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The Goat Who Counted Pebbles

2nd grade fiction passage about a goat and a mistake: 128 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

2nd grade fiction a goat and a mistake 128 words

The Goat Who Counted Pebbles

Greta the goat liked to count. Each morning she counted the pebbles by the stream. There were always twelve.

One day there were only eleven. Greta looked left and right. "Somebody took my pebble!" she cried. She marched up to a duck. "Did you take it?"

"No," said the duck, and she waddled away.

Greta asked a frog, then a hen. Each one said no. By noon, Greta felt cross and tired. She sat down on a flat stone to rest.

The flat stone felt lumpy. She stood up and looked. There was the twelfth pebble, stuck to the bottom of her own hoof!

Greta blushed. She said sorry to the duck, the frog, and the hen. "I should have looked at my own feet first," she said.

Questions

  1. What did Greta count each morning? in the text

  2. How many pebbles did she find on the day of the problem? in the text

  3. Where was the missing pebble? in the text

  4. Who did Greta say sorry to? in the text

  5. Why did Greta blush? think about it

  6. What lesson does the story teach? think about it

Words to know

pebble
a small, smooth stone
stream
a small river that flows along
hoof
the hard foot of a goat or horse
blushed
turned red in the face from feeling shy
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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 · 108 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.1

Greta the goat liked to count. Each day she counted the pebbles by the stream. There were twelve.

One day there were eleven. Greta looked left and right. "Someone took my pebble!" she cried. She went to a duck. "Did you take it?"

"No," said the duck.

Greta asked a frog and a hen. They all said no. Greta was cross and tired. She sat on a flat stone.

The stone felt lumpy. She stood up. There was the pebble, stuck to her own hoof!

Greta blushed. She said sorry to the duck, the frog, and the hen. "I should look at my own feet first," she said.

▲ This passage · 128 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.8

Greta the goat liked to count. Each morning she counted the pebbles by the stream. There were always twelve.

One day there were only eleven. Greta looked left and right. "Somebody took my pebble!" she cried. She marched up to a duck. "Did you take it?"

"No," said the duck, and she waddled away.

Greta asked a frog, then a hen. Each one said no. By noon, Greta felt cross and tired. She sat down on a flat stone to rest.

The flat stone felt lumpy. She stood up and looked. There was the twelfth pebble, stuck to the bottom of her own hoof!

Greta blushed. She said sorry to the duck, the frog, and the hen. "I should have looked at my own feet first," she said.

■ Harder · 147 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.9

Greta the goat had a habit of counting. Every morning she counted the smooth pebbles beside the babbling stream, and there were always exactly twelve.

One particular day she could find only eleven. Greta searched left and right in a panic. "Somebody has stolen my pebble!" she cried. She stomped up to a duck. "Did you take it?"

"Certainly not," said the duck, and she waddled away in a huff.

Greta questioned a frog and then a hen, but each of them denied it. By noon Greta was cross and exhausted, so she sat down on a flat stone to rest.

The stone felt strangely lumpy. She stood and looked beneath her, and there was the twelfth pebble, lodged under her own hoof!

Greta blushed deeply. She apologized to the duck, the frog, and the hen. "I ought to have checked my own feet first," she admitted.

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 pebble, stream, hoof and blushed 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 Goat Who Counted Pebbles"?

It was written for 2nd grade. It has 128 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 0.8. 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 six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 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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