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The Kite That Tugged the Sunrise

2nd grade fiction passage about a kite and the morning sun: 136 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

2nd grade fiction a kite and the morning sun 136 words

The Kite That Tugged the Sunrise

Odalys had a yellow kite with a long blue tail. One gray morning, the sun was late. The whole town was still dark and cold.

Odalys ran up the hill with her kite. The wind caught it, and up it went. The kite climbed past the roofs. It climbed past the clouds. Then it stopped and pulled hard on the string.

"Something is stuck up there," said Odalys.

She held on tight. The kite tugged, and a bright edge of the sun peeked over the hills. It had caught its round side on the tail of the kite!

Odalys gave one gentle pull. The sun popped free and rolled up into the sky. Warm light spread over the town.

"Thank you," said the sun in a sleepy, golden voice.

Odalys smiled and reeled in her kite.

Questions

  1. What color was the kite? in the text

  2. Why was the town dark and cold? in the text

  3. What was stuck on the kite's tail? in the text

  4. What did Odalys do to free the sun? in the text

  5. Why did the sun say thank you? think about it

Words to know

kite
a light toy that flies on a long string
tugged
pulled hard and fast
peeked
looked out for a short moment
reeled
wound the string back in
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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 · 110 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade -0.1

Odalys had a yellow kite. It had a long blue tail. One morning, the sun was late. The town was dark and cold.

Odalys ran up the hill. The wind took her kite. Up it went! It went past the roofs. It went past the clouds. Then it stopped. It pulled on the string.

"Something is stuck," said Odalys.

She held on. The kite tugged. A bright edge of the sun peeked over the hills. It was stuck on the kite's tail!

Odalys gave one soft pull. The sun popped free. It rolled up in the sky. Warm light spread over the town.

"Thank you," said the sun.

Odalys smiled.

▲ This passage · 136 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.2

Odalys had a yellow kite with a long blue tail. One gray morning, the sun was late. The whole town was still dark and cold.

Odalys ran up the hill with her kite. The wind caught it, and up it went. The kite climbed past the roofs. It climbed past the clouds. Then it stopped and pulled hard on the string.

"Something is stuck up there," said Odalys.

She held on tight. The kite tugged, and a bright edge of the sun peeked over the hills. It had caught its round side on the tail of the kite!

Odalys gave one gentle pull. The sun popped free and rolled up into the sky. Warm light spread over the town.

"Thank you," said the sun in a sleepy, golden voice.

Odalys smiled and reeled in her kite.

■ Harder · 140 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.3

Odalys owned a yellow kite with a long, fluttering blue tail. One gray morning, the sun was running late, and the entire town lay dark and chilly.

Odalys raced up the hill with her kite. The wind caught it at once, and it soared past the rooftops and above the clouds. Then it suddenly stopped and pulled hard on the string.

"Something must be stuck up there," said Odalys.

She held on tightly. The kite tugged again, and a bright edge of the sun peeked over the hills. The sun had caught its round side on the kite's tail!

Odalys gave one careful, gentle pull. The sun popped free and rolled up into the sky, and warm light spread across the town.

"Thank you," said the sun in a sleepy, golden voice.

Odalys smiled and slowly reeled in her kite.

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 kite, tugged, peeked and reeled 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 Kite That Tugged the Sunrise"?

It was written for 2nd grade. It has 136 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 1.1. 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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