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A Sociable Weaver Apartment House

4th grade nonfiction passage about birds that build giant nests: 224 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction birds that build giant nests 224 words

A Sociable Weaver Apartment House

On a dry plain in southern Africa, you may spot a huge shape high in a tree. It looks like a haystack that someone has stuck in the branches. It is really a nest, and it is built by small birds called sociable weavers.

Most birds build a nest for one pair. Sociable weavers build one for a whole crowd. Many pairs share a single big nest made from grass and sticks. A nest can grow so large and heavy that it sometimes pulls down a branch.

Inside, the nest is like an apartment building. Each pair has its own chamber with a hole that opens on the underside. The birds line the chambers with soft grass and feathers. The entrances face down, so a snake finds it harder to climb in.

The thick roof of grass does more than hide the rooms. The grass keeps out the sun in the hot day and holds in warmth on the cold night. The birds can stay comfortable in a place where the weather swings widely from day to night.

The weavers keep adding grass and sticks all year. Over many years, a nest can last for a very long time. Other creatures, such as small owls, sometimes make a home in its edges. The weavers' nest may be a home for a lot of neighbors.

Questions

  1. Where do sociable weavers live? in the text

  2. What is the nest made of? in the text

  3. How is the nest like an apartment building? in the text

  4. Why do the entrances face down? in the text

  5. What does the thick grass roof do? in the text

  6. Why might it help the weavers to share one nest instead of building many? think about it

Words to know

sociable
liking to be with others
chamber
a small room or closed space
entrance
the place where you go in
plain
a large, flat stretch of land
comfortable
feeling good and at ease
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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 · 163 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.2

On a dry plain in southern Africa, you may see a huge shape in a tree. It looks like a haystack stuck in the branches. It is really a nest. Small birds called sociable weavers build it.

Most birds build a nest for one pair. Sociable weavers build one for a whole crowd. Many pairs share a big nest made of grass and sticks. It can grow so heavy that it pulls down a branch.

The nest is like an apartment building. Each pair has its own room with a hole that opens on the underside. The birds line the rooms with soft grass and feathers. The doors face down, so it is hard for a snake to climb in.

The thick grass roof keeps out the sun in the day. It holds in warmth at night. The birds stay comfortable.

The weavers add grass and sticks all year. Small owls sometimes live at the edges. It is a home for many neighbors.

▲ This passage · 224 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.9

On a dry plain in southern Africa, you may spot a huge shape high in a tree. It looks like a haystack that someone has stuck in the branches. It is really a nest, and it is built by small birds called sociable weavers.

Most birds build a nest for one pair. Sociable weavers build one for a whole crowd. Many pairs share a single big nest made from grass and sticks. A nest can grow so large and heavy that it sometimes pulls down a branch.

Inside, the nest is like an apartment building. Each pair has its own chamber with a hole that opens on the underside. The birds line the chambers with soft grass and feathers. The entrances face down, so a snake finds it harder to climb in.

The thick roof of grass does more than hide the rooms. The grass keeps out the sun in the hot day and holds in warmth on the cold night. The birds can stay comfortable in a place where the weather swings widely from day to night.

The weavers keep adding grass and sticks all year. Over many years, a nest can last for a very long time. Other creatures, such as small owls, sometimes make a home in its edges. The weavers' nest may be a home for a lot of neighbors.

■ Harder · 215 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.8

On a dry plain in southern Africa, you may notice an enormous shape high in a tree, resembling a haystack that someone has wedged into the branches. It is in fact a nest, constructed by small birds known as sociable weavers.

Most birds build a nest for a single pair, but sociable weavers build one for an entire community. Many pairs share one massive structure woven from grass and sticks, and it can become so heavy that it occasionally pulls a branch down.

Inside, the nest resembles an apartment building. Each pair occupies a separate chamber with an entrance that opens on the underside, and the birds line these chambers with soft grass and feathers. Because the entrances face downward, a snake finds it more difficult to climb inside.

The thick grass roof serves more than one purpose. It shields the rooms from the sun during the day and holds in warmth during the cold night, so the birds remain comfortable in a place where the weather changes dramatically from day to night.

The weavers continue adding grass and sticks throughout the year, and a nest can survive for a very long time. Other creatures, such as small owls, sometimes make their homes along its edges, so the nest may shelter a great many neighbors.

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 sociable, chamber, entrance, plain and comfortable 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 Sociable Weaver Apartment House"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 224 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.9. 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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