Two Bad Ants Activities

Two Bad Ants is an entertaining story that has been around for years. It combines adventure and suspense while viewing the world through an ant’s point of view. Within its pages you will find pen and ink drawings that help the reader infer what dangers the ants face on their journey to find more crystals. Here are some printable and digital Two Bad Ants activities you can use in the classroom or at home.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Written and Illustrated by: Chris Van Allsburg

Two Bad Ants is an entertaining story that has been around for years. Within its pages you will find pen and ink drawings that help the reader infer what dangers the ants face on their journey to find more crystals.

The ants are tired of their humdrum life in the same ant hole, so they’re off to the strange new world of a kitchen in search of sugar crystals for their queen.

But when two ants stay behind and take a nap in the sugar bowl, they are in for a wild ride. Falling into a sizzling cup of coffee and a heated stay inside of a toaster is just the beginning for these misbehaved ants.

Will they ever make it back home?

Take a peek at these pen and ink drawings by Chris Van Allsburg.

If you don’t already have a copy of this book in your school or classroom library, you can find it on Amazon.

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Two Bad Ants Activities

This book companion has a large focus on comprehension and vocabulary. This resource has 12 questions to help guide the discussion as you read. Students can also respond to these questions in writing.

These discussion questions will help guide your students through Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg. There is also an option for students to respond to these comprehension questions in writing.

After reading the book, students can put the story back together with this sequencing activity.

After reading Two Bad Ants, students can put the story back together with this cut and paste sequencing activity.

Once students have practiced sequencing the story, they are ready to retell or summarize. There are several different graphic organizers to choose from. Students can also focus on the story with this story elements spinner.

These graphic organizers will help students retell or summarize Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg.

For vocabulary, I selected 12 words and phrases for this story. Each vocabulary card has a matching definition. Students can play a memory matching game or use the cards in a pocket chart center. To continue working with these words, students can complete the fill-in-the-blanks page or vocabulary match-up activity.

I selected 12 vocabulary words from Two Bad Ants. Students can practice these terms with these vocabulary match-up and fill-in-the-blanks activities.

This resource also includes a word search, two character charts, and an activity in which students describe different objects and locations from an ant’s point-of-view.

Two Bad Ants Writing Craft

After reading the book, students can put together this ant writing craft.

After reading Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg, students can bring the message of the story to life with this ant writing craft.

This craft includes printable templates so students can create an ant (shown above). I have included several suggestions for writing prompts, but you can always choose your own.

If your students need more room to write, you can try one of these writing pages. Students can still make the ant craft, but they can cut off the extra writing flap.

After reading the story, students can write about their favorite part, the plot, or create a new adventure story for the two ants.

Two Bad Ants Digital Activities

With many classrooms going paperless, I decided to add some digital options to this book companion. In addition to the printable PDF, you will find a Google Slides link that can be used with Google Classroom. I have also included a fillable student PDF. Please note: these digital options do not include the ant craft. Instead, there is a slide with a clipart image and a text box for a student response.