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The Blanket Fort with Seven Rooms

2nd grade fiction passage about a pretend fort that grows inside: 139 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

2nd grade fiction a pretend fort that grows inside 139 words

The Blanket Fort with Seven Rooms

On a rainy Saturday, Dev and his sister Ana built a fort. They used two chairs, a sheet, and a big green blanket.

"It is small," said Ana.

"Let us go inside," said Dev.

They crawled through the flap. The fort was bigger inside! It had a hall with a soft rug. At the end was a door, and past that door was another room.

There was a kitchen with a pillow stove. There was a room that smelled like cookies. There was a room with a window that looked at stars, even though it was daytime.

They counted seven rooms in all.

"Where does the last room go?" asked Ana.

Dev pushed the final flap. They tumbled out under the kitchen table. The fort was just a fort again, but Dev winked. "Tomorrow, we explore the other side."

Questions

  1. What did Dev and Ana use to build the fort? in the text

  2. What was strange about the inside of the fort? in the text

  3. What was in the kitchen room? in the text

  4. How many rooms did they count? in the text

  5. Why did Dev wink at the end? think about it

Words to know

fort
a hideout built for play
flap
a soft piece of cloth that opens like a door
tumbled
fell or rolled in a clumsy way
explore
to go and look around a new place
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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 · 130 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.7

It was a rainy Saturday. Dev and his sister Ana built a fort. They used two chairs, a sheet, and a big green blanket.

"It is small," said Ana.

"Let us go in," said Dev.

They crawled through the flap. The fort was bigger inside! It had a hall with a soft rug. At the end was a door. Past the door was a room.

There was a kitchen with a pillow stove. There was a room that smelled like cookies. There was a room with a window of stars, in the daytime.

They counted seven rooms.

"Where does the last room go?" asked Ana.

Dev pushed the flap. They fell out under the kitchen table. The fort was a fort again. Dev winked. "Tomorrow, we try the other side."

▲ This passage · 139 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.7

On a rainy Saturday, Dev and his sister Ana built a fort. They used two chairs, a sheet, and a big green blanket.

"It is small," said Ana.

"Let us go inside," said Dev.

They crawled through the flap. The fort was bigger inside! It had a hall with a soft rug. At the end was a door, and past that door was another room.

There was a kitchen with a pillow stove. There was a room that smelled like cookies. There was a room with a window that looked at stars, even though it was daytime.

They counted seven rooms in all.

"Where does the last room go?" asked Ana.

Dev pushed the final flap. They tumbled out under the kitchen table. The fort was just a fort again, but Dev winked. "Tomorrow, we explore the other side."

■ Harder · 156 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3

On a gloomy, rainy Saturday, Dev and his sister Ana built a fort out of two chairs, a bedsheet, and a big green blanket.

"It looks awfully small," said Ana.

"Let us go inside and see," said Dev.

They crawled through the flap, and the fort was much bigger inside! It had a long hall with a soft rug, and at the end of it stood a door. Beyond that door was another room.

There was a kitchen with a pillow stove. There was a room that smelled like fresh cookies. There was even a room with a window that looked out at the stars, although it was the middle of the day.

They counted seven rooms in all.

"Where does the last room lead?" asked Ana.

Dev pushed the final flap, and they tumbled out under the kitchen table. The fort was just a fort again, but Dev winked. "Tomorrow, we explore the other side."

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 fort, flap, tumbled and explore 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 "The Blanket Fort with Seven Rooms"?

It was written for 2nd grade. It has 139 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 1.7. 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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