Book Summary
Many prehistoric animals other than dinosaurs were giants. There were other giant reptiles, as well as giant species of shellfish, insects, centipedes, fish, amphibians, birds, and mammals. Paleontologists have used fossils to learn when these giants lived, how big they were, what kind of food they ate, and how they moved. DNA tests can show how the prehistoric animals are related to animals living today. Now extinct, these enormous animals were forces to be reckoned with: fish as long as 90 feet, dragonflies with a wingspan of 2.5 feet, rhinoceros-like mammals 15 feet tall and weighing 16 tons, and terror birds as tall as 10 feet that could run up to 43 miles per hour. Photographs, illustrations, and maps support the text.

About the Lesson

Targeted Reading Strategy

• Ask and answer questions

Objectives

• Use the reading strategy of asking and answering questions to understand text
• Identify the main idea and supporting details
• Identify and use commas in a series
• Understand how to read pronunciations in parentheses

Materials

• Book -- Prehistoric Giants (Other Than Dinosaurs) (copy for each student)
• Chalkboard or dry erase board
• Dictionaries
• KWLS, main idea and details, commas, pronunciation worksheets
• Discussion cards

    Indicates an opportunity for students to mark in the book. (All activities may be completed with paper and pencil if books are reused.)

Vocabulary

• Content words: amphibians, arthropod, bamboo, climate, DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), eras, extinct, habitat, herbivores, hollow, ice age, invertebrates, marine, paleontologists, periods, populations, predators, prehistoric, prey, species, tentacles, trilobites