Busy beavers: reading passage for Grades 2–3, page 1 preview

Reading passage · English

Busy beavers · Grades 2–3

An informational passage about how beavers build dams and lodges, with questions that ask for evidence from the text.

Grades 2–3 · ages 7 to 9
Medium
10 to 15 minutes
1 page
Free

Goes with the game Reading Detective.

The answer key is a separate page for grown-ups. Sign in to download it.

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The passage and its 4 questions

Directions: Read about beavers. Then answer the questions. Use words from the text.

Beavers are animals that live near rivers and ponds. They have strong front teeth that never stop growing. Beavers use their teeth to cut down small trees.
Beavers push sticks, mud and stones together to build a dam across a stream. The dam makes the water behind it deeper and slower.
In the deep water, beavers build a home called a lodge. The door of the lodge is under the water. This helps keep the beavers safe from animals that want to catch them.
1. What do beavers use to cut down small trees?
2. What is a beaver's home called?
3. How does a dam change the water?
4. Why is the lodge door under the water? Copy a sentence from the text that tells you.

What your child practices

Your child practices the reading and English skill “Cite text evidence”: choose the sentence that supports an answer.

Grades and ages: Grades 2–3, ages 7 to 9
Time: About 10 to 15 minutes
Subject: English
Level: Medium for Grades 2–3
Answer key: Yes, for grown-ups who sign in
Printing: 1 page, US Letter or A4, low-ink option
Updated: October 15, 2026

How to use it

Read the passage once just for the story or the facts, then again with the questions in mind. Encourage underlining the words in the text that back up each answer. It is pitched at the expected level for Grades 2–3, for practice after the skill has been taught.

An answer key comes with it as a separate page that grown-ups download after signing in.

Tip for grown-ups: Ask your child to point to the sentence that answers each question before writing it.

Done on paper? A grown-up can record it on the child's page in PlayOwl; downloading alone doesn't count as finished.