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Goodbye Stones for Tavi

2nd grade fiction passage about a friend who is moving away: 137 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

2nd grade fiction a friend who is moving away 137 words

Goodbye Stones for Tavi

Tavi was moving far away. Rafi did not want him to go. They had been best friends since they were four.

"Let's paint stones," said Tavi. He found two flat ones by the creek. Rafi painted a blue fish on his. Tavi painted a yellow sun on his.

Then they traded. Rafi held the sun stone. Tavi held the fish stone.

"Put it on your window sill," said Tavi. "I will put mine on my new window sill too. At supper time, we will both look at our stones."

On moving day, a big truck rumbled away. Rafi felt sad, but he held the sun in his hand.

That night, Rafi set the stone on his sill. He looked at it while Mom set out the plates. Far away, he knew, a blue fish was looking back.

Questions

  1. What did Rafi paint on his stone? in the text

  2. Where did the boys find the flat stones? in the text

  3. What did Tavi and Rafi do with their stones after they painted them? in the text

  4. When would both boys look at their stones? in the text

  5. Why did the stones help Rafi feel better? think about it

Words to know

creek
a small stream of water
traded
gave one thing and got another in return
sill
the shelf at the bottom of a window
rumbled
made a deep, rolling sound
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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 · 102 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1

Tavi was moving far away. Rafi was sad. They were best friends.

"Let's paint stones," said Tavi. They found two flat ones by the creek. Rafi painted a blue fish. Tavi painted a yellow sun.

Then they traded. Rafi held the sun. Tavi held the fish.

"Put it on your window sill," said Tavi. "I will put mine on my sill too. At supper, we will look at them."

On moving day, a big truck went away. Rafi was sad, but he held the sun.

That night, he set the stone on his sill. Far away, a blue fish was looking back.

▲ This passage · 137 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.3

Tavi was moving far away. Rafi did not want him to go. They had been best friends since they were four.

"Let's paint stones," said Tavi. He found two flat ones by the creek. Rafi painted a blue fish on his. Tavi painted a yellow sun on his.

Then they traded. Rafi held the sun stone. Tavi held the fish stone.

"Put it on your window sill," said Tavi. "I will put mine on my new window sill too. At supper time, we will both look at our stones."

On moving day, a big truck rumbled away. Rafi felt sad, but he held the sun in his hand.

That night, Rafi set the stone on his sill. He looked at it while Mom set out the plates. Far away, he knew, a blue fish was looking back.

■ Harder · 160 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.3

Tavi was moving to a town far away, and Rafi did not want him to go. The two boys had been best friends ever since they were four years old.

"Let's paint stones," suggested Tavi. He found two smooth, flat ones beside the creek. Rafi painted a blue fish on his, and Tavi painted a bright yellow sun on his.

Then they traded. Rafi held the sun stone, and Tavi held the fish stone.

"Set it on your window sill," said Tavi. "I will set mine on my new window sill too. At supper time, we will both look at our stones."

On moving day, a big truck rumbled down the street and disappeared. Rafi felt very sad, but he kept the yellow sun tightly in his hand.

That evening, Rafi placed the stone on his sill and looked at it while Mom set out the plates. Far away, he knew, a blue fish was looking back at someone else.

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 creek, traded, sill and rumbled 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 "Goodbye Stones for Tavi"?

It was written for 2nd grade. It has 137 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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