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When Your Body Mistakes Pollen for a Threat

5th grade nonfiction passage about allergies: 225 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction allergies 225 words

When Your Body Mistakes Pollen for a Threat

Spring arrives, the trees bloom, and some people start sneezing. Their eyes itch and their noses run. They are not sick with a cold. They have an allergy, and it all comes from a mistake inside the body.

Your immune system is the team that guards you against germs. It is good at spotting dangerous invaders and attacking them. But sometimes it gets confused. With an allergy, the immune system sees something harmless, such as pollen, as a threat. Pollen is the fine dust that plants make. The immune system sounds the alarm and releases a chemical called histamine. Histamine makes the nose runny, the eyes watery, and the skin itchy or blotchy.

Other things can cause allergies, too. Some people react to pet fur, dust, or certain foods. Food allergies deserve special care. A tiny bit of the wrong food can make a person very ill, so they must read labels and ask what is in a meal. That is why many schools have tables where certain foods are not allowed, and why you should never share your snack with a friend who has an allergy unless a grown-up says it is safe.

Doctors can help. They can find out what causes an allergy and suggest medicine to ease the symptoms. With some planning, people with allergies enjoy spring just like everyone else.

Questions

  1. What is the immune system? in the text

  2. What mistake does the body make when someone has an allergy? in the text

  3. What does histamine do? in the text

  4. Why must people with food allergies read labels? think about it

  5. What is pollen? in the text

  6. Why should you not share snacks with a friend who has an allergy? think about it

Words to know

allergy
when the body reacts badly to something harmless
pollen
the fine yellow dust that flowers and trees make
invaders
things that come in where they should not be
histamine
a chemical the body releases during an allergy
symptoms
signs that show you are ill or have a problem
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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 · 212 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.8

Spring comes. The trees bloom. Some people start to sneeze. Their eyes itch and their noses run. They do not have a cold. They have an allergy. It comes from a mistake inside the body.

Your immune system guards you from germs. It is good at finding bad invaders and fighting them. But sometimes it gets mixed up. With an allergy, the immune system sees something harmless as a threat. Pollen is one example. Pollen is the fine dust that plants make. The immune system sounds an alarm. It lets out a chemical called histamine. Histamine makes the nose runny. It makes the eyes watery. It makes the skin itchy.

Other things can cause allergies. Some people react to pet fur or dust. Some react to certain foods. Food allergies need special care. A tiny bit of the wrong food can make a person very ill. They must read labels and ask what is in a meal. That is why some schools have tables with no certain foods. You should not share your snack with a friend who has an allergy unless a grown-up says it is safe.

Doctors can help. They find the cause. They give medicine to ease the symptoms. With a plan, people with allergies enjoy spring too.

▲ This passage · 225 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.4

Spring arrives, the trees bloom, and some people start sneezing. Their eyes itch and their noses run. They are not sick with a cold. They have an allergy, and it all comes from a mistake inside the body.

Your immune system is the team that guards you against germs. It is good at spotting dangerous invaders and attacking them. But sometimes it gets confused. With an allergy, the immune system sees something harmless, such as pollen, as a threat. Pollen is the fine dust that plants make. The immune system sounds the alarm and releases a chemical called histamine. Histamine makes the nose runny, the eyes watery, and the skin itchy or blotchy.

Other things can cause allergies, too. Some people react to pet fur, dust, or certain foods. Food allergies deserve special care. A tiny bit of the wrong food can make a person very ill, so they must read labels and ask what is in a meal. That is why many schools have tables where certain foods are not allowed, and why you should never share your snack with a friend who has an allergy unless a grown-up says it is safe.

Doctors can help. They can find out what causes an allergy and suggest medicine to ease the symptoms. With some planning, people with allergies enjoy spring just like everyone else.

■ Harder · 239 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8

When spring arrives and the trees burst into bloom, some people begin to sneeze. Their eyes itch, and their noses start to run. They are not suffering from a cold. They have an allergy, which originates from a mistake made inside the body.

Your immune system is the team that defends you against germs. It excels at recognizing dangerous invaders and attacking them. Occasionally, however, it becomes confused. When someone has an allergy, the immune system interprets something harmless, such as pollen, as a serious threat. Pollen is the fine dust that plants produce. The immune system sounds the alarm and releases a chemical called histamine, which makes the nose runny, the eyes watery, and the skin itchy or blotchy.

Many other things can trigger allergies. Some people react to pet fur, dust, or particular foods. Food allergies deserve special care, because even a tiny amount of the wrong food can make a person extremely ill. Those individuals must read labels carefully and ask what is in a meal. That is the reason many schools set aside tables where certain foods are not permitted, and why you should never share your snack with a friend who has an allergy unless a grown-up confirms that it is safe.

Doctors can certainly help. They can determine what causes an allergy and recommend medicine to ease the symptoms. With careful planning, people with allergies can enjoy spring just like everyone else.

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 allergy, pollen, invaders, histamine and symptoms 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 4 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 "When Your Body Mistakes Pollen for a Threat"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 225 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.4. 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.

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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