1st grade nonfiction passage about compost: 95 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
1st gradenonfictioncompost95 words
Scraps Make Rich Soil
Do not throw away every food scrap. Some can go in a compost pile. Apple cores, banana peels, and old leaves are good for compost.
Tiny bugs, worms, and fungi live in the pile. They eat the scraps. Over time, the scraps break down. They turn into dark, crumbly soil.
This soil is rich. A gardener spreads it around plants. The plants use it to grow big and strong. Scraps that were trash have a new job. That is good for the garden, and it is good for the Earth too. Try it at home!
Questions
What can go in a compost pile? in the text
What lives in the pile? in the text
What do the scraps turn into? in the text
Who spreads the soil around plants? in the text
How does compost help a garden? think about it
Words to know
compost
old food and leaves that turn into soil
scrap
a small bit of leftover food
crumbly
easy to break into small bits
gardener
a person who grows plants
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Scraps Make Rich Soil
1st grade reading passage
Do not throw away every food scrap. Some can go in a compost pile. Apple cores, banana peels, and old leaves are good for compost.
Tiny bugs, worms, and fungi live in the pile. They eat the scraps. Over time, the scraps break down. They turn into dark, crumbly soil.
This soil is rich. A gardener spreads it around plants. The plants use it to grow big and strong. Scraps that were trash have a new job. That is good for the garden, and it is good for the Earth too. Try it at home!
Questions
What can go in a compost pile?
What lives in the pile?
What do the scraps turn into?
Who spreads the soil around plants?
How does compost help a garden?
Words to know
compost: old food and leaves that turn into soil
scrap: a small bit of leftover food
crumbly: easy to break into small bits
gardener: a person who grows plants
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/1/scraps-make-rich-soil
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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 · 61 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.3
Do not toss all food scraps. Some go in a compost pile. Apple cores and banana peels can go in. Old leaves can too.
Bugs, worms, and fungi live in the pile. They eat the scraps. The scraps break down. They turn into dark soil.
This soil is rich. A gardener puts it by plants. The plants grow big and strong.
▲ This passage · 95 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.4
Do not throw away every food scrap. Some can go in a compost pile. Apple cores, banana peels, and old leaves are good for compost.
Tiny bugs, worms, and fungi live in the pile. They eat the scraps. Over time, the scraps break down. They turn into dark, crumbly soil.
This soil is rich. A gardener spreads it around plants. The plants use it to grow big and strong. Scraps that were trash have a new job. That is good for the garden, and it is good for the Earth too. Try it at home!
■ Harder · 97 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.6
Not every food scrap has to be thrown away in the trash. Some of them can go into a compost pile instead. Apple cores, banana peels, and old leaves all make good compost.
Tiny bugs, worms, and fungi live inside the pile, and they eat the scraps. As time goes by, the scraps break down and turn into dark, crumbly soil.
This soil is rich with things that plants need. A gardener spreads it around the plants, and they use it to grow big and strong. Scraps that were once trash now have an important new job.
Do not toss all food scraps. Some go in a compost pile. Apple cores and banana peels can go in. Old leaves can too.
Bugs, worms, and fungi live in the pile. They eat the scraps. The scraps break down. They turn into dark soil.
This soil is rich. A gardener puts it by plants. The plants grow big and strong.
Questions
What can go in a compost pile?
What lives in the pile?
What do the scraps turn into?
Who spreads the soil around plants?
How does compost help plants?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Scraps Make Rich Soil
Do not throw away every food scrap. Some can go in a compost pile. Apple cores, banana peels, and old leaves are good for compost.
Tiny bugs, worms, and fungi live in the pile. They eat the scraps. Over time, the scraps break down. They turn into dark, crumbly soil.
This soil is rich. A gardener spreads it around plants. The plants use it to grow big and strong. Scraps that were trash have a new job. That is good for the garden, and it is good for the Earth too. Try it at home!
Questions
What can go in a compost pile?
What lives in the pile?
What do the scraps turn into?
Who spreads the soil around plants?
How does compost help a garden?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Scraps Make Rich Soil
Not every food scrap has to be thrown away in the trash. Some of them can go into a compost pile instead. Apple cores, banana peels, and old leaves all make good compost.
Tiny bugs, worms, and fungi live inside the pile, and they eat the scraps. As time goes by, the scraps break down and turn into dark, crumbly soil.
This soil is rich with things that plants need. A gardener spreads it around the plants, and they use it to grow big and strong. Scraps that were once trash now have an important new job.
Questions
What kinds of scraps can go into a compost pile?
Which living things make their home in the pile?
What do the scraps become as time goes by?
Who spreads the rich soil around the plants?
How does compost help a garden grow?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Scraps Make Rich Soil
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.3)
Apple cores, banana peels, and old leaves.
Bugs, worms, and fungi.
Dark soil.
A gardener.
It is rich soil that helps them grow big and strong.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.4)
Apple cores, banana peels, and old leaves.
Tiny bugs, worms, and fungi.
Dark, crumbly soil.
A gardener.
It gives plants rich soil so they can grow big and strong.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.6)
Apple cores, banana peels, and old leaves.
Tiny bugs, worms, and fungi.
Dark, crumbly soil.
A gardener.
It gives plants rich soil, so they can grow big and strong.
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 compost, scrap, crumbly and gardener 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.
It was written for 1st grade. It has 95 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 1.4. 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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