Article
Art by Adam Record
Poetry,

Eating Words

This rhyming poem explains what different animal groups eat

By Katherine Hauth
From the February 2020 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will learn how different animals are grouped according to the foods they eat. 

Common Core Standards
  • R.1, R.2, R.5, R.7, W.3, SL.1, SL.2, L.1
TEKS Standards
  • TEKS Grades 2-3:
    1a, 1c, 4a, 6g, 6h, 6i, 7b, 7g, 9b, 9f, 10c, 12a

Presentation View
See Student View

Want to hear this poem read aloud by a Storyworks Jr. writer? Find the audio read-aloud in your Resources tab. 

Want to hear this poem read aloud by a Storyworks Jr. writer? Click here!

Science Connection

This poem explains how animals are grouped by what they eat.

When you know

that vore means eat,

you will know

that insectivores feed

on grasshoppers, moths, and butterflies,

mosquitoes, bees, and plain-old flies.


When you know

that carni means meat,

you will know

that carnivores eat

snakes and lizards, deer and lamb,

carrion, birds, fish, and ham.


When you know

that herb means plant,

you will know that herbivores CAN’T

eat anything that moves on a foot,

just foods that spring up from a root.


When you know

that omni means all,

you will know t

hat omnivores call


Everything

they can suck or chew—

sometimes even me or you—

food.

THINK AND WRITE

Write your own poem that uses rhyme, like this one does—with our Poetry Kit online!

“EATING WORDS” FROM WHAT’S FOR DINNER? BY KATHERINE HAUTH. COPYRIGHT © 2011 BY KATHERINE HAUTH. REPRINTED BY PERMISSION OF CHARLESBRIDGE PUBLISHING.

Audio ()
Activities (3)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Audio ()
Activities (3) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Can't Miss Teaching Extras
Teach This

Share this 2-minute video of how bullfrogs get their food. Ask your students to classify bullfrogs as insectivores, carnivores, herbivores or omnivores. (Hint: They’re omnivores?)

Fun Fact

There are over 450 different species of mammals that are considered insectivores! That’s about 10% of all mammals.

Read This

Be sure to check out this amazing Q&A with the poet, Katherine B. Hauth, to learn more about her life and inspiration for writing.

More About the Article

Key Skills

Science connection, main idea, key details, rhyme, synthesizing information, text features, interpreting text, compare and contrast

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

1. PREPARING TO READ

Set a Purpose for Reading (10 minutes)

  • Begin by reading the Science Connection bubble with the class. Ask students to look or listen for words that identify different animal groups. These words are printed in boldface in the first four stanzas of the poem.
  • Help students identify the part of these four words that is the same and the parts that are different. Students will learn what each of these word parts means as they read.
  • Point out that this is a rhyming poem. Encourage students to listen or look for words that rhyme in the poem.
  • Have students look at the illustrations. Each illustration shows what a different animal group likes to eat. Point to the picture of the deer and the elephant. What kinds of foods are these animals eating?

2. READING AND DISCUSSING

  • Read the poem for the class, play our audio version, or use Text-to-Speech. As students listen, ask them to think about what foods the different animal groups eat.
  • Project or distribute the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions and discuss them as a class while students refer to the poem. 

Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions (15 minutes)

  • Look at the first stanza. What does vore mean? (main idea) Vore means eat.
  • What are some foods that insectivores like to eat? (key details) Some of these foods are grasshoppers, moths, and bees. How are these foods alike? (science connection) These foods are insects.
  • Which words rhyme in the second stanza? (rhyme) The rhyming words are: meat, eat; lamb, ham.
  • How does knowing what vore and carni mean help you understand what carnivores are? (synthesizing information) Since vore means eat and carni means meat, carnivores are animals that eat meat.
  • What are three carnivores in a picture on page 32? (text features) There is a picture of a lion, a shark, and an alligator.
  • Which words rhyme in the third stanza? (rhyme) The rhyming words are: plant, can’t; foot, root.
  • What does “anything that moves on a foot” mean? (interpreting text) It refers to animals. Why can’t herbivores eat this type of food? (science connection) Herbivores only eat plants. They don’t eat animals.
  • Look at the fourth and fifth stanzas. How are omnivores different from insectivores? (compare and contrast) Omnivores eat everything, but insectivores only eat insects.

3. SKILL BUILDING

  • Call on a volunteer to read the Think and Write box.
  • Distribute our Rhyme Skill Builder. Students can brainstorm ideas for their poems in small groups. Poems might connect to one of the animals in the illustrations on page 32.

Text-to-Speech