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Getting Around Venice Without Cars

5th grade nonfiction passage about a city on water: 203 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction a city on water 203 words

Getting Around Venice Without Cars

Venice, in Italy, is a city built on a group of small islands in a shallow lagoon. Instead of long roads, it has canals, narrow lanes, and little bridges. Cars, trucks, and buses cannot enter the old part of the city at all. Everyone gets around on foot or by boat.

The main waterway is the Grand Canal, which curves through the city in the shape of an S. Water buses called vaporetti carry passengers from stop to stop, like city buses on a street. Small taxi boats go wherever a rider wants. Long, thin boats called gondolas carry visitors slowly along the quieter canals.

Boats do other jobs, too. Delivery boats bring groceries and furniture. Others carry fire fighters, doctors, and trash collectors. Even a moving day can be a boat trip.

Walking is the other main way to travel. A person might cross dozens of small bridges on a short walk, and the lanes can twist so much that visitors easily lose their way. Locals know the shortcuts by heart.

Venice shows that a city can work in a very different way from most. When the streets are water, life moves at the pace of an oar or a walking step.

Questions

  1. What is Venice built on? in the text

  2. What are vaporetti? in the text

  3. What shape does the Grand Canal make? in the text

  4. Can you name two jobs that boats do besides carrying visitors? in the text

  5. Why can cars not be used in the old part of the city? think about it

  6. Why might a visitor find it easy to get lost in Venice? think about it

Words to know

lagoon
a shallow body of water partly cut off from the sea
canal
a waterway made for boats
passenger
a person who rides in a vehicle but does not drive it
gondola
a long, narrow boat pushed with one oar
shortcut
a quicker way to get somewhere
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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 · 150 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.3

Venice, in Italy, is built on small islands in a shallow lagoon. It has canals, narrow lanes, and little bridges instead of long roads. Cars, trucks, and buses cannot enter the old part of the city. People go on foot or by boat.

The main waterway is the Grand Canal. It curves through the city like an S. Water buses called vaporetti carry passengers from stop to stop. Small taxi boats go where a rider wants. Long, thin boats called gondolas carry visitors on quiet canals.

Boats do other jobs, too. Delivery boats bring food and furniture. Other boats carry fire fighters, doctors, and trash collectors.

Walking is the other main way to travel. A short walk may cross many small bridges. The lanes twist, so visitors get lost. Locals know the shortcuts.

In Venice, the streets are water. Life moves as fast as an oar or a walking step.

▲ This passage · 203 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.6

Venice, in Italy, is a city built on a group of small islands in a shallow lagoon. Instead of long roads, it has canals, narrow lanes, and little bridges. Cars, trucks, and buses cannot enter the old part of the city at all. Everyone gets around on foot or by boat.

The main waterway is the Grand Canal, which curves through the city in the shape of an S. Water buses called vaporetti carry passengers from stop to stop, like city buses on a street. Small taxi boats go wherever a rider wants. Long, thin boats called gondolas carry visitors slowly along the quieter canals.

Boats do other jobs, too. Delivery boats bring groceries and furniture. Others carry fire fighters, doctors, and trash collectors. Even a moving day can be a boat trip.

Walking is the other main way to travel. A person might cross dozens of small bridges on a short walk, and the lanes can twist so much that visitors easily lose their way. Locals know the shortcuts by heart.

Venice shows that a city can work in a very different way from most. When the streets are water, life moves at the pace of an oar or a walking step.

■ Harder · 218 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.8

Venice, in Italy, is a city constructed on a group of small islands in a shallow lagoon. Instead of long roads, it has canals, narrow lanes, and arched little bridges. Cars, trucks, and buses are not permitted to enter the old part of the city at all, so everyone travels on foot or by boat.

The principal waterway is the Grand Canal, which curves through the city in the shape of an S. Water buses called vaporetti carry passengers from stop to stop, much as city buses do on a street. Small taxi boats go wherever a rider wishes, and long, slender boats called gondolas carry visitors gently along the quieter canals.

Boats perform many other tasks as well. Delivery boats bring groceries and furniture, while others transport fire fighters, doctors, and trash collectors. Even a family's moving day can turn into a boat trip.

Walking is the other major way to travel. A person might cross dozens of small bridges on a short stroll, and the lanes can twist so much that visitors easily lose their way. Locals, however, know the shortcuts by heart.

Venice shows that a city can function in a completely different manner from most. When the streets are made of water, life moves at the pace of an oar or a walking step.

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 lagoon, canal, passenger, gondola and shortcut 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 "Getting Around Venice Without Cars"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 203 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.6. 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. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 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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