Think of other animals that may live in a city or town (Do not include house pets.). Can we add any to the concept/question board? (Remember to include birds, fish, and mammals.)

5. Background Information • While large books are divided into sections called chapters, the stories or selections in a magazine are called articles. • The article we will be reading is an informational text written by Richard Chevat that was published in a magazine called “3-2-1 Contact.” • The word Critter in the title means “creature” or “animal.”

6. Selection Summary You may not think of the city as an agreeable home for wild animals, but some creatures actually thrive on high-rise living. Others live in urban habitats created especially for them by human beings. In clear and simple language, the author of the selection tells about some of the animals that are found in cities, the unusual places that these “critters” may sometimes call home, and the things that they may be able to tell us about the effects of urban living on human city-dwellers.

7. Vocabulary Words

8. Biologist Biologist: person who studies how people, other animals, or plants live and grow Mrs. Jackson is a biologist, a person who studies how people, other animals, or plants live and grow.

9. laboratories Laboratories: places where science studies and experiments are done. Many scientists work in laboratories, buildings especially equipped to do experiments.

10. migrating Migrating: moving from one place to another, usually when the seasons change Migrating geese fly south when the weather turns cold.

11. Observation Observation: watching and looking, being careful to notice details It takes careful observation to spot a grasshopper on a leaf.

12. skyscraper Skyscraper: a very tall building found in the city The flag on top of the skyscraper waved in the wind.

13. Urban Urban: having to do with a city or city life There are many large farms in the countryside, but not in the urban areas.

14. Before we read City Critters here is a short video clip on actual city critters in Toronto, Canada…raccoons!

15. Enjoy reading this informational text!