2nd grade nonfiction passage about how vanilla beans are made: 120 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
2nd gradenonfictionhow vanilla beans are made120 words
Vanilla Flowers Open for a Day
Vanilla gives cakes and ice cream a sweet smell. It starts on a vine. The vine is a kind of orchid, and it climbs up trees and poles.
The vanilla flower is pale yellow. It opens for only one day. On that day, it must be pollinated, or no bean will grow. On many farms, workers do this by hand with a tiny stick. They look at each flower, one by one.
If it works, a long green pod begins to grow. It is picked after many months. At first, the pod does not smell like vanilla at all.
Workers dry the pods in the sun for weeks. The pods turn dark brown and wrinkled, and then they smell sweet.
Questions
What kind of plant is the vanilla vine? in the text
How long does a vanilla flower stay open? in the text
How do workers help the flowers on many farms? in the text
What color are the pods after they are dried? in the text
Why do workers have to be careful about the one day the flower is open? think about it
Words to know
orchid
a kind of plant with fancy, bright flowers
pollinated
given pollen so a flower can make seeds
pod
a long case that holds seeds
wrinkled
full of small folds and lines
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Vanilla Flowers Open for a Day
2nd grade reading passage
Vanilla gives cakes and ice cream a sweet smell. It starts on a vine. The vine is a kind of orchid, and it climbs up trees and poles.
The vanilla flower is pale yellow. It opens for only one day. On that day, it must be pollinated, or no bean will grow. On many farms, workers do this by hand with a tiny stick. They look at each flower, one by one.
If it works, a long green pod begins to grow. It is picked after many months. At first, the pod does not smell like vanilla at all.
Workers dry the pods in the sun for weeks. The pods turn dark brown and wrinkled, and then they smell sweet.
Questions
What kind of plant is the vanilla vine?
How long does a vanilla flower stay open?
How do workers help the flowers on many farms?
What color are the pods after they are dried?
Why do workers have to be careful about the one day the flower is open?
Words to know
orchid: a kind of plant with fancy, bright flowers
pollinated: given pollen so a flower can make seeds
pod: a long case that holds seeds
wrinkled: full of small folds and lines
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/2/vanilla-flowers-open-for-a-day
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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 · 91 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.2
Vanilla gives cakes and ice cream a sweet smell. It grows on a vine. The vine is a kind of orchid. It climbs up trees and poles.
The vanilla flower is pale yellow. It opens for just one day. On that day, it must be pollinated. If not, no bean will grow. On many farms, workers do it by hand with a tiny stick.
Then a long green pod grows. The pod is picked after many months. Workers dry it in the sun. It turns dark brown. Then it smells sweet.
▲ This passage · 120 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.2
Vanilla gives cakes and ice cream a sweet smell. It starts on a vine. The vine is a kind of orchid, and it climbs up trees and poles.
The vanilla flower is pale yellow. It opens for only one day. On that day, it must be pollinated, or no bean will grow. On many farms, workers do this by hand with a tiny stick. They look at each flower, one by one.
If it works, a long green pod begins to grow. It is picked after many months. At first, the pod does not smell like vanilla at all.
Workers dry the pods in the sun for weeks. The pods turn dark brown and wrinkled, and then they smell sweet.
■ Harder · 132 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.6
Vanilla gives cakes and ice cream their wonderful, sweet smell, and it begins on a vine. The vine is a type of orchid that climbs up trees and poles as it grows.
The vanilla flower is pale yellow, and it stays open for only a single day. On that day, it must be pollinated, or no bean will form. On many farms, workers pollinate the flowers by hand with a tiny stick, carefully checking each blossom one by one.
If the pollination works, a long green pod begins to grow, and it is picked after many months. At first, the pod does not smell like vanilla at all.
Workers dry the pods in the sun for several weeks. The pods turn dark brown and wrinkled, and only then do they smell sweet.
Vanilla gives cakes and ice cream a sweet smell. It grows on a vine. The vine is a kind of orchid. It climbs up trees and poles.
The vanilla flower is pale yellow. It opens for just one day. On that day, it must be pollinated. If not, no bean will grow. On many farms, workers do it by hand with a tiny stick.
Then a long green pod grows. The pod is picked after many months. Workers dry it in the sun. It turns dark brown. Then it smells sweet.
Questions
What kind of plant is the vanilla vine?
How long is the flower open?
What do workers use to help the flowers?
What color is the pod after it is dried?
Why must workers hurry when a flower opens?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Vanilla Flowers Open for a Day
Vanilla gives cakes and ice cream a sweet smell. It starts on a vine. The vine is a kind of orchid, and it climbs up trees and poles.
The vanilla flower is pale yellow. It opens for only one day. On that day, it must be pollinated, or no bean will grow. On many farms, workers do this by hand with a tiny stick. They look at each flower, one by one.
If it works, a long green pod begins to grow. It is picked after many months. At first, the pod does not smell like vanilla at all.
Workers dry the pods in the sun for weeks. The pods turn dark brown and wrinkled, and then they smell sweet.
Questions
What kind of plant is the vanilla vine?
How long does a vanilla flower stay open?
How do workers help the flowers on many farms?
What color are the pods after they are dried?
Why do workers have to be careful about the one day the flower is open?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Vanilla Flowers Open for a Day
Vanilla gives cakes and ice cream their wonderful, sweet smell, and it begins on a vine. The vine is a type of orchid that climbs up trees and poles as it grows.
The vanilla flower is pale yellow, and it stays open for only a single day. On that day, it must be pollinated, or no bean will form. On many farms, workers pollinate the flowers by hand with a tiny stick, carefully checking each blossom one by one.
If the pollination works, a long green pod begins to grow, and it is picked after many months. At first, the pod does not smell like vanilla at all.
Workers dry the pods in the sun for several weeks. The pods turn dark brown and wrinkled, and only then do they smell sweet.
Questions
What type of plant is the vanilla vine?
How long does each vanilla flower stay open?
How do workers help the flowers on many farms?
What do the pods look like after they have been dried?
Why must workers be so careful on the day a flower opens?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Vanilla Flowers Open for a Day
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.2)
An orchid.
One day.
A tiny stick.
Dark brown.
If the flower is not pollinated that day, no bean will grow.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.2)
A kind of orchid.
Only one day.
They pollinate them by hand with a tiny stick.
Dark brown.
If the flower is not pollinated that day, no bean will grow.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.6)
A type of orchid.
Only a single day.
They pollinate them by hand with a tiny stick.
Dark brown and wrinkled.
The flower must be pollinated that day, or no bean will form.
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 orchid, pollinated, pod and wrinkled 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 "Vanilla Flowers Open for a Day"?
It was written for 2nd grade. It has 120 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.2. 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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