3rd grade nonfiction passage about street lamps long ago: 155 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
3rd gradenonfictionstreet lamps long ago155 words
The Lamplighter's Evening Round
Picture a town street at dusk, a long time ago. The sky is turning dark. A man walks down the road with a long pole on his shoulder. He is the lamplighter.
In those days, many towns had street lamps that burned gas. There were no switches. Someone had to light each lamp by hand. The lamplighter stopped at every post. He reached up with his pole and opened the little gate on the lamp. Then he lit the flame, and the street glowed with soft yellow light.
He did this at every lamp on his route, one after another. In the morning, he walked the same way and put them all out again.
Lamps like these made the streets safer and brighter. People could walk home after dark, and shops could stay open later. Later, electric lights took over, and they could be turned on all at once. The lamplighter's job slowly faded away.
Questions
What did the lamplighter carry? in the text
What did the street lamps burn? in the text
What did the lamplighter do in the morning? in the text
How did street lamps change life in the town? in the text
Why did the lamplighter's job fade away? think about it
Why did the lamplighter need a long pole? think about it
Words to know
lamplighter
a person who lit street lamps
dusk
the time in the evening when it is getting dark
route
the path someone follows to do a job
flame
the glowing part of a fire
electric
powered by a current that runs through wires
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
The Lamplighter's Evening Round
3rd grade reading passage
Picture a town street at dusk, a long time ago. The sky is turning dark. A man walks down the road with a long pole on his shoulder. He is the lamplighter.
In those days, many towns had street lamps that burned gas. There were no switches. Someone had to light each lamp by hand. The lamplighter stopped at every post. He reached up with his pole and opened the little gate on the lamp. Then he lit the flame, and the street glowed with soft yellow light.
He did this at every lamp on his route, one after another. In the morning, he walked the same way and put them all out again.
Lamps like these made the streets safer and brighter. People could walk home after dark, and shops could stay open later. Later, electric lights took over, and they could be turned on all at once. The lamplighter's job slowly faded away.
Questions
What did the lamplighter carry?
What did the street lamps burn?
What did the lamplighter do in the morning?
How did street lamps change life in the town?
Why did the lamplighter's job fade away?
Why did the lamplighter need a long pole?
Words to know
lamplighter: a person who lit street lamps
dusk: the time in the evening when it is getting dark
route: the path someone follows to do a job
flame: the glowing part of a fire
electric: powered by a current that runs through wires
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/3/lamplighters-evening-round
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 · 133 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.8
Picture a town street at dusk, long ago. The sky is turning dark. A man walks down the road with a long pole. He is the lamplighter.
In those days, many towns had street lamps that burned gas. There were no switches. Someone had to light each lamp. The lamplighter stopped at every post. He reached up with his pole and opened the lamp. Then he lit the flame. The street glowed with soft light.
He did this at every lamp on his route. In the morning, he walked the same way and put them all out.
Lamps like these made the streets safer. People could walk home after dark. Shops could stay open later. Later, electric lights took over. They could be turned on all at once. The lamplighter's job faded away.
▲ This passage · 155 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1
Picture a town street at dusk, a long time ago. The sky is turning dark. A man walks down the road with a long pole on his shoulder. He is the lamplighter.
In those days, many towns had street lamps that burned gas. There were no switches. Someone had to light each lamp by hand. The lamplighter stopped at every post. He reached up with his pole and opened the little gate on the lamp. Then he lit the flame, and the street glowed with soft yellow light.
He did this at every lamp on his route, one after another. In the morning, he walked the same way and put them all out again.
Lamps like these made the streets safer and brighter. People could walk home after dark, and shops could stay open later. Later, electric lights took over, and they could be turned on all at once. The lamplighter's job slowly faded away.
■ Harder · 169 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.4
Picture a town street at dusk, a very long time ago. The sky is gradually darkening, and a man strolls down the road with a long pole resting on his shoulder. He is the lamplighter.
In those days, many towns lit their streets with lamps that burned gas, and there were no switches to flip. Someone had to light each lamp by hand. The lamplighter paused at every post, reached up with his pole to open the little gate on the lamp, and lit the flame, until the whole street glowed with a soft yellow light.
He repeated this at every lamp along his route, one after another. The next morning, he walked the same way and put every one of them out again.
Lamps like these made the streets safer and brighter. People could walk home after dark, and shops could stay open later in the evening. Eventually, electric lights took over, and since they could be switched on all at once, the lamplighter's job slowly faded away.
Picture a town street at dusk, long ago. The sky is turning dark. A man walks down the road with a long pole. He is the lamplighter.
In those days, many towns had street lamps that burned gas. There were no switches. Someone had to light each lamp. The lamplighter stopped at every post. He reached up with his pole and opened the lamp. Then he lit the flame. The street glowed with soft light.
He did this at every lamp on his route. In the morning, he walked the same way and put them all out.
Lamps like these made the streets safer. People could walk home after dark. Shops could stay open later. Later, electric lights took over. They could be turned on all at once. The lamplighter's job faded away.
Questions
What did the lamplighter carry?
What did the street lamps burn?
What did the lamplighter do in the morning?
How did street lamps change life in the town?
Why did the lamplighter's job fade away?
Why did the lamplighter need a long pole?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
The Lamplighter's Evening Round
Picture a town street at dusk, a long time ago. The sky is turning dark. A man walks down the road with a long pole on his shoulder. He is the lamplighter.
In those days, many towns had street lamps that burned gas. There were no switches. Someone had to light each lamp by hand. The lamplighter stopped at every post. He reached up with his pole and opened the little gate on the lamp. Then he lit the flame, and the street glowed with soft yellow light.
He did this at every lamp on his route, one after another. In the morning, he walked the same way and put them all out again.
Lamps like these made the streets safer and brighter. People could walk home after dark, and shops could stay open later. Later, electric lights took over, and they could be turned on all at once. The lamplighter's job slowly faded away.
Questions
What did the lamplighter carry?
What did the street lamps burn?
What did the lamplighter do in the morning?
How did street lamps change life in the town?
Why did the lamplighter's job fade away?
Why did the lamplighter need a long pole?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
The Lamplighter's Evening Round
Picture a town street at dusk, a very long time ago. The sky is gradually darkening, and a man strolls down the road with a long pole resting on his shoulder. He is the lamplighter.
In those days, many towns lit their streets with lamps that burned gas, and there were no switches to flip. Someone had to light each lamp by hand. The lamplighter paused at every post, reached up with his pole to open the little gate on the lamp, and lit the flame, until the whole street glowed with a soft yellow light.
He repeated this at every lamp along his route, one after another. The next morning, he walked the same way and put every one of them out again.
Lamps like these made the streets safer and brighter. People could walk home after dark, and shops could stay open later in the evening. Eventually, electric lights took over, and since they could be switched on all at once, the lamplighter's job slowly faded away.
Questions
What did the lamplighter carry on his shoulder?
What did the street lamps burn?
What did the lamplighter do the next morning?
How did street lamps change life in the town?
Why did the lamplighter's job slowly fade away?
Why did the lamplighter need a long pole?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: The Lamplighter's Evening Round
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.8)
A long pole.
Gas.
He put the lamps out.
Streets were safer, people could walk home after dark, and shops stayed open later.
Electric lights could be turned on all at once, so no one had to light each lamp.
The lamps were high up on posts, and he had to reach them.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1)
A long pole.
Gas.
He walked the same way and put the lamps out.
Streets were safer and brighter, people could walk home after dark, and shops stayed open later.
Electric lights could be turned on all at once, so no one had to light each lamp.
The lamps were high up on posts, and he had to reach them.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.4)
A long pole.
Gas.
He walked the same way and put every lamp out.
Streets were safer and brighter, people could walk home after dark, and shops stayed open later.
Electric lights could be switched on all at once, so no one had to light each lamp.
The lamps were high up on posts, and he had to reach them.
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 lamplighter, dusk, route, flame and electric 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.
What reading level is "The Lamplighter's Evening Round"?
It was written for 3rd grade. It has 155 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 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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