Guided Reading Lesson:
Where Zoo Animals Were Pets
Introduction/Background Knowledge
- What animals live in the zoo?
- If you could have a zoo animal as a pet which animal would you want?
In this book, Ben is a 7 year old boy who gets an elephant as a pet. His friends all have zoo animals as pets. Pam has a fox, Ted has an ox, and Sam has a Panda. Let’s read to find out what happens in this book.
Chapter 1
Key Vocabulary
elephant, panda, ox, fox, zoo
Comprehension Questions:
- What kind of pets do Ben’s pals have?
- What does Ben do to decide what kind of pet he wants?
- Where does Ben find his pet pad?
Critical Thinking Questions
- How does Ben feel that all of his friends have a pet and he doesn’t?
- Why do you think Ben wants a pet?
- Why do cats and dogs live in the zoo in this book?
Chapter 2
Key Vocabulary
Pet Pen, jam, mess
Comprehension Questions
- Who does Ben stop the van to see? What does he tell them?
- Where does Ben go to get a pet?
- What does Ben do to choose an elephant?
- What is Jen able to do?
- What do Ben and Jen do at the end of the chapter?
Critical Thinking Questions
- Why was Ben sad?
- How does Ben know Jen is the perfect pet for him?
- What do you think Ben and Jen are going to do together first?
- What would you do if you had a flying elephant?
Chapter 3
Key Vocabulary
jig, hut, wig, pal
Comprehension Questions
- How do Ben and Jen get home?
- What do Ben and Jen see on their way back to Ben’s house?
- What did Ben and Jen do before they got home?
- Where will Jen live?
Critical Thinking Questions
- What do you think Ben will need to do to take care of Jen?
- Do you think Jen will like living in a hut? Why or why not?
- Why can’t Jen live in the house with Ben?
Chapter 4
Key Vocabulary
wahoo, pal, sleep,
Comprehension Questions
- Who are the characters in this chapter?
- Where does the chapter take place?
- What is the first problem in this chapter? How is this problem solved?
- What is the second problem in this chapter? How is this problem solved?
- Why can’t Jen sleep? What does Jen do when she can’t sleep?
- What does Ben do to help Sam find his panda?
Critical Thinking Questions
- What do you do when you can’t sleep?
- How do you think the Panda felt when he was lost?
- Why do you think Jen kept singing even though Ben asked her to stop?
- How do you think Jen felt that she helped the panda find his way back?
- Do you think the Jen will cause any more problems for Ben’s pals?
Chapter 5
Key Vocabulary
pop, jam
Comprehension Questions
- Who are the characters in this chapter?
- Where does the chapter take place?
- What is the problem in this chapter? How is the problem solved?
- What does Jen do when she sees Jam?
- Why does Jen keep spilling the jam?
- Why did the ox get mad?
Critical Thinking Questions
- Who do you think Jen will cause problems for next?
- How do you think Jen felt when she made Ted’s ox mad?
- Do you have a favorite food you love?
- How do you think it would feel if jam was spilled all over you?
Chapter 6
Key Vocabulary
right, tag, it (to be the tagger)
Comprehension Questions
- Who are the characters in this chapter?
- Where does the chapter take place?
- What is the problem in this chapter? How is the problem solved?
- Why does Jen fly up in the sky?
- Who does Ben, Jen, Pam and her fox see at the end of the chapter?
Critical Thinking Questions
- What are some personality traits you can use to describe Jen?
- Can you make a connection between Jen and youself or someone you know?
- Have you ever played tag? Do you like being ‘it’? Why or why not?
- What do you think it would be like to fly on top of an elephant?
Book Extension Activities
- Retell what happens in each chapter.
- Would you want a pet elephant like Jen? Why or why not?
- Would you want to live in a world where zoo animals are pets? Why or why not?
- What was your favorite part of the book. Draw a picture to match.
- What animal would you want to have as a pet? Draw a picture of you with your zoo animal. Label the picture and write what you would do with the zoo animal.