Entertainment Pictures/Alamy Stock Photo
web
Shooop! Spider-Man shoots webs from his wrists. He wraps up his enemies in his webs. He also hangs from webs. He’ll never fall!
Spider-Man shoots webs from his wrists. He traps enemies in his webs.
Shutterstock.Com (Background); Entertainment Pictures/Alamy Stock Photo (Spider-Man); Scott Linstead (Jumping Spider)
Which is More Amazing? Spider-Man or Spiders?
You may have heard of the amazing Spider-Man. And you have probably seen a few spiders. But did you know that both Spider-Man and real spiders have incredible powers? Which is more amazing?
By Laine Falk
From the October/November 2022 Issue
Lexiles: 460L
Guided Reading Level: H
DRA Level: 14
Featured Skill:
Compare Two Texts,
Vocabulary: hatch, pits
Common Core Standards
TEKS Standards
Amazing Spider-Man!
Webmaster
Body Power
This superhero is a person in a powerful suit. He runs on two legs. His blue-and-red suit has two white eyes.
This superhero is a person in a special suit. He runs on two legs. His suit is blue and red. His suit has two white eyes.
Leaping and Climbing
RGR Collection/Alamy Stock Photo
What’s at the top of that skyscraper? Spider-Man! He leaps up tall buildings and onto moving boats. He climbs up walls. He swings in the air!
What’s at the top of that building? Spider-Man! He leaps up on tall buildings. He climbs up walls. He swings in the air!
Super Strong
Lifestyle pictures/Alamy Stock Photo
He bends iron with his hands. He lifts cars. He breaks a wall with just one punch. Bam! Now that’s amazing!
He lifts cars. He breaks a wall with just one punch. Now that’s amazing!
Amazing Spiders!
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Dave Pressland/FLPA/Minden Pictures
wasp spider on web
Spiders make silk inside their bodies. They spin sticky webs with it. Insects fly into the web and—gotcha! The spiders eat them up. Nom nom nom.
Spiders make silk inside their bodies. They spin sticky webs with it. Insects fly into the webs. Then spiders eat them.
Body Power
BIOSPHOTO/Alamy Stock Photo
ladybird spider
Can you believe many spiders have EIGHT eyes? They have eight legs too. They can be many amazing colors!
Many spiders have EIGHT eyes. They have eight legs too. They can be many amazing colors!
Leaping and Climbing
Scott Linstead
jumping spider
Some spiders leap down from the tops of trees. They climb up walls. Amazing!
Some spiders leap down from the tops of trees. They climb up walls.
Super Strong
Spiders can lift two times what they weigh. That’s like if you could lift two of yourself. Super strong!
Spiders can lift two times what they weigh. That’s like if you could lift two of yourself. Super strong!
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Skills Activities
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Answer Key
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Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Quizzes
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Answer Key
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More About the Article
Science Focus
Animal adaptations, diversity of animals
Vocabulary
wrists, suit, skyscraper, silk
Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
1. BEFORE READING
Preview Vocabulary (2 minutes)
- Play the online vocabulary slideshow. This article’s featured words are wrists, suit, skyscraper, and silk.
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 Spider-Man and the other is about spiders.
3. AFTER READING
ELA Focus: 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: Writing (15 minutes)
- Write a letter to Nosey! Have your class send emails to [email protected] about this article. She will write back!
- In the letters, kids can tell Nosey which they think is more amazing: Spider-Man or spiders.
- This can be done as a whole-class activity or an individual activity.
Science Focus: Spiders (20 minutes)
- The “Invent a Spider” printable teaches students features of spiders and guides students through inventing their own.
- Using this printable, students can create their own spiders synthesizing what they learned in the article with new information from the printable.
- These will be great to share on a bulletin board or in a class discussion!
ELA Focus: Compare and Contrast (15 minutes)
- Pass out our Venn diagram to help kids compare and contrast Spider-Man and spiders.
Show the Video “Tricky Spiders”
- Watch this video about spiders’ superpowers. Tell students to watch for spiders using their amazing skills, like jumping and making webs. The video will reinforce what kids have learned about spiders in the article.
Whole Issue Scavenger Hunt (15 minutes)
We created a scavenger hunt for several stories in this month’s Storyworks 2, including the paired texts. 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.
To find it, look in your Resources section. Scroll down to Activities. You will see it there.
Text-to-Speech