1st grade nonfiction passage about reed boats on a mountain lake: 90 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
1st gradenonfictionreed boats on a mountain lake90 words
Boats Made of Reeds on Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca is a big lake high in the mountains. It is in South America. Reeds grow tall in the shallow water near the shore.
Reeds are plants with long, thin stems. People cut the reeds. They dry them in the sun. Then they tie the reeds into thick bundles. They tie the bundles together to make a boat.
A reed boat can float. The dry stems hold air. Some families on the lake have built little islands from reeds. They pile the reeds up like a thick, soft floor.
Questions
Where is Lake Titicaca? in the text
Where do the reeds grow? in the text
What do people do with the reeds before they tie them? in the text
What have some families built from reeds besides boats? in the text
Why can a reed boat float? think about it
Words to know
reed
a tall plant with a long, thin stem that grows in water
shallow
not deep
bundle
a group of things tied together
float
to stay on top of water and not sink
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Boats Made of Reeds on Lake Titicaca
1st grade reading passage
Lake Titicaca is a big lake high in the mountains. It is in South America. Reeds grow tall in the shallow water near the shore.
Reeds are plants with long, thin stems. People cut the reeds. They dry them in the sun. Then they tie the reeds into thick bundles. They tie the bundles together to make a boat.
A reed boat can float. The dry stems hold air. Some families on the lake have built little islands from reeds. They pile the reeds up like a thick, soft floor.
Questions
Where is Lake Titicaca?
Where do the reeds grow?
What do people do with the reeds before they tie them?
What have some families built from reeds besides boats?
Why can a reed boat float?
Words to know
reed: a tall plant with a long, thin stem that grows in water
shallow: not deep
bundle: a group of things tied together
float: to stay on top of water and not sink
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/1/boats-made-of-reeds-on-lake-titicaca
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One passage, three levels
The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.
● Easier · 72 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.7
Lake Titicaca is a big lake. It is in South America. It is high in the hills. Reeds grow in the water by the shore.
Reeds are plants. They have long, thin stems. People cut reeds. They dry them in the sun. They tie reeds in bundles. They tie the bundles to make a boat.
A reed boat floats. The dry stems hold air. Some families made small islands from reeds too.
▲ This passage · 90 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.9
Lake Titicaca is a big lake high in the mountains. It is in South America. Reeds grow tall in the shallow water near the shore.
Reeds are plants with long, thin stems. People cut the reeds. They dry them in the sun. Then they tie the reeds into thick bundles. They tie the bundles together to make a boat.
A reed boat can float. The dry stems hold air. Some families on the lake have built little islands from reeds. They pile the reeds up like a thick, soft floor.
■ Harder · 97 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.9
Lake Titicaca is an enormous lake high in the mountains of South America. Tall reeds grow in the shallow water close to its shore.
Reeds are plants with long, thin stems. People cut the reeds and leave them to dry in the sun. Next they tie the reeds into thick bundles, and then they fasten the bundles together to build a boat.
A reed boat can float because the dry stems hold air inside them. Some families on the lake have even built little islands out of reeds by piling them up like a thick, soft floor.
Lake Titicaca is a big lake. It is in South America. It is high in the hills. Reeds grow in the water by the shore.
Reeds are plants. They have long, thin stems. People cut reeds. They dry them in the sun. They tie reeds in bundles. They tie the bundles to make a boat.
A reed boat floats. The dry stems hold air. Some families made small islands from reeds too.
Questions
Where is Lake Titicaca?
Where do the reeds grow?
What do people do with the reeds before they tie them?
What else have some families made from reeds?
Why does a reed boat float?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Boats Made of Reeds on Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca is a big lake high in the mountains. It is in South America. Reeds grow tall in the shallow water near the shore.
Reeds are plants with long, thin stems. People cut the reeds. They dry them in the sun. Then they tie the reeds into thick bundles. They tie the bundles together to make a boat.
A reed boat can float. The dry stems hold air. Some families on the lake have built little islands from reeds. They pile the reeds up like a thick, soft floor.
Questions
Where is Lake Titicaca?
Where do the reeds grow?
What do people do with the reeds before they tie them?
What have some families built from reeds besides boats?
Why can a reed boat float?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Boats Made of Reeds on Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca is an enormous lake high in the mountains of South America. Tall reeds grow in the shallow water close to its shore.
Reeds are plants with long, thin stems. People cut the reeds and leave them to dry in the sun. Next they tie the reeds into thick bundles, and then they fasten the bundles together to build a boat.
A reed boat can float because the dry stems hold air inside them. Some families on the lake have even built little islands out of reeds by piling them up like a thick, soft floor.
Questions
Where is Lake Titicaca?
Where do the tall reeds grow?
What do people do with the reeds before they tie them into bundles?
What have some families built from reeds besides boats?
Why is a reed boat able to float?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Boats Made of Reeds on Lake Titicaca
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.7)
In the mountains of South America.
In the water near the shore.
They cut them and dry them in the sun.
Small islands.
The dry stems hold air.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.9)
In the mountains of South America.
In the shallow water near the shore.
They cut them and dry them in the sun.
Little islands.
The dry stems hold air.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.9)
High in the mountains of South America.
In the shallow water close to the shore.
They cut them and leave them to dry in the sun.
Little islands.
The dry stems hold air inside them.
Free at teach.peabody.kids
How to use it
Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.
Ideas for class
Before reading, put reed, shallow, bundle and float on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text will be about.
Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 1 minute to read aloud.
Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.
What reading level is "Boats Made of Reeds on Lake Titicaca"?
It was written for 1st grade. It has 90 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 1.9. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.
What do the questions ask?
There are five. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 1 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.
How long does it take to read?
About 1 minute read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.
Can I print it?
Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.
Is this passage from a published book?
No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.
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