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Counting with Knots: The Inca Quipu

4th grade nonfiction passage about inca record keeping: 183 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction inca record keeping 183 words

Counting with Knots: The Inca Quipu

The Inca people ruled a huge empire high in the Andes Mountains of South America. They kept careful records, but they did not use writing like ours. Instead, they used a tool called a quipu, which is pronounced KEE-poo.

A quipu was a set of strings tied to one thick cord. Each string had knots in it. The place of a knot on the string, and the kind of knot, stood for a number. The strings came in many colors, and the colors may have shown what was being counted.

Special record keepers learned how to make and read quipus. They could count things such as bags of corn, llamas in a herd, or people living in a village. The records helped the empire know what it had stored and who could be called on to work.

Quipus were made of cotton or wool, so they could be rolled up and carried by runners along mountain roads.

Experts today understand how the quipu showed numbers. But they are still trying to learn if some of the strings held other kinds of messages.

Questions

  1. Where did the Inca live? in the text

  2. What was a quipu? in the text

  3. What could the knots stand for? in the text

  4. What kinds of things did record keepers count? in the text

  5. Why was it useful that quipus were made of cotton or wool? think about it

  6. What are experts still trying to learn about quipus? in the text

Words to know

empire
a large group of lands ruled by one government
quipu
a set of knotted strings the Inca used to record numbers
record keepers
people whose job was to write down or track information
herd
a group of animals that live or are kept together
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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 · 154 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3

The Inca people ruled a big empire high in the Andes Mountains of South America. They kept careful records. But they did not write like we do. They used a tool called a quipu, said KEE-poo.

A quipu was a set of strings tied to one thick cord. Each string had knots. Where a knot sat on the string, and what kind it was, stood for a number. The strings had many colors. The colors may have shown what was counted.

Special record keepers learned to make and read quipus. They counted bags of corn, llamas in a herd, or people in a village. The records told the empire what it had stored and who could work.

Quipus were made of cotton or wool. They could be rolled up. Runners carried them along mountain roads.

Experts know how a quipu showed numbers. But they are still learning if some strings held other messages.

▲ This passage · 183 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.8

The Inca people ruled a huge empire high in the Andes Mountains of South America. They kept careful records, but they did not use writing like ours. Instead, they used a tool called a quipu, which is pronounced KEE-poo.

A quipu was a set of strings tied to one thick cord. Each string had knots in it. The place of a knot on the string, and the kind of knot, stood for a number. The strings came in many colors, and the colors may have shown what was being counted.

Special record keepers learned how to make and read quipus. They could count things such as bags of corn, llamas in a herd, or people living in a village. The records helped the empire know what it had stored and who could be called on to work.

Quipus were made of cotton or wool, so they could be rolled up and carried by runners along mountain roads.

Experts today understand how the quipu showed numbers. But they are still trying to learn if some of the strings held other kinds of messages.

■ Harder · 188 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.7

The Inca people governed an immense empire high in the Andes Mountains of South America. Although they maintained meticulous records, they did not use a writing system like ours. Instead, they relied on an ingenious device called a quipu, pronounced KEE-poo.

A quipu consisted of numerous strings attached to one thick cord, and each string was tied with knots. The position of a knot along the string, together with its style, represented a number. The strings came in a wide range of colors, which may have indicated what was being counted.

Specially trained record keepers learned how to create and interpret quipus. They could tally items such as bags of corn, llamas in a herd, or the people living in a village. These records allowed the empire to keep track of what it had stored and who could be called upon to work.

Because quipus were made of cotton or wool, they could be rolled up compactly and carried by runners along mountain roads.

Experts today understand how the quipu represented numbers, but they are still investigating whether some of the strings contained other kinds of messages.

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 empire, quipu, record keepers and herd 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 "Counting with Knots: The Inca Quipu"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 183 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.8. 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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