2nd grade fiction passage about washing the family car: 136 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
2nd gradefictionwashing the family car136 words
Dot and the Mountain of Car Bubbles
Dot's chore on Sunday was to wash the family car. Dad handed her a bucket, a sponge, and a bottle of soap. "Just a little soap," he said.
Dot squeezed in a little soap. Then she squeezed in a little more. Then she squeezed in the whole bottle. She swished the water with a stick. Bubbles grew taller and taller.
She scrubbed the car with the sponge. The car vanished under a mountain of white foam. A bubble floated up and popped on her nose.
"Dot!" Dad laughed. "Now we need a lot of water to rinse."
Dot held the hose. She sprayed from the roof down to the tires. The foam slid away. The car shone in the sun. Dot looked at the puddles on the driveway and decided to use less soap next week.
Questions
What was Dot's chore on Sunday? in the text
How much soap did Dad say to use? in the text
What did Dot do with the hose? in the text
What did the car look like after the rinse? in the text
Why did Dot decide to use less soap next week? think about it
Words to know
sponge
a soft, squishy thing that soaks up water
scrubbed
rubbed hard to clean something
foam
a pile of tiny bubbles
rinse
to wash soap away with clean water
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Dot and the Mountain of Car Bubbles
2nd grade reading passage
Dot's chore on Sunday was to wash the family car. Dad handed her a bucket, a sponge, and a bottle of soap. "Just a little soap," he said.
Dot squeezed in a little soap. Then she squeezed in a little more. Then she squeezed in the whole bottle. She swished the water with a stick. Bubbles grew taller and taller.
She scrubbed the car with the sponge. The car vanished under a mountain of white foam. A bubble floated up and popped on her nose.
"Dot!" Dad laughed. "Now we need a lot of water to rinse."
Dot held the hose. She sprayed from the roof down to the tires. The foam slid away. The car shone in the sun. Dot looked at the puddles on the driveway and decided to use less soap next week.
Questions
What was Dot's chore on Sunday?
How much soap did Dad say to use?
What did Dot do with the hose?
What did the car look like after the rinse?
Why did Dot decide to use less soap next week?
Words to know
sponge: a soft, squishy thing that soaks up water
scrubbed: rubbed hard to clean something
foam: a pile of tiny bubbles
rinse: to wash soap away with clean water
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/2/dot-and-the-mountain-of-car-bubbles
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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 · 92 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade -0.3
Dot's chore on Sunday was to wash the car. Dad gave her a bucket, a sponge, and soap. "Use a little soap," he said.
Dot squeezed in some soap. Then she squeezed in more. Then she squeezed in the whole bottle. She swished the water. The bubbles grew tall.
She scrubbed the car. It vanished under white foam. A bubble popped on her nose.
"Dot!" Dad laughed. "Now we need lots of water."
Dot held the hose. She sprayed the foam away. The car shone. Next week she would use less soap.
▲ This passage · 136 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.3
Dot's chore on Sunday was to wash the family car. Dad handed her a bucket, a sponge, and a bottle of soap. "Just a little soap," he said.
Dot squeezed in a little soap. Then she squeezed in a little more. Then she squeezed in the whole bottle. She swished the water with a stick. Bubbles grew taller and taller.
She scrubbed the car with the sponge. The car vanished under a mountain of white foam. A bubble floated up and popped on her nose.
"Dot!" Dad laughed. "Now we need a lot of water to rinse."
Dot held the hose. She sprayed from the roof down to the tires. The foam slid away. The car shone in the sun. Dot looked at the puddles on the driveway and decided to use less soap next week.
■ Harder · 158 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.9
On Sunday morning, Dot's chore was to wash the family car. Dad handed her a bucket, a big sponge, and a bottle of soap. "Remember, you only need a little soap," he told her.
Dot squeezed in a little soap. Then she squeezed in a little more. Then, just for fun, she squeezed in the entire bottle. She swished the water with a stick, and the bubbles grew taller and taller.
She scrubbed the car with the sponge until it disappeared under a mountain of white foam. A bubble floated up and popped right on the tip of her nose.
"Dot!" Dad chuckled. "Now we will need a great deal of water to rinse all that off."
Dot picked up the hose and sprayed from the roof down to the tires. The foam slid away, and the car sparkled in the sun. Looking at the puddles on the driveway, Dot decided to use much less soap next week.
Dot's chore on Sunday was to wash the car. Dad gave her a bucket, a sponge, and soap. "Use a little soap," he said.
Dot squeezed in some soap. Then she squeezed in more. Then she squeezed in the whole bottle. She swished the water. The bubbles grew tall.
She scrubbed the car. It vanished under white foam. A bubble popped on her nose.
"Dot!" Dad laughed. "Now we need lots of water."
Dot held the hose. She sprayed the foam away. The car shone. Next week she would use less soap.
Questions
What was Dot's chore on Sunday?
How much soap did Dad say to use?
What did Dot do with the hose?
What did the car look like at the end?
Why will Dot use less soap next week?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Dot and the Mountain of Car Bubbles
Dot's chore on Sunday was to wash the family car. Dad handed her a bucket, a sponge, and a bottle of soap. "Just a little soap," he said.
Dot squeezed in a little soap. Then she squeezed in a little more. Then she squeezed in the whole bottle. She swished the water with a stick. Bubbles grew taller and taller.
She scrubbed the car with the sponge. The car vanished under a mountain of white foam. A bubble floated up and popped on her nose.
"Dot!" Dad laughed. "Now we need a lot of water to rinse."
Dot held the hose. She sprayed from the roof down to the tires. The foam slid away. The car shone in the sun. Dot looked at the puddles on the driveway and decided to use less soap next week.
Questions
What was Dot's chore on Sunday?
How much soap did Dad say to use?
What did Dot do with the hose?
What did the car look like after the rinse?
Why did Dot decide to use less soap next week?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Dot and the Mountain of Car Bubbles
On Sunday morning, Dot's chore was to wash the family car. Dad handed her a bucket, a big sponge, and a bottle of soap. "Remember, you only need a little soap," he told her.
Dot squeezed in a little soap. Then she squeezed in a little more. Then, just for fun, she squeezed in the entire bottle. She swished the water with a stick, and the bubbles grew taller and taller.
She scrubbed the car with the sponge until it disappeared under a mountain of white foam. A bubble floated up and popped right on the tip of her nose.
"Dot!" Dad chuckled. "Now we will need a great deal of water to rinse all that off."
Dot picked up the hose and sprayed from the roof down to the tires. The foam slid away, and the car sparkled in the sun. Looking at the puddles on the driveway, Dot decided to use much less soap next week.
Questions
What was Dot's chore on Sunday morning?
How much soap did Dad say she needed?
What did Dot do with the hose?
What did the car look like after it was rinsed?
Why did Dot decide to use less soap next week?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Dot and the Mountain of Car Bubbles
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade -0.3)
To wash the car.
A little.
She sprayed the foam off the car.
It shone.
Too much soap made too many bubbles.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.3)
To wash the family car.
Just a little.
She sprayed the foam off the car from the roof to the tires.
It shone in the sun.
Too much soap made so many bubbles that she needed a lot of water to rinse them.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.9)
To wash the family car.
Only a little.
She sprayed the foam off the car from the roof down to the tires.
It sparkled in the sun.
Using too much soap made huge piles of bubbles that took a great deal of water to rinse.
Free at teach.peabody.kids
How to use it
Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.
Ideas for class
Before reading, put sponge, scrubbed, foam and rinse 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.
What reading level is "Dot and the Mountain of Car Bubbles"?
It was written for 2nd grade. It has 136 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 1.3. 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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