1st grade nonfiction passage about how fireflies talk with light: 90 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
On a warm summer night, tiny lights float over the grass. They go on and off. They are fireflies.
A firefly is a small beetle. Its body can make light. It uses the light to talk. A firefly blinks to tell other fireflies, "I am here."
Each kind of firefly has its own pattern. One kind blinks fast. Another kind makes a long glow. A firefly looks for a friend that blinks the same way. The friend blinks back. Then the two fireflies can find each other in the dark.
When can you see fireflies? in the text
What kind of animal is a firefly? in the text
What does a firefly use its light for? in the text
What does each kind of firefly have? in the text
Why does a firefly blink back at a friend? think about it
The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.
On a warm night, small lights float over the grass. They blink on and off. They are fireflies.
A firefly is a small beetle. It can make light. It blinks to say, "I am here."
Each kind of firefly has its own blinks. A firefly looks for a friend with the same blinks. The friend blinks back. Then they find each other.
On a warm summer night, tiny lights float over the grass. They go on and off. They are fireflies.
A firefly is a small beetle. Its body can make light. It uses the light to talk. A firefly blinks to tell other fireflies, "I am here."
Each kind of firefly has its own pattern. One kind blinks fast. Another kind makes a long glow. A firefly looks for a friend that blinks the same way. The friend blinks back. Then the two fireflies can find each other in the dark.
On a warm summer night, tiny lights drift above the grass, flickering on and off. These lights belong to fireflies.
A firefly is actually a small beetle, and its body is able to produce light. It uses that light to communicate, blinking to tell other fireflies, "I am here."
Every kind of firefly has its own pattern. One kind blinks quickly, while another makes a long, steady glow. A firefly searches for a friend that blinks in the same way. When the friend blinks back, the two fireflies can locate each other in the dark.
It was written for 1st grade. It has 90 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.2. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.
There are five. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 1 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.
About 1 minute read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.
Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.
No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.
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