Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Mules on the Towpath of the Erie Canal

4th grade nonfiction passage about canals and travel: 188 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction canals and travel 188 words

Mules on the Towpath of the Erie Canal

In the early 1800s, moving heavy goods across New York State was slow and costly. Roads were bumpy, and wagons got stuck in mud. So workers dug a canal, which is a waterway made by people. The Erie Canal opened in 1825. It joined the Hudson River with Lake Erie, so boats could travel a long way inland.

Most of the digging was done by hand, with shovels and with the help of horses and oxen. It took years of hard work.

A canal boat had no engine. Instead, a pair of mules or horses walked along a path beside the water, called the towpath. A long rope ran from the animals to the boat, and they pulled it along at a slow walking pace.

Sometimes the land rose uphill. To fix this, builders made locks. A lock is a small chamber with gates. Water is let in or out, and the boat rises or sinks like it is riding an elevator, until it is level with the next stretch of canal.

Shipping goods by canal cost much less than by wagon, and towns along the canal grew quickly.

Questions

  1. When did the Erie Canal open? in the text

  2. Which two bodies of water did the canal join? in the text

  3. What pulled the canal boats along? in the text

  4. What is a lock used for? in the text

  5. Why did towns along the canal grow quickly? think about it

  6. Why was moving goods by wagon hard before the canal? in the text

Words to know

canal
a long waterway dug by people for boats
towpath
a path beside a canal where animals walked to pull boats
locks
chambers with gates that raise or lower boats on a canal
inland
away from the coast, toward the middle of the land
Share

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 · 170 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7

In the early 1800s, moving heavy goods across New York was slow and cost a lot. Roads were bumpy. Wagons got stuck in mud. So workers dug a canal, a waterway made by people. The Erie Canal opened in 1825. It joined the Hudson River to Lake Erie. Boats could travel far inland.

Most of the digging was done by hand with shovels, and with horses and oxen to help. It took years.

A canal boat had no engine. A pair of mules or horses walked on a path by the water. The path is called the towpath. A long rope ran from the animals to the boat. They pulled it at a slow walk.

Sometimes the land went uphill. So builders made locks. A lock is a small room with gates. Water goes in or out, and the boat goes up or down like an elevator until it meets the next part of the canal.

Shipping by canal cost much less than by wagon. Towns by the canal grew fast.

▲ This passage · 188 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.7

In the early 1800s, moving heavy goods across New York State was slow and costly. Roads were bumpy, and wagons got stuck in mud. So workers dug a canal, which is a waterway made by people. The Erie Canal opened in 1825. It joined the Hudson River with Lake Erie, so boats could travel a long way inland.

Most of the digging was done by hand, with shovels and with the help of horses and oxen. It took years of hard work.

A canal boat had no engine. Instead, a pair of mules or horses walked along a path beside the water, called the towpath. A long rope ran from the animals to the boat, and they pulled it along at a slow walking pace.

Sometimes the land rose uphill. To fix this, builders made locks. A lock is a small chamber with gates. Water is let in or out, and the boat rises or sinks like it is riding an elevator, until it is level with the next stretch of canal.

Shipping goods by canal cost much less than by wagon, and towns along the canal grew quickly.

■ Harder · 205 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.5

In the early nineteenth century, transporting heavy goods across New York State was both slow and expensive. The roads were rough, and wagons frequently became stuck in the mud. To solve this problem, workers excavated a canal, which is a waterway constructed by people. The Erie Canal opened in 1825 and connected the Hudson River with Lake Erie, allowing boats to travel deep into the interior of the country.

Most of the excavation was accomplished by hand, using shovels and with the assistance of horses and oxen. The project required years of exhausting labor.

A canal boat carried no engine. Instead, a team of mules or horses walked along a path beside the water, known as the towpath, while a long rope stretched from the animals to the boat. Together they dragged it forward at a leisurely walking pace.

Occasionally the land sloped upward, and builders solved this obstacle with locks. A lock is a chamber with gates at each end. Water is released in or out, and the boat rises or sinks, much like an elevator, until it is level with the next section of canal.

Shipping goods by canal cost far less than hauling them by wagon, and towns along the route expanded rapidly.

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 canal, towpath, locks and inland 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 "Mules on the Towpath of the Erie Canal"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 188 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.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.