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The Cave Drawings Behind the Waterfall Trail

4th grade fiction passage about a hike and a secret: 197 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade fiction a hike and a secret 197 words

The Cave Drawings Behind the Waterfall Trail

Ruth and her older cousin Caleb hiked the Maple Falls trail every summer. This year, Ruth noticed that the path had a small side branch she had never seen. A wooden sign, nearly hidden by ferns, said only, "Look closely."

They followed the little path to a ledge behind the waterfall. Cool spray misted their faces. On the damp stone wall, someone had drawn a row of pictures with white chalk: a sun, a fish, a bent tree, and a bird.

"Is it a code?" Ruth asked.

Caleb studied the pictures. "Maybe it shows the order of the trail. Sun means the trailhead, where the morning light shines first. Fish is the stream. The bent tree is the old oak, and the bird..."

"The bird is the lookout tower," Ruth finished. "Because birds fly high."

They followed the clues one by one. At the tower, they found a brown notebook inside a plastic bag, with a pencil tied to it. Hikers had written their names and favorite parts of the trail on its pages.

Ruth added her own words: "Ruth and Caleb. We love the waterfall." Then she tucked the notebook safely back for the next explorers.

Questions

  1. What did the wooden sign say? in the text

  2. What did the cousins find on the damp stone wall? in the text

  3. What did the cousins find at the lookout tower? in the text

  4. What was the bent tree in the code? in the text

  5. Why was the notebook kept inside a plastic bag? think about it

  6. Why did Ruth put the notebook back? think about it

Words to know

ledge
a narrow, flat shelf of rock
misted
covered with a fine spray of tiny drops
trailhead
the place where a hiking trail begins
lookout
a high place used for watching over a wide area
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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 · 181 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2

Ruth and her older cousin Caleb hiked the Maple Falls trail each summer. This year, Ruth saw a small side path she had never seen. A wooden sign, half hidden by ferns, said, "Look closely."

They followed the path to a ledge behind the waterfall. Cool spray touched their faces. On the wet stone wall, someone had drawn pictures in white chalk. There was a sun, a fish, a bent tree, and a bird.

"Is it a code?" Ruth asked.

Caleb looked at the pictures. "Maybe they show the trail in order. The sun is the trailhead, where the morning light comes first. The fish is the stream. The bent tree is the old oak, and the bird..."

"The bird is the lookout tower," Ruth said. "Birds fly high."

They followed the clues. At the tower, they found a brown notebook in a plastic bag. A pencil was tied to it. Hikers had written their names and favorite parts of the trail.

Ruth wrote, "Ruth and Caleb. We love the waterfall." Then she put the notebook back for the next hikers.

▲ This passage · 197 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.3

Ruth and her older cousin Caleb hiked the Maple Falls trail every summer. This year, Ruth noticed that the path had a small side branch she had never seen. A wooden sign, nearly hidden by ferns, said only, "Look closely."

They followed the little path to a ledge behind the waterfall. Cool spray misted their faces. On the damp stone wall, someone had drawn a row of pictures with white chalk: a sun, a fish, a bent tree, and a bird.

"Is it a code?" Ruth asked.

Caleb studied the pictures. "Maybe it shows the order of the trail. Sun means the trailhead, where the morning light shines first. Fish is the stream. The bent tree is the old oak, and the bird..."

"The bird is the lookout tower," Ruth finished. "Because birds fly high."

They followed the clues one by one. At the tower, they found a brown notebook inside a plastic bag, with a pencil tied to it. Hikers had written their names and favorite parts of the trail on its pages.

Ruth added her own words: "Ruth and Caleb. We love the waterfall." Then she tucked the notebook safely back for the next explorers.

■ Harder · 212 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.3

Ruth and her older cousin Caleb hiked the Maple Falls trail together every summer. This year, Ruth noticed a narrow side branch of the path that she had never seen before. A wooden sign, nearly concealed by ferns, said only, "Look closely."

They followed the little path to a ledge tucked behind the waterfall. Cool spray misted their faces. On the damp stone wall, someone had drawn a row of pictures in white chalk: a sun, a fish, a bent tree, and a bird.

"Do you think it is a code?" Ruth asked.

Caleb studied the pictures carefully. "Perhaps it shows the order of the trail. The sun must mean the trailhead, where the morning light shines first. The fish is the stream. The bent tree is the old oak, and the bird..."

"The bird is the lookout tower," Ruth finished, "because birds fly high."

They followed the clues one by one. At the tower, they discovered a brown notebook sealed inside a plastic bag, with a pencil tied to it. Previous hikers had recorded their names and their favorite parts of the trail on its pages.

Ruth added her own message: "Ruth and Caleb. We love the waterfall." Then she tucked the notebook safely back into place for the next explorers.

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 ledge, misted, trailhead and lookout 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 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 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 Cave Drawings Behind the Waterfall Trail"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 197 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.3. 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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