Image of an elephant and rabbit
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Paired Texts,

Which Would You Rather Have: Elephant Ears or Rabbit Ears?

Your ears are pretty great. They let you hear. They probably look cute on you too. But what if you had elephant ears or rabbit ears? You could do some amazing things! 

By Tricia Culligan and Laine falk
From the March/April 2023 Issue
Lexiles: 500L
Guided Reading Level: L
DRA Level: 20-24
Featured Skill: Compare Two Texts,
Vocabulary: enormous, recognize, massive, predators, devour, alert
Common Core Standards
  • RI.2.4 Vocabulary RI.2.5 Nonfiction text features RI.2.7 Use visuals RI.2.9 Compare two texts on a similar topic RI.2.10 Read grade-2-appropriate informational text SL.2 Participate in conversations about grade-2 texts L.2.4.a Use sentence-level context as a clue to a word’s meaning
TEKS Standards
  • Science
    (9) Organisms and environments. The student knows that living organisms have basic needs that must be met for them to survive within their environment. The student is expected to: (B) identify factors in the environment, including temperature and precipitation, that affect growth and behavior such as migration, hibernation, and dormancy of living things (10) Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms resemble their parents and have structures and processes that help them survive within their environments. The student is expected to: (A) observe, record, and compare how the physical characteristics and behaviors of animals help them meet their basic needs

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Think and Read

As you read, think about how elephant ears and rabbit ears are alike and different.

What If You Had Elephant Ears?

Your ears would be huge.

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Elephant ears are wide, thin, and huge. They are enormous. The ears of an African elephant can be 5 feet from top to bottom. That’s probably taller than you!

Those ears are heavy too. Just one can weigh 100 pounds!  


You would have incredible hearing.

An elephant’s ears can hear other elephants almost a mile away. And you know how you can recognize different people by their voices? Elephants do that too! They recognize other elephants by how they sound.


You could do cool tricks.

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An elephant flapping its ears 

When elephants want to cool down, they flap their ears. It’s like having fans on the sides of their heads. The hotter it is, the faster they flap!

Here’s another trick they do with their ears. If an enemy is near, an elephant spreads its ears out wide. That makes its body look bigger. Now a really big elephant looks massive! The elephant hopes the other animal will get scared and go away.

Would you want elephant ears? 


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What If You Had Rabbit Ears?

Your ears would be long.

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Rabbits have extra-long ears. If you had ears like rabbits do, they would stick up as tall as baseball bats on your head. Would that look cool?

Rabbit ears are furry and soft.  


You would have incredible hearing. 

A rabbit’s ears help keep it safe from predators, like foxes. 

Foxes want to eat tasty rabbits. They want to devour them! But rabbits can turn their ears to hear where a fox is. If a fox makes a noise, a rabbit will probably hear it. Those powerful ears can hear noises almost 2 miles away! 


You could do cool tricks. 

Serhii Bezrukyi/Alamy Stock Photo

How is this rabbit feeling?

Rabbits can turn their ears in any direction. They use this trick to stay cool. On a hot day, rabbits turn their ears toward a cool breeze. That feels nice!

Rabbit ears also show how a rabbit is feeling. They rest along its back if it is relaxed. They point forward if it is curious. They stick up if it is alert and paying attention. Would you like ears like that?


video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (4)
Skills Activities
Quizzes (2)
Quizzes (2)
Answer Key (1)
video (1)
Slideshows (1)
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Skills Activities
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Answer Key (1)

More About the Article

Science Focus

Animal adaptations

Vocabulary

enormous, recognize, massive, predators, devour, alert

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

1. BEFORE READING

Text Preview Bookmarks (5-10 minutes)

  • Students can use these evergreen bookmarks to help them preview the text. Our skills page has both fiction and nonfiction options for kids to cut out. They can use the nonfiction bookmark for this story.

2. READ THE PAIRED TEXTS (10 MINUTES)

  • Now tell students they are going to read two texts. One is about an inventor named Garrett Morgan and his firefighting invention. The other is about technology that firefighters use today.

3. AFTER READING

Play the Vocabulary Slideshow (5 minutes)

  • Now that your students have read the article, they have context for understanding the new words that appeared in it. Play the vocabulary slideshow after reading to reinforce these new words. Students can hear the definitions of the words read aloud and see photos illustrating each word. They can also practice saying the words out loud.

3. AFTER READING: FOCUS ON ELA SKILLS

Watch the video: Rabbit Roundup

  • This adorable video will give kids more information about rabbits. They can compare what they read in the article about rabbit ears with the video.

Assessment: Quiz (10 minutes)

  • Pass out the quiz for a quick comprehension check.
  • The quiz is available in multiple-choice and written-answer formats.

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

  • Students can write to Nosey about whether they would rather have elephant ears or rabbit ears. You can email students’ letters to Nosey at [email protected]. Nosey will write back!

ELA Focus: Compare Texts (15 minutes)

  • Using the Venn diagram printable, students can compare and contrast elephant ears and rabbit ears.

Online: Whole Issue Scavenger Hunt (15 minutes)

  • On our website, go to the Resources section of this article. Scroll down to Activities. The scavenger hunt is there.
  • This is a self-contained group of slides that guide students on a scavenger hunt through the whole issue. It helps them make text-to-text connections.
  • It can be done independently by students at home or during class time.

Text-to-Speech