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Why Stars Seem to Wink

1st grade nonfiction passage about twinkling stars: 72 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

1st grade nonfiction twinkling stars 72 words

Why Stars Seem to Wink

Look up at night. A star seems to wink at you. It twinkles!

But the star is not winking. A star is a big ball of hot gas. Its light is steady.

The light has to pass through the air around Earth. The air is always on the move. It bends the light a little, again and again.

So the light seems to shake and flash. That is why the star twinkles.

Questions

  1. What does a star seem to do at night? in the text

  2. What is a star? in the text

  3. What does the light of a star have to pass through? in the text

  4. Is the star's light steady or shaky before it reaches the air? in the text

  5. Why does the star seem to flash? think about it

Words to know

twinkle
to shine with a quick flash again and again
steady
not changing or shaking
gas
a thing like air that is not a solid or a liquid
bend
to turn in a new way, not go straight
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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 · 58 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade -0.7

At night, a star seems to wink. It twinkles!

But the star is not winking. A star is a big ball of hot gas. Its light is steady.

The light must go through the air near Earth. The air moves. It bends the light a bit.

So the light seems to shake. That is why a star twinkles.

▲ This passage · 72 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.2

Look up at night. A star seems to wink at you. It twinkles!

But the star is not winking. A star is a big ball of hot gas. Its light is steady.

The light has to pass through the air around Earth. The air is always on the move. It bends the light a little, again and again.

So the light seems to shake and flash. That is why the star twinkles.

■ Harder · 93 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.2

When you gaze up at the night sky, a star often seems to wink at you. We say that it twinkles.

However, the star is not really winking. A star is an enormous ball of hot gas, and the light it gives off is steady.

Before it reaches your eyes, that light has to travel through the air around Earth. The air is constantly moving, and it bends the light slightly, again and again.

As a result, the light appears to shake and flash, and that is why the star seems to twinkle.

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 twinkle, steady, gas and bend 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 "Why Stars Seem to Wink"?

It was written for 1st grade. It has 72 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.

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