2nd grade nonfiction passage about the human body: 114 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
2nd gradenonfictionthe human body114 words
Your Bones Hold You Up
Under your skin, you have a frame made of bones. All of your bones together are called your skeleton. A grown-up has more than two hundred bones.
Bones do three big jobs. First, they hold your body up so you can stand tall. Second, they protect the soft parts inside you. Your skull is like a hard helmet for your brain. Your ribs make a cage around your heart and lungs. Third, bones give your body its shape.
Bones cannot move by themselves. Muscles are attached to them. When a muscle gets shorter, it pulls on a bone, and the bone moves. That is how you bend your arm or kick a ball.
Questions
What is a skeleton? in the text
What protects your brain? in the text
What do your ribs protect? in the text
What are the three big jobs of bones? in the text
What must happen for a bone to move? in the text
Why would a person without bones not be able to stand up? think about it
Words to know
skeleton
all of the bones in a body
skull
the bones of the head
protect
to keep safe from harm
muscles
body parts that pull to make you move
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Your Bones Hold You Up
2nd grade reading passage
Under your skin, you have a frame made of bones. All of your bones together are called your skeleton. A grown-up has more than two hundred bones.
Bones do three big jobs. First, they hold your body up so you can stand tall. Second, they protect the soft parts inside you. Your skull is like a hard helmet for your brain. Your ribs make a cage around your heart and lungs. Third, bones give your body its shape.
Bones cannot move by themselves. Muscles are attached to them. When a muscle gets shorter, it pulls on a bone, and the bone moves. That is how you bend your arm or kick a ball.
Questions
What is a skeleton?
What protects your brain?
What do your ribs protect?
What are the three big jobs of bones?
What must happen for a bone to move?
Why would a person without bones not be able to stand up?
Words to know
skeleton: all of the bones in a body
skull: the bones of the head
protect: to keep safe from harm
muscles: body parts that pull to make you move
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/2/your-bones-hold-you-up
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 · 102 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.4
Under your skin is a frame of bones. All your bones are your skeleton. A grown-up has more than two hundred bones.
Bones do three big jobs. They hold your body up. You can stand tall. They keep the soft parts inside you safe. Your skull is a hard helmet for your brain. Your ribs are a cage around your heart and lungs. Bones also give your body its shape.
Bones cannot move alone. Muscles are attached to them. A muscle gets shorter. It pulls a bone. The bone moves. That is how you bend your arm or kick a ball.
▲ This passage · 114 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.5
Under your skin, you have a frame made of bones. All of your bones together are called your skeleton. A grown-up has more than two hundred bones.
Bones do three big jobs. First, they hold your body up so you can stand tall. Second, they protect the soft parts inside you. Your skull is like a hard helmet for your brain. Your ribs make a cage around your heart and lungs. Third, bones give your body its shape.
Bones cannot move by themselves. Muscles are attached to them. When a muscle gets shorter, it pulls on a bone, and the bone moves. That is how you bend your arm or kick a ball.
■ Harder · 124 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3
Beneath your skin, you have a strong frame made of bones. All of your bones together are called your skeleton, and a grown-up has more than two hundred of them.
Bones perform three important jobs. First, they hold your body up so that you can stand tall. Second, they protect the soft parts inside you. Your skull works like a hard helmet around your brain, and your ribs form a cage that surrounds your heart and lungs. Third, bones give your body its shape.
Bones cannot move by themselves. Muscles are attached to them instead. When a muscle becomes shorter, it pulls on a bone, and the bone moves. That is how you are able to bend your arm or kick a ball.
Under your skin is a frame of bones. All your bones are your skeleton. A grown-up has more than two hundred bones.
Bones do three big jobs. They hold your body up. You can stand tall. They keep the soft parts inside you safe. Your skull is a hard helmet for your brain. Your ribs are a cage around your heart and lungs. Bones also give your body its shape.
Bones cannot move alone. Muscles are attached to them. A muscle gets shorter. It pulls a bone. The bone moves. That is how you bend your arm or kick a ball.
Questions
What is a skeleton?
What keeps your brain safe?
What do your ribs keep safe?
What are the three big jobs of bones?
How does a bone move?
Why could a person without bones not stand up?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Your Bones Hold You Up
Under your skin, you have a frame made of bones. All of your bones together are called your skeleton. A grown-up has more than two hundred bones.
Bones do three big jobs. First, they hold your body up so you can stand tall. Second, they protect the soft parts inside you. Your skull is like a hard helmet for your brain. Your ribs make a cage around your heart and lungs. Third, bones give your body its shape.
Bones cannot move by themselves. Muscles are attached to them. When a muscle gets shorter, it pulls on a bone, and the bone moves. That is how you bend your arm or kick a ball.
Questions
What is a skeleton?
What protects your brain?
What do your ribs protect?
What are the three big jobs of bones?
What must happen for a bone to move?
Why would a person without bones not be able to stand up?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Your Bones Hold You Up
Beneath your skin, you have a strong frame made of bones. All of your bones together are called your skeleton, and a grown-up has more than two hundred of them.
Bones perform three important jobs. First, they hold your body up so that you can stand tall. Second, they protect the soft parts inside you. Your skull works like a hard helmet around your brain, and your ribs form a cage that surrounds your heart and lungs. Third, bones give your body its shape.
Bones cannot move by themselves. Muscles are attached to them instead. When a muscle becomes shorter, it pulls on a bone, and the bone moves. That is how you are able to bend your arm or kick a ball.
Questions
What do we call all of your bones together?
What works like a hard helmet around your brain?
What do your ribs surround and protect?
What are the three important jobs that bones perform?
What has to happen before a bone can move?
Why would a person without any bones be unable to stand up?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Your Bones Hold You Up
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.4)
All of your bones.
Your skull.
Your heart and lungs.
They hold you up, keep the soft parts safe, and give your body its shape.
A muscle attached to it gets shorter and pulls it.
Bones hold the body up.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.5)
All of your bones together.
Your skull.
Your heart and lungs.
They hold your body up, protect the soft parts inside, and give your body its shape.
A muscle that is attached to it gets shorter and pulls on it.
Bones hold the body up, so without them the body would have no frame to stand on.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 3)
Your skeleton.
Your skull.
Your heart and lungs.
They hold the body up, protect the soft parts inside, and give the body its shape.
A muscle attached to the bone becomes shorter and pulls on it.
Bones hold the body up, so there would be no frame to support the body.
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 skeleton, skull, protect and muscles 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 6 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.
It was written for 2nd grade. It has 114 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 1.5. 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. 5 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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