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The Book That Would Not Stop Giggling

2nd grade fiction passage about a library book that laughs: 128 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

2nd grade fiction a library book that laughs 128 words

The Book That Would Not Stop Giggling

Mr. Orr was the librarian. He liked quiet. He liked it very, very much.

One Monday, a new book arrived. It was called Jokes for Penguins. When Mr. Orr set it on the shelf, it started to giggle.

"Hee, hee, hee!" The sound bounced off the walls.

"Shh!" said Mr. Orr. But the book only giggled louder.

Kids ran over to see. They opened the book, and it laughed even harder. Page after page was full of silly jokes.

"What do penguins wear on their heads?" read a boy. "Ice caps!"

Mr. Orr tried not to smile. Then he snorted. Then he laughed so hard that his glasses fell off.

After that, the library kept a special giggle shelf. It was the one place where noise was allowed.

Questions

  1. What was the new book called? in the text

  2. What did Mr. Orr like very much? in the text

  3. What did the book do when Mr. Orr set it on the shelf? in the text

  4. What happened to Mr. Orr's glasses? in the text

  5. Why did Mr. Orr try not to smile at first? think about it

Words to know

librarian
a person who works in a library
giggle
to laugh in a quick, silly way
snorted
made a sound through the nose while laughing
shelf
a board that holds books
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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 · 117 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.6

Mr. Orr was the librarian. He liked quiet. He liked it very much.

One Monday, a new book came. It was called Jokes for Penguins. Mr. Orr put it on the shelf. It began to giggle.

"Hee, hee, hee!" The sound filled the room.

"Shh!" said Mr. Orr. But the book giggled louder.

Kids ran to see. They opened the book, and it laughed more. Every page had silly jokes.

"What do penguins wear on their heads?" read a boy. "Ice caps!"

Mr. Orr tried not to smile. Then he snorted. Then he laughed so hard his glasses fell off.

After that, the library had a giggle shelf. It was the one place where noise was fine.

▲ This passage · 128 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.5

Mr. Orr was the librarian. He liked quiet. He liked it very, very much.

One Monday, a new book arrived. It was called Jokes for Penguins. When Mr. Orr set it on the shelf, it started to giggle.

"Hee, hee, hee!" The sound bounced off the walls.

"Shh!" said Mr. Orr. But the book only giggled louder.

Kids ran over to see. They opened the book, and it laughed even harder. Page after page was full of silly jokes.

"What do penguins wear on their heads?" read a boy. "Ice caps!"

Mr. Orr tried not to smile. Then he snorted. Then he laughed so hard that his glasses fell off.

After that, the library kept a special giggle shelf. It was the one place where noise was allowed.

■ Harder · 146 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.9

Mr. Orr was the town librarian, and he loved peace and quiet more than anything else in the world.

One Monday, a brand new book arrived at the library. It was called Jokes for Penguins. The moment Mr. Orr placed it on the shelf, the book started to giggle.

"Hee, hee, hee!" The sound echoed off every wall.

"Shh!" said Mr. Orr sternly. But the book only giggled louder.

Curious children hurried over to look. When they opened the book, it laughed even harder, because every page was packed with silly jokes.

"What do penguins wear on their heads?" read a boy. "Ice caps!"

Mr. Orr tried hard not to smile. Then he snorted. Then he laughed so hard that his glasses tumbled right off his nose.

From then on, the library kept a special giggle shelf. It was the one spot where noise was welcome.

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 librarian, giggle, snorted and shelf on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the story 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 retell the story in three sentences: how it began, what the problem was, and how it ended.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "The Book That Would Not Stop Giggling"?

It was written for 2nd grade. It has 128 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 1.5. 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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