Close Reading

Beaver Cloze Fill in the blanks with the words above the paragraph. Beavers
A beaver is an animal that has large front _teeth_______  and a large _tail___________________ on its back.  Beavers live in _______ponds_______________ that they make by building a ______________dam_________ on a small river or __stream____________________.

Beavers the Builders

Beavers can cut down ____trees_________________ with their powerful teeth. They use the __sticks___________________ and ___twigs__________________ from the trees to build their dams.  They also use ____________mud_________ from the ground to hold everything together and fill in the holes.

Beavers Lodges

Beavers __________build___________ their homes in the middle of their ponds. Their homes are called ___________lodges__________. The entrance to the lodge is ______underwater_______________. This helps protect the beavers from ______________predators_______. When a beaver sees a dangerous predator like a wolf the beaver ___slaps__________________ its tail on the water and hides in the lodge.

The Fur Trade

In the past, people called ____________trappers_________ hunted beavers for their valuable ________________fur_____. Beaver fur is very _________warm____________ so their fur was used to make __________hats___________.