1st grade nonfiction passage about rainbows: 96 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
1st gradenonfictionrainbows96 words
How a Rainbow Is Made
A rainbow is a curve of colors in the sky. It has red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
To see a rainbow, you need two things. You need sunlight, and you need drops of water in the air.
Sunlight looks white, but it has all the colors inside. When sunlight goes through a raindrop, the colors spread apart. Then we can see each one.
The sun must be behind you. The rain must be in front of you. That is why rainbows often show up when the rain is ending and the sun comes out.
Questions
What is a rainbow? in the text
What two things do you need to see a rainbow? in the text
What does sunlight have inside it? in the text
Where must the sun be when you look at a rainbow? in the text
Why do rainbows often show up when the rain is ending? think about it
Words to know
rainbow
a curve of colors that shows up in the sky
sunlight
the light that comes from the sun
raindrop
one small drop of rain
curve
a line that bends and is not straight
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
How a Rainbow Is Made
1st grade reading passage
A rainbow is a curve of colors in the sky. It has red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
To see a rainbow, you need two things. You need sunlight, and you need drops of water in the air.
Sunlight looks white, but it has all the colors inside. When sunlight goes through a raindrop, the colors spread apart. Then we can see each one.
The sun must be behind you. The rain must be in front of you. That is why rainbows often show up when the rain is ending and the sun comes out.
Questions
What is a rainbow?
What two things do you need to see a rainbow?
What does sunlight have inside it?
Where must the sun be when you look at a rainbow?
Why do rainbows often show up when the rain is ending?
Words to know
rainbow: a curve of colors that shows up in the sky
sunlight: the light that comes from the sun
raindrop: one small drop of rain
curve: a line that bends and is not straight
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/1/how-a-rainbow-is-made
Share
One passage, three levels
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.
● Easier · 87 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.5
A rainbow is a bright curve in the sky. It has red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
To see a rainbow, you need sunlight. You also need drops of water in the air.
Sunlight looks white. But it has all the colors in it. When sunlight goes through a raindrop, the colors spread out. Now you can see them.
The sun must be behind you. The rain must be in front of you. Rainbows show up when the rain is ending and the sun comes out.
▲ This passage · 96 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.3
A rainbow is a curve of colors in the sky. It has red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
To see a rainbow, you need two things. You need sunlight, and you need drops of water in the air.
Sunlight looks white, but it has all the colors inside. When sunlight goes through a raindrop, the colors spread apart. Then we can see each one.
The sun must be behind you. The rain must be in front of you. That is why rainbows often show up when the rain is ending and the sun comes out.
■ Harder · 119 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.5
A rainbow is a beautiful curve of colors that stretches across the sky. It shows red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
To see a rainbow, two things must be present at the same time. There must be sunlight, and there must be drops of water floating in the air.
Sunlight looks white to our eyes, but every color is hidden inside it. When the sunlight passes through a raindrop, the colors spread apart from each other. Then we are able to see each one.
The sun must be behind you, and the rain must be in front of you. That is why rainbows so often appear as a storm of rain is ending and the sun breaks through.
A rainbow is a bright curve in the sky. It has red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
To see a rainbow, you need sunlight. You also need drops of water in the air.
Sunlight looks white. But it has all the colors in it. When sunlight goes through a raindrop, the colors spread out. Now you can see them.
The sun must be behind you. The rain must be in front of you. Rainbows show up when the rain is ending and the sun comes out.
Questions
What is a rainbow?
What two things do you need for a rainbow?
What is inside sunlight?
Where is the sun when you see a rainbow?
Why do rainbows show up when rain is ending?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
How a Rainbow Is Made
A rainbow is a curve of colors in the sky. It has red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
To see a rainbow, you need two things. You need sunlight, and you need drops of water in the air.
Sunlight looks white, but it has all the colors inside. When sunlight goes through a raindrop, the colors spread apart. Then we can see each one.
The sun must be behind you. The rain must be in front of you. That is why rainbows often show up when the rain is ending and the sun comes out.
Questions
What is a rainbow?
What two things do you need to see a rainbow?
What does sunlight have inside it?
Where must the sun be when you look at a rainbow?
Why do rainbows often show up when the rain is ending?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
How a Rainbow Is Made
A rainbow is a beautiful curve of colors that stretches across the sky. It shows red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.
To see a rainbow, two things must be present at the same time. There must be sunlight, and there must be drops of water floating in the air.
Sunlight looks white to our eyes, but every color is hidden inside it. When the sunlight passes through a raindrop, the colors spread apart from each other. Then we are able to see each one.
The sun must be behind you, and the rain must be in front of you. That is why rainbows so often appear as a storm of rain is ending and the sun breaks through.
Questions
What is a rainbow?
What two things must be present to see a rainbow?
What is hidden inside sunlight?
Where must the sun be when you look at a rainbow?
Why do rainbows so often appear as the rain is ending?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: How a Rainbow Is Made
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.5)
A bright curve of colors in the sky.
Sunlight and drops of water in the air.
All the colors.
Behind you.
The sun comes out and there are still drops in the air.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.3)
A curve of colors in the sky.
Sunlight and drops of water in the air.
All the colors.
Behind you.
The sun comes out while there are still drops of water in the air.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.5)
A curve of colors that stretches across the sky.
Sunlight and drops of water floating in the air.
Every color.
Behind you.
The sun breaks through while drops of water are still in the air.
Free at teach.peabody.kids
How to use it
Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.
Ideas for class
Before reading, put rainbow, sunlight, raindrop and curve on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 1 minute to read aloud.
Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.
It was written for 1st grade. It has 96 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.3. 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.
What do the questions ask?
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.
How long does it take to read?
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.
Can I print it?
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.
Is this passage from a published book?
No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.
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