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Good Night Taps on the Wall

2nd grade fiction passage about a new neighbor and a wall code: 141 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

2nd grade fiction a new neighbor and a wall code 141 words

Good Night Taps on the Wall

Lila had a new bed in a new apartment. She could not sleep. Every sound was strange. The pipes went clunk. The street went whoosh.

Then she heard it. Tap, tap. It came from the other side of her wall.

Lila tapped back. Tap, tap.

The other side went tap, tap, tap. Lila tapped three times too. It was like a secret game.

The next day, a boy waved at her in the hall. "I am Gus," he said. "I live next door. Was that you?"

"Yes," said Lila. "I could not sleep."

"Me too, when I moved here," said Gus. "Let's make a code. One tap means good night. Two taps mean see you at the bus."

That night, Lila tapped one time. One tap came back. She closed her eyes, and the strange sounds did not feel strange anymore.

Questions

  1. Why could Lila not sleep at first? in the text

  2. Where did the tapping sound come from? in the text

  3. Who lived next door to Lila? in the text

  4. What did one tap mean in their code? in the text

  5. Why did the sounds not feel strange to Lila anymore? think about it

Words to know

apartment
a home that is one part of a bigger building
pipes
tubes inside walls that carry water
strange
new and not like what you know
code
a secret way to share a message
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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 · 97 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade -1.3

Lila had a new bed. She was in a new apartment. She could not sleep. The pipes went clunk. The street went whoosh.

Then she heard a sound. Tap, tap. It came from the wall.

Lila tapped back. Tap, tap.

The next day, a boy waved in the hall. "I am Gus," he said. "I live next door. Was that you?"

"Yes," said Lila. "I could not sleep."

"Me too, at first," said Gus. "Let's make a code. One tap is good night."

That night, Lila tapped one time. One tap came back. She went to sleep.

▲ This passage · 141 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade -0.5

Lila had a new bed in a new apartment. She could not sleep. Every sound was strange. The pipes went clunk. The street went whoosh.

Then she heard it. Tap, tap. It came from the other side of her wall.

Lila tapped back. Tap, tap.

The other side went tap, tap, tap. Lila tapped three times too. It was like a secret game.

The next day, a boy waved at her in the hall. "I am Gus," he said. "I live next door. Was that you?"

"Yes," said Lila. "I could not sleep."

"Me too, when I moved here," said Gus. "Let's make a code. One tap means good night. Two taps mean see you at the bus."

That night, Lila tapped one time. One tap came back. She closed her eyes, and the strange sounds did not feel strange anymore.

■ Harder · 158 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.5

Lila had a new bed in a new apartment, and she could not fall asleep. Every sound seemed strange. The pipes went clunk, and the street outside went whoosh.

Then she heard something different. Tap, tap. It was coming from the other side of her bedroom wall.

Lila tapped back. Tap, tap. Immediately, someone answered with three taps, and Lila tapped three times as well. It felt like a secret game.

The next day, a boy waved at her in the hallway. "I am Gus," he said. "I live next door. Was that you tapping?"

"Yes," said Lila. "I could not sleep."

"I had the same trouble when I moved here," said Gus. "Let's invent a code. One tap means good night, and two taps mean I will see you at the bus."

That night, Lila tapped one time, and one tap came back. She closed her eyes, and the strange sounds no longer felt strange at all.

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 apartment, pipes, strange and code 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 "Good Night Taps on the Wall"?

It was written for 2nd grade. It has 141 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about below 1. 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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