3rd grade nonfiction passage about how jellyfish live: 163 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
3rd gradenonfictionhow jellyfish live163 words
Jellyfish: A Sea Animal With No Brain
A jellyfish may look like a floating bell of glass. It has no bones, no heart and no brain. Yet it has lived in the sea for a very long time.
Most of a jellyfish is water. Its soft body is shaped like an umbrella. To move, the jellyfish squeezes its body, and the water under it is pushed out. This pushes the jellyfish forward. Then the body relaxes, and it does the same thing again and again. Jellyfish also drift along with the ocean currents.
Instead of a brain, a jellyfish has a net of nerves. The nerves help it feel light, touch and the taste of the water.
Long arms hang down from the bell. They have tiny stingers. A jellyfish uses its stingers to catch small animals to eat. A sting can hurt a person, so it is best to keep away from jellyfish. If you see one on the beach, tell a grown-up and do not touch it.
Questions
What three things does a jellyfish not have? in the text
What is most of a jellyfish made of? in the text
How does a jellyfish move forward? in the text
What does a jellyfish have instead of a brain? in the text
Why does a jellyfish have stingers on its arms? think about it
Why should you tell a grown-up if you see a jellyfish on the beach? think about it
Words to know
jellyfish
a soft, see-through sea animal that can sting
relaxes
becomes loose again after squeezing
nerves
thin lines in the body that carry messages
stingers
tiny parts that can sting
drift
to be carried along by moving water
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Jellyfish: A Sea Animal With No Brain
3rd grade reading passage
A jellyfish may look like a floating bell of glass. It has no bones, no heart and no brain. Yet it has lived in the sea for a very long time.
Most of a jellyfish is water. Its soft body is shaped like an umbrella. To move, the jellyfish squeezes its body, and the water under it is pushed out. This pushes the jellyfish forward. Then the body relaxes, and it does the same thing again and again. Jellyfish also drift along with the ocean currents.
Instead of a brain, a jellyfish has a net of nerves. The nerves help it feel light, touch and the taste of the water.
Long arms hang down from the bell. They have tiny stingers. A jellyfish uses its stingers to catch small animals to eat. A sting can hurt a person, so it is best to keep away from jellyfish. If you see one on the beach, tell a grown-up and do not touch it.
Questions
What three things does a jellyfish not have?
What is most of a jellyfish made of?
How does a jellyfish move forward?
What does a jellyfish have instead of a brain?
Why does a jellyfish have stingers on its arms?
Why should you tell a grown-up if you see a jellyfish on the beach?
Words to know
jellyfish: a soft, see-through sea animal that can sting
relaxes: becomes loose again after squeezing
nerves: thin lines in the body that carry messages
stingers: tiny parts that can sting
drift: to be carried along by moving water
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/3/jellyfish-a-sea-animal-with-no-brain
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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 · 145 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.1
A jellyfish looks like a floating glass bell. It has no bones. It has no heart. It has no brain. Yet it has lived in the sea for a long, long time.
Most of a jellyfish is water. Its soft body is shaped like an umbrella. To move, it squeezes its body. Water is pushed out from under it. This pushes the jellyfish forward. Then the body relaxes, and it squeezes again. Jellyfish also drift with the currents.
A jellyfish has a net of nerves instead of a brain. The nerves help it feel light and touch and taste the water.
Long arms hang from the bell. They have tiny stingers. The jellyfish uses them to catch small animals to eat. A sting can hurt a person. So keep away. If you see one on the beach, tell a grown-up. Do not touch it.
▲ This passage · 163 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.6
A jellyfish may look like a floating bell of glass. It has no bones, no heart and no brain. Yet it has lived in the sea for a very long time.
Most of a jellyfish is water. Its soft body is shaped like an umbrella. To move, the jellyfish squeezes its body, and the water under it is pushed out. This pushes the jellyfish forward. Then the body relaxes, and it does the same thing again and again. Jellyfish also drift along with the ocean currents.
Instead of a brain, a jellyfish has a net of nerves. The nerves help it feel light, touch and the taste of the water.
Long arms hang down from the bell. They have tiny stingers. A jellyfish uses its stingers to catch small animals to eat. A sting can hurt a person, so it is best to keep away from jellyfish. If you see one on the beach, tell a grown-up and do not touch it.
■ Harder · 172 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.6
A jellyfish may resemble a floating bell made of glass, but it has no bones, no heart and no brain. Even so, jellyfish have lived in the sea for an extremely long time.
Most of a jellyfish is simply water. Its soft body is shaped like an umbrella. In order to move, the jellyfish squeezes its body so that the water beneath it is pushed out, and this propels the animal forward. Then the body relaxes, and the jellyfish repeats the same motion again and again. Jellyfish also drift along with the ocean currents.
Instead of a brain, a jellyfish has a net of nerves, which helps it sense light, touch and the taste of the water around it.
Long arms hang down from the bell, and they carry tiny stingers that the jellyfish uses to catch small animals to eat. Since a sting can hurt a person, it is wise to keep away from jellyfish. If you notice one on the beach, tell a grown-up and do not touch it.
A jellyfish looks like a floating glass bell. It has no bones. It has no heart. It has no brain. Yet it has lived in the sea for a long, long time.
Most of a jellyfish is water. Its soft body is shaped like an umbrella. To move, it squeezes its body. Water is pushed out from under it. This pushes the jellyfish forward. Then the body relaxes, and it squeezes again. Jellyfish also drift with the currents.
A jellyfish has a net of nerves instead of a brain. The nerves help it feel light and touch and taste the water.
Long arms hang from the bell. They have tiny stingers. The jellyfish uses them to catch small animals to eat. A sting can hurt a person. So keep away. If you see one on the beach, tell a grown-up. Do not touch it.
Questions
What three things does a jellyfish not have?
What is most of a jellyfish made of?
How does a jellyfish move forward?
What does a jellyfish have instead of a brain?
Why does a jellyfish have stingers on its arms?
Why should you tell a grown-up about a jellyfish on the beach?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Jellyfish: A Sea Animal With No Brain
A jellyfish may look like a floating bell of glass. It has no bones, no heart and no brain. Yet it has lived in the sea for a very long time.
Most of a jellyfish is water. Its soft body is shaped like an umbrella. To move, the jellyfish squeezes its body, and the water under it is pushed out. This pushes the jellyfish forward. Then the body relaxes, and it does the same thing again and again. Jellyfish also drift along with the ocean currents.
Instead of a brain, a jellyfish has a net of nerves. The nerves help it feel light, touch and the taste of the water.
Long arms hang down from the bell. They have tiny stingers. A jellyfish uses its stingers to catch small animals to eat. A sting can hurt a person, so it is best to keep away from jellyfish. If you see one on the beach, tell a grown-up and do not touch it.
Questions
What three things does a jellyfish not have?
What is most of a jellyfish made of?
How does a jellyfish move forward?
What does a jellyfish have instead of a brain?
Why does a jellyfish have stingers on its arms?
Why should you tell a grown-up if you see a jellyfish on the beach?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Jellyfish: A Sea Animal With No Brain
A jellyfish may resemble a floating bell made of glass, but it has no bones, no heart and no brain. Even so, jellyfish have lived in the sea for an extremely long time.
Most of a jellyfish is simply water. Its soft body is shaped like an umbrella. In order to move, the jellyfish squeezes its body so that the water beneath it is pushed out, and this propels the animal forward. Then the body relaxes, and the jellyfish repeats the same motion again and again. Jellyfish also drift along with the ocean currents.
Instead of a brain, a jellyfish has a net of nerves, which helps it sense light, touch and the taste of the water around it.
Long arms hang down from the bell, and they carry tiny stingers that the jellyfish uses to catch small animals to eat. Since a sting can hurt a person, it is wise to keep away from jellyfish. If you notice one on the beach, tell a grown-up and do not touch it.
Questions
What three body parts does a jellyfish lack?
What is most of a jellyfish made of?
How does a jellyfish propel itself forward?
What does a jellyfish have in place of a brain?
Why do the long arms of a jellyfish carry stingers?
Why is it wise to tell a grown-up if you notice a jellyfish on the beach?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Jellyfish: A Sea Animal With No Brain
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.1)
Bones, a heart and a brain.
Water.
It squeezes its body and pushes water out.
A net of nerves.
To catch small animals to eat.
A sting can hurt, so nobody should touch it.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.6)
Bones, a heart and a brain.
Water.
It squeezes its body and pushes water out from under it.
A net of nerves.
To catch small animals to eat.
A sting can hurt, so people should not touch it.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.6)
Bones, a heart and a brain.
Simply water.
It squeezes its body and pushes out the water beneath it.
A net of nerves.
The jellyfish uses them to catch small animals to eat.
A sting can hurt a person, so nobody should touch it.
Free at teach.peabody.kids
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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 jellyfish, relaxes, nerves, stingers and drift 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 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 "Jellyfish: A Sea Animal With No Brain"?
It was written for 3rd grade. It has 163 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.6. 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. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 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.
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