Wild Turkeys
A Reading A–Z Shared Reading Book
Word Count: 256
Home Connection:
Segmenting phonemes
Your reader is learning to listen for and
count the individual sounds in words.
After you read the book with your
reader, help him or her identify and
count the individual sounds of words
from the section headings on pages
5, 7, 9, and 11. Have your reader close
his or her eyes for this activity. Say the
word turkey. Then have your reader
say the word slowly and count how
many different sounds he or she hears.
Turkey has four sounds. (The number
of sounds is often different from the
number of letters.)
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Written by Fay Robinson
www.readinga-z.com
Photo Credits:
Front cover: © Mark Raycroft/Minden Pictures; back cover, page 12 (background):
© Carmelka/iStock/Thinkstock; title page: © Jared Hobbs/All Canada Photos/
Corbis; page 3: © Erich Schlegel/Corbis; page 4: © Kathy Willens/AP Images; page
5: © Anne Connor/iStock/Thinkstock; pages 6, 9: © George McCarthy/NPL/Minden
Pictures; pages 7, 13 (top): © Donald M. Jones/Minden Pictures; page 8: © FogStock/
Alamy; page 10: © Craig Coley/iStock/Thinkstock; page 11: © Bettmann/Corbis; page
12 (bottom left): © iStock/Natasa Tatarin; page 13 (bottom): © Georgios Kollidas/
iStock/Thinkstock; page 14: © Bruce Macqueen/Dreamstime.com
Written by Fay Robinson
www.readinga-z.com
Wild Turkeys
Shared Reading Book
Level 2
© Learning A–Z
Written by Fay Robinson
All rights reserved.
www.readinga-z.com
Introduction
When we think of Thanksgiving,
Table of Contents
we think of turkeys.
Introduction . .................................. 4
Did you know that wild turkeys live
Turkey Size . ................................... 5
across most of the United States?
Turkey Speeds ................................ 7
Wild turkeys are amazing!
Turkey Colors ................................. 9
Turkey History . ............................ 11
Conclusion ................................... 13
Glossary ...................................... 14
3
Wild Turkeys
|
Shared Reading
4
Male wild turkeys can puff up
their feathers.
They spread their tail feathers,
making a fan that can be 4 feet
(1.2 m) across.
That’s pretty amazing,
but that’s not all . . .
[Caption:] Wild turkeys have big feet. They use
them to scratch for seeds and nuts to eat.
Male wild turkeys puff up
their feathers to show off
for females.
Turkey Size
Wild turkeys are huge.
Some are 4 feet (1.2 m) tall.
Some weigh more than 20 pounds
(9 kg).
an be as tall
Wild turkeys c
year-olds!
n
e
v
e
s
e
m
o
s
as
Only male turke
ys
“gobble .”
5
Wild Turkeys
|
Shared Reading
6
Wild turkeys can fly at speeds
of 55 miles (89 km) per hour—
as fast as a car on a highway.
That’s pretty amazing,
but that’s not all . . .
Turkeys run or
walk more
often than the
y fly.
Turkey Speeds
Wild turkeys are fast.
They can run 25 miles (40 km) per hour.
race with
a
d
a
h
n
o
rs
e
p
If a
the turkey
,
y
e
rk
tu
d
il
w
a
win .
wo uld probably
Wild turkeys fly up to
tree branches, where
they rest at night.
7
Wild Turkeys
|
Shared Reading
8
A male wild turkey’s head can be
red, white, or blue.
The color changes when the turkey
is excited or upset.
That’s pretty amazing,
but that’s not all . . .
Turkey Colors
Wild turkeys are colorful.
Their feathers can be black, brown,
orange, or striped.
Some feathers shine in shades of red,
green, and gold.
kinds of
Five different
e in the
wild turkeys liv
. They all
United States
ferent.
look a little dif
Wild Turkeys
|
Shared Reading
Sometimes a wild turkey’s head is red, white, and blue
at the same time.
9
10
People worked to save wild turkeys.
The number of wild turkeys grew.
They made a great comeback!
That’s pretty amazing,
but that’s not all . . .
Canada
United States
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
PACIFIC
OCEAN
Turkey History
Mexico
GULF OF
MEXICO
Wild turkeys live in many parts of North
America, but not long ago, turkeys were
in trouble. People had hunted them
The purple parts of this map show
where wild turkeys now live.
until they were almost gone.
11
Wild Turkeys
|
Shared Reading
12
Glossary
amazing (adj.) causing great wonder
or surprise (p. 4)
colorful (adj.) full of color or having
many colors (p. 9)
feathers (n.) the soft, fluffy parts of a bird
that cover its body and
make up its tail (p. 6)
speeds (n.) the rates at which something
moves or happens (p. 8)
having bands of color (p. 9)
strong (adj.) powerful (p. 13)
tail (n.) a body part that sticks out from
the back end of an animal (p. 6)
Conclusion
turkeys (n.) large birds with nearly bald
heads that are often raised
for their meat (p. 4)
Ben Franklin thought the wild turkey
should be our national bird.
wild (adj.) in a natural state; not controlled
by humans (p. 4)
Wild turkeys are big, fast,
colorful, and strong.
Wild turkeys are amazing,
and that’s that!
Ben Franklin
13
Wild Turkeys
striped (adj.) |
Shared Reading
14