2nd grade nonfiction passage about xylophone notes: 119 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
2nd gradenonfictionxylophone notes119 words
Short Bars and Long Bars on a Xylophone
A xylophone is made of flat bars in a row. The bars are lined up from short to long. You hit them with soft mallets.
Look at the shortest bar. It plays the highest note. Now look at the longest bar. It plays the lowest note. Every bar in the middle plays a note in between.
Why does this work? When a bar is hit, it shakes very fast. A short bar shakes faster than a long bar. A fast shake makes a high sound. A slow shake makes a low sound.
Under each bar is a tube or a hollow space. It helps the sound ring out and grow louder. That makes the xylophone sound clear and bright.
Questions
How are the bars on a xylophone lined up? in the text
What do you use to hit the bars? in the text
Which bar plays the lowest note? in the text
What happens to a bar when it is hit? in the text
Why does a short bar make a higher sound than a long bar? think about it
Words to know
xylophone
an instrument with wooden or metal bars that you hit
mallets
small hammers with soft heads, used to play music
hollow
empty inside
bars
long, flat pieces
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Short Bars and Long Bars on a Xylophone
2nd grade reading passage
A xylophone is made of flat bars in a row. The bars are lined up from short to long. You hit them with soft mallets.
Look at the shortest bar. It plays the highest note. Now look at the longest bar. It plays the lowest note. Every bar in the middle plays a note in between.
Why does this work? When a bar is hit, it shakes very fast. A short bar shakes faster than a long bar. A fast shake makes a high sound. A slow shake makes a low sound.
Under each bar is a tube or a hollow space. It helps the sound ring out and grow louder. That makes the xylophone sound clear and bright.
Questions
How are the bars on a xylophone lined up?
What do you use to hit the bars?
Which bar plays the lowest note?
What happens to a bar when it is hit?
Why does a short bar make a higher sound than a long bar?
Words to know
xylophone: an instrument with wooden or metal bars that you hit
mallets: small hammers with soft heads, used to play music
hollow: empty inside
bars: long, flat pieces
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/2/short-bars-and-long-bars-on-a-xylophone
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 · 92 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.3
A xylophone has flat bars in a row. The bars go from short to long. You hit them with soft mallets.
The shortest bar plays the highest note. The longest bar plays the lowest note. The bars in the middle play notes in between.
Why? A bar shakes when you hit it. A short bar shakes fast. A long bar shakes slow. A fast shake makes a high sound. A slow shake makes a low sound.
Under each bar is a hollow tube. It helps the sound ring out and get louder.
▲ This passage · 119 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.9
A xylophone is made of flat bars in a row. The bars are lined up from short to long. You hit them with soft mallets.
Look at the shortest bar. It plays the highest note. Now look at the longest bar. It plays the lowest note. Every bar in the middle plays a note in between.
Why does this work? When a bar is hit, it shakes very fast. A short bar shakes faster than a long bar. A fast shake makes a high sound. A slow shake makes a low sound.
Under each bar is a tube or a hollow space. It helps the sound ring out and grow louder. That makes the xylophone sound clear and bright.
■ Harder · 127 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.1
A xylophone is built from a row of flat bars that are arranged in order from the shortest to the longest. A musician strikes the bars with soft mallets to make music.
The shortest bar plays the highest note, and the longest bar plays the lowest note. Every bar in the middle plays a note somewhere in between.
This works because of how the bars move. When a bar is struck, it vibrates very quickly. A short bar vibrates faster than a long bar. A fast shake makes a high sound, and a slow shake makes a low sound.
Beneath each bar there is a tube or a hollow space. It helps the sound ring out and grow louder, which makes the xylophone sound clear and bright.
A xylophone has flat bars in a row. The bars go from short to long. You hit them with soft mallets.
The shortest bar plays the highest note. The longest bar plays the lowest note. The bars in the middle play notes in between.
Why? A bar shakes when you hit it. A short bar shakes fast. A long bar shakes slow. A fast shake makes a high sound. A slow shake makes a low sound.
Under each bar is a hollow tube. It helps the sound ring out and get louder.
Questions
How are the bars lined up?
What do you hit the bars with?
Which bar plays the lowest note?
What does a bar do when you hit it?
Why does a short bar sound higher?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Short Bars and Long Bars on a Xylophone
A xylophone is made of flat bars in a row. The bars are lined up from short to long. You hit them with soft mallets.
Look at the shortest bar. It plays the highest note. Now look at the longest bar. It plays the lowest note. Every bar in the middle plays a note in between.
Why does this work? When a bar is hit, it shakes very fast. A short bar shakes faster than a long bar. A fast shake makes a high sound. A slow shake makes a low sound.
Under each bar is a tube or a hollow space. It helps the sound ring out and grow louder. That makes the xylophone sound clear and bright.
Questions
How are the bars on a xylophone lined up?
What do you use to hit the bars?
Which bar plays the lowest note?
What happens to a bar when it is hit?
Why does a short bar make a higher sound than a long bar?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Short Bars and Long Bars on a Xylophone
A xylophone is built from a row of flat bars that are arranged in order from the shortest to the longest. A musician strikes the bars with soft mallets to make music.
The shortest bar plays the highest note, and the longest bar plays the lowest note. Every bar in the middle plays a note somewhere in between.
This works because of how the bars move. When a bar is struck, it vibrates very quickly. A short bar vibrates faster than a long bar. A fast shake makes a high sound, and a slow shake makes a low sound.
Beneath each bar there is a tube or a hollow space. It helps the sound ring out and grow louder, which makes the xylophone sound clear and bright.
Questions
How are the bars of a xylophone arranged?
What does a musician use to strike the bars?
Which bar plays the lowest note?
What does a bar do when it is struck?
Why does a short bar make a higher sound than a long bar?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Short Bars and Long Bars on a Xylophone
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.3)
From short to long.
Soft mallets.
The longest bar.
It shakes.
It shakes faster, and a fast shake makes a high sound.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.9)
From short to long.
Soft mallets.
The longest bar.
It shakes very fast.
A short bar shakes faster, and a fast shake makes a high sound.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.1)
In order from the shortest to the longest.
Soft mallets.
The longest bar.
It vibrates, or shakes, very quickly.
A short bar shakes faster, and a fast shake makes a high sound.
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 xylophone, mallets, hollow and bars 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.
What reading level is "Short Bars and Long Bars on a Xylophone"?
It was written for 2nd grade. It has 119 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 0.9. 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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