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Knowledge and Fluency Passages

Step Right Up: Life in a Traveling Circus Long Ago

This resource is part of our Dasher collection.

This Knowledge and Fluency Passage offers a carefully selected passage that introduces students to the world of traveling circuses and menageries in the late 1800s. By exploring the lives of circus animals and workers, it deepens understanding of Dasher’s captivity and her yearning for freedom. The repeated phrasing supports reading confidence and fluency while enriching comprehension. Use this passage before reading the book to build background knowledge and prepare students to better comprehend the text.

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Themes

Animals & Habitats, History & Culture, Work & Professions, Wild Animals, Daily Life in the Past, Jobs in the Past

Teacher Guide

Knowledge and Fluency Passages

Connect Background Knowldge to the Book

Reading doesn’t stop when the book is finished!

Use this resource to help students connect ideas from the background knowledge passage to what they read. It’s a quick way to show how learning more about the world helps them as readers.

Includes both K–2 and 3–5 versions for easy differentiation.

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Fill Knowledge Gaps and Build Fluency for Better Comprehension

What’s Included in the Knowledge and Fluency Passages

Every package comes with:

A paired background passage connected to one of the books in the BookPagez library
A grade-level set of Fry high-frequency words
Fluency practice opportunities (model reading, partner/choral/independent rereads)
Comprehension questions (literal, inferential, vocabulary)
Teacher tools for progress monitoring (Words Correct Per Minute and prosody notes)

Why It Matters

Strong comprehension depends on more than decoding. Students also need background knowledge, smooth and expressive reading, and automatic recognition of high-frequency words. Knowledge & Fluency Passages bring all of that together in one resource. The passages fill in common knowledge gaps that can block understanding, give students repeated practice with fluency, and reinforce the words they’ll see most often in print. The result: more confident readers who are ready to dive into the books you teach.

Why You’ll Love Using Them

Think of these passages as a Swiss Army Knife for your literacy block. They prepare students for your read-alouds and small-group work, build fluency skills in meaningful ways, and give you quick assessment data—all without extra planning. Instead of stopping mid-story to explain tricky concepts, you’ll launch into texts knowing your students are already equipped to engage, notice, and think more deeply.

Explore Other Resources to Pair with Dasher

The cover for Dasher Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources

Use Dasher by Matt Tavares to strengthen your students' comprehension skills, build their vocabulary, and help them understand how words work.

Introduce your students to this magical holiday story and strengthen their reading comprehension skills while exploring themes of hope, bravery, kindness, and family. This beautifully illustrated tale follows a brave little reindeer on her journey from a life in the circus to becoming part of Santa's sleigh team.

With its rich text and engaging visuals, this story provides an excellent opportunity to practice key reading skills like making inferences, making predictions, retelling and summarizing, acquiring new vocabulary, and identifying different spelling patterns. Students will love following Dasher's adventure and discovering the joy of Christmas through her eyes.

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Knowledge and Fluency Passages

Step Right Up: Life in a Traveling Circus Long Ago

Themes

Teacher Guide

Connect Background Knowldge to the Book

Fill Knowledge Gaps and Build Fluency for Better Comprehension

What’s Included in the Knowledge and Fluency Passages

Why It Matters

Why You’ll Love Using Them

Explore Other Resources to Pair with Dasher

Get Full Access to the Entire Library of Resources when You Join Today!

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