Image of sloth hanging from tree branch
Michael J. Cohen, Photographer/Getty Images
Nonfiction,

Real Sloths

Real sloths are different from fairy tale sloths. 

By Molly Bradley
From the September 2025 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will compare and contrast this nonfiction text about sloths with fiction about sloths.

Lexile® measure: 400L
Featured Skill: Compare Two Texts,
Common Core Standards
  • Science Focus
    Animals
  • Skill Focus
    Compare and contrast
  • Common Core Standards
    RI.2.1 Key details RI.2.4 Vocabulary RI.2.5 Nonfiction text features RI.2.9 Compare two texts on a similar topic RL.2.10 Read grade-2-appropriate informational texts SL.2 Participate in conversations about grade-2 texts
TEKS Standards
  • Science
    (13) Organisms and environments. The student knows that organisms have structures and undergo processes that help them interact and survive within their environments. The student is expected to: (B) record and compare how the structures and behaviors of animals help them find and take in food, water, and air
  • Social Studies
    (4) Geography. The student understands the location of places in their community, state, country, and the world. The student is expected to: (A) identify major landforms and bodies of water, including each of the seven continents and each of the oceans, on maps and globes; and (B) locate places, including the local community, Texas, the United States, the state capital, the U.S. capital, and the bordering countries of Canada and Mexico on maps and globes. (C) create and interpret timelines for events in the past and present

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1. Real sloths don’t live in castles. 

Jim McMahon/Mapman ®

Wild sloths live in Central and South America.

They live in rainforests. They live high up in the tops of trees. Sloths eat leaves and fruit. They have all the food they need up there!

2. Real sloths don’t sleep most of the time. 

Sloths in the wild sleep 8 to 10 hours a day. That’s about as much sleep as people get! But they do move very slowly. 

3. Real sloths spend almost all their lives upside down! 

They hang upside down from branches. They even fall asleep upside down. They come down from their trees only once a week to go to the bathroom! 

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Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
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Implementation

  • Small group; whole group; independent reading

1. Use the Before-Reading Resources

  • Watch our Fiction and Nonfiction video (5 minutes)
    Our video Fiction and Nonfiction gives students background knowledge about these two genres.  

2. Read “The Sloth Princess”

Reading Focus: Fiction and nonfiction (30 minutes)

  • As you read “The Sloth Princess,” ask students to pay attention to aspects of the story that wouldn’t happen in real life. Would sloths talk and wear clothes? Would they live in castles? Would a magic spell put animals to sleep? 
  • Students can put a check next to the parts of the story that seem fictional, i.e., that would not happen in real life. 

3. Read “Real Sloths” 

Reading Focus: Comprehension, fiction and nonfiction (30 minutes)

  • “Real Sloths” is nonfiction about sloths.  Ask students to pay attention to facts about sloths that are different from what happens in “The Sloth Princess.” 
  • Where do real sloths live? How do real sloths move? How, and how much, do real sloths sleep?

4. After-Reading Skills Practice

(This page can be printed from our website.)

  • Fiction and Nonfiction: (15 minutes)
    Compare and contrast “The Sloth Princess” with “Real Sloths.”

Text-to-Speech