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Four Easy Ways to Save Water at the Sink

2nd grade nonfiction passage about saving water: 136 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

2nd grade nonfiction saving water 136 words

Four Easy Ways to Save Water at the Sink

Clean water is precious. It comes from rivers, lakes, and wells, and it takes work to clean it. You can help save it, even at the sink.

First, turn off the tap while you brush your teeth. You only need the water when you wet your brush and when you rinse. The rest of the time it just runs down the drain.

Second, when you wash your hands, turn the water off while you scrub with soap. Then turn it on to rinse.

Third, tell a grown-up if a faucet drips. A drip may look small, but drops add up over a day.

Fourth, fill a cup to drink. Then you will not pour out a half glass of water that you did not finish.

Small habits like these keep our water safe for everyone.

Questions

  1. Where does clean water come from? in the text

  2. When should you turn off the tap while brushing your teeth? in the text

  3. What should you do when you scrub your hands with soap? in the text

  4. What should you tell a grown-up about? in the text

  5. Why does a small drip matter? think about it

  6. Why do these habits help everyone? think about it

Words to know

precious
worth a lot and not to be wasted
faucet
the part of a sink that lets water out
rinse
to wash off soap with clean water
habits
things you do again and again
Share

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 · 97 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.6

Clean water is precious. It comes from rivers, lakes, and wells. It takes work to clean it. You can help save it at the sink.

First, turn off the tap when you brush your teeth. You only need water to wet the brush and to rinse.

Second, turn off the water when you scrub your hands with soap. Turn it on to rinse.

Third, tell a grown-up if a faucet drips. Drops add up.

Fourth, fill a cup to drink. Then you will not pour out extra water.

Small habits keep our water safe for all.

▲ This passage · 136 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.9

Clean water is precious. It comes from rivers, lakes, and wells, and it takes work to clean it. You can help save it, even at the sink.

First, turn off the tap while you brush your teeth. You only need the water when you wet your brush and when you rinse. The rest of the time it just runs down the drain.

Second, when you wash your hands, turn the water off while you scrub with soap. Then turn it on to rinse.

Third, tell a grown-up if a faucet drips. A drip may look small, but drops add up over a day.

Fourth, fill a cup to drink. Then you will not pour out a half glass of water that you did not finish.

Small habits like these keep our water safe for everyone.

■ Harder · 147 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.7

Clean water is precious. It comes from rivers, lakes, and wells, and cleaning it takes a great deal of work. You can help conserve it, even at the kitchen sink.

First, turn off the tap while you brush your teeth. You only need water to wet your brush and to rinse your mouth, so the rest of the time it simply runs down the drain.

Second, when you wash your hands, turn the water off while you scrub with soap, and turn it back on only to rinse.

Third, tell a grown-up whenever a faucet drips. A single drip may look insignificant, but the drops add up over the course of a day.

Fourth, fill a cup before you drink, so you will not pour away half a glass that you never finished.

Small habits like these help keep our water safe and plentiful for everyone.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put precious, faucet, rinse and habits 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.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Four Easy Ways to Save Water at the Sink"?

It was written for 2nd grade. It has 136 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 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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