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The Thirsty Bean Plant

3rd grade fiction passage about caring for a plant: 147 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade fiction caring for a plant 147 words

The Thirsty Bean Plant

Leo planted a bean seed in a cup at school. He put it on the shelf by the window and checked it every day. Soon a small green shoot popped up, and Leo felt very proud.

Then he got busy with soccer practice and forgot about his plant. One morning, he noticed that the leaves were drooping and the soil was dry and crumbly.

"Oh no!" said Leo. He ran to the sink and filled a small cup with water, and then he poured it slowly onto the soil. After that, he waited.

By afternoon, the leaves had begun to lift, and Leo felt relieved. He drew a chart with a box for each day of the week. Each morning, he made a check mark after he watered the plant.

A week later, the bean plant had two new leaves. Leo smiled, because the chart had worked.

Questions

  1. Where did Leo plant his bean seed? in the text

  2. Why did Leo forget about his plant? in the text

  3. What did Leo see when the plant needed help? in the text

  4. What did Leo make so he would not forget again? in the text

  5. Why did the leaves lift in the afternoon? think about it

  6. What did Leo learn? think about it

Words to know

shoot
a young stem that has just come up from a seed
drooping
hanging down
crumbly
easily breaking into small bits
relieved
glad that a worry is gone
chart
a table that helps you keep track of things
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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 · 136 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.1

Leo planted a bean seed in a cup at school. He put it on the shelf by the window. He checked it each day. Soon a small green shoot came up. Leo felt proud.

Then he got busy with soccer. He forgot his plant. One morning, he saw the leaves hang down. The soil was dry and crumbly.

"Oh no!" said Leo. He ran to the sink. He filled a small cup with water. He poured it slowly on the soil. Then he waited.

By afternoon, the leaves began to lift. Leo felt relieved. He drew a chart. It had a box for each day of the week. Each morning, he made a check mark when he watered the plant.

A week later, the bean plant had two new leaves. Leo smiled. The chart had worked.

▲ This passage · 147 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.9

Leo planted a bean seed in a cup at school. He put it on the shelf by the window and checked it every day. Soon a small green shoot popped up, and Leo felt very proud.

Then he got busy with soccer practice and forgot about his plant. One morning, he noticed that the leaves were drooping and the soil was dry and crumbly.

"Oh no!" said Leo. He ran to the sink and filled a small cup with water, and then he poured it slowly onto the soil. After that, he waited.

By afternoon, the leaves had begun to lift, and Leo felt relieved. He drew a chart with a box for each day of the week. Each morning, he made a check mark after he watered the plant.

A week later, the bean plant had two new leaves. Leo smiled, because the chart had worked.

■ Harder · 160 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.4

Leo planted a bean seed in a paper cup at school, set it on the shelf beside the window, and inspected it every single day. Before long, a small green shoot pushed up through the soil, and Leo felt tremendously proud.

Then he became so busy with soccer practice that he completely forgot about his plant. One morning, he noticed that the leaves were drooping and that the soil had turned dry and crumbly.

"Oh no!" said Leo. He rushed to the sink, filled a small cup with water, and poured it gently onto the soil. After that, he waited anxiously.

By the afternoon, the leaves had begun to lift, and Leo felt enormously relieved. He drew a chart with a box for each day of the week, and every morning he made a check mark after he had watered the plant.

A week later, the bean plant had sprouted two new leaves. Leo smiled, because his chart had worked.

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 shoot, drooping, crumbly, relieved and chart on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the story 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 retell the story in three sentences: how it began, what the problem was, and how it ended.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "The Thirsty Bean Plant"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 147 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.9. 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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