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Wheels Help Us Move

1st grade nonfiction passage about how things work: 82 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

1st grade nonfiction how things work 82 words

Wheels Help Us Move

A wheel is round, and it rolls. Wheels help us move things.

Try to push a big box across the floor. It is hard, because the box rubs the floor. Now put the box on a cart that has wheels. The box moves with ease!

A wheel turns around a rod called an axle. The axle holds the wheel in place.

Many things have wheels. Bikes, cars, wagons, and skateboards all have wheels. Wheels help us go far and carry heavy things.

Questions

  1. What shape is a wheel? in the text

  2. Why is a big box hard to push across the floor? in the text

  3. What is the rod that a wheel turns around called? in the text

  4. What are two things that have wheels? in the text

  5. Why does a cart with wheels make it easier to move a box? think about it

Words to know

wheel
a round thing that turns and rolls
axle
the rod in the middle that a wheel turns around
cart
a small vehicle with wheels that carries things
rub
to press and slide against something

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 wheel, axle, cart and rub 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 "Wheels Help Us Move"?

It was written for 1st grade. It has 82 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 0.7. 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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