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How to Build a Bug Hotel

1st grade nonfiction passage about a garden home for insects: 97 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

1st grade nonfiction a garden home for insects 97 words

How to Build a Bug Hotel

Little bugs need a safe place to rest. You can make them a bug hotel in the garden.

First, find a quiet corner. Next, stack some sticks to make a pile. Then fill the gaps with dry leaves, bark and pine cones. Bugs love to crawl into the small spaces.

Put the hotel in a spot that stays dry. Now wait. Soon beetles, spiders and other small guests may move in.

Do not poke the guests. Just watch quietly. A bug hotel helps the little animals in your garden, and it is fun to look at, too.

Questions

  1. Where should you put the bug hotel? in the text

  2. What do you stack first? in the text

  3. What goes in the gaps? in the text

  4. Which animals may move in? in the text

  5. Why should you only watch the guests quietly? think about it

Words to know

hotel
a place where guests stay for a while
stack
to put things in a neat pile
gap
an empty space between things
bark
the rough outside covering of a tree
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 · 73 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.5

Little bugs need a safe place to rest. You can make a bug hotel in the garden.

First, find a quiet corner. Next, stack some sticks in a pile. Then put dry leaves, bark and pine cones in the gaps. Bugs like to crawl in small spaces.

Pick a spot that stays dry. Now wait. Beetles and spiders may move in.

Do not poke them. Just watch. A bug hotel helps small animals.

▲ This passage · 97 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.7

Little bugs need a safe place to rest. You can make them a bug hotel in the garden.

First, find a quiet corner. Next, stack some sticks to make a pile. Then fill the gaps with dry leaves, bark and pine cones. Bugs love to crawl into the small spaces.

Put the hotel in a spot that stays dry. Now wait. Soon beetles, spiders and other small guests may move in.

Do not poke the guests. Just watch quietly. A bug hotel helps the little animals in your garden, and it is fun to look at, too.

■ Harder · 102 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.1

Small bugs need a safe place to rest, and you can build them a bug hotel in the garden.

First, choose a quiet corner. Next, stack a few sticks to form a pile. Then fill the gaps with dry leaves, bark and pine cones, because bugs love to crawl into small, snug spaces.

Place the hotel somewhere that stays dry, and then be patient. Before long, beetles, spiders and other tiny guests may move in.

Please do not poke the guests. Simply watch them quietly. A bug hotel helps the little animals in your garden, and it is also entertaining to observe.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put hotel, stack, gap and bark 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.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "How to Build a Bug Hotel"?

It was written for 1st grade. It has 97 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 1.7. 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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