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Telling Time Before Clocks Had Hands

4th grade nonfiction passage about early ways to tell time: 186 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade nonfiction early ways to tell time 186 words

Telling Time Before Clocks Had Hands

You can check the time on a phone or a watch in a second. Long ago, people had to be much more clever.

One of the oldest tools was the sundial. A sundial has a flat plate with marks on it and an upright piece that makes a shadow. As the sun moves across the sky, the shadow moves too, and it points to different marks during the day. The problem was that a sundial did not work at night or when clouds covered the sun.

So people invented the water clock. Water dripped slowly from one container into another. A mark on the second container showed how much time had passed as the water level rose. Because it did not need sunlight, a water clock could be used indoors and after dark.

Later, people made hourglasses. Sand ran through a narrow gap from the top bulb to the bottom one. When all the sand had fallen, a set amount of time was over.

Finally, in Europe, builders made big clocks with gears and weights, which were set in the towers of town halls and churches.

Questions

  1. What makes the shadow on a sundial? in the text

  2. When did a sundial not work? in the text

  3. How did a water clock show that time had passed? in the text

  4. What moved through the narrow gap in an hourglass? in the text

  5. Why was a water clock more useful than a sundial indoors? think about it

  6. Where were the big European clocks with gears placed? in the text

Words to know

sundial
a tool that tells time by the shadow of the sun
shadow
a dark shape made when something blocks light
hourglass
a glass with two bulbs that lets sand run down to measure time
gears
wheels with teeth that fit together and turn
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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 · 158 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.6

You can check the time on a phone in a second. Long ago, people had to be clever.

One old tool was the sundial. It has a flat plate with marks and an upright piece that makes a shadow. As the sun moves, the shadow moves. It points to different marks during the day. But a sundial did not work at night or when clouds hid the sun.

So people made the water clock. Water dripped slowly from one pot into another. A mark on the second pot showed how much time had passed as the water rose. It did not need sunlight. It worked indoors and after dark.

Later came the hourglass. Sand ran through a narrow gap from the top bulb to the bottom one. When all the sand had fallen, a set time was over.

In Europe, builders made big clocks with gears and weights. They put them in towers of town halls and churches.

▲ This passage · 186 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.1

You can check the time on a phone or a watch in a second. Long ago, people had to be much more clever.

One of the oldest tools was the sundial. A sundial has a flat plate with marks on it and an upright piece that makes a shadow. As the sun moves across the sky, the shadow moves too, and it points to different marks during the day. The problem was that a sundial did not work at night or when clouds covered the sun.

So people invented the water clock. Water dripped slowly from one container into another. A mark on the second container showed how much time had passed as the water level rose. Because it did not need sunlight, a water clock could be used indoors and after dark.

Later, people made hourglasses. Sand ran through a narrow gap from the top bulb to the bottom one. When all the sand had fallen, a set amount of time was over.

Finally, in Europe, builders made big clocks with gears and weights, which were set in the towers of town halls and churches.

■ Harder · 184 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.9

Today you can check the time on a phone or a watch within a second. Many centuries ago, people had to be considerably more resourceful.

One of the oldest instruments was the sundial. A sundial consists of a flat plate covered with marks and an upright piece that casts a shadow. As the sun travels across the sky, the shadow shifts as well, pointing to different marks throughout the day. Unfortunately, a sundial was useless at night or whenever clouds concealed the sun.

Consequently, people invented the water clock. Water dripped gradually from one container into another, and a mark on the second container indicated how much time had elapsed as the water level climbed. Since it required no sunlight, a water clock could be used indoors and after dark.

Later, people created hourglasses. Sand flowed through a narrow gap from the upper bulb into the lower one, and when every grain had fallen, a fixed amount of time had passed.

Eventually, in Europe, builders constructed enormous clocks powered by gears and weights, which were installed in the towers of town halls and churches.

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 sundial, shadow, hourglass and gears 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 "Telling Time Before Clocks Had Hands"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 186 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.1. 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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