Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

The Moon

1st grade nonfiction passage about space: 98 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

1st grade nonfiction space 98 words

The Moon

The moon is in the sky. You can see it at night. Some days you can see it in the day too.

The moon does not make its own light. The sun shines on it. That is why it looks bright.

The moon looks like it changes shape. One night it is round. A few nights later, it looks like a thin bow. The moon is not really changing. We just see a different part of it that the sun is lighting up.

People have been to the moon. They hopped and left boot prints in the dust.

Questions

  1. When can you see the moon? in the text

  2. Where does the moon's light come from? in the text

  3. What shape does the moon look like one night? in the text

  4. Is the moon really changing shape? How do you know? think about it

  5. What did people leave on the moon? in the text

Words to know

moon
the big round rock that goes around the Earth
shine
to give off or bounce back light
bright
full of light
dust
tiny bits of dry dirt

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 moon, shine, bright and dust 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 4 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 "The Moon"?

It was written for 1st grade. It has 98 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 0.2. 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.

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.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.