2nd grade nonfiction passage about bread baker night shift: 143 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
2nd gradenonfictionbread baker night shift143 words
Why the Night Baker Starts at Midnight
While most people sleep, a baker is wide awake. She starts work at midnight. Why does she begin so early?
Bread needs time. The baker mixes flour, water, salt, and yeast into a soft dough. Yeast is a tiny living thing that makes the dough puff up. This is called rising, and it takes hours. The dough must be shaped and left to rise again.
Then the loaves go into a very hot oven. The kitchen fills with a warm smell.
All of this has to be done before the shop opens. People want fresh bread with their breakfast. If the baker started at sunrise, the bread would not be ready until the middle of the day.
By the time the sun comes up, rows of golden loaves sit on the shelves. The baker may go home and sleep while her customers eat.
Questions
When does the baker start work? in the text
What four things does the baker mix to make dough? in the text
What does yeast do to the dough? in the text
Why must the bread be ready before the shop opens? in the text
What would happen if the baker started at sunrise? think about it
Words to know
yeast
a tiny living thing that makes dough puff up
dough
a soft mix of flour and water before it is baked
loaves
shaped pieces of baked bread
rising
slowly getting bigger and puffier
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Why the Night Baker Starts at Midnight
2nd grade reading passage
While most people sleep, a baker is wide awake. She starts work at midnight. Why does she begin so early?
Bread needs time. The baker mixes flour, water, salt, and yeast into a soft dough. Yeast is a tiny living thing that makes the dough puff up. This is called rising, and it takes hours. The dough must be shaped and left to rise again.
Then the loaves go into a very hot oven. The kitchen fills with a warm smell.
All of this has to be done before the shop opens. People want fresh bread with their breakfast. If the baker started at sunrise, the bread would not be ready until the middle of the day.
By the time the sun comes up, rows of golden loaves sit on the shelves. The baker may go home and sleep while her customers eat.
Questions
When does the baker start work?
What four things does the baker mix to make dough?
What does yeast do to the dough?
Why must the bread be ready before the shop opens?
What would happen if the baker started at sunrise?
Words to know
yeast: a tiny living thing that makes dough puff up
dough: a soft mix of flour and water before it is baked
loaves: shaped pieces of baked bread
rising: slowly getting bigger and puffier
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/2/why-the-night-baker-starts-at-midnight
Share
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 · 114 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.5
While most people sleep, a baker is up. She starts work at midnight. Why so early?
Bread needs time. The baker mixes flour, water, salt, and yeast. This makes soft dough. Yeast is a tiny living thing. It makes dough puff up. This is called rising. It takes hours. The dough is shaped and left to rise again.
Then the loaves go in a hot oven. The kitchen smells warm.
It must be done before the shop opens. People want fresh bread at breakfast. If the baker began at sunrise, the bread would be late. It would not be ready till the middle of the day.
At sunrise, golden loaves sit on the shelves.
▲ This passage · 143 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.9
While most people sleep, a baker is wide awake. She starts work at midnight. Why does she begin so early?
Bread needs time. The baker mixes flour, water, salt, and yeast into a soft dough. Yeast is a tiny living thing that makes the dough puff up. This is called rising, and it takes hours. The dough must be shaped and left to rise again.
Then the loaves go into a very hot oven. The kitchen fills with a warm smell.
All of this has to be done before the shop opens. People want fresh bread with their breakfast. If the baker started at sunrise, the bread would not be ready until the middle of the day.
By the time the sun comes up, rows of golden loaves sit on the shelves. The baker may go home and sleep while her customers eat.
■ Harder · 154 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.4
While most people are fast asleep, a baker is wide awake and hard at work. She begins at midnight, and there is a good reason for such an early start.
Bread takes a great deal of time. The baker combines flour, water, salt, and yeast into a soft dough. Yeast is a tiny living thing that makes the dough puff up, a process called rising, which takes several hours. After the dough has been shaped, it is left to rise a second time.
Next, the loaves are placed in a very hot oven, and the kitchen fills with a warm, delicious smell.
All of this must be finished before the shop opens, because people want fresh bread with their breakfast. If the baker started at sunrise, the bread would not be ready until the middle of the day.
By the time the sun comes up, rows of golden loaves are waiting on the shelves.
While most people sleep, a baker is up. She starts work at midnight. Why so early?
Bread needs time. The baker mixes flour, water, salt, and yeast. This makes soft dough. Yeast is a tiny living thing. It makes dough puff up. This is called rising. It takes hours. The dough is shaped and left to rise again.
Then the loaves go in a hot oven. The kitchen smells warm.
It must be done before the shop opens. People want fresh bread at breakfast. If the baker began at sunrise, the bread would be late. It would not be ready till the middle of the day.
At sunrise, golden loaves sit on the shelves.
Questions
When does the baker start work?
What four things does the baker mix?
What does yeast do?
Why must the bread be ready before the shop opens?
What would happen if the baker began at sunrise?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Why the Night Baker Starts at Midnight
While most people sleep, a baker is wide awake. She starts work at midnight. Why does she begin so early?
Bread needs time. The baker mixes flour, water, salt, and yeast into a soft dough. Yeast is a tiny living thing that makes the dough puff up. This is called rising, and it takes hours. The dough must be shaped and left to rise again.
Then the loaves go into a very hot oven. The kitchen fills with a warm smell.
All of this has to be done before the shop opens. People want fresh bread with their breakfast. If the baker started at sunrise, the bread would not be ready until the middle of the day.
By the time the sun comes up, rows of golden loaves sit on the shelves. The baker may go home and sleep while her customers eat.
Questions
When does the baker start work?
What four things does the baker mix to make dough?
What does yeast do to the dough?
Why must the bread be ready before the shop opens?
What would happen if the baker started at sunrise?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Why the Night Baker Starts at Midnight
While most people are fast asleep, a baker is wide awake and hard at work. She begins at midnight, and there is a good reason for such an early start.
Bread takes a great deal of time. The baker combines flour, water, salt, and yeast into a soft dough. Yeast is a tiny living thing that makes the dough puff up, a process called rising, which takes several hours. After the dough has been shaped, it is left to rise a second time.
Next, the loaves are placed in a very hot oven, and the kitchen fills with a warm, delicious smell.
All of this must be finished before the shop opens, because people want fresh bread with their breakfast. If the baker started at sunrise, the bread would not be ready until the middle of the day.
By the time the sun comes up, rows of golden loaves are waiting on the shelves.
Questions
When does the baker begin her work?
What four ingredients does the baker combine to make dough?
What does yeast do to the dough?
Why must the bread be finished before the shop opens?
What would happen if the baker started at sunrise?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Why the Night Baker Starts at Midnight
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.5)
At midnight.
Flour, water, salt, and yeast.
It makes the dough puff up.
People want fresh bread at breakfast.
The bread would not be ready until the middle of the day.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.9)
At midnight.
Flour, water, salt, and yeast.
It makes the dough puff up, or rise.
People want fresh bread with their breakfast.
The bread would not be ready until the middle of the day.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.4)
At midnight.
Flour, water, salt, and yeast.
It makes the dough puff up, which is called rising.
People want fresh bread with their breakfast.
The bread would not be ready until the middle of the day.
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 yeast, dough, loaves and rising 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 the Night Baker Starts at Midnight"?
It was written for 2nd grade. It has 143 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.9. 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?
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