Article
Yavuz Sariyildiz/Alamy Stock Photo
Mini Read,

Goats in Trees!

What are these goats doing in a tree?

By Erin Kelly
From the March/April 2022 Issue
Lexile: 470L
Guided Reading Level: K
DRA Level: 16-18
Featured Skill: Key Details,
Topic: Science,
Common Core Standards
  • RI.2.1 Key details RI.2.4 Vocabulary RI.2.5 Nonfiction text features RI.2.10 Read grade-2-appropriate informational text SL.2 Participate in conversations about grade-2 texts

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Goats can climb trees! These goats climbed an argan tree. They eat its fruit.

Then they get down from the tree and spit out the seeds.It may sound gross, but when goats spit seeds, they help new trees grow.

What Seeds Need

Jim McMahon

How does spitting seeds help? Well, seeds need sunlight, water, and nutrients to grow. Nutrients are like food. Plants get them from the soil.

If seeds stay close to the tree where they grew, they can’t get enough water and nutrients. The tree uses them up. The tree also blocks sunlight that seeds need. So the seeds must find a better place to grow.

Goats to the Rescue

But seeds can’t walk to a new place by themselves!

The goats help. They take the seeds away from the tree. They spit them out in a sunny place where the seeds will get enough water and nutrients.

That lets new trees grow. Good job, goats

Slideshows (1)
Activities (4)
Skills Activities
Slideshows (1)
Activities (4) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities

More About the Article

Science Focus

Seed dispersal; Animal adaptations

Vocabulary

nutrients

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
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1. BEFORE READING

Preview Vocabulary (2 minutes)

  • Play the online vocabulary slideshow. This article’s featured word is nutrients.

Preview the Nonfiction Text Features/Visuals (5-10 minutes)

  • Take a look at the nonfiction text features. First, focus on the big photo. Ask kids to share what they notice about the image of the tree. (There are many goats standing on the branches of the tree. This is surprising because you don’t expect goats to climb trees. The ground looks yellow and dry.)
  • Can students find the map on page 2? Explain that this story takes place in a country called Morocco. Morocco is in Africa.
  • Can students find the caption on the map? A caption is a word or group of words that give information about a picture. What does the caption say? (The goats live in Morocco.)

Introduce Nosey (3 minutes)

  • Point out our dog character, Nosey, on page 3. Ask someone to read her voice bubble. 
  • Explain that Nosey pops up throughout Storyworks 2. Not only does she have a long nose to sniff out facts, but she’s also nosy! She’s curious and wants to know about everything. 

2. READ THE ARTICLE (10 minutes)

  • You can read this short article aloud together as a class, in small groups, or individually.

3. AFTER READING

ELA Focus: Quiz (10 minutes)

ELA Focus: Write Key Details to Nosey at [email protected] (20 minutes)

  • It’s time to help Nosey fill out her Fact File! Print out Nosey’s Fact File from the Resources section of our website. Kids can find facts from the article. They can work in small groups or individually.
  • Each fact box is scaffolded to help kids know what to write. 
  • You can also do this as a whole class activity and email their Fact Files to Nosey at [email protected]!

Text-to-Speech