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A River Drops Its Mud and Builds Land

4th grade nonfiction passage about river deltas: 186 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction river deltas 186 words

A River Drops Its Mud and Builds Land

A river carries more than water. As it rushes along, it picks up tiny bits of soil, sand, and clay. These bits are called sediment. A fast river can carry a lot of it, which is why a river after a storm often looks brown.

When a river reaches the sea or a big lake, something changes. The water spreads out and slows down. A slow river cannot hold as much sediment, so it drops it. The heavier bits fall first, and the finest mud settles last.

Over many years, the sediment piles up and builds new land where the river meets the sea. This land is called a delta. Many deltas are shaped a little like a triangle. The river often splits into several smaller streams that wander across the delta, and the streams may shift their paths from time to time.

The soil in a delta is rich, so farmers often grow crops there. Deltas are also homes for birds, fish, and many plants that like wet ground. A delta is proof that moving water can build land as well as wear it away.

Questions

  1. What is sediment? in the text

  2. Why does a river slow down when it reaches the sea? in the text

  3. What happens to the sediment when the river slows down? in the text

  4. What is a delta? in the text

  5. Why do farmers like to grow crops in a delta? in the text

  6. How does the passage show that moving water can both build and wear away land? think about it

Words to know

sediment
tiny bits of soil, sand, or mud carried by water
delta
land built up where a river flows into the sea
settles
sinks slowly and comes to rest at the bottom
wander
to move along without a straight path
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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 · 167 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.9

A river carries more than water. It picks up tiny bits of soil, sand, and clay. These bits are called sediment. A fast river can carry a lot of it. That is why a river after a storm looks brown.

When a river reaches the sea or a big lake, things change. The water spreads out and slows down. A slow river cannot hold as much sediment, so it drops it. The heavy bits fall first. The finest mud settles last.

Over many years, the sediment piles up and builds new land where the river meets the sea. This land is called a delta. Many deltas look a bit like a triangle. The river often splits into small streams that wander across the delta. The streams may change paths.

The soil in a delta is rich, so farmers grow crops there. Birds, fish, and plants that like wet ground live there too. A delta shows that moving water can build land as well as wear it away.

▲ This passage · 186 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.7

A river carries more than water. As it rushes along, it picks up tiny bits of soil, sand, and clay. These bits are called sediment. A fast river can carry a lot of it, which is why a river after a storm often looks brown.

When a river reaches the sea or a big lake, something changes. The water spreads out and slows down. A slow river cannot hold as much sediment, so it drops it. The heavier bits fall first, and the finest mud settles last.

Over many years, the sediment piles up and builds new land where the river meets the sea. This land is called a delta. Many deltas are shaped a little like a triangle. The river often splits into several smaller streams that wander across the delta, and the streams may shift their paths from time to time.

The soil in a delta is rich, so farmers often grow crops there. Deltas are also homes for birds, fish, and many plants that like wet ground. A delta is proof that moving water can build land as well as wear it away.

■ Harder · 198 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.2

A river carries far more than water. As it rushes along, it picks up minuscule particles of soil, sand, and clay, which together are known as sediment. A swift river can transport an enormous amount of it, which is why a river often looks brown after a heavy storm.

When the river arrives at the sea or a large lake, conditions change. The water fans out and slows down, and a slower river is unable to hold as much sediment, so it deposits it. The heavier particles drop first, while the finest mud settles last of all.

Over many years, the sediment accumulates and builds new land at the place where the river meets the sea. This land is called a delta. Many deltas are shaped somewhat like a triangle. The river frequently divides into several smaller streams that meander across the delta, and these streams may gradually shift their courses.

The soil in a delta is rich, so farmers often grow crops there. Deltas also provide homes for birds, fish, and many plants that thrive in wet ground. A delta is proof that moving water can build land just as surely as it can wear land away.

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 sediment, delta, settles and wander 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 6 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 "A River Drops Its Mud and Builds Land"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 186 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.7. 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. 5 ask for something the text says directly and 1 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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