Reading Comprehension with Questions and Academic Vocabulary: Animal Emotions

Item description

This nonfiction reading comprehension passage contains twelve embedded academic vocabulary words. Reading them in context allows students to connect them to real-life situations. Definitions, parts of speech, a review, a quiz, and a crossword help to increase understanding and promote retention.

Examples: incontrovertible; litigation; unprecedented; dexterity

It also has eight vocabulary words that are unfamiliar to many students. An attached worksheet will allow them to use context clues to infer each word’s meaning.

Examples: inhibit; articulate; apprehension; laudable

Fourteen comprehension questions assist them in mastering skills such as central idea, text evidence, and text structure. This resource is aligned with Common Core standards and is appropriate for classwork, homework, homeschooling, or reading centers. Answer keys are included, and your emergency substitute will find it easy to use.

To complete this learning experience, students will use an online etymology dictionary for the following tasks related to Greek and Latin roots.

• Determine the meaning of each root. 

• Identify new words created by combining roots.

• Compose sentences using vocabulary made by combining Greek and Latin roots. 

Student Resources

Academic Vocabulary with Definitions

3 1/2 Page Reading Passage With the Following Subtopics

– Orangutans, One of the World’s Smartest Animals

– Do Animals Have Feelings?

– Two Opposing Arguments

– The Strongest Argument Against Granting Legal Personhood

– Studies in Orangutan Communication

– The Historical Importance of the Great Apes

– The Illegal Trade in Great Apes

– The UNESCO Declaration of Human Rights

– Ongoing Studies in Animal Sentience

– The Benefits of Personhood

14 Reading Comprehension Questions

8 Context Clues Questions

Teacher Resources

• Table of Contents (See in Terms of Use.)

• Greek and Latin Roots Worksheet

• Vocabulary Review

• Vocabulary Quiz

• Vocabulary Crossword Puzzle

• Answer Keys

• Vocabulary Retention Strategies and Games

Excerpt I

Other legal experts based their argument on anthropomorphic assumptions. Humans rely on intricate speech patterns to express feelings, such as joy and sorrow. These patterns require a coordinated effort between the larynx and the vocal cords. Since this process is undeveloped in primates, it is difficult to prove that these creatures experience emotion.

Excerpt II

Not only folk psychologists celebrated the verdict of Sandra’s landmark trial. Many scientists agree that the judge’s decision represents a positive advancement toward broader animal rights. The 1978 UNESCO Declaration of Human Rights served as a foundation for the judge’s ruling. It asserted the need to recognize that some animals are sentient. By 2019, over 32 nations recognized that non-humans experience emotion. They respond to sensory sensations such as grief, fear, and love, like members of our human family.

Excerpt III

Yet elephants, with their incredible memories, display the most obvious example of sentience. Studies document these pachyderms can distinguish between the voice patterns of two ethnic groups, one passive and another aggressive. Observations reveal how an elephant herd experienced no apprehension as the passive group approached. Instead, they continued to feed. Yet, the voice patterns of the aggressive group caused immediate alarm. The harsh speech patterns activated the matriarch’s instinct to protect her companions. She immediately led them to safety.