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Captain Fig Sails the Soup Pot

2nd grade fiction passage about a tiny captain at sea in a kitchen: 131 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

2nd grade fiction a tiny captain at sea in a kitchen 131 words

Captain Fig Sails the Soup Pot

Captain Fig was only as tall as a salt shaker. But she had a very big ship. Her ship was a soup pot.

"All hands on deck!" she shouted to her crew of two beetles.

The soup pot bobbed on a sea of warm tomato soup. Noodles floated by like long yellow snakes. A cracker drifted past like a raft.

"Land ahead!" cried a beetle. It was only a big meatball.

"Steer left," said Captain Fig. They sailed around a carrot island.

Then a giant spoon came down. Splash! A wave rolled over the pot.

"Hold on!" said Captain Fig. The pot spun, and the spoon lifted it out.

"Time for lunch," said a giant voice. The captain and her crew ran away in time, and the soup was still warm.

Questions

  1. How tall was Captain Fig? in the text

  2. What was Captain Fig's ship? in the text

  3. Who was on her crew? in the text

  4. What did the beetle think was land? in the text

  5. Who made the giant wave and lifted the pot? think about it

Words to know

captain
the leader of a ship
crew
the group of people who work on a ship
bobbed
moved up and down on water
raft
a flat boat made of logs or boards
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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 1.1

Captain Fig was as tall as a salt shaker. But she had a big ship. Her ship was a soup pot.

"All hands on deck!" she said to her two beetles.

The pot bobbed on a sea of warm tomato soup. Noodles floated by like long yellow snakes. A cracker floated by like a raft.

"Land ahead!" said a beetle. It was only a big meatball.

"Go left," said Captain Fig. They sailed around a carrot island.

Then a giant spoon came down. Splash! A wave hit the pot.

"Hold on!" said Captain Fig. The spoon lifted the pot out.

"Time for lunch," said a giant voice. The crew ran away, and the soup was still warm.

▲ This passage · 131 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.6

Captain Fig was only as tall as a salt shaker. But she had a very big ship. Her ship was a soup pot.

"All hands on deck!" she shouted to her crew of two beetles.

The soup pot bobbed on a sea of warm tomato soup. Noodles floated by like long yellow snakes. A cracker drifted past like a raft.

"Land ahead!" cried a beetle. It was only a big meatball.

"Steer left," said Captain Fig. They sailed around a carrot island.

Then a giant spoon came down. Splash! A wave rolled over the pot.

"Hold on!" said Captain Fig. The pot spun, and the spoon lifted it out.

"Time for lunch," said a giant voice. The captain and her crew ran away in time, and the soup was still warm.

■ Harder · 152 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.3

Captain Fig was only as tall as a salt shaker, but she commanded a very large ship. Her ship was a soup pot.

"All hands on deck!" she shouted to her loyal crew of two beetles.

The soup pot bobbed steadily across a sea of warm tomato soup. Noodles drifted past like long yellow snakes, and a soggy cracker floated by like a raft.

"Land ahead!" cried one of the beetles. It turned out to be nothing more than a big meatball.

"Steer to the left," ordered Captain Fig, and they sailed carefully around a carrot island.

Suddenly, a giant spoon plunged down. Splash! A huge wave rolled over the pot.

"Hold on tight!" said Captain Fig. The pot spun, and the spoon lifted it out of the soup.

"Time for lunch," boomed a giant voice. The captain and her crew scurried away just in time, and the soup was still warm.

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 captain, crew, bobbed and raft 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 "Captain Fig Sails the Soup Pot"?

It was written for 2nd grade. It has 131 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 1.6. 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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