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A School Day in One Room

5th grade nonfiction passage about one-room schoolhouses: 188 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction one-room schoolhouses 188 words

A School Day in One Room

Many children on farms in the 1800s went to a one-room schoolhouse. Just as the name says, there was only a single room and a single teacher. Children from about six years old to teenagers all sat together.

In a school today, each grade has its own classroom. In the one-room school, the teacher called up one group at a time to practice reading or arithmetic while the others worked at their desks. Older students often helped the little ones with their letters. Everyone learned to listen well, because they could hear every lesson.

Paper was costly, so many students wrote on slates with chalk and wiped them clean. A wood stove warmed the room in winter. Students took turns carrying in firewood and fetching water. Most of them walked to school, sometimes a long way.

The school year was different too. Farm families needed help at planting and harvest time, so children might miss weeks of school. Even so, the one-room school gave many young people a chance to read, write, and do sums. Some of these small buildings still stand today as museums.

Questions

  1. How many rooms and teachers did a one-room school have? in the text

  2. What did many students write on, since paper was costly? in the text

  3. How did students get to school? in the text

  4. How did older students help the little ones? in the text

  5. Why did children sometimes miss weeks of school? think about it

  6. Why would students learn to listen well in a one-room school? think about it

Words to know

schoolhouse
a small building used for a school
arithmetic
the part of math about adding, subtracting, and so on
slates
thin flat stones used for writing with chalk
harvest
the time when ripe crops are gathered
fetching
going to get something and bringing it back
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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 · 173 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.4

Many children on farms in the 1800s went to a one-room school. There was one room and one teacher. Children from about six years old to teenagers sat together.

In a school today, each grade has its own room. In the one-room school, the teacher called one group at a time to practice reading or arithmetic. The others worked at their desks. Older students often helped the little ones with letters. Everyone learned to listen well. They could hear every lesson.

Paper cost a lot, so many students wrote on slates with chalk. They wiped the slates clean. A wood stove kept the room warm in winter. Students took turns bringing in firewood and fetching water. Most walked to school, sometimes a long way.

The school year was different too. Farm families needed help at planting and harvest time. Children might miss weeks of school. Even so, the one-room school gave many young people a chance to read, write, and do sums. Some of these small buildings are now museums.

▲ This passage · 188 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.1

Many children on farms in the 1800s went to a one-room schoolhouse. Just as the name says, there was only a single room and a single teacher. Children from about six years old to teenagers all sat together.

In a school today, each grade has its own classroom. In the one-room school, the teacher called up one group at a time to practice reading or arithmetic while the others worked at their desks. Older students often helped the little ones with their letters. Everyone learned to listen well, because they could hear every lesson.

Paper was costly, so many students wrote on slates with chalk and wiped them clean. A wood stove warmed the room in winter. Students took turns carrying in firewood and fetching water. Most of them walked to school, sometimes a long way.

The school year was different too. Farm families needed help at planting and harvest time, so children might miss weeks of school. Even so, the one-room school gave many young people a chance to read, write, and do sums. Some of these small buildings still stand today as museums.

■ Harder · 200 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.9

Many children who lived on farms in the 1800s attended a one-room schoolhouse. As the name suggests, there was only a single room and a single teacher, and pupils ranging from about six years old to teenagers all sat together.

In a school today, each grade has its own classroom. In the one-room school, the teacher called up one group at a time to practice reading or arithmetic while the others worked quietly at their desks. Older students frequently assisted the younger ones with their letters. Everyone learned to listen carefully, because they could overhear every lesson.

Paper was expensive, so many students wrote on slates with chalk and wiped them clean when they were finished. A wood stove warmed the room during winter, and students took turns carrying in firewood and fetching water. Most of them walked to school, sometimes over a considerable distance.

The school year differed as well. Farm families needed extra help at planting and harvest time, so children might miss several weeks of school. Even so, the one-room school gave many young people the chance to read, write, and do sums, and some of these small buildings still stand today as museums.

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 schoolhouse, arithmetic, slates, harvest and fetching 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 "A School Day in One Room"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 188 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.0. 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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