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Lighting the Street Lamps at Dusk

5th grade nonfiction passage about gas street lamps: 174 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction gas street lamps 174 words

Lighting the Street Lamps at Dusk

Before electric lights, city streets were dark after sunset. In the 1800s, many towns lit their streets with gas lamps, and a worker called a lamplighter made them glow each evening.

At dusk, the lamplighter began a long walk. Carrying a tall pole with a small flame at the tip, the lamplighter stopped at every lamp along the street. A reach with the pole turned on the gas, and the flame set it burning. One by one, the lamps lit up, and a trail of gold light spread down the road.

At dawn, the lamplighter walked the route again to put the lamps out. Some lamplighters also cleaned the glass and fixed the lamps so that the light stayed bright.

Lamps changed how people lived. Walking home after dark felt safer, and shops could stay open later. Neighbors could meet in the evening and visit outside. In time, electric bulbs took the place of gas lamps, and the lamplighter's job faded away. In a few old towns, a few gas lamps still glow today.

Questions

  1. What did a lamplighter do each evening? in the text

  2. What did the lamplighter carry? in the text

  3. When did the lamplighter put the lamps out? in the text

  4. What is one way street lamps changed daily life? in the text

  5. Why did the lamplighter's job fade away? think about it

  6. Why might a lamplighter clean the glass of a lamp? think about it

Words to know

lamplighter
a worker who lit street lamps each evening
dusk
the time of day just after the sun goes down
route
the path someone follows from place to place
dawn
the time of day when the sun comes up
faded
slowly became weaker until it was gone
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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 · 154 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.4

Long ago, there were no electric lights. City streets were dark at night. In the 1800s, many towns used gas lamps. A worker called a lamplighter lit them each evening.

At dusk, the lamplighter began a long walk. The lamplighter carried a tall pole with a small flame on the tip. At each lamp, a reach with the pole turned on the gas. The flame lit it. One by one, the lamps glowed, and gold light spread down the road.

At dawn, the lamplighter walked the route again to put the lamps out. Some lamplighters also cleaned the glass and fixed the lamps. This kept the light bright.

Lamps changed how people lived. Walking home at night felt safer. Shops stayed open later. Neighbors could visit outside in the evening. In time, electric bulbs took the place of gas lamps. The job of lamplighter faded away. A few old towns still have gas lamps.

▲ This passage · 174 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.8

Before electric lights, city streets were dark after sunset. In the 1800s, many towns lit their streets with gas lamps, and a worker called a lamplighter made them glow each evening.

At dusk, the lamplighter began a long walk. Carrying a tall pole with a small flame at the tip, the lamplighter stopped at every lamp along the street. A reach with the pole turned on the gas, and the flame set it burning. One by one, the lamps lit up, and a trail of gold light spread down the road.

At dawn, the lamplighter walked the route again to put the lamps out. Some lamplighters also cleaned the glass and fixed the lamps so that the light stayed bright.

Lamps changed how people lived. Walking home after dark felt safer, and shops could stay open later. Neighbors could meet in the evening and visit outside. In time, electric bulbs took the place of gas lamps, and the lamplighter's job faded away. In a few old towns, a few gas lamps still glow today.

■ Harder · 180 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.1

Before the invention of electric lighting, city streets were dark after sunset. In the 1800s, many towns illuminated their streets with gas lamps, and a worker known as a lamplighter made them glow every evening.

At dusk, the lamplighter set out on a lengthy walk, carrying a tall pole with a small flame at its tip. At each lamp along the street, a quick reach with the pole turned on the gas, and the flame ignited it. One by one the lamps came to life, and a trail of golden light spread down the road.

At dawn, the lamplighter walked the same route again to extinguish the lamps. Some lamplighters also cleaned the glass and repaired the lamps so that the light remained bright.

Street lamps transformed the way people lived. Walking home after dark felt safer, and shops could remain open later into the evening. Neighbors could gather outdoors to visit with one another. In time, electric bulbs replaced gas lamps, and the lamplighter's job faded away, although a few gas lamps still glow in some old towns today.

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 lamplighter, dusk, route, dawn and faded 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 "Lighting the Street Lamps at Dusk"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 174 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.8. 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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