Animals Big and Small

Animals, Big
and Small

Cycle 26 Decodable Reader

There are numerous animals
living on the earth. So
numerous, it would be
ridiculous to try to count
them all!

2

Some of the animals are very
small. Some are enormous.
And some are sort of in
between. Let’s learn about
some of the smallest and the
largest of each.

3

A blue whale is the biggest
animal on earth. It’s
monstrous! It can be as heavy
as 180 tons. That’s bigger
than a bus! And a blue whale’s
heart can be as heavy as a car!

4

One of the smallest animals is 5
the gold frog. Are you curious
how small it is? A gold frog is
not even a centimeter long!
That’s about the size of
a fingernail!

The next enormous animal can
be found in Africa, and at the
circus. Did you guess it? Right,
the fabulous African elephant.
Elephants can stand as tall
as thirteen feet. That’s taller
than a basketball hoop.

6

Have you ever heard of a 7
slender blind snake? These
reptiles are very skinny and
only about 11 centimeters
long, and have very tiny eyes.
They look and act more like a
worm than a snake. They are
not poisonous or dangerous.

Have you ever heard of a
tremendous bird called an
ostrich? The ostrich is the
biggest bird on earth. This
bird is also famous for being
very fast. An ostrich’s wings
help it to run even faster, but
they do not help it fly.

8

You learned about some of
the biggest animals and
some of the smallest.
The earth is also full of many
other animals in between!
Like the fabulous octopus! Or
the whiskery walrus. What is
your favorite animal?

9











Image Credits:
Rossi, Remi. “Elephant.” Photograph. Flickr. 13 October 2011. Web. 7 May 2017.
Tennakoon, Amila. “Blue Whale.” Photograph. Flickr. 15 Oct 2014. Web. 13 July
2016.
Bentley, Michael. “Panamanian Golden Frog.” Photograph. Flickr. 30 July 2011.
Web. 13 July 2016.
Paradiz, Maximilian. “?” Photograph. Flickr. 15 Sept 2009. Web. 13 June 2016.
manderson2. “Male Ostrich Tarangire.” Photograph. Flickr. 24 May 2010. Web. 13
July 2016.

EL Education Language Arts Curriculum
Grade 2: Reading Foundations Skills Block: Module 4, Cycle 26,
Decodable Reader: Animals, Big and Small

The number on each Decodable Reader corresponds to the cycle of instruction
where the text is introduced. Cycle 1 does not include a Decodable Reader.
A complete set of the Decodable Readers for this grade begins at Cycle 2.

EL Education Language Arts Curriculum is published by:
EL Education
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FIRST EDITION

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