Shadowing Practice: Spiders for Kids | Learn all about these amazing arachnids! - Learn English Speaking with Video
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Spiders!
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Hello there, arachnid enthusiasts!
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Today, we are going to learn all about spiders.
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If you want to read along with us, you can download this lesson plan from our website, LearnBright.org.
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What are spiders?
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Have you ever been scared by a spider?
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or walked into one of their sticky webs?
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It can be a bit scary.
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Spiders are arachnids, which are members of the larger group of arthropods.
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Arachnids include spiders, mites, ticks, and scorpions.
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Their bodies are divided into two sections, the cephalothorax in the front and the abdomen in the back.
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Unlike insects, arachnids do not have wings or antenna.
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Still, like insects, they have jointed exoskeletons, or a protective shell covering their bodies and legs.
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Arachnids lay eggs, and their babies look like miniature adults.
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Biologists say there are an estimated 43,000 and possibly as many as 45,000 spider species.
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Although most spiders are venomous, only 30 species can be harmful to humans.
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But you have to be very careful because some venomous spiders can kill humans.
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Some people are so afraid of spiders that they have what we call arachnophobia, and extreme fear of spiders.
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About 6% of people in the world suffer from it.
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What do they eat?
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Spiders eat mainly mosquitoes, flies, and moths.
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Sometimes they even eat other spiders.
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While most spiders eat primarily insects, larger spiders also eat worms,
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snails, frogs, lizards, and birds.
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Most spider species passively catch their prey by spinning complex webs.
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On their abdomens, spiders have structures called spinnerets, which are organs that spin silk.
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Have you ever wondered why a spider doesn't get stuck in their own web?
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That is because the spinneret can make either sticky or dry silk.
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And the silk can be thick or thin, beaded or smooth.
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Spiders decide what type of silk the web needs.
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When insects cross paths with the web, they get stuck on the sticky threads.
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The spider carefully walks along the path of dry threads to get to the insect
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and then uses its fangs to inject venom into the trapped insect.
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The toxin kills or paralyzes the insect, allowing the spider to eat its dinner without a fuss.
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But not all spiders use webs to catch their prey.
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Some spiders chase their prey and throw sticky nets over them when they get close.
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And still other spiders are hunters, like the crab and wolf spiders.
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In fact, like a snake, the crab spider is very patient.
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It can wait for days or even weeks to catch a delicious meal.
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And one spider, the Bahira kipling eye, is a vegetarian.
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It eats the buds of trees in Central America.
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Other interesting facts.
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The word Arachnida is Greek for spider.
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The ancient Greeks told a story about a young girl named Arachne who said she could weave better than the goddess Athena.
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So they had a contest, and Arachne won.
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Athena fumed with rage at her loss.
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So she changed the girl into a spider.
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Can you imagine having thousands of brothers and sisters?
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That could happen if you were a spider.
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Female spiders lay up to 3000 eggs at one time.
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And in addition to having an extensive family, you would also be able to jump up to 50 times your own body length.
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For example, jumping spiders use an internal hydraulic system,
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which means they can alter or change the fluid pressure in their legs to help them jump long distances.
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Why are they important to the environment?
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Spiders play a role in the food chain as both predators and prey.
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They eat insects, keep their populations under control, and feed birds and other small animals.
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But spiders do more for us than just play a vital role in the food web.
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Spider venom is also very useful in the medical field.
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It treats irregular heartbeats, memory problems, and many other things.
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And some spider venom is used in pest control materials because it is toxic to insects, but not to most other creatures.
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In addition, spider silk can be made into many things,
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like bulletproof clothing, or even artificial tendons and ligaments,
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which are parts of our bodies that hold our bones and muscles together.
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Spiders all over the world are suffering from human activity.
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When people cut down trees, use pesticides, and graze animals on large areas of land,
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the spider population starts to decrease.
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So next time you see a spider, don't stomp on it.
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Just trap it in a glass and take it back outside.
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Talk about some super spidery facts.
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Let's review.
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True or false?
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There are only 30 spider species in the world.
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False.
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There are 43,000.
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What is an extreme fear of spiders called?
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Arachnophobia Choose the word the author would say best describes spiders.
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A. Defenseless B.
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Venomous C.
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Unique D.
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Endangered E.
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Meek B.
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Venomous Nice work everyone!
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If you enjoyed learning about spiders today, make sure you head over to LearnBrite.org for even more great lesson plans about your favorite creatures.
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Hope you had fun learning with us!
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Visit us at LearnBrite.org for thousands of free resources and turnkey solutions for teachers and homeschoolers.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This A2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Spiders for Kids”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: spider, insect, eat, web, arachnid. This video has 85 sentences and 853 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:03. The speaker talks at a steady 121 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. 73% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| spider noun | /ˈspaɪ̯dɚ/ | Any of various eight-legged, predatory arthropods, of the order Araneae, most of which spin webs to catch prey. |
| insect noun | /ˈɪn.sɛkt/ | An arthropod (in the Insecta class) characterized by six legs, up to four wings, and a chitinous exoskeleton. |
| silk noun | /sɪlk/ | A fine fiber excreted by the silkworm or other arthropod (such as a spider). |
| prey noun | /pɹeɪ/ | That which is or may be seized by animals to be devoured. |
| sticky adjective | /ˈstɪki/ | Tending to stick; able to adhere via the drying of a viscous substance. |
| venom noun | /ˈvɛnəm/ | An animal toxin intended for defensive or offensive use; a biological poison delivered by bite, sting, etc., to protect an animal or to kill its prey. |
| lesson noun | /ˈlɛs.ən/ | A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided. |
| egg noun | /ɛɡ/ | An approximately spherical or ellipsoidal body produced by birds, insects, reptiles, and other animals, often housing an embryo within a membrane or shell… |
| suffer verb | /ˈsʌfɚ/ | To undergo hardship. |
| thread noun | /ˈθɹɛd/ | A cord formed by spinning or twisting together textile fibers or filaments into one or more continuous strands, typically used in needlework. |
| spin verb | /spɪn/ | To rotate, revolve, gyrate (usually quickly); to partially or completely rotate to face another direction. |
| trap noun | /tɹæp/ | A machine or other device designed to catch (and sometimes kill) animals, either by holding them in a container, or by catching hold of part of the body. |
| crab noun | /kɹæb/ | Any crustacean of the infraorder Brachyura, having five pairs of legs, the foremost of which are in the form of claws, and a carapace. |
| abdomen noun | /ˈæb.də.mən/ | The belly, or that part of the body between the thorax and the pelvis, not including the back; or in some lower vertebrates, the portion between the cardiac… |
| meal noun | /ˈmiːl/ | Food that is prepared and eaten, usually at a specific time, and usually in a comparatively large quantity. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| cut down verb | To cut downward. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | Have you ever been · have jointed · Have you ever wondered |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are divided · can be made |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | arachnids, which are · spinnerets, which are |
Pronunciation to watch
- The “th” sounds: thread /ˈθɹɛd/, clothing /ˈkloʊðɪŋ/, thin /ˈθɪn/, thick /θɪk/, smooth /smuːð/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shell /ʃɛl/, delicious /dɪˈlɪ.ʃəs/, artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/
- Long words — get the stress right: primarily /ˈpɹaɪ.mə.ɹə.li/, artificial /ˌɑː.tɪˈfɪʃ.əl/, vegetarian /vɛ.d͡ʒɪˈtɛ.ɹi.ən/, miniature /ˈmɪn.(i)ə.tʃəɹ/, irregular /ɪˈɹɛɡ.jə.lɚ/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like spider, insect, silk.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.