Image of lemur tail passing row of books
Page 18: Shutterstock.com (Books); vasiliki/Getty Images (Tail); DUKE LEMUR CENTER (2010); Page 19: iStockPhoto/Getty Images (Lemur Eating); DUKE LEMUR CENTER (Lemurs at Center); Shutterstock.com (Bottom Lemur)
Nonfiction,

Lemurs in the Library

Read a true story about lemurs in a school library.

From the September 2025 Issue

Learning Objective: Children will compare fiction and nonfiction texts about lemurs.

Lexiles: 470L
Common Core Standards
  • RF.1.3 Decoding RI.1.1 Key details RI.1.3 Connecting information RI.1.4 Vocabulary RI.1.5 Text features RI.1.6 Distinguish between information from words and images RI.1.7 Use visuals RI.1.9 Compare texts SL.1.1 Participate in collaborative discussions with peers and adults SL.1.2 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud
TEKS Standards
  • Science
    (12) Organisms and environments. The student knows that the environment is composed of relationships between living organisms and nonliving components. The student is expected to: (A) classify living and nonliving things based upon whether they have basic needs and produce young.

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Lemurs on the Loose

The big escape happened in 2010 in North Carolina.

Two lemurs were missing! They had escaped from a lemur center. People saw them around town.   

Then two kids saw the lemurs on their school lawn. They told a teacher.

We Have the Lemurs

The Duke Lemur Center reminds kids not to touch or feed wild animals.

The school called the lemur center. The people from the center said they would come right away. But how could the school get the lemurs to stay put?

Lunch Lady to the Rescue

Lemurs living at the center

A lunch lady had an idea. She made a path with fruit. The path went to the school library. The lemurs followed it! In the library, they sat in chairs and ate fruit. 

Soon people from the center came to get them. Yay!

Since then, the center has worked to make sure no lemurs escape again. It takes great care of lemurs!

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video (2)
Activities (2)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
video (2)
video (2)
Activities (2) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)

More About the Article

English Language Arts Focus

Fiction vs. nonfiction

Science Focus

Animal behaviors

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Implementation

  • Whole group

Pairings and Text Connections

  • In this issue: “Early Reader Fiction: No Lemurs at School”
  • Book pairings: Go Wild! Lemurs by Alli Brydon

Before-Reading Resources

  • Video: Fiction and Nonfiction (5 minutes) Learn about what you might find in fiction and nonfiction texts.
  • Video: Lemurs (2 minutes) Build excitement with a video about lemurs.

Suggested Reading Focus

Comparing fiction and nonfiction (20 minutes)

  • Before reading this article, talk about the difference between fiction and nonfiction. (Fiction is made up from someone’s imagination. Nonfiction tells about real life and gives facts.) Then tell students that they will read a nonfiction article about lemurs. Ask students what they will likely see and read in a nonfiction article (photographs, facts, and information).
  • Read the article aloud while students follow along in their magazines. Then read the article again with student volunteers for each section.
  • When you finish, ask students how they know that this is a nonfiction article about lemurs.

After-Reading Skills Practice

Skills: Key details; comparing texts (15 minutes)

Text-to-Speech