Close Reading Comprehension Passages and Questions for Print and Google Slides

Dig deeply into the text for comprehension and close reading practice with these high-interest, standards-based reading passages written by a published nonfiction children’s author. Traditional print versions and Google Slide versions are included in this product.

There are 60 passages, each presented at two reading levels (grades 3-4 and 4-5) for a total of 120 passages. The passages are a mix of high-interest and curriculum-based topics and include informational text, literature, and poetry. The included text-dependent questions address a variety of close reading skills.

Answer keys are on a separate document to prevent student access if using for independent work.

Google Slide Version added March 23, 2020!.

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Distance Learning

Go digital by assigning your students the passages using the Google Slides version (includes a video to show you how to assign selected slides). Or send the print version home in a packet.

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Please see the free preview for 6 full sized pages to try with your students.

The Show What You Know, text-dependent questions are identical for both reading levels. This allows you to discuss the passages altogether, even if you have students using different reading levels. Note that some questions may be challenging for third-grade students, especially near the start of the year.

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Looking for shorter, "warm up" passages? try:

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: DAILY READING SKILLS PRACTICE

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The passages are sequenced in cycles of six as follows:

IT: Informational Text (nonfiction)

L: Literature (fiction)

IT: Informational Text (nonfiction) with an illustration such as a map, chart, graph, diagram etc.

L: Literature (fiction)

IT: Informational Text (nonfiction)

P: Poetry

Breakdown by type: 1/2 Informational Text, 1/3 Literature, and 1/6 Poetry.

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Within the 60 passages, there are five sets of paired passages. The paired passages appear adjacent to each other and address a similar topic for comparing and contrasting. Three additional printables are included to use with these paired passages. These passages will also work as stand-alone activities if you do not want to use them together.

The skills addressed in each passage are written in small print at the bottom on 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. They are also listed in the table of contents for easy reference.

If you would like consistent practice all year long, use two Text Time pages per week, perhaps on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Another option is to use them three times a week, possibly Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, which will get you through most of the school year. A third possibility is to go ala carte, selecting passages for their subjects or the skills addressed, as needed.

These passages could be used for morning work, at a center or station, as part of a reading packet, with a small group, as homework, as enrichment for younger, highly capable students, as remediation for struggling students, or as test prep. For interactive notebooks, just cut the two sections apart.

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About the Author

With the exception of the poems, all of these passages were written by me, Rachel Lynette. I am a published author of over 120 nonfiction books for children on a variety of subjects. I have written for publishers such as Harcourt, Thompson-Gale, Rosen, Children’s Press, Evan-Moor, and several others. You can find my books on Amazon (I also write under the names: Lynette Robbins and Tori Miller). These passages are well-researched, well-organized, and age appropriate. They are no different than those you would find in a published nonfiction book.

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What teachers have said about this resource:

♥ Thanks for a great resource--I love that there are 2 versions of the same text with the same questions so we can discuss those together no matter which version my students had. -Eilidh H.

♥ This is an amazing resource!! It is comprehensive and full of engaging articles that I know my students will love! It also has metric conversions in the articles, which I HUGELY appreciate as a Canadian teacher. Thank you so much for all your hard work!! This resource is absolutely worth the price and then some! -Candace E.

♥ I love that these are differentiated and so well thought out. Excellent. I use these for morning work and students walk in and do the work, the expectation is clear, and no time is lost getting on track with literacy. -Kerri C.

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Need Text Time at a lower level? Check out

Text Time for Grades 1-3

Love Text Time but need more paired passages? Then you need:

Text Time Triples

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Topics Included:

1 A Real Life Batman

2 At the Amusement Park

3 Be a Tree Detective

4 California Bound!

5 So Many Satellites!

6 Victory

7 Insects for Dinner

8 The Gorilla and the Monkey

9 Alligator or Crocodile?

10 Why I am Afraid of Balloons

11 Author Louis Sachar

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 Missing 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 Layers of the Earth

22 Pandora’s Box

23 Coniferous and Deciduous Trees

24 Brother and Sister

25 The Invention of Earmuffs

26 Hamster Adventures

27 Too Much Sugar!

28 Kirla’s Quest

29 Mountain Food Chains

30 Which are You?

31 Sojourner Truth

32 Snow Day

33 Animal Bedtimes

34 The Best Day Ever!

35 Our Incredible Sun

36 Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

37 Amazing Anacondas (paired)

38 I Saw an Anaconda (paired)

39 The Population of Australia

40 Sam and the Swim Team

41 The Early Life of Benjamin Franklin

42 Chicago Poet

43 Conductors and Insulators (paired)

44 Safety First (paired)

45 Hurricanes

46 Jamie and the Bear

47 Staying Safe in the Sun

48 The Wind

49 Reading to Rover

50 Super Cheese Man to the Rescue!

51 China’s Terracotta Soldiers (paired)

52 An Ancient Soldier(paired)

53 Ice Cream in a Baggie

54 The Grass So Little Has to Do

55 Machu Picchu

56 Lizzy’s Lemonade Stand

57 Wind Power

58 The Wind and the Sun

59 Hooray for Peanut Butter!

60 The Fisherman

Also included: teacher answer keys, student annotation guide, and three printables to use with the 5 included paired passages.

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Parents and Caregivers:

This resource will work best if your child is already familiar with the reading skills in this product (you can see them in the table of contents in the free preview). This product is meant to reinforce those concepts, not to teach them. If you feel your student would benefit by being able to reference specific reading skills, you might also consider these reading posters/charts.

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Terms of Use

This resource was created by Rachel Lynette for Minds in Bloom INC., all rights reserved. It may be used by the original purchaser for single class use only. Teachers may distribute this product in email, through google classroom or over the Internet to their students (and parents) as long as the site is password protected. In other words, you may distribute it to your own students but may not put it on the Internet where it could be publicly found and downloaded. If you want to share this resource with colleagues, please purchase additional licenses from TpT. Thank you for respecting these terms of use. :)

This product is happily brought to you by Rachel Lynette and Cassi Noack of Minds in Bloom