Pianos Reading Comprehension Passage - Cored Ed Encyclopedia

This pianos reading comprehension contains the following:

Visualize on the Cover (Teacher Read Aloud Script)

Start your lesson by taking a few moments to visualize the topic and share thoughts or feelings about it.

Pre-Reading Trivia

Students will write down one thing they already know about the subject and then read five more facts and discuss. These facts are fun, and the students will enjoy learning about the subject before reading more.

Reading Passage

The text is a high-interest reading passage with set paragraphs, roughly three to four paragraphs long. It contains a variety of themes about the topic, anywhere from history to technology. The passage is between 250 and 350 words in length.

Mixed Questions

The first question page contains four multiple-choice questions, each with a choice of four answers, and three written response questions that require a sentence or two from the student.

Vocabulary Questions

Practice seven key words from the text in this section across two activities. First section is scrambled words where students will unscramble three words given a clue for each. The second section is a word to meaning matching activity.

Creative Writing

In this question, the student will be required to write a five to eight sentence paragraph on a question related to the topic.

Extension Activities

This page is optional for fast finishers or to take home. There are several activities, each one requiring a different skill. Do some, do none, do all, completely optional - but you will feel reassured knowing every possibility is planned for. Includes summary writting question.

Answer Key

There are answers for the multiple-choice questions, written response questions have sample answers, vocabulary answers and if there is a summary question then a sample summary will be provided as well.

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Lesson Snapshot

• Title: Pianos

• Genre: Nonfiction (informational text)

• Subject: Music (Performing Arts) / Reading Informational Text

• Primary Topic: How the piano was invented and improved

• Estimated Guided Reading Level (A–Z): S

What This Lesson Teaches Best

• How the piano idea began around 1700 in Florence, Italy, with Bartolomeo Cristofori trying to make music “gentle or bold” depending on touch.

• How the piano’s key action works: a mechanism sends a leather-covered hammer to strike strings, then pulls back so the string keeps vibrating.

• How dampers stop strings from ringing—and lifting them lets tones ring longer.

• How information spread the invention: Scipione Maffei published an article with a diagram, leading builders like Gottfried Silbermann to make pianos based on Cristofori’s design.

• How the piano grew for bigger spaces: sturdier builds and a wider range from about four octaves to 88 keys, changing where music could be played (homes, schools, apartments, stages).

Learning Goals

• Students will explain why Cristofori began tinkering with a new keyboard instrument around 1700.

• Students will describe how a key triggers the hammer-and-string action using details from the passage.

• Students will explain how a player’s touch can make the sound softer or louder according to the text.

• Students will identify how Maffei helped the piano idea travel and name one builder mentioned who made pianos afterward.

• Students will describe how the piano’s keyboard range changed over time and state the number of keys many pianos have today.

Key Vocabulary From the Text

• harpsichords — older keyboards that stayed mostly one volume.

• inventory — a recorded list that showed a piano existed.

• mechanism — moving parts that make the piano action work.

• dampers — parts that stop strings from ringing.

• octaves — groups of notes used to describe keyboard range.

Cored Ed Encyclopedia Overview

The Cored Ed Encyclopedia is a weekly series of lessons that you can pick up and use right away. These short readings fit into whatever time you have available. Each one includes a warm-up, a reading, and a set of questions, but it’s flexible — you can do just the reading, the full lesson, or skip the writing section if you need to. Each lesson focuses on a single topic so students don’t get lost. The writing is clear but never childish, making it perfect for grades two through five. Topics range from animals and science to history, inventions, and everyday things. No matter the level of the student, everyone should take away at least one new idea or fact from each lesson. The materials are easy to print, easy to explain, and require no setup. They work well for whole-class teaching, partner work, or independent study.