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The Spadefoot Toad Waits Under the Desert

5th grade nonfiction passage about spadefoot toads and rain pools: 230 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction spadefoot toads and rain pools 230 words

The Spadefoot Toad Waits Under the Desert

A toad needs water to lay its eggs, but a spadefoot toad lives in dry country where rain may not come for months. How does it manage? It waits underground.

The spadefoot has a hard, sharp edge on each back foot, shaped a little like a garden spade, and it uses these feet to dig backward into loose soil, wiggling down until it is completely buried. Down there the soil is cooler and more damp than the ground above, so the toad stays motionless without eating, and it may spend most of the year in this condition.

Then a heavy rain falls. Somehow the toad senses the change and digs its way up to the surface. Soon the toads gather around the new puddles and pools. The males call loudly to attract mates, and the females lay eggs in the water.

The pools will not last long, because the sun will dry them out within a few weeks. For that reason, spadefoot eggs hatch quickly and the tadpoles grow rapidly, since they must turn into small toads before their pool disappears.

The young toads and the adults then eat as much as they can to build up their strength. When the ground dries again, they dig down to wait for the next rain.

The spadefoot has learned to live by a different clock, one that is set by the weather.

Questions

  1. What is special about the back feet of a spadefoot toad? in the text

  2. Why does the toad dig into the ground? in the text

  3. What brings the toads up to the surface? in the text

  4. What do the males do at the new pools? in the text

  5. Why do spadefoot tadpoles need to grow quickly? think about it

  6. What does the writer mean by saying the toad lives by a clock set by weather? think about it

Words to know

spade
a tool for digging with a flat edge
buried
covered up under the ground
damp
a little bit wet
tadpoles
baby frogs and toads that live in water
attract
to draw someone closer
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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 · 183 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.4

A toad needs water to lay its eggs. But a spadefoot toad lives in dry country. Rain may not come for months. How does it manage? It waits underground.

The spadefoot has a hard, sharp edge on each back foot. It is shaped like a garden spade. The toad uses these feet to dig backward into loose soil. It wiggles down until it is buried. The soil down there is cooler and more damp. The toad stays still and does not eat. It may spend most of the year this way.

Then a heavy rain falls. The toad digs its way up. Soon toads gather around the new pools. The males call loudly to attract mates. The females lay eggs in the water.

The pools will not last long. The sun will dry them in a few weeks. So the eggs hatch fast, and the tadpoles grow quickly. They must become small toads before the pool is gone.

The young toads and the adults eat as much as they can. When the ground dries, they dig down to wait for the next rain.

▲ This passage · 230 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.9

A toad needs water to lay its eggs, but a spadefoot toad lives in dry country where rain may not come for months. How does it manage? It waits underground.

The spadefoot has a hard, sharp edge on each back foot, shaped a little like a garden spade, and it uses these feet to dig backward into loose soil, wiggling down until it is completely buried. Down there the soil is cooler and more damp than the ground above, so the toad stays motionless without eating, and it may spend most of the year in this condition.

Then a heavy rain falls. Somehow the toad senses the change and digs its way up to the surface. Soon the toads gather around the new puddles and pools. The males call loudly to attract mates, and the females lay eggs in the water.

The pools will not last long, because the sun will dry them out within a few weeks. For that reason, spadefoot eggs hatch quickly and the tadpoles grow rapidly, since they must turn into small toads before their pool disappears.

The young toads and the adults then eat as much as they can to build up their strength. When the ground dries again, they dig down to wait for the next rain.

The spadefoot has learned to live by a different clock, one that is set by the weather.

■ Harder · 245 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.9

A toad requires water in which to lay its eggs, yet the spadefoot toad inhabits dry country where rain may not fall for months at a time. How does it cope? It waits underground.

The spadefoot has a hard, sharp edge on each back foot, shaped rather like a garden spade, and it uses these feet to dig backward into loose soil, wriggling downward until it is completely buried. Down there the soil is cooler and more damp than the ground above, so the toad remains motionless and does not eat, and it may spend most of the year in this condition.

Then a heavy rain falls. Somehow the toad senses the change and digs its way up to the surface. Before long, toads gather around the new puddles and pools. The males call loudly to attract mates, and the females lay their eggs in the water.

The pools will not last long, because the sun will evaporate them within a few weeks. For that reason, spadefoot eggs hatch remarkably quickly, and the tadpoles develop at a rapid pace, since they must transform into small toads before their temporary pool disappears altogether.

The young toads and the adults then eat as much as they possibly can to build up their strength. When the ground dries once more, they dig down to wait for the next rain.

The spadefoot has learned to live by a different kind of clock, one that is set by the weather.

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 spade, buried, damp, tadpoles and attract 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 "The Spadefoot Toad Waits Under the Desert"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 230 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.8. 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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