1st grade nonfiction passage about street sweepers: 96 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
1st gradenonfictionstreet sweepers96 words
Why the Street Sweeper Comes Early
Leaves fall from trees. Paper and sand blow down the road. All of this lands in the street. A street sweeper truck comes to clean it up.
The truck has big, round brushes underneath. The brushes spin and push the dirt into the middle. Then a strong wind tube sucks the dirt up into a bin.
Why does this matter? When it rains, water runs down the street into drains. Leaves can plug a drain. Then the water cannot go down, and a puddle grows big.
A clean street helps the rain go where it should.
Questions
What do the round brushes under the truck do? in the text
Where does the dirt go at last? in the text
What can leaves do to a drain? in the text
What blows down the road along with the leaves? in the text
Why does a plugged drain make a big puddle? think about it
How does the street sweeper help on a rainy day? think about it
Words to know
sweeper
a worker or a machine that cleans up dirt
brush
a tool with bristles for cleaning
drain
a hole that lets water run away
plug
to block something up
puddle
a small pool of water on the ground
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
Why the Street Sweeper Comes Early
1st grade reading passage
Leaves fall from trees. Paper and sand blow down the road. All of this lands in the street. A street sweeper truck comes to clean it up.
The truck has big, round brushes underneath. The brushes spin and push the dirt into the middle. Then a strong wind tube sucks the dirt up into a bin.
Why does this matter? When it rains, water runs down the street into drains. Leaves can plug a drain. Then the water cannot go down, and a puddle grows big.
A clean street helps the rain go where it should.
Questions
What do the round brushes under the truck do?
Where does the dirt go at last?
What can leaves do to a drain?
What blows down the road along with the leaves?
Why does a plugged drain make a big puddle?
How does the street sweeper help on a rainy day?
Words to know
sweeper: a worker or a machine that cleans up dirt
brush: a tool with bristles for cleaning
drain: a hole that lets water run away
plug: to block something up
puddle: a small pool of water on the ground
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/1/why-the-street-sweeper-comes
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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 0.4
Leaves fall from trees. Paper and sand blow down the road. A street sweeper truck cleans it up.
The truck has round brushes under it. They spin. They push the dirt to the middle. A strong wind tube sucks it up into a bin.
When it rains, water runs into drains. Leaves can plug a drain. Then the water cannot go down. A big puddle grows.
A clean street helps the rain.
▲ This passage · 96 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.2
Leaves fall from trees. Paper and sand blow down the road. All of this lands in the street. A street sweeper truck comes to clean it up.
The truck has big, round brushes underneath. The brushes spin and push the dirt into the middle. Then a strong wind tube sucks the dirt up into a bin.
Why does this matter? When it rains, water runs down the street into drains. Leaves can plug a drain. Then the water cannot go down, and a puddle grows big.
A clean street helps the rain go where it should.
■ Harder · 111 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.8
Leaves fall from the trees, and paper and sand blow along the road. All of it ends up in the street, so a street sweeper truck comes to clean it away.
Underneath the truck are big, round brushes. They spin and push the dirt into the middle of the truck's path. Then a powerful tube sucks the dirt up into a large bin.
Why does this job matter? When it rains, water runs down the street and into the drains. A pile of leaves can plug a drain. Then the water cannot flow down, and a big puddle begins to grow.
A clean street helps the rain go where it belongs.
Leaves fall from trees. Paper and sand blow down the road. A street sweeper truck cleans it up.
The truck has round brushes under it. They spin. They push the dirt to the middle. A strong wind tube sucks it up into a bin.
When it rains, water runs into drains. Leaves can plug a drain. Then the water cannot go down. A big puddle grows.
A clean street helps the rain.
Questions
What do the round brushes do?
Where does the dirt go in the end?
What can leaves do to a drain?
What blows down the road with the leaves?
Why does a plugged drain make a puddle?
How does the sweeper help on a rainy day?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
Why the Street Sweeper Comes Early
Leaves fall from trees. Paper and sand blow down the road. All of this lands in the street. A street sweeper truck comes to clean it up.
The truck has big, round brushes underneath. The brushes spin and push the dirt into the middle. Then a strong wind tube sucks the dirt up into a bin.
Why does this matter? When it rains, water runs down the street into drains. Leaves can plug a drain. Then the water cannot go down, and a puddle grows big.
A clean street helps the rain go where it should.
Questions
What do the round brushes under the truck do?
Where does the dirt go at last?
What can leaves do to a drain?
What blows down the road along with the leaves?
Why does a plugged drain make a big puddle?
How does the street sweeper help on a rainy day?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
Why the Street Sweeper Comes Early
Leaves fall from the trees, and paper and sand blow along the road. All of it ends up in the street, so a street sweeper truck comes to clean it away.
Underneath the truck are big, round brushes. They spin and push the dirt into the middle of the truck's path. Then a powerful tube sucks the dirt up into a large bin.
Why does this job matter? When it rains, water runs down the street and into the drains. A pile of leaves can plug a drain. Then the water cannot flow down, and a big puddle begins to grow.
A clean street helps the rain go where it belongs.
Questions
What do the big, round brushes underneath the truck do?
Where does the dirt end up?
What can a pile of leaves do to a drain?
What blows along the road besides leaves?
Why does a plugged drain cause a big puddle?
How does the street sweeper help on a rainy day?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: Why the Street Sweeper Comes Early
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.4)
They spin and push dirt to the middle.
Up into a bin.
Plug it.
Paper and sand.
The rain water cannot go down.
It cleans up leaves so rain can go in the drains.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.2)
They spin and push the dirt into the middle.
Up into a bin.
Plug it.
Paper and sand.
The rain water cannot go down the drain.
It cleans away leaves so rain can run into the drains.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.8)
They spin and push the dirt into the middle.
Up in a large bin.
Plug it.
Paper and sand.
The rain water cannot flow down the drain.
It cleans away leaves so the rain can run into the drains.
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 sweeper, brush, drain, plug and puddle 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 "Why the Street Sweeper Comes Early"?
It was written for 1st grade. It has 96 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 1.2. 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 six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 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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