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Oxbow Lakes: When a River Takes a Shortcut

3rd grade nonfiction passage about how oxbow lakes form: 175 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade nonfiction how oxbow lakes form 175 words

Oxbow Lakes: When a River Takes a Shortcut

Some rivers do not run straight. On flat land, they wind back and forth in big loops called bends. Sometimes a bend leaves the river and becomes a lake.

Water moves fastest on the outside of a bend. There it wears away the bank, and the bank slowly crumbles. On the inside of the bend, the water is slow, so mud and sand settle down and pile up.

Over many years, the loop gets bigger and bigger. The two ends of a loop come closer and closer together. At last, during a flood, the river may break through the narrow neck of land. Now it can flow straight across.

Mud and sand soon block the old loop at both ends. The loop is cut off from the river. It is now a curved lake that looks like a horseshoe. People call it an oxbow lake, after the U-shaped piece of wood that was once put around the neck of an ox.

The lake is calm and quiet, and birds and turtles often enjoy it.

Questions

  1. What are the big loops in a winding river called? in the text

  2. Where does the water move fastest? in the text

  3. What happens to mud and sand on the inside of a bend? in the text

  4. What may happen to the neck of land during a flood? in the text

  5. Why does the old loop become a lake? think about it

  6. Why is it called an oxbow lake? think about it

Words to know

bends
curves or turns in a river
bank
the land along the side of a river
crumbles
breaks into small pieces
flood
a time when a river spills over onto dry land
horseshoe
a curved shape like the letter U
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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 · 149 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.2

Some rivers do not run straight. On flat land, they wind back and forth. The big loops are called bends. Sometimes a bend leaves the river and becomes a lake.

Water moves fastest on the outside of a bend. It wears away the bank. The bank crumbles. On the inside of the bend, the water is slow. Mud and sand settle there and pile up.

Over many years, the loop gets bigger. Its two ends get close together. Then a flood comes. The river breaks through the narrow neck of land. Now it flows straight.

Mud and sand block the old loop at both ends. It is cut off. It is now a lake shaped like a horseshoe. It is called an oxbow lake. The name comes from a U-shaped piece of wood that went around the neck of an ox.

Birds and turtles like the calm lake.

▲ This passage · 175 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.4

Some rivers do not run straight. On flat land, they wind back and forth in big loops called bends. Sometimes a bend leaves the river and becomes a lake.

Water moves fastest on the outside of a bend. There it wears away the bank, and the bank slowly crumbles. On the inside of the bend, the water is slow, so mud and sand settle down and pile up.

Over many years, the loop gets bigger and bigger. The two ends of a loop come closer and closer together. At last, during a flood, the river may break through the narrow neck of land. Now it can flow straight across.

Mud and sand soon block the old loop at both ends. The loop is cut off from the river. It is now a curved lake that looks like a horseshoe. People call it an oxbow lake, after the U-shaped piece of wood that was once put around the neck of an ox.

The lake is calm and quiet, and birds and turtles often enjoy it.

■ Harder · 179 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7

Some rivers do not run in a straight line. When they cross flat land, they wind back and forth in enormous loops that are called bends, and occasionally a bend separates from the river and turns into a lake.

Water moves fastest around the outside of a bend, where it wears away the bank until the bank slowly crumbles. On the inside of the bend, the water is slow, so mud and sand settle down and gradually pile up.

Over many years, the loop grows larger, and its two ends move closer and closer together. Finally, during a flood, the river may break through the narrow neck of land and begin to flow straight across.

Soon mud and sand block the old loop at both ends, and it is cut off from the river. It becomes a curved lake that resembles a horseshoe. People call it an oxbow lake, after the U-shaped piece of wood that was once fitted around the neck of an ox.

The calm, quiet water is often a pleasant home for birds and turtles.

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 bends, bank, crumbles, flood and horseshoe 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 "Oxbow Lakes: When a River Takes a Shortcut"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 175 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.4. 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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