Boats Sail on the Rivers: reading passage and questions

A free printable short story reading passage, written at a grade 2 reading level (Peabody level 7, where 3rd grade readers start; 72 words) with 5 comprehension questions and an answer key. No sign-up.

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Boats Sail on the Rivers

Boats sail on the rivers, And ships sail on the seas; But clouds that sail across the sky Are prettier far than these.

There are bridges on the rivers, As pretty as you please; But the bow that bridges heaven, And overtops the trees, And builds a road from earth to sky, Is prettier far than these.

Boats Sail on the Rivers was written by Christina Rossetti. Sing-Song was published in 1872.

Questions

1. What sails across the sky?

Ships
Kites
Clouds

2. What is the "bow" in the second verse?

A ship's front
A rainbow
A ribbon

3. In this poem, what does "overtops" mean?

Falls over
Rises above
Hides under

4. Which words rhyme in the first verse?

sail and sky
boats and ships
seas and these

5. What does the poet say is prettier than boats and bridges?

Clouds and the rainbow
Rivers and seas
Ships and houses

Words to know

bridges: paths over water
overtops: rises above
bow: rainbow

Answer key: Boats Sail on the Rivers

C. Clouds
B. A rainbow
B. Rises above
C. seas and these
A. Clouds and the rainbow

About Boats Sail on the Rivers

The short version

Boats Sail on the Rivers is a short poem that compares boats, ships and bridges with clouds and a rainbow. It was written by Christina Rossetti and printed in Sing-Song in 1872.

Quick facts

Christina Rossetti was a poet who lived from 1830 to 1894.
The poem is in Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book, first published in 1872.
The 1893 edition of Sing-Song, an enlarged one, has one hundred and twenty pictures by Arthur Hughes.

Who wrote Boats Sail on the Rivers?

Boats Sail on the Rivers was written by Christina Rossetti. It is in her book Sing-Song: A Nursery Rhyme Book, first published in 1872.

For the teacher: how this passage is levelled

“Boats Sail on the Rivers” is a reading level 7 story. Every Peabody story at this level is written and checked to keep sentences to 10 words or fewer, to aim at an average of 6 words a sentence, and to show 12 to 30 words on a screen. At most 8% of its words may be off the familiar-word list. Children in 3rd grade start at this level.

This passage	72 words, 3 screens, 5 multiple-choice questions with an answer key, and 3 vocabulary words with kid-sized meanings
Longest sentence at this level	10 words
Words on a screen	12 to 30
Skills practised at this level	phonics (sounding words out), sight words, spelling

Reading level 7: the limits, a real sample and the free games. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: use the questions to talk about the story, not to grade a child.