Differentiated Reading Passages With Vocabulary &comprehension

Differentiated
Reading Passages with

Vocabulary & Comprehension
© 2017 Cassandra Donoian.

All Rights Reserved.
1. Vocabulary Preview:
Option 1 Each student gets the blank copy of the vocabulary chart. Discuss with
students what each word means as you help support them in creating a picture
and student-friendly definition on the board as a class.
Option 2 Pass out filled in vocabulary guide and review with students.
2. Differentiated Reading Passages (3 levels):
Option 1: Choose 1 appropriately leveled passage (Grade Level Equivalent is listed
below) to read aloud, choral or echo read as a class.
Option 2: Use all 3 levels in guided reading groups, partner reading, or
independent reading.
Check out the top of
the corner of each
passage for the
What Plants Types
Need of Pla
P
All plants need four important things
Most plants youinare
order to grow
familiar
From with and to
the grow
roots tolive.
from The
thealea
se
reading level. need water, air, sunlight, and that grow. from
plants Flowering
tiny plants
aplant cell
plays also
called
an a need . rP
important
Grade Level Equivalents 2.5 to help themspores
pollinators to3.5
makecannew
be sorted
seeds.into 5ofsmaller
even
parts a plant plant gro
are the
. Most plants also m
Nutrients
3. Finding Text Evidence (2 Options): Makes Seeds
Soil has nutrients that plants need to grow. When Roots dead plants and a
Students use crayons to color code text evidence. In the second option, No roots
break down, or , they leave
Roots anchor plants ainto
lot to
students can also write answers to each question. nutrients Flowering Nonflowering
do not
for new plants. fall over.
A plant stem,
takesRoots
in theor
of
leaves
4. Using Text Features: Caption It & Headings Match-Up nutrients from the nutrients
ground by and
its water
roots. from
The s
the ground and
carries them from the roots up to the rest o transport
Students use what they have learned from the passage to match captions
Tulip
plant. Some people also them to thewith
Conifer
put stem.Algae
inRoots
soil.
their appropriate images. They also give each section Plants of the
FertilizerThat text
Make
is added a heading
can also
Seeds
nutrients. store nutrients
(physical description, habitat, diet, defenses, or life cycle). Therefor later.
are two types of plants
Air and Sunlight called flowering and nonflowe
5. Graphic Organizers (2 Options): Plants need fresh, clean air and sunlight flowers
Stem to reproduce,
to live. The green leaves or make on
Stems ca
Students sort information from the passage
have into 1.) job.
a very important a 3-2-1
TheyNonfiction
take in sunlight graphic
pollination.
and Pollinators, like
hard, wo
bee
of a flower. They bring the pollen to the female p
organizer. or into 2.) categories including
air to make insect’s
food for life
thecycle, physical
plant. This is calleddescription, plant’s lea
. If thecanairbe made.and
is dirty Nonflowering
polluted, it plants
is use
nutrients
to p
defenses, habitat, and diet. very bad for most plants. flowers.
It is These
hard for plants
mostareplants
called . Most
6, Label it! pine
to take in dirty air with its leaves. Thick air can also trees. To reproduce, the m
wind. Leaves
Pollen that lands on a fem
Students label realistic pictures or block
photos sunlight frominformation
using reaching a plant’s from leaves.the
TheseLeavestext.
new seeds fall tointhe
can come many gr
7. Vocabulary Crossword: Water begin. They can have smooth or
Just like humans and animals, shaped to plants need
easily capturewat
Crossword provides independent vocabulary reinforcement Plants that Make
after
grow. Water keeps the Spores
reading
roots, and
make foodstem,
for theandplant.
leave
Unlike seeds, spores are very tiny, microscopic ce
seeing the words in context. a plant strong. Without water, a plant become
not made from pollination. They are so tiny and li
8. Interactive Graphic Organizer: droopy and its leavesSeeds wilt. Water is also a ve
can easily be spread by wind. You may not have
important partspores,of photosynthesis.
Seeds
but you are
maywhat Itstart
have helps
seen a apo
Students cut, glue, fold, and write in a graphic organizer shaped like a bee.
purpose
air. isfrom
to produce
plant’s leaves takeplantsinthat
the grow spores.se T
Available with two fill-in options. mosses,seeds and ferns. bees
are an p
Pollinators
© 2017 Cassandra Donoian leaves. They mostly live inare wet,leav
oc
Flowering plants need soft pollinators, such as insects, birds,
plants without strong roots. They like to grow flower
All About
Vocabulary
Bees
Word Picture What it Means
a large eye of insects that
compound
is made up of many eyes,
eyes or seeing units
tiny eyes of an insect

ocelli -singular (one): ocellus
a process where pollen is

bought from one flower to
pollination another so that new plant
seeds can be made
a large group of one insect

colony
species that live together
when two species depend

symbiosis
on each other to stay alive
a scent, or smell, let out by

pheromones an animal to communicate
with other animals
a structure made of
hexagon shaped cells that
honeycomb are made by bees to keep
= hexagon their honey and eggs
© 2017 Cassandra Donoian
All About
Vocabulary
Bees
Word Picture What it Means
compound
eyes
ocelli
pollination
colony
symbiosis
pheromones
honeycomb

All About
Bees
Did you know that the familiar “buzz”
sound you hear coming from a bee is
actually its wings? Bees have four
wings that they flap hundreds of times
per second. Like all other insects, bees
have 6 jointed legs, an exoskeleton, 2
antennae, and 2 compound eyes. A
compound eye is made up of thousands
of connected eyes that make a picture together. Bees also have 3 tiny eyes
called ocelli above and between their compound eyes. These help bees
detect light. Even though there are 20,000 species of bees, they all have
these things in common.
Bees have many defenses against predators. Many
bees find a place where it is hard to be seen to build a
safe structure, like a beehive. As you may know already,
some species of bees are able to sting when they feel
unsafe. It is only the females from these species that
are able to sting. Some types of bees are able to sting
multiple times, while other bees die from losing their
stinger. Honeybees can also form a large group, or
swarm, of stinging bees to attack a predator.
Bees use their special straw-like tongue,

called a proboscis, to sip nectar from
flowering plants. Honey bees bring this
nectar back to their hive to turn it into
honey. While bees are sipping nectar,
they gather pollen that they bring from
flower to flower to help plants make new
seeds. This is known as pollination. The
relationship between a bee and a flower is called symbiosis. This means
they both depend on each other to live.
Some bees live alone, but many bees live
and work in large groups called a colony.
The bees with the best-known colony
are the honey bees. In this colony,
there are three kinds of bees. First, and
most important, is the queen bee. She
communicates with the other bees in the
beehive with her own scents, or
pheromones. She lays about 1,500 eggs per day. Next are the drones,
which are the male bees. Their job is to make new eggs with the queen
bee. Finally, there are worker bees, which are all female. They have many
jobs. They feed the queen and the larvae, or baby bees. They collect
nectar and pollen to bring back to the hive. They also build and fix the hive.
With so many jobs to do, they definitely earn their name!
All types of bees start as an egg. With honeybees,
a queen lays one egg in each hexagon of the
honeycomb that makes up the beehive. After an
egg hatches, it becomes a white, worm-like larva
that eats a jelly made by the
worker bees for a few days.
Then, it switches to eating honey and pollen. As it
grows, the larva sheds its skin, or molts, a few
times. When it is ready, it
spins a cocoon around itself
and becomes a pupa. Three weeks after being laid
as an egg, the adult bee emerges from its cocoon.
Bees are amazing insects!
A colony of honey bees

consists of 20,000-60,000 honey
bees and only one queen.
All About
Bees
Did you know that the “buzz” sound you
hear coming from a bee is its wings?
Bees have four wings that they flap
hundreds of times per second. Like all
other insects, bees have 6 jointed legs,
an exoskeleton, 2 antennae, and 2
compound eyes. A compound eye is
made up of thousands of connected
eyes that make a picture together. Bees also have 3 tiny eyes called ocelli.
They are above and between their compound eyes. These help bees see
light. Even though there are 20,000 species of bees, they all have these
things in common.
safe home, like a beehive. As you may know, some
species of bees can sting when they feel scared. It is
only the females from these species that can sting.
Some types of bees are able to sting multiple times,
while other bees die from losing their stinger.
Honeybees can also make a large group, or swarm, of
stinging bees to fight off a predator.
Bees have a special straw-like tongue

called a proboscis. They use it to sip
nectar from flowering plants. Honey
bees bring this nectar back to their hive
to turn it into honey. While bees are
sipping nectar, they get pollen that they
bring from flower to flower to help the
plants make new seeds. This is called
pollination. The relationship between a bee and a flower is called symbiosis.
This means they both need each other to live.
One type that lives in a colony is the
honey bee. In this colony, there are
three kinds of bees. First, and most
important, is the queen bee. Because
she can’t talk, she communicates with the
other bees with her own scents, or
pheromones. She lays about 1,500 eggs per day. Next are the drones,
which are the male bees. Their job is to make new eggs with the queen
bee. Finally, there are worker bees, which are all female. They have many
jobs. They feed the queen and the larvae, or baby bees. They go out and
find nectar and pollen to bring back to the hive. They also build and fix the
hive. With so many jobs to do, they sure earn their name!
honeycomb in the beehive. After an egg hatches, it
becomes a larva that looks like a little white worm.
The larva eats a jelly made by
the worker bees for a few
days. Then, it switches to eating honey and pollen.
As it grows, the larva sheds its skin, or molts, a few
spins a cocoon around itself
and becomes a pupa. Three weeks after being laid
as an egg, the adult leaves the cocoon. Bees are
amazing insects!
un Fact A colony of honey bees

F
All About
Bees
Did you know that the “buzz” sound you
hear coming from a bee is its wings?
Bees have four wings that they flap
hundreds of times in a second. Like all
other insects, bees have 6 jointed legs,
an exoskeleton, 2 antennae, and 2
compound eyes. A compound eye is
made up of thousands of eyes that
make a picture together. Bees also have 3 tiny eyes called ocelli. They are
above and between their compound eyes. These help bees see light. There
are 20,000 species of bees, but they all have these same body parts.

safe home, like a beehive. As you may know, some
species of bees can sting when they feel scared. It is
only the females from these species that can sting.
Some types of bees can sting many times. However,
some bees die from losing their stinger. Honeybees can
also make a large group, or swarm, of stinging bees to
fight off a predator.
Bees have a special straw-like tongue

called a proboscis. They use it to sip
nectar from flowering plants. Honey
bees bring this nectar back to their hive
to turn it into honey. While bees are
sipping nectar, they get pollen that they
bring from flower to flower to help plants
make new seeds. This is called pollination.
The relationship between a bee and a flower is called symbiosis. This
means they both need each other to live.
One type that lives in a colony is the honey
bee. In this colony, there are three kinds
of bees. First, the most important bee is
the queen bee. Because she can’t talk,
she communicates with the other bees
with her own smells, or pheromones.
She lays about 1,500 eggs per day. Next are the drones. They are the
male bees. Their job is to make new eggs with the queen bee. Finally,
there are worker bees that are all female. They have many jobs. They
feed the queen and the larvae, or baby bees. They go out and find nectar
and pollen to bring back to the hive. They also build and fix the hive. With
so many jobs to do, they sure earn their name!
honeycomb in the beehive. After an egg hatches, it
becomes a larva. It looks like a little white worm.
The larva eats a jelly made by
the worker bees for a few
days. Then, it switches to eating honey and pollen.
As it grows, the larva sheds its skin, or molts, a few
spins a cocoon around its
body. This is called a pupa. Three weeks after
being laid as an egg, the adult leaves the cocoon.
Bees are amazing insects!
un Fact A colony of honey bees

F
Name:
All About
Bees
Finding Text Evidence

All About
Bees

Find the evidence, or answers, to the questions below in the text.

Use the color next to each question to underline, or highlight, your evidence.
What do bees have that

Red is the same as all insects?
Name two defenses that

Blue bees have against
predators.
Yellow How and what do bees eat?
What does the queen bee

Purple do that is important?
What are some jobs of

Green the worker bee?
What does the larva

Orange do to become a pupa?

Name:
All About
Bees
Finding Text Evidence

All About
Bees

Find the evidence, or answers, in the text and use the appropriate color
to show your evidence. Then answer the question in your own words.
What do bees have that is the same as all insects?

Red
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Blue Name two defenses that bees have against predators.

_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Yellow How and what do bees eat?

_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Purple What does the queen bee do that is important?

_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Green What are some jobs of the worker bee?

_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Orange What does the larva do to become a pupa?

_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Name:
Text Features All About
Bees
CAPTION IT
A shark’s belly is white A view from the top of A basking shark with its
to camouflage with the a Caribbean reef mouth wide open to get
ocean floor. shark swimming tiny fish to eat
HEADINGS MATCH - UP
losing their stinger. Honeybees can communicates with the other bees
Reproduction form a large group, or swarm, of in the beehive with her own
stinging bees to attack a predator. scents, or pheromones. She lays
Bees have four wings that they about 1,500 eggs per day. Next
flap hundreds of times per
second. Like all other insects, bees Survival Skills are the drones, which are the
male bees. Their job is to make
have 6 jointed legs, 2 antennae, and Bees use their special straw-like new eggs with the queen bee.
2 compound eyes. A compound tongue, called a proboscis, to sip Finally, there are worker bees,
eye is made up of thousands of nectar from flowering plants. which are all female. They have
connected eyes that make a Honey bees bring this nectar back many jobs. They feed the queen
picture together. Bees also have 3 to their hive to turn it into honey. and the larvae, or baby bees.
tiny eyes called ocelli above and While bees are sipping nectar, they They collect nectar and pollen to
between their compound eyes. gather pollen that they bring from bring back to the hive. They also
These help bees detect light. flower to flower. This is known as build and fix the hive. With so
pollination. The relationship many jobs to do, they definitely
Diet between a bee and a flower is earn their name!
Bees have many defenses against called symbiosis. This means they
predators. Many bees find a place both depend on each other to live. Habitat
where it is hard to be seen to build All types of bees start as an egg.
a safe structure, like a beehive. As Diet With honeybees, a queen lays 1
you may know already, some Some bees live alone, but many egg in each hexagon of the
species of bees are able to sting bees live and work in large groups honeycomb that makes up the
when they feel unsafe. It is only called a colony. The bees with the beehive. After an egg hatches, it
the females from these species best-known colony are the honey becomes a white, worm-like larva
that are able to sting. Some types bees. In this colony, there are that eats a jelly made by the
of bees are able to sting multiple three kinds of bees. First, and most worker bees for a few days.
times, while other bees die from important, is the queen bee . She Then, it switches to eating honey...
The white, worm like bee A bee uses its The queen bee is
larvae each fill a hexagon proboscis to sip sweet surrounded by her
of the honeycomb. nectar from a flower. worker bees.
Physical Description Defenses Life Cycle

Diet Habitat
Name:
Comprehension All About
Bees
Life Cycle: Physical Description:
Describe each stage of Tell what bees
a bee’s life cycle. look like.
Habitat:
Describe where
bees live.
Defenses:
Write about how a
bee keeps itself safe.
Diet:
List some things that
bees eat.

Name:
Bees
3-2-1 Organizer
Things
I Learned
1.
2.
3.
Interesting
Facts
1.
2.
Question
I Still Have
1.

Name:
Bees
LABEL IT
head thorax antenna compound eye

jointed leg abdomen wing proboscis
Name:
Vocabulary & Comprehension
Bees
Crossword Puzzle
Across
1. A _______ eye is a large eye of
insects made up of many eyes that
make a picture together.
5. Bees have 3 tiny ______ above and
between their compound eyes.
6. The male bees, or ________, make
new eggs with the queen.
9. The queen honeybee
communicates with the other
bees using her scents, or
___________.
10. a large group of one insect
species that live together
Down
2. Bees help in this process that makes new seeds for plants.
3. Like all insects, bees have 6 _______.
4. The female bees, or ________ bees, take care of the hive and the larvae.
7. when two species depend on each other to stay alive
8. The queen lays one egg in each hexagon shape of this structure in the beehive.
9. When the larva is done growing, it spins a cocoon around itself and
becomes a _________.

Name:
All About
Bees
Interactive Graphic Organizer
GLUE HERE
GLUE HERE
Description
Habitat
Defenses

Name:
All About
Bees
GLUE HERE
GLUE HERE
Description
1 2 3
Vocabulary
Words
1 2
Facts
Fun

All About
Bees
Directions:
1. Cut out the entire perimeter of the Bees Cover.
2. Glue the left side of the Bees Cover to the bottom page of the Bees
Interactive Graphic Organizer where you see “GLUE HERE”.
3. Cut from right to left on the dotted lines on the Bees Cover. Be careful to stop
at the vertical solid line.
4. Fold each flap on the vertical solid line.
5. Fill out the bottom page of your Interactive Graphic Organizer.
Bees Cover

Looking for more differentiated reading passages?
Click the covers to take a look!
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Differentiated

Reading Passages with

© 2017 Cassandra Donoian.

tiny eyes of an insect

a process where pollen is

a large group of one insect

when two species depend

a scent, or smell, let out by

© 2017 Cassandra Donoian

Bees use their special straw-like tongue,

A colony of honey bees

Bees have a special straw-like tongue

un Fact A colony of honey bees

Bees have many defenses against predators. Many

Bees have a special straw-like tongue

un Fact A colony of honey bees

Finding Text Evidence

Bees use their special straw-like tongue,

Find the evidence, or answers, to the questions below in the text.

What do bees have that

Name two defenses that

Yellow How and what do bees eat?

What does the queen bee

What are some jobs of

What does the larva

© 2017 Cassandra Donoian

Finding Text Evidence

Bees use their special straw-like tongue,

What do bees have that is the same as all insects?

Blue Name two defenses that bees have against predators.

Yellow How and what do bees eat?

Purple What does the queen bee do that is important?

Green What are some jobs of the worker bee?

Orange What does the larva do to become a pupa?

Physical Description Defenses Life Cycle

© 2017 Cassandra Donoian

© 2017 Cassandra Donoian

head thorax antenna compound eye

© 2017 Cassandra Donoian

© 2018 Cassandra Donoian

© 2018 Cassandra Donoian

© 2018 Cassandra Donoian

Teachers Pay Teachers

Instagram The Blog

Purchase of this unit entitles the purchaser the right to

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