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How a Cracked Bone Builds Itself Back

3rd grade nonfiction passage about healing bones: 154 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade nonfiction healing bones 154 words

How a Cracked Bone Builds Itself Back

Bones are hard, but they can crack or break. The good news is that bones are alive, and they can repair themselves. Here is how it works.

First, blood gathers around the crack and forms a clot. The clot works like a plug. Soon, special cells arrive and start building a soft bridge across the gap.

Next, the bridge turns hard. New bone grows over many weeks until the two sides join together. Finally, the body trims the lump and shapes the bone until it looks much like it did before.

A doctor takes a picture called an X-ray to see the break. Often the doctor puts a cast on the arm or leg. The cast is a hard shell that holds the bone still. If the bone moves around, it cannot knit together well.

Healing takes patience. While you wait, you rest the bone and let it do its slow, clever work.

Questions

  1. What forms around the crack first? in the text

  2. What do special cells build across the gap? in the text

  3. How long does the new bone take to grow? in the text

  4. What is an X-ray? in the text

  5. What does a cast do? in the text

  6. Why must a broken bone stay still while it heals? think about it

Words to know

clot
a lump of blood that thickens to stop a leak
cast
a hard shell that keeps a hurt arm or leg from moving
gap
an empty space between two things
repair
to fix something that is broken
patience
being able to wait calmly for something
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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 · 124 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.7

Bones are hard, but they can crack. The good news is that bones are alive. They can fix themselves.

First, blood gathers around the crack. It makes a clot, like a plug. Then special cells build a soft bridge across the gap.

Next, the bridge gets hard. New bone grows for many weeks. The two sides join up. Then the body shapes the bone until it looks like before.

A doctor takes an X-ray, which is a picture of the break. The doctor may put a cast on your arm or leg. A cast is a hard shell. It holds the bone still. If the bone moves, it cannot join well.

Healing takes patience. You rest, and the bone does its slow work.

▲ This passage · 154 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7

Bones are hard, but they can crack or break. The good news is that bones are alive, and they can repair themselves. Here is how it works.

First, blood gathers around the crack and forms a clot. The clot works like a plug. Soon, special cells arrive and start building a soft bridge across the gap.

Next, the bridge turns hard. New bone grows over many weeks until the two sides join together. Finally, the body trims the lump and shapes the bone until it looks much like it did before.

A doctor takes a picture called an X-ray to see the break. Often the doctor puts a cast on the arm or leg. The cast is a hard shell that holds the bone still. If the bone moves around, it cannot knit together well.

Healing takes patience. While you wait, you rest the bone and let it do its slow, clever work.

■ Harder · 175 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.3

Bones are remarkably hard, but even they can crack or break. Fortunately, bones are living parts of the body, and they are able to repair themselves. Here is how that amazing process unfolds.

At first, blood gathers around the crack and forms a clot that works like a plug. Soon afterward, special cells arrive and begin constructing a soft bridge across the gap between the broken pieces.

Gradually, the bridge hardens. Over many weeks, new bone grows until the two sides are firmly joined together. Finally, the body trims away the extra lump and reshapes the bone until it looks much like it did before the injury.

A doctor takes a picture called an X-ray so that the break can be seen clearly. Often the doctor also places a cast around the arm or leg. The cast is a hard shell that holds the bone still, because a bone that keeps moving cannot knit together properly.

Healing demands patience. While you wait, you rest the bone and let it do its slow, clever work.

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 clot, cast, gap, repair and patience 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 2 minutes 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.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "How a Cracked Bone Builds Itself Back"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 154 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 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 2 minutes 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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