illustration of a sad boy in a bedroom with dinosaur decorations and toys
Art by Jennifer Bricking
Fiction,

The Bravest Dino on Earth

Leo doesn’t know anyone in his class. Will he be brave enough to make a friend? 

By Lindsey Owen | Art by Jennifer Bricking
From the September 2022 Issue
Lexiles: 490L
Guided Reading Level: I
DRA Level: 16
Featured Skill: Vocabulary, Main Idea,
Vocabulary: T. rex, nervous, anxious, fiercest, brave
Topic: Social-emotional learning,
Common Core Standards
  • RL.2.1 Key details RL.2.3 Describe how characters respond to events RL.2.6 Point of view RL.2.10 Read grade-2-appropriate stories RI.2.9 Compare two versions of the same story 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
  • Health
    (10) Personal/interpersonal skills. The student understands healthy and appropriate ways to communicate consideration and respect for self, family, friends, and others. The student is expected to: (A)describe how to effectively communicate; (B) express needs, wants, and emotions in healthy ways; (E) explain the benefits of treating friends, teachers, family members, and peers with respect.

Magazine View
See Student View
Think and Read

As you read, think about how Leo and Abby are brave. 

School starts in a week. I’m in my room. I’m playing with my dinosaurs when my mom comes in. 

“This came for you, Leo,” she says. “It’s . . . the list.”

The list!

The list is a big deal. It tells us who is in our class for school. 

I gulp. I cross my fingers. I really want Abby to be in my class. She’s my best friend. She is the only other kid who likes dinosaurs as much as I do. 

Last year, we played dinosaurs together during almost every recess. We even had a dinosaur birthday party together. (The cake was shaped like a T. rex.) We call ourselves the Dino Buds. 

My hands shake a little. I’m nervous. I look at the list. 

I’m going to be in Mr. Green’s class. That’s good! I’ve heard he is nice and funny. 

Then I look at the names of the kids in the class. I don’t know any of them.

But the worst part? No Abby. 

PAUSE AND THINK: Who does Leo want to be in his class?

The First Day of School

I am so anxious on the first day of school. I get to class. I look around at all the other kids. Everyone seems to have someone to talk to except for me. 

I miss Abby. 

I sit at my table. I play with my T. rex toy by myself. 

Then I see a boy by the window. He’s reading a book about dinosaurs.

OK, this is interesting. 

Maybe he likes dinosaurs too. Maybe we could be friends.

PAUSE AND THINK: What does Leo do when he gets to his class?

Dino Book Boy

I don’t know the boy’s name, so I call him Dino Book Boy in my head. 

I want to go talk to him, but I’m scared. What if he doesn’t want to be my friend? What if he thinks I’m weird for bringing a T. rex toy to school? 

And I’m not even sure he likes dinosaurs. What if he just picked up the book by mistake?

I don’t want to take the risk. I stay at my table. 

PAUSE AND THINK: What is Leo scared of?

The Bus Ride

After school, I plop down next to Abby on the bus.

“I really wish we were in the same class,” I tell her.

“Me too,” she says. She offers me a bag of cheesy popcorn from her backpack. 

“But guess what?” she says. “I think I made a new friend—this girl in my class, Rosie.”

“Really?” I say, munching on the popcorn.

“I was scared to go up to her at first,” Abby says. “But she turned out to be super nice. She was looking for a friend too.”

Then she pulls out her new dino. I show her my T. rex, and we talk dinosaurs. The T. rex was the strongest, fiercest, bravest dinosaur. 

Abby was brave like a T. rex to go up to someone new. I wonder if maybe I could be brave too.

PAUSE AND THINK: What did Abby do in school?

The Bravest Dino

The next day, Dino Book Boy is by the window again. And he is reading the same book! 

This time, I decide to be brave. I’ll be brave like the bravest dino on Earth! 

And, well, like Abby. 

I’m scared. But maybe I can do this anyway. 

I walk over to him. 

“Hey, I’m Leo,” I say. “That book looks good. Are you into dinosaurs?” 

He smiles. “I like dinosaurs,” he says. “I’m Ben. I saw your toy the other day. It looked pretty awesome.”

“Do you want to see it?” I ask.

“Yeah!” he says.

I hand him my T. rex. 

He shows me his book. 

Ben is just learning about dinosaurs. He is really friendly. 

Is he going to be a new Dino Bud? I don’t know. We talk about dinosaurs, but we also talk about Pokémon and soccer. 

Before I know it, I’m not feeling nervous anymore.

But the best part? I’m feeling like I made a new friend. 

video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (4)
Skills Activities
Quizzes (3)
Quizzes (3)
Quizzes (3)
Answer Key (1)
video (1)
Slideshows (1)
Activities (4) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Quizzes (3)
Quizzes (3)
Quizzes (3)
Answer Key (1)

About the Story

Social-emotional Learning Focus

Friendship

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

The big question of this issue of Storyworks 2 is, How can we be brave?

  • Reading and discussing “The Bravest Dino on Earth,” along with the other themed texts in the magazine (the Big Read, “Jumping to the Fire”; and the poetry kit, “Brave Shark?”), will help kids think about this question.

1. BEFORE READING

Show “The Big Question” Video (10 minutes)
Watch “The Big Question: How Can We Be Brave?” (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 can we be brave?"
  • Watch the video.
  • After watching, ask the question again. Write students’ ideas on chart paper.

Preview Preview Vocabulary (5 minutes)

  • Play the online vocabulary slideshow. This story’s featured words are T. rex, nervous, anxious, fiercest, and brave.

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.

Preview the Story and Set a Purpose for Reading (15 minutes)

  • Now tell students they are going to read a fictional story. This story is about a kid who makes a friend at school. Tell them it connects to the video they watched about being brave.
  • Read the Think and Read prompt on page 25: “As you read, think about how Leo and Abby are brave.”
  • Ask children what they think the answer to the Think and Read prompt could be. Write their ideas on chart paper.

Preview the First Page (5-10 minutes)

  • Preview the art on the story’s opening pages. 
  • Ask: What do you think is going on in this picture? (Answers will vary.)

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: FOCUS ON ELA SKILLS

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: Leo’s Letter (15 minutes)

  • Ask students to fill out the printable “Leo’s Letter.”
  • Tell them to pretend to be Leo writing a letter about what happened in the story.
  • Students can share their letters in pairs or with the class.

ELA Focus: Word Work (15 minutes)

  • Using the printable “Word Work,” ask students to answer questions about the meanings of words and phrases 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. 

Enrich the Learning: Paired Text Opportunities (time amount varies)

Making text-to-text connections builds knowledge and comprehension. We layer Storyworks 2 with many ways for your students to make connections.

Pairable Texts Big Read, “Jumping to the Fire” (pages 6-10); and the poem, “Brave Shark?” (page 32)

  • These texts ask questions similar to those posed in the fiction piece. How can we be brave? What should we do when we feel scared?
  • Kids can compare the texts by using our “Bravery Chart” printable. How are the texts alike, and how are they different?

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.

Text-to-Speech