Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Gus Hears Hold Your Horses

2nd grade fiction passage about a boy who takes sayings too literally: 126 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

2nd grade fiction a boy who takes sayings too literally 126 words

Gus Hears Hold Your Horses

Gus took every word he heard exactly the way it sounded.

One morning, his dad said, "Hold your horses, Gus. We will leave soon."

Gus looked around. He did not have any horses. So he ran to the barn and borrowed two. He stood in the yard and held their ropes very tight.

Then his sister said, "Break a leg at the school play!"

Gus froze. "Please, no!" he cried.

"It just means good luck," said his sister, grinning.

At lunch, his mom said, "It is raining cats and dogs." Gus raced to the window. He saw only puddles.

"Phew," he said. "Nobody is falling from the sky." After that, Gus asked what a saying meant before he got worried or went to find a horse.

Questions

  1. What did Gus's dad tell him to hold? in the text

  2. Where did Gus get two horses? in the text

  3. What does 'break a leg' really mean? in the text

  4. What did Gus see out the window? in the text

  5. Why did Gus get worried so often? think about it

Words to know

borrowed
took something for a short time to give back later
froze
stopped moving all at once
grinning
smiling with a wide, happy face
saying
a short group of words with a special meaning
Share

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 · 104 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.7

Gus took every word the way it sounded.

One morning, his dad said, "Hold your horses, Gus. We will go soon."

Gus had no horses. So he ran to the barn and got two. He stood in the yard and held their ropes tight.

Then his sister said, "Break a leg at the school play!"

Gus froze. "No!" he cried.

"It just means good luck," said his sister, grinning.

At lunch, his mom said, "It is raining cats and dogs." Gus ran to the window. He saw only puddles.

"Phew," he said. After that, Gus asked what a saying meant before he got worried.

▲ This passage · 126 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.4

Gus took every word he heard exactly the way it sounded.

One morning, his dad said, "Hold your horses, Gus. We will leave soon."

Gus looked around. He did not have any horses. So he ran to the barn and borrowed two. He stood in the yard and held their ropes very tight.

Then his sister said, "Break a leg at the school play!"

Gus froze. "Please, no!" he cried.

"It just means good luck," said his sister, grinning.

At lunch, his mom said, "It is raining cats and dogs." Gus raced to the window. He saw only puddles.

"Phew," he said. "Nobody is falling from the sky." After that, Gus asked what a saying meant before he got worried or went to find a horse.

■ Harder · 151 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

Gus always understood every word in exactly the way it sounded, even when a saying meant something different.

One morning, his dad said, "Hold your horses, Gus. We will be leaving shortly."

Gus looked around the yard. He did not own any horses. So he hurried to the barn, borrowed two of them, and stood in the yard gripping their ropes as tightly as he could.

Then his sister called, "Break a leg at the school play tonight!"

Gus froze in horror. "Please, no!" he cried.

"It only means good luck," said his sister, grinning from ear to ear.

At lunchtime, his mom remarked, "It is raining cats and dogs out there." Gus dashed to the window. All he saw were puddles.

"Phew," he said. "Nobody is falling from the sky." From then on, Gus asked what a saying meant before he started to worry or went looking for a horse.

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 borrowed, froze, grinning and saying 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 "Gus Hears Hold Your Horses"?

It was written for 2nd grade. It has 126 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 1.4. 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.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.