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How Beavers Turn a Stream into a Pond

3rd grade nonfiction passage about beaver dams and ponds: 148 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade nonfiction beaver dams and ponds 148 words

How Beavers Turn a Stream into a Pond

A beaver wants a safe home surrounded by water. Where a stream runs too shallow, a beaver builds its own pond.

First, beavers cut down small trees with their strong front teeth. They drag the logs and branches to the stream. They lay the sticks across the water, and they push mud and stones into the gaps. This wall is called a dam.

The dam slows the water down. Behind it, the water spreads out over low ground and a pond forms. Now the beavers can build a lodge, which is a dome of sticks and mud. The doorway is under the water, so most animals cannot get in.

The pond helps other animals too. Ducks swim on it, and frogs lay eggs at its edge. Many insects live there, and birds come to eat them.

Beavers keep fixing their dam, because moving water always pushes against it.

Questions

  1. What do beavers use to cut down small trees? in the text

  2. What is a dam? in the text

  3. What forms behind the dam? in the text

  4. Where is the doorway to a beaver lodge? in the text

  5. Why is a doorway under the water a good idea? think about it

  6. Why do beavers keep fixing their dam? think about it

Words to know

dam
a wall built across a stream to hold back water
lodge
a beaver's home made of sticks and mud
shallow
not deep
stream
a small, narrow river
dome
a round shape, like half of a ball
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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 · 127 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.1

A beaver wants a safe home with water all around. A stream may be too shallow. So the beaver builds a pond.

Beavers cut small trees with their strong front teeth. They drag the logs to the stream. They lay sticks across the water. They push mud and stones into the gaps. This wall is a dam.

The dam slows the water. Behind it, the water spreads out. A pond forms. Then the beavers build a lodge. A lodge is a dome of sticks and mud. Its door is under the water. Most animals cannot get in.

The pond helps other animals too. Ducks swim on it. Frogs lay eggs by it. Birds eat the insects.

Beavers fix the dam often. Moving water keeps pushing on it.

▲ This passage · 148 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

A beaver wants a safe home surrounded by water. Where a stream runs too shallow, a beaver builds its own pond.

First, beavers cut down small trees with their strong front teeth. They drag the logs and branches to the stream. They lay the sticks across the water, and they push mud and stones into the gaps. This wall is called a dam.

The dam slows the water down. Behind it, the water spreads out over low ground and a pond forms. Now the beavers can build a lodge, which is a dome of sticks and mud. The doorway is under the water, so most animals cannot get in.

The pond helps other animals too. Ducks swim on it, and frogs lay eggs at its edge. Many insects live there, and birds come to eat them.

Beavers keep fixing their dam, because moving water always pushes against it.

■ Harder · 157 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.7

A beaver prefers a safe home that is surrounded by water, and where a stream runs too shallow, the beaver constructs its own pond.

First, beavers gnaw down small trees with their powerful front teeth and drag the logs and branches to the stream. They lay the sticks across the current, and they pack mud and stones into the gaps between them. The finished wall is called a dam.

The dam slows the moving water. Behind it, the water spreads out over low ground, and a pond slowly forms. Then the beavers can build a lodge, which is a dome of sticks and mud. The doorway sits beneath the surface, so most animals cannot get inside.

The pond also benefits many other animals. Ducks swim on it, frogs lay their eggs along its edge, and many insects live there, which attracts birds that eat them.

Beavers keep repairing their dam, because moving water constantly pushes against 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 dam, lodge, shallow, stream and dome 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 "How Beavers Turn a Stream into a Pond"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 148 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.1. 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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