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One River That Flows Through Many Capitals

4th grade nonfiction passage about the danube river in europe: 185 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction the danube river in europe 185 words

One River That Flows Through Many Capitals

Most rivers flow past a few towns. The Danube, in Europe, flows past a great many. It begins in the hills of Germany, where two small streams join. From there it moves east. It grows wider as other rivers flow into it.

On its way, the Danube passes through the capital cities of four countries. They are Vienna in Austria, Bratislava in Slovakia, Budapest in Hungary, and Belgrade in Serbia. Each city grew up beside the river because water was so useful. People could drink it, fish in it, and travel on it. Even today, long flat boats called barges carry goods such as grain along the Danube.

The river crosses many borders, so the countries along it have to work together. They agree on rules for boats. They share the job of keeping the water clean. What one country does to the river will reach the next country downstream.

At last the Danube arrives in Romania. There it spreads out into a delta, a fan of small channels and wetlands. Many birds make their homes there. Then the river empties into the Black Sea.

Questions

  1. Where does the Danube begin? in the text

  2. Which four capital cities does the Danube pass through? in the text

  3. What do barges carry along the Danube? in the text

  4. What is a delta? in the text

  5. Why did cities grow up beside the river? in the text

  6. Why must the countries along the Danube work together? think about it

Words to know

capital
the city where a country's government sits
barges
long, flat boats used to carry heavy goods
borders
the lines that separate one country from another
delta
low land where a river splits into many channels before the sea
downstream
in the direction that a river flows
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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 · 168 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.2

Most rivers pass a few towns. The Danube, in Europe, passes many. It starts in the hills of Germany. There, two small streams join. Then the river flows east. It gets wider as more rivers pour into it.

The Danube goes through four capital cities. They are Vienna in Austria, Bratislava in Slovakia, Budapest in Hungary, and Belgrade in Serbia. Each city grew by the river because water is useful. People could drink it, fish in it, and travel on it. Today, long flat boats called barges still carry goods like grain on the Danube.

The river crosses many borders. So the countries have to work together. They agree on rules for boats. They help keep the water clean. What one country does to the river reaches the next country.

At the end, the Danube comes to Romania. There it spreads out into a delta. A delta is a fan of small channels and wet land. Many birds live there. Then the river flows into the Black Sea.

▲ This passage · 185 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.2

Most rivers flow past a few towns. The Danube, in Europe, flows past a great many. It begins in the hills of Germany, where two small streams join. From there it moves east. It grows wider as other rivers flow into it.

On its way, the Danube passes through the capital cities of four countries. They are Vienna in Austria, Bratislava in Slovakia, Budapest in Hungary, and Belgrade in Serbia. Each city grew up beside the river because water was so useful. People could drink it, fish in it, and travel on it. Even today, long flat boats called barges carry goods such as grain along the Danube.

The river crosses many borders, so the countries along it have to work together. They agree on rules for boats. They share the job of keeping the water clean. What one country does to the river will reach the next country downstream.

At last the Danube arrives in Romania. There it spreads out into a delta, a fan of small channels and wetlands. Many birds make their homes there. Then the river empties into the Black Sea.

■ Harder · 205 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 9

Most rivers pass by only a handful of towns, but the Danube, in Europe, flows past a great many. It begins in the hills of Germany, where two small streams meet and join together. From there it travels east, growing steadily wider as other rivers pour their water into it.

Along the way, the Danube runs through the capital cities of four different countries: Vienna in Austria, Bratislava in Slovakia, Budapest in Hungary, and Belgrade in Serbia. Each of these cities grew up beside the river because water was so valuable to the people who settled there. They could drink it, fish in it, and travel on it. Even today, long flat boats called barges carry goods such as grain along the Danube.

Because the river crosses so many borders, the countries along its banks must cooperate. They agree on rules for the boats that use the river, and they share the responsibility of keeping the water clean. Whatever one country does to the river will eventually reach its neighbor downstream.

Finally, the Danube arrives in Romania and spreads out into a delta, a fan of small channels and wetlands that shelters many kinds of birds. After that, the river empties into the Black Sea.

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 capital, barges, borders, delta and downstream 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 "One River That Flows Through Many Capitals"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 185 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.2. 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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