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Giant Staircases Carved Into Hillsides

5th grade nonfiction passage about terraced rice fields: 206 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction terraced rice fields 206 words

Giant Staircases Carved Into Hillsides

Rice needs plenty of water to grow well. That is easy to give a plant on flat land, where a field can be flooded. But in parts of Asia the land is steep, with few flat places. Farmers there found a way to bring the flat land to the hills. They built terraces.

A terrace is a wide step cut into a slope. Farmers dig into the hillside and build a low wall along the edge of each step. Row after row, they make a huge staircase that climbs the hill. Each step is nearly level, so it can hold a shallow pool of water around the young rice plants.

Water often arrives from a stream above the hill. It flows into the top terrace, and when that one is full, it spills down to the next. In this way, one spring can feed an entire hillside.

Terraces also protect the land. On a steep slope, heavy rain can wash good soil away. The walls and level steps slow the water and keep the soil in place.

Terraces can be found in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other lands. From far away, they look like curved ribbons of green or gold, depending on the season.

Questions

  1. Why do rice plants need flat fields? think about it

  2. What is a terrace? in the text

  3. How does water get from one terrace to the next? in the text

  4. What problem do terraces help prevent on steep hills? in the text

  5. Can you name two places where terraces can be found? in the text

  6. Why might the fields look green at one time and gold at another? think about it

Words to know

terrace
a flat step built into the side of a hill
steep
rising or falling very sharply
level
flat, with no slope
spring
a place where water flows naturally out of the ground
protect
to keep safe from harm
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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 · 167 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7

Rice needs lots of water to grow. That is easy on flat land, where a field can be flooded. But in parts of Asia the land is steep. There are few flat places. Farmers there made flat land on the hills. They built terraces.

A terrace is a wide step cut into a slope. Farmers dig into the hill. They build a low wall along the edge of each step. Row after row makes a huge staircase. Each step is almost flat, so it can hold a shallow pool of water around the young rice.

Water often comes from a stream above. It flows into the top terrace. When that one is full, it spills to the next. One spring can feed a whole hill.

Terraces also protect the land. On a steep slope, heavy rain can wash good soil away. The walls and steps slow the water.

You can see terraces in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. They look like ribbons of green or gold.

▲ This passage · 206 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.1

Rice needs plenty of water to grow well. That is easy to give a plant on flat land, where a field can be flooded. But in parts of Asia the land is steep, with few flat places. Farmers there found a way to bring the flat land to the hills. They built terraces.

A terrace is a wide step cut into a slope. Farmers dig into the hillside and build a low wall along the edge of each step. Row after row, they make a huge staircase that climbs the hill. Each step is nearly level, so it can hold a shallow pool of water around the young rice plants.

Water often arrives from a stream above the hill. It flows into the top terrace, and when that one is full, it spills down to the next. In this way, one spring can feed an entire hillside.

Terraces also protect the land. On a steep slope, heavy rain can wash good soil away. The walls and level steps slow the water and keep the soil in place.

Terraces can be found in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other lands. From far away, they look like curved ribbons of green or gold, depending on the season.

■ Harder · 210 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.5

Rice requires an abundance of water to grow well. That is easy to provide on flat land, where an entire field can be flooded. In parts of Asia, however, the land is steep, with very few level places. Farmers there discovered a way to bring the flat land to the hills. They built terraces.

A terrace is a wide step cut into a slope. Farmers dig into the hillside and construct a low wall along the edge of each step. Row after row, they create an enormous staircase that climbs the hill. Each step is nearly level, so it can hold a shallow pool of water around the young rice plants.

Water frequently arrives from a stream above the hill. It flows into the top terrace, and once that one is full, it spills down to the next. In this way, a single spring can nourish an entire hillside.

Terraces also protect the land itself. On a steep slope, heavy rain can wash good soil away, but the walls and level steps slow the water and keep the soil in place.

Terraces can be found in China, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other lands. From a distance, they look like curved ribbons of green or gold, depending on the season.

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 terrace, steep, level, spring and protect 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 1 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 "Giant Staircases Carved Into Hillsides"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 206 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.1. 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. 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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