Close Reading Comprehension Passages and Questions Reading Strategies

Dig deeply into the text for reading comprehension and close reading practice with these high-interest, standards-based reading passages written by a published nonfiction children’s author with more than 100 books in print.

What’s included in the package?

• 60 Printable passages (Each level with 2 levels. Total 120 passages.
• Printable passages with QR codes to support audio
• Google Slides digital version
• Google Slides digital version includes audio support
• Access to the TpT Easel annotation software
• Skill Finder and Digital Passage Tracker
• Teacher answer keys, student annotator guide, and three printables for the five paired passages included in this set of printables

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The Passages

Each passage is presented at two levels, grades 3-4 and 5, for a total 120 passages. These passages cover a variety of topics, including literature, poetry, and informational text. These questions are text-dependent and address a range of close reading skills.

Questions that require text

Both reading levels can use the same text-dependent questions from Show What You Know. This allows you to discuss passages together, even with students who have different reading levels. Third-grade students may find some questions difficult, especially at the beginning of the school year.

Audio Support

Links or QR codes provide audio support. These recordings were created using the most advanced AI text to chat technology on the market. They have a natural, human-like sound. You can Click here for an exampleIt is possible to hear what the audio sounds like.

You can use it in three ways

The PDF contains teacher instructions, student pages, as well as answer keys. There are two options for printing pages: with or without QR codes.

You will receive a link to the digital version. For your copy of these resources, click the links. There are two Google Slide files: one with audio support and one without.

Open an Easel Activity by visiting the TpT product pages. Text boxes can be used to collect student input. Easel allows students to easily highlight and pen the text.

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Are you looking for “warm up” passages that are shorter? Try these:

PASSAGE OF DAY – DAILY READING SKILLS ACTICE

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Learn more about the reading passages

These passages are arranged in six-cycle cycles.

• IT: Informational Text (nonfiction).
• L: Literature (fiction).
• IT: Informational text (nonfiction), with illustrations such as a chart, graph, diagram, etc.
• L: Literature (fiction).
• IT: Informational Text (nonfiction).
• P: Poetry

Broken down by type: 1/2 Informational text, 1/3 Literature and 1/6 Poetry.

There are five pairs of passages within each of the 60 passages. These paired passages are adjacent and cover a similar topic. These paired passages come with three additional printables. If you don’t wish to use the passages together, these printables can also be used separately.

Each passage has small print at the bottom of the left-hand side. The skills address most of the RI and RL Common Core Standards and include: reading for details, main idea, summarizing, inference, predicting, genre setting/character/plot, theme, context clues/vocabulary, figurative language, author’s style, author’s purpose, point of view, mood/tone, text structure, comparing and contrasting, interpreting an illustration (map, chart, diagram, table, or photo), analysis, and evaluation. The table of contents also lists them for your convenience.

You can practice consistently throughout the year by using two Text Time pages each week, possibly on Tuesdays or Thursdays. You can also use them three days a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This will allow you to get through the majority of the school year. Another option is to choose the passages that relate to their skills or subjects and go ala carte.

These passages could also be used at a station, center or station for morning work, as homework, to enrich younger students with high-level skills, for remediation of struggling students, and as part a reading packet. You can use the sections to create interactive notebooks.

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About the Author

All of these passages, except for the poems were written by Rachel Lynette. Over 120 nonfiction books on children’s topics have been published by me. I have written for publishers such as Harcourt, Thompson-Gale, Rosen, Children’s Press, Evan-Moor, and several others. You can find my books at Amazon. (I also write under Lynette Robertbins and Tori Miller). These passages are age-appropriate, well-researched and well-organized. These passages are not different from those in a published book of nonfiction.

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These are the comments of teachers about this resource

♥Thank you for this great resource. I love that there are two versions of the same text and the same questions, so we can all discuss them together regardless of which version my students have. -Eilidh H.

♥This is an incredible resource! It’s comprehensive and packed with engaging articles that my students will love. It has metric conversions within the articles which I appreciate greatly as a Canadian teacher. We are so grateful for your hard work! This resource is well worth the money.-Candace E.

♥These are very well thought out and differentiated. Excellent. These are perfect for morning work. My students use them to complete their homework. -Kerri C.

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Do you need text time at a lower level than the standard? Take a look at

Text Time for Grades 1-3

You love text time but want more paired passages? This is what you need:

Text Time Triples

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Passage Titles:

1 A Real Life Batman

2 at the Amusement Park

3 Be a Tree Detective

4 California Bound!

5 Satellites, So Many!

6 Victory

7 Insects to Cook Dinner

8 The Monkey and the Gorilla

9 Alligator or Crocodile

10 Reasons Why I Fear Balloons

Louis Sachar, 11 Author

12 A Boy’s Summer Song

13 The Pony Express (paired).

14 My brother the rider (paired)

15 One Country, or Four?

16 The Case of the Lost Poodle

17 A Quarterback who Gives Back

18 Little-Girl-Two-Little-Girls

19 Mission to Mars (paired).

20 A New Life on Mars (paired)

21 The Earth’s Layers

22 Pandora’s Box

23 Coniferous & Deciduous Trees

24 Sister and Brother

25 The Invention of Earmuffs

26 Hamster Adventures

27 Too Much Sugar!

28 Kirla’s Quest

29 Mountain Food Chains

30 What are you?

31 Sojourner Truth

32 Snow Day

33 Animal Bedtimes

34 The Best Day Ever

35 Amazing Sunspots

36 Woods stopping by on a snowy evening

37 Amazing Anacondas (paired)

38 I Saw an Anaconda (paired)

39 The Australian Population

40 Sam and the Swim Team

41 Benjamin Franklin’s Early Life

42 Chicago Poet

43 Insulators and Conductors (paired).

44 Safety First (paired).

45 Hurricanes

46 Jamie and Bear

47 Staying Safe in The Sun

48 The Wind

49 Reading to Rover

50 Super Cheese Man is here to rescue you!

51 China’s Terracotta Soldiers (paired)

52 An Ancient Soldier(paired)

53 Ice Cream in a Baggie

54 There’s so little to do with Grass

55 Machu Picchu

56 Lizzy’s Lemonade Stand

57 Wind Power

58 The Sun and the Wind

Peanut Butter: Hooray!

60 The Fisherman

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Parents and Caregivers

If your child is familiar with the content, this resource will be most effective. You can see the table of contents in our free preview. This product is not intended to teach these concepts. You might consider a reference book for your student if you think they would benefit from it. These reading charts/posters

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Terms and Conditions

Rachel Lynette, Minds in Bloom INC. created this resource. All rights are reserved. Only the original purchaser can use this resource for one class. This product may be distributed to students and parents via email, google classroom, or the Internet if the site is password protected. You may give it to your students, but not on the Internet. You can purchase additional licenses at TpT if you wish to share the resource with your colleagues. We appreciate your understanding of these terms. :

This product is happy brought to you by Rachel Lynette, Cassi Noack of Minds In Bloom