2nd grade nonfiction passage about how muscles work in pairs: 112 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
2nd gradenonfictionhow muscles work in pairs112 words
Muscles Take Turns
Hold out your arm and bend your elbow. Your hand moves up toward your shoulder. Now straighten your arm. What made that happen?
Muscles did the work. A muscle can only pull. It cannot push. So your body uses muscles in pairs. One muscle is on the front of your upper arm. Another is on the back.
When you bend your elbow, the front muscle gets shorter and pulls your arm up. The back muscle relaxes and stretches out. When you straighten your arm, the two swap jobs. The back muscle pulls, and the front muscle relaxes.
They take turns all day long. Your legs, hands, and neck use muscle pairs too.
Questions
What can a muscle do? in the text
Where are the two muscles that move your elbow? in the text
What does the front muscle do when you bend your elbow? in the text
What does the back muscle do when you bend your elbow? in the text
Why does your body need two muscles for one elbow? think about it
Words to know
muscle
a part of your body that pulls to make you move
elbow
the bend in the middle of your arm
relaxes
stops pulling and becomes loose
stretches
gets longer
pairs
groups of two that go together
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Muscles Take Turns
2nd grade reading passage
Hold out your arm and bend your elbow. Your hand moves up toward your shoulder. Now straighten your arm. What made that happen?
Muscles did the work. A muscle can only pull. It cannot push. So your body uses muscles in pairs. One muscle is on the front of your upper arm. Another is on the back.
When you bend your elbow, the front muscle gets shorter and pulls your arm up. The back muscle relaxes and stretches out. When you straighten your arm, the two swap jobs. The back muscle pulls, and the front muscle relaxes.
They take turns all day long. Your legs, hands, and neck use muscle pairs too.
Questions
What can a muscle do?
Where are the two muscles that move your elbow?
What does the front muscle do when you bend your elbow?
What does the back muscle do when you bend your elbow?
Why does your body need two muscles for one elbow?
Words to know
muscle: a part of your body that pulls to make you move
elbow: the bend in the middle of your arm
relaxes: stops pulling and becomes loose
stretches: gets longer
pairs: groups of two that go together
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/2/muscles-take-turns
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 · 100 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.4
Hold out your arm. Bend your elbow. Your hand goes up. Now make your arm straight. How did that happen?
Muscles did it. A muscle can only pull. It cannot push. So your body uses muscles in pairs. One muscle is on the front of your upper arm. One is on the back.
You bend your elbow. The front muscle gets short. It pulls your arm up. The back muscle relaxes. It gets long. You make your arm straight. Now the back muscle pulls. The front muscle relaxes.
They take turns all day. Your legs and hands use pairs too.
▲ This passage · 112 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2
Hold out your arm and bend your elbow. Your hand moves up toward your shoulder. Now straighten your arm. What made that happen?
Muscles did the work. A muscle can only pull. It cannot push. So your body uses muscles in pairs. One muscle is on the front of your upper arm. Another is on the back.
When you bend your elbow, the front muscle gets shorter and pulls your arm up. The back muscle relaxes and stretches out. When you straighten your arm, the two swap jobs. The back muscle pulls, and the front muscle relaxes.
They take turns all day long. Your legs, hands, and neck use muscle pairs too.
■ Harder · 139 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.9
Hold your arm out in front of you and bend your elbow so that your hand moves up toward your shoulder. Then straighten your arm again. Have you ever wondered what makes that movement possible?
Your muscles do all of the work. A muscle is able to pull, but it can never push. For that reason, your body arranges its muscles in pairs. One muscle lies along the front of your upper arm, and another lies along the back.
When you bend your elbow, the front muscle becomes shorter and pulls your arm upward, while the back muscle relaxes and stretches out. When you straighten your arm, the two muscles swap jobs. The back muscle pulls, and the front muscle relaxes.
They take turns all day long, and your legs, hands, and neck rely on muscle pairs as well.
Hold out your arm. Bend your elbow. Your hand goes up. Now make your arm straight. How did that happen?
Muscles did it. A muscle can only pull. It cannot push. So your body uses muscles in pairs. One muscle is on the front of your upper arm. One is on the back.
You bend your elbow. The front muscle gets short. It pulls your arm up. The back muscle relaxes. It gets long. You make your arm straight. Now the back muscle pulls. The front muscle relaxes.
They take turns all day. Your legs and hands use pairs too.
Questions
What can a muscle do?
Where are the two muscles that move your elbow?
What does the front muscle do when you bend your elbow?
What does the back muscle do when you bend your elbow?
Why does your body use two muscles for one elbow?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Muscles Take Turns
Hold out your arm and bend your elbow. Your hand moves up toward your shoulder. Now straighten your arm. What made that happen?
Muscles did the work. A muscle can only pull. It cannot push. So your body uses muscles in pairs. One muscle is on the front of your upper arm. Another is on the back.
When you bend your elbow, the front muscle gets shorter and pulls your arm up. The back muscle relaxes and stretches out. When you straighten your arm, the two swap jobs. The back muscle pulls, and the front muscle relaxes.
They take turns all day long. Your legs, hands, and neck use muscle pairs too.
Questions
What can a muscle do?
Where are the two muscles that move your elbow?
What does the front muscle do when you bend your elbow?
What does the back muscle do when you bend your elbow?
Why does your body need two muscles for one elbow?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Muscles Take Turns
Hold your arm out in front of you and bend your elbow so that your hand moves up toward your shoulder. Then straighten your arm again. Have you ever wondered what makes that movement possible?
Your muscles do all of the work. A muscle is able to pull, but it can never push. For that reason, your body arranges its muscles in pairs. One muscle lies along the front of your upper arm, and another lies along the back.
When you bend your elbow, the front muscle becomes shorter and pulls your arm upward, while the back muscle relaxes and stretches out. When you straighten your arm, the two muscles swap jobs. The back muscle pulls, and the front muscle relaxes.
They take turns all day long, and your legs, hands, and neck rely on muscle pairs as well.
Questions
What can a muscle do, and what can it not do?
Where are the two muscles that move your elbow?
What does the front muscle do when you bend your elbow?
What does the back muscle do while you bend your elbow?
Why does your body need two muscles for a single elbow?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Muscles Take Turns
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.4)
It can only pull.
One is on the front and one is on the back of your upper arm.
It gets short and pulls your arm up.
It relaxes and gets long.
A muscle only pulls, so one pulls each way.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 2)
It can only pull.
One is on the front and one is on the back of your upper arm.
It gets shorter and pulls your arm up.
It relaxes and stretches out.
A muscle can only pull, so one pulls each way.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.9)
It can pull, but it cannot push.
One lies along the front and one along the back of your upper arm.
It becomes shorter and pulls your arm upward.
It relaxes and stretches out.
Because a muscle can only pull, one muscle is needed to pull each way.
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 muscle, elbow, relaxes, stretches and pairs on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text 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 write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.
It was written for 2nd grade. It has 112 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.0. 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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