From Caterpillar to Butterfly: Grade 2 Reading Passage

About this worksheet

A second grade nonfiction passage about the four stages of a butterfly's life: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly. A free printable 2nd grade nonfiction passage (113 words) with multiple-choice what/why questions, events to number in order and a short written answer. Answer key on page 2. Second graders usually finish it in 10 to 15 minutes, reading the text twice before the questions.

On this sheet

A butterfly does not start its life with wings. It changes in four stages. First, a mother butterfly lays tiny eggs on a leaf. Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on a plant called milkweed. Next, a caterpillar hatches from each egg. The hungry caterpillar eats and eats. It grows so fast that it sheds its skin several times. Then the caterpillar makes a hard case around itself called a chrysalis. Inside, its body changes in an amazing way.

Tips for using it

• Before reading, look at the picture and the title together and guess what the passage will be about.
• Ask your child to underline the sentence in the passage that proves each answer.
• Talk about the story afterwards: what was the problem, how was it solved, and what would your child have done?

Printing tips

Download the PDF and print at 100% (or “fit to page” on A4). Page 1 is the worksheet and page 2 is the answer key with the answers in red; print just page 1 if you want to keep the answers for checking. The PNG shows page 1 only. Free for personal, family and classroom use.