Illustration of grasshopper playing the violin and an ant carrying sticks
Art by Kathrin Fehrl

The Grasshopper and the Ant

Grasshopper loves to play. Ant works and works. Winter is coming. What will happen? 

By Retold By Monique D. Hall | Art by Kathrin Fehrl
From the May/June 2023 Issue
Lexiles: 500L
Guided Reading Level: M
DRA Level: 20-24
Vocabulary: squinted, satisfied, boomerang, panicked, crumpled, relieved
Think and Read

As you read, think about each animal’s point of view. How do they see things differently?

The sun shone brightly. Not a cloud was in the blue sky. Grasshopper played a song on her fiddle and danced.

Meanwhile, Ant worked busily around her. He was gathering firewood and bringing it down into his anthill. Grasshopper could not understand why Ant was wasting this perfect day.

She stopped playing her fiddle and went over to him. “Ant, why are you working on such a sunny day? You should be enjoying it.”

“I am,” he replied. “I’m enjoying this day by working.” 

“But work isn’t fun,” she said. “Playing music and dancing is fun. Join me!” She played her fiddle and danced around Ant.

Ant laughed but shook his head. “I’m going to keep working.” 

“How come?” Grasshopper whined.

“Because before you knowit, winter will be here. And it will be too cold and dark to collect food,” he said. “Would you like to help?”

Grasshopper shook her head and said, “No way! It’s still summer. Winter is far away. There will be plenty of time to collect food later.” 

Ant shrugged as Grasshopper kept on playing her fiddle.

Summer to Fall

The next day was just as sunny. Grasshopper lay in the grass, playing her fiddle. 

Ant gathered more firewood and food. Then he swept around his anthill with a little broom. Grasshopper couldn’t believe it. Ant was doing so much work again!

“Ant!” Grasshopper called to him. “You’re doing chores again?” 

Ant nodded and said back, “Winter will be here before you know it! Want to join me?”

“Nope,” Grasshopper said, stretching out in the grass.

This happened over and over. Grasshopper played her fiddle and danced all day. Meanwhile, Ant worked hard to get ready for winter. Whenever Ant asked Grasshopper to join him, Grasshopper said no and kept on playing.

Pretty soon, summer turned to fall. The sun still shone, but the weather was cooler. There was a cool, crisp breeze in the air. 

Ant moved faster, trying to finish up the last of his work. But Grasshopper continued to play. She felt the breeze and thought it was a good time to fly her kite.

“Grasshopper! Can you believe it’s fall already?” Ant asked.

“Yeah! It’s the best time of year to fly a kite,” Grasshopper said as her kite floated in the air.

“It’s getting colder. You really should start getting ready for winter. I’m almost done,” Ant said.

“Oh, I’ll collect food, and clean, and do all my chores later. Stop bugging me!” Grasshopper shouted.

“OK, I’ll leave you alone,” Ant said with a shrug. Then he climbed down into his anthill.

Grasshopper felt bad about yelling at Ant. But she did not like him telling her what to do. She would do her work when she felt like it. Right now, she felt like flying her kite. So she did.

Every day after that, it got colder and colder. Grasshopper kept playing her fiddle and flying her kite. She didn’t notice that winter was almost there. 

Meanwhile, Ant came outside less and less. He waved at Grasshopper from the window of his anthill while cooking in his cozy kitchen.

Winter Is Here

It wasn’t until the first snowfall of the season that Grasshopper finally began working. Or at least she tried to work. But it was very hard to find food when everything was covered in snow.

She searched all over, but she couldn’t find a crumb. Her tummy rumbled with hunger. And her hands were so stiff from cold that she couldn’t play her fiddle or fly her kite. She was very unhappy. 

As she sat in the snow shivering, she smelled something scrumptious. She stood up and followed the smell all the way to Ant’s anthill. Grasshopper could see in the window that Ant was baking muffins. Grasshopper’s tummy rumbled again. With no other choice, Grasshopper knocked on Ant’s door.

“H-h-hi, Ant!” Grasshopper said, shivering.

“Hiya, Grasshopper. How are you today?” Ant was wearing a hat, a scarf, and mittens.

“I’m hungry and cold,” Grasshopper said. 

“Don’t you have firewood and food stored for the winter?” Ant asked.

Grasshopper shook her head. “No. Why didn’t you remind me to do those things?”

“I tried, but you told me to stop bugging you!” Ant said. 

“Ant, I’m so sorry. You were right. I should have spent those sunny days working instead of playing. Now I have nothing.”

“Well, that’s not true. You have something,” Ant said.

“What?’” Grasshopper asked.

“You have a friend,” Ant replied, taking off his warm scarf and wrapping it around Grasshopper’s neck.

“Ant, can I please stay with you this winter? I’ll do anything!”

Ant thought. Then he said, “Of course!” 

Grasshopper jumped with joy!

“BUT,” Ant continued, “when winter is over, you have to promise to help me with work before you start to play.”

“I promise! Thank you, thank you!” Grasshopper said, hugging Ant and spinning him around. Ant giggled and welcomed Grasshopper into his snug anthill. 

For the rest of the winter, Ant and Grasshopper stayed warm inside. They shared meals, read books, and even played music together. Grasshopper played songs on her fiddle, and Ant joined in on the piano.

Springtime 

When the first rays of spring sun came into the anthill window, Ant woke up. He looked around for Grasshopper, but she wasn’t there. 

Ant thought Grasshopper had left instead of keeping her promise to help with the work. He was so upset! Just then, Ant heard a knock at the door.

He went up to open the door, and he was so surprised at what he saw: Grasshopper with a basket full of food she had collected. 

“I wanted to get an early start on work!” she said, beaming.

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About the Story

Casel Social-emotional Learning Focus

Responsible decision-making: Anticipating and evaluating the consequences of one’s actions

Vocabulary

fiddle, crisp, rumbled, scrumptious, beaming

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan

Essential Question

The essential question of this issue is How do our lives change in the summer? The articles below connect to this theme.

  • Big Read: “Dogs to the Rescue,” p. 6
  • Past to Present: “The History of Sunglasses,” p. 22
  • Fiction: “The Grasshopper and the Ant,” p. 24
  • Debate: “Should Kids Have Later Bedtimes in the Summer?,” p. 30
  • Poetry: “Dad in the Sand,” p. 32

Through the above texts, students will dig deep into this essential question and make text-to-text connections.

1. BEFORE READING

Show “The Big Question” Video (5-10 minutes)
  • Watch “How Do Our Lives Change in the Summer?” (This video also goes with other stories in this month’s Storyworks 2.)
  • Before your students watch, ask them to think about the question “How Do Our Lives Change in the Summer?”
  • Watch the video.
  • After watching, ask the question again. Write students’ ideas on chart paper.

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 fiction bookmark for this story.

2. READ THE STORY (10-20 MINUTES)

  • Kids can read this story individually, in small groups, or as a whole class.
  • Check comprehension as you read the story with the Pause and Think questions. These help check basic comprehension as you go along.

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.

4. AFTER READING: FOCUS ON ELA SKILLS

Pick and choose from a variety of activities:

 

Assessment: Quiz (10 minutes)

  • Pass out the quiz, which will help you assess students’ reading comprehension.
  • We also offer a lower-level quiz.

ELA Focus: Parts of Speech (15 minutes)

  • Using the printable “My Sunny Day,” students can fill in the blanks with different parts of speech to create a silly story about a day at the beach.

ELA Focus: Story Structure (15 minutes)

  • Using the printable “Put the Story in Order,” students can cut out illustrations representing different parts of the story and then paste them in the right order.

ELA Focus: Point of View (15 minutes)

  • Using the “Point of View” printable, kids can write about how Grasshopper and Ant feel during different points in the story.

ELA Focus: Story Map (20 minutes)

  • As a class, discuss the characters, setting, and key events in the story.
  • During or after the discussion, ask students to fill out the “Story Map” printable.

ELA Focus: Compare Sunny-Themed Texts (15 minutes)

  • This is our most popular skills page for every issue! Kids can compare the themed texts by using our “Sunny Chart” printable.

Whole Issue Scavenger Hunt (15 minutes)

We created a scavenger hunt for several stories in this month’s Storyworks 2, including this fiction piece. The scavenger hunt can be done by students independently at home or during class time.

  • This is a self-contained group of slides that guide your students on a scavenger hunt through the whole issue. It’s not only fun, it also helps them make text-to-text connections.
  • Students can do the scavenger hunt at home or during class time.

Text-to-Speech