1. Animal Homes

Welcome back, amazing learners, to another magical chapter all about animals! Today, we are going to learn about where animals live, what their cute babies are called, and the wonderful sounds they make. First, let us talk about animal homes. Just like you live in a warm, cozy house with a safe roof, soft beds, and strong walls to protect you from the chilly wind and the rainy days, animals in the big, wide world also need very special homes where they can live and feel completely safe. Different animals have incredibly different kinds of homes depending on where they live and how big they are. Some build homes high up in the leafy trees, some dig deep down into the brown dirt, and some live in giant, rocky caves!

• A big, strong, and brave lion lives in a home called a den. A den is usually a dark, quiet cave made out of big rocks or a hidden space in the tall grass where the lion family can rest safely after a long day of walking around the jungle.
• A tiny, squeaky, and fast little mouse lives in a burrow. A burrow is a long, secret tunnel that the clever little mouse digs deep under the soft dirt. It is perfectly safe and hides the tiny mouse from bigger animals who might want to chase it!
• A colorful, talking pet parrot can live very happily in a beautiful cage inside your house. A nice, big cage has little wooden swings to play on, small cups filled with yummy seeds and fresh water, and lots of bright toys for the parrot to enjoy all day long.
• A tall, humped camel does not live in a normal house with walls, but is beautifully built to be found wandering in the big, hot, sandy desert. The desert is a giant place with lots and lots of yellow sand and very little water, but the camel feels perfectly at home there!

Example Image: An Animal Home

A tiny, clever mouse digs a deep, dark hole in the dirt called a burrow to live in and stay safe and warm.

2. Animal Young Ones (Babies)

Did you know that all the giant animals and tiny creatures in the world have absolutely adorable little babies? Just like you were once a tiny, cute baby resting in your mother’s arms, animals have babies too! We call these sweet animal babies “young ones.” Animal babies love to run, jump, play funny games with their brothers and sisters, and stay very close to their mothers to learn how to do important things. Every single baby animal has a very special and unique name that we can learn. Let us practice the spelling and the special names of these very sweet, playful baby animals together!

• When a mother cat has a tiny, soft baby, we do not call it a baby cat, we call it a cute, fluffy kitten. A lovely kitten loves to drink warm milk from a bowl, take long naps in the bright yellow sunshine, and play with soft balls of string.
• A lovely baby cow is called a calf. A calf loves to stand up on its long, wobbly legs in the bright green grass and stay right next to the big mother cow on the friendly, busy farm.
• A shy, quiet baby deer is known as a fawn. A fawn is incredibly beautiful and usually has cute little white spots all over its soft brown back. These helpful spots let the fawn hide perfectly in the tall forest grass so it stays safe!
• A fast and playful baby horse is called a colt. A colt has very long, skinny legs and absolutely loves to run super fast across the big, open, grassy fields with all the older horses.
• A soft, fuzzy baby bear is called a cub. A little bear cub loves to climb way up into tall green trees, eat sweet, sticky honey, and play fun, tumbling games in the wonderful forest.

Example Image: An Animal Baby

A gentle mother cat’s incredibly lovely and playful little baby is called a sweet kitten.

3. Animal Sounds

Have you ever heard a happy dog bark loudly or a little bird sing a beautiful morning song? Animals cannot speak words with letters like you and me, but they still talk to each other every single day! They talk by making lots of different, interesting sounds. Some animal sounds are very loud and a little bit scary, while other animal sounds are very soft, gentle, and sweet. Animals make these sounds when they are very hungry, when they want to say a big, happy hello to their animal friends, or when they want to warn others about danger. Let us learn the special spelling words for the amazing sounds that different animals make!

• A small, soft, cuddly cat says meow. It might say meow when it wants you to gently scratch its ears, or when it is feeling very hungry and wants some yummy fish to eat right now.
• A green, jumpy, slippery frog says croak. If you go near a cool, wet pond of water at nighttime, you can hear many happy frogs singing their loud, bumpy croak song together in the dark.
• A huge, brave, and strong lion says roar. A roar is a very, very loud and deep sound that rumbles through the whole wide jungle to tell all the other animals that the mighty king is walking by.
• A fluffy, white, woolly sheep says baa. Sheep live on a big green farm and say baa to talk to their cute little babies and all the other sheep playing in the beautiful meadow.
• A pretty grey and white pigeon says coo. This is a very soft, bubbling, and completely happy sound that the bird makes when it is resting peacefully on a high building or a tall tree branch.

Example Image: An Animal Sound

When a big, brave, and very strong lion opens its giant mouth to be very loud, we say it lets out a massive, scary roar!

Practice Set