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Cleanup Day at Willow Creek

3rd grade nonfiction passage about volunteer creek cleanup: 161 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade nonfiction volunteer creek cleanup 161 words

Cleanup Day at Willow Creek

Last spring, neighbors noticed that Willow Creek was full of litter. There were bottles in the water and bags stuck in the reeds. The litter was hard on the ducks and fish. So the neighbors made a plan.

First, they asked the town for help. The town agreed to lend gloves, trash bags and a pickup truck. Next, they put up a notice at the library, and families signed up to come.

On cleanup day, about forty people showed up. Grown-ups led small teams. Each team had a job. Some picked up trash along the bank. Others carried full bags to the truck. Children stayed on dry ground, and they told a grown-up when they found anything sharp or strange.

By lunch, the creek looked much better. The neighbors had a picnic to celebrate.

Now many people take care to keep litter off the ground. A creek is cleaner when everybody does a small part, and volunteers showed that.

Questions

  1. What was wrong with Willow Creek? in the text

  2. What did the town lend to the neighbors? in the text

  3. How did families learn about cleanup day? in the text

  4. Where did the children stay during the cleanup? in the text

  5. Why did the children tell a grown-up about anything sharp? think about it

  6. What do you think the neighbors learned from the cleanup? think about it

Words to know

litter
trash left lying on the ground
volunteers
people who help without being paid
notice
a sign or paper that gives information
bank
the land along the edge of a creek
celebrate
to do something fun to mark a good moment
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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 · 131 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.6

Last spring, neighbors saw that Willow Creek was full of litter. Bottles were in the water. Bags were stuck in the reeds. It was hard on the ducks and fish. So the neighbors made a plan.

First, they asked the town for help. The town lent gloves, trash bags and a truck. Then they put a notice up at the library. Families signed up.

On cleanup day, about forty people came. Grown-ups led small teams. Some picked up trash on the bank. Others took bags to the truck. Children stayed on dry ground. They told a grown-up if they found anything sharp.

By lunch, the creek looked better. The neighbors had a picnic.

Now people keep litter off the ground. A creek is cleaner when everyone helps a little.

▲ This passage · 161 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3

Last spring, neighbors noticed that Willow Creek was full of litter. There were bottles in the water and bags stuck in the reeds. The litter was hard on the ducks and fish. So the neighbors made a plan.

First, they asked the town for help. The town agreed to lend gloves, trash bags and a pickup truck. Next, they put up a notice at the library, and families signed up to come.

On cleanup day, about forty people showed up. Grown-ups led small teams. Each team had a job. Some picked up trash along the bank. Others carried full bags to the truck. Children stayed on dry ground, and they told a grown-up when they found anything sharp or strange.

By lunch, the creek looked much better. The neighbors had a picnic to celebrate.

Now many people take care to keep litter off the ground. A creek is cleaner when everybody does a small part, and volunteers showed that.

■ Harder · 177 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.9

Last spring, residents noticed that Willow Creek had become full of litter. Bottles floated in the water, and plastic bags were tangled in the reeds. The mess was hard on the ducks and fish that depend on the creek, so the neighbors decided to make a plan.

First, they asked the town for assistance. The town agreed to lend gloves, trash bags and a pickup truck. Next, the neighbors posted a notice at the library, and many families signed up to join them.

On cleanup day, roughly forty people arrived. Grown-ups guided small teams, and each team had its own job. Some people collected trash along the bank, while others carried the full bags to the truck. Children stayed on dry ground, and they told a grown-up whenever they found anything sharp or strange.

By lunchtime, the creek looked far better, and the neighbors celebrated with a picnic.

Now many people take extra care to keep litter off the ground. A creek stays cleaner when everybody does a small part, and the volunteers proved it.

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 litter, volunteers, notice, bank and celebrate 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 2 minutes 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 "Cleanup Day at Willow Creek"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 161 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.0. 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 2 minutes 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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