Decodable fiction passages (2nd grade versions)
From FreeReading
This page contains passages from Decodable fiction passages but written at 2nd grade level.
Feel free to write these passages on the board, print them, or put them on an overhead projector.
The Trap (Advanced)
"It's a trap," Gil said, and put up his hand to stop Zed. 13
They were on a damp track that led across a hill, and Gil had spotted a clump of flat grass, past the next bend. 37
"It's just grass," Zed said, "we can step on it." 47
But Gil got a rock, and flung it on the grass. The rock fell into a pit that the grass had hidden. 69
(Spache: 3.53)
Early Start (Advanced)
As the rest of the men in the camp slept, Dan sat up in his tent to rub a sudden cramp in his leg.
Crickets sang, and the wind sent a gust along the tent fabric.
He drank from his tin cup, and got up to go have some eggs, and a scrap of ham.
The sun crept up and lit the hills. The rest of the men got up, and the elk hunt was on.
(Spache: 4.34)
Sink or Swim (Advanced)
Tom sat in his buggy and sped along next to a canal. He sang a song his granddad had sung to him and felt happy, but a sudden gust of wind struck and sent the buggy into the canal. As his buggy sank, Tom swam to the land.
He sat and felt glum until a funny frog drifted by on a log and said, "Man, are you wet."
(Spache: 4.75)
Bag the Pig (Advanced)
As Tim rested in the grass by a rock, a man crept to his pigpen and got in. Jumping to his feet, Tim ran at him.
The man put one of the runts in a plastic sack, flung himself from the pen, and set off at a fast run.
Tim got to him, and swung a stick to snag the plastic sack. The man ran off with empty hands, and Tim had the runt back.
(Spache: 3.98)
Gus and the Goblin (Advanced)
Gus hid in the long grass to the left of the rusted cannon. Blankets of fog crept up on him from the flat lands that led to the hills. He had fled from a goblin that had hunted him in the rocks upon Bonnet Cliff.
Suddenly he felt a strong tug on his leg. The goblin was upon him! It cast a spell, and with a sudden blast, Gus was a rabbit.
(Spache: 4.08)
The Robin Rested (Advanced)
The robin rested, with its wings and soft belly upon its eggs, in the nest.
In the nest, spun from twigs and grass set in solid mud, was a snug spot to be.
The robin slept as gusts of wind hit along the top of the trusted elm. The sun sank, and in the black spell that set in, the robin felt an egg jump.
(Spache: 4.98)
Granddad's Map (Advanced)
Don went up to his granddad's attic. He had to bend and slip past boxes and bags in the dim mess, until he got to what he had hunted for. It was a travel trunk. Don dusted off the cobwebs and tilted the lid.
In the trunk was a map that led to a big, red X. Don set off to dig up what was at the X. It was a plastic mug that said, "Best granddad on the planet."
(Spache: 3.95)
The Empty Test (Advanced)
Ron sat in class his pen in his hand and his tablet empty. The test was on his desk, but he had not yet put a spot of ink on it. Problem one was difficult. The rest were extra difficult.
He felt the clock tick. If the bell rang, and he had to hand in a blank test, he had to expect Miss Cross to flunk him.
He was lost.
(Spache: 3.47)
What is in the Well? (Advanced)
Tad's mom sent him to Wagon Hill to crank a bucket of water up from the well. As the bucket got to the top, a cat swung from it to clamp on to his hand.
With a gasp and a yell, Tad twisted and ran and the cat fled.
(Spache: 4.19)
Hidden in a Sandbox (Advanced)
Sid dug a pit in his sandbox until he struck a metal object. It was red, with a lot of rust on it. He dug at it until he got it up from the sand, and dusted it off.
It was a tin box, and in it was a lump packed in fabric. With the fabric off, the lump was a glass hippo with a trumpet in its hand. Sid set it next to his bed.
(Spache: 3.98)
Danny's Prank (Advanced)
Danny had a plan to pull a prank at the spring festival. He sent his buddy Pip to put a gallon of milk, with its cap off, on top of a stack of boxes by the band stand. Danny put a string on the milk jug, and hung it past a spot that he hid in.
As the band set up, his plan was to dump the milk on them, but the milk slid and he just got himself wet.
(Spache: 4.84)
The Fast Bobsled (Advanced)
"Grab the rod!" said Bess, as the bobsled sped along the slick run.
Bess sat at the tip of the sled, and Bud sat at the back. The rod was a spot to hang on to, for the sudden twists and spins of the sled run.
Bud held on, and the sled blasted past a tunnel. With a pull on his helmet strap, Bud said, "Not to nag you, but can we stop this bucket of bolts?"
(Spache: 4.21)
A Rabbit-Truck? (Advanced)
Poppy, the silly man from Elm Springs, ran into Pip's cabin and said with a gasp, "I invented a rabbit-truck!"
Pip sat up in bed, and said, "A what?"
The old man led him to his lab, and in the back was a big red truck...with legs. The legs were metal, with long springs.
Poppy got in and hit the gas, and the truck left the lab with one big rabbit hop.
(Spache: 3.37)
The Angry King (Advanced)
The king, clad in velvet and mink, was angry. He flung his metal cup at the map and got up.
"Bring the cannons," he said at last. "I intend to attack the lands of the enemy."
His men were glum. "What is the problem?" the king asked.
One man bit his lip and said, "It will be difficult to attack the enemy. We have just one cannon, and it is stuck in the mud."
(Spache: 3.50)
Tad the Bedbug (Advanced)
Tad the Bedbug rested in a flap of fabric at the end of the bed. To Tad, the bed was as big as Texas, and the blanket was an endless land, twisted and fluffy.
Tad got up from his nap, and set off to get a snack. He dug past lots of fabric, until he got to an empty level of the bed, full of metal springs. He crept down a spring, and bit into a long lost pretzel.
(Spache: 4.59)
The Magic Poppy (Advanced)
"If you plant this nut, a red poppy will spring up," the man at the melon stand said, "and it will ask you to bring it a drink."
He handed the nut to Jeb, and added, "you can have it."
Jeb got home, and planted the nut in his sandbox. By sunset, a poppy stuck up from the sand on a long stem.
"Can I get you a drink?" Jeb said.
"Yes, with a twist of lemon," the poppy said.
(Spache: 3.41)
The Cabin on Fog Hill (Advanced)
The cabin on Fog Hill was full of junk and rusted metal, the kids on the bus said to Flip. They said a mad man was living in it, and that he sang songs with the crickets.
Flip's mom said the kids were messing with him, but that he still must not go up to the cabin.
"It's just an empty cabin," his mom said, "but I went to it as a kid, and got bit by a bug."
(Spache: 4.60)
Go, Ball, Go! (Advanced)
A tennis ball fell from the back of a truck, and with one hop as big as the next, went across town.
It sped past a class full of kids as they did jumping jacks.
It twisted along the rim of a pond with a duck swimming in it.
It fell in the mud next to the pond, but a hotrod blasted past, and the wind behind it sent the ball up...and back into the truck it fell from.
(Spache: 4.09)
Planet Odd (Advanced)
"One ticket to Planet Odd," Cliff said. The man at the desk put the ticket in his hand.
Cliff got on a rocket, and got to Planet Odd just as its king, a parrot with a skunk in its pocket, was banging on a tin box with a banana.
"Arrest that man!" the parrot said, with a nod at Cliff.
"For what?" said Cliff, and the parrot said with a yell, "Umbrella! Umbrella! You have no umbrella!"
(Spache: 3.16)
Tex's Map (Advanced)
The band of wagons and pack of animals crept West across the empty land, sending up dust as they went. Tex, a man in a black hat, on a strong ox, led the wagons and animals.
He had a map, and he often got it from his backpack, as the animals drank and fed.
The rest of the men were glad Tex led them.
Tex did not let on that the map was blank.
(Spache: 4.07)