2nd grade nonfiction passage about food in a spaceship: 106 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
2nd gradenonfictionfood in a spaceship106 words
Why Astronauts Eat Tortillas
Think about eating a slice of bread. Little crumbs fall on the table. At home, the crumbs just drop down.
In a spaceship, things float. Crumbs do not fall. They drift through the air, and they can get in an astronaut's eyes or nose. They can even float into machines and cause trouble.
So astronauts often eat tortillas. A tortilla is flat and soft, and it makes very few crumbs. Astronauts can spread food on a tortilla and roll it up. Then they take a bite.
It is a simple idea, and it keeps the spaceship neat. Even in space, a clean place to live matters.
Questions
What do crumbs do in a spaceship? in the text
Where can floating crumbs end up? in the text
What is a tortilla like? in the text
What do astronauts do with a tortilla? in the text
Why would bread be a bad choice in space? think about it
Words to know
crumbs
tiny bits that fall off bread
float
to drift in the air instead of falling
tortilla
a thin, flat bread
neat
clean and tidy
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Why Astronauts Eat Tortillas
2nd grade reading passage
Think about eating a slice of bread. Little crumbs fall on the table. At home, the crumbs just drop down.
In a spaceship, things float. Crumbs do not fall. They drift through the air, and they can get in an astronaut's eyes or nose. They can even float into machines and cause trouble.
So astronauts often eat tortillas. A tortilla is flat and soft, and it makes very few crumbs. Astronauts can spread food on a tortilla and roll it up. Then they take a bite.
It is a simple idea, and it keeps the spaceship neat. Even in space, a clean place to live matters.
Questions
What do crumbs do in a spaceship?
Where can floating crumbs end up?
What is a tortilla like?
What do astronauts do with a tortilla?
Why would bread be a bad choice in space?
Words to know
crumbs: tiny bits that fall off bread
float: to drift in the air instead of falling
tortilla: a thin, flat bread
neat: clean and tidy
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/2/why-astronauts-eat-tortillas
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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 · 89 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.7
Think about a slice of bread. Little crumbs fall on the table. At home, crumbs just drop down.
In a spaceship, things float. Crumbs do not fall. They drift in the air. They can get in an astronaut's eyes or nose. They can float into machines and cause trouble.
So astronauts often eat tortillas. A tortilla is flat and soft. It makes very few crumbs. Astronauts spread food on it and roll it up. Then they take a bite.
It is a simple idea. It keeps the spaceship neat.
▲ This passage · 106 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7
Think about eating a slice of bread. Little crumbs fall on the table. At home, the crumbs just drop down.
In a spaceship, things float. Crumbs do not fall. They drift through the air, and they can get in an astronaut's eyes or nose. They can even float into machines and cause trouble.
So astronauts often eat tortillas. A tortilla is flat and soft, and it makes very few crumbs. Astronauts can spread food on a tortilla and roll it up. Then they take a bite.
It is a simple idea, and it keeps the spaceship neat. Even in space, a clean place to live matters.
■ Harder · 116 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.2
Think about what happens when you eat a slice of bread. Little crumbs scatter across the table. At home, those crumbs simply drop downward.
Inside a spaceship, however, everything floats. Crumbs do not fall. They drift through the air, where they can get into an astronaut's eyes or nose. They can even float into delicate machines and cause serious trouble.
For this reason, astronauts often eat tortillas. A tortilla is flat and soft, and it produces very few crumbs. Astronauts can spread food across a tortilla and roll it up before taking a bite.
It is a simple idea, yet it helps keep the whole spaceship neat. Even in space, a clean place to live matters.
Think about a slice of bread. Little crumbs fall on the table. At home, crumbs just drop down.
In a spaceship, things float. Crumbs do not fall. They drift in the air. They can get in an astronaut's eyes or nose. They can float into machines and cause trouble.
So astronauts often eat tortillas. A tortilla is flat and soft. It makes very few crumbs. Astronauts spread food on it and roll it up. Then they take a bite.
It is a simple idea. It keeps the spaceship neat.
Questions
What do crumbs do in a spaceship?
Where can floating crumbs go?
What is a tortilla like?
What do astronauts do with a tortilla?
Why would bread be a bad choice in space?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Why Astronauts Eat Tortillas
Think about eating a slice of bread. Little crumbs fall on the table. At home, the crumbs just drop down.
In a spaceship, things float. Crumbs do not fall. They drift through the air, and they can get in an astronaut's eyes or nose. They can even float into machines and cause trouble.
So astronauts often eat tortillas. A tortilla is flat and soft, and it makes very few crumbs. Astronauts can spread food on a tortilla and roll it up. Then they take a bite.
It is a simple idea, and it keeps the spaceship neat. Even in space, a clean place to live matters.
Questions
What do crumbs do in a spaceship?
Where can floating crumbs end up?
What is a tortilla like?
What do astronauts do with a tortilla?
Why would bread be a bad choice in space?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Why Astronauts Eat Tortillas
Think about what happens when you eat a slice of bread. Little crumbs scatter across the table. At home, those crumbs simply drop downward.
Inside a spaceship, however, everything floats. Crumbs do not fall. They drift through the air, where they can get into an astronaut's eyes or nose. They can even float into delicate machines and cause serious trouble.
For this reason, astronauts often eat tortillas. A tortilla is flat and soft, and it produces very few crumbs. Astronauts can spread food across a tortilla and roll it up before taking a bite.
It is a simple idea, yet it helps keep the whole spaceship neat. Even in space, a clean place to live matters.
Questions
What do crumbs do inside a spaceship?
Where can floating crumbs end up?
What is a tortilla like?
What can astronauts do with a tortilla before taking a bite?
Why would bread be a poor choice for astronauts?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Why Astronauts Eat Tortillas
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.7)
They float and drift in the air.
In an astronaut's eyes or nose, or into machines.
It is flat and soft, and it makes few crumbs.
They spread food on it and roll it up.
It makes lots of crumbs that would float around.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7)
They float and drift through the air.
In an astronaut's eyes or nose, or in machines.
It is flat and soft, and it makes few crumbs.
They spread food on it and roll it up.
It makes lots of crumbs, and the crumbs would float around.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.2)
They float and drift through the air.
In an astronaut's eyes or nose, or inside machines.
It is flat and soft, and it produces very few crumbs.
Spread food across it and roll it up.
It makes many crumbs, and they would float all around the ship.
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 crumbs, float, tortilla and neat 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 "Why Astronauts Eat Tortillas"?
It was written for 2nd grade. It has 106 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.7. 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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