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The Quarter Day Left Over Every Year

5th grade nonfiction passage about leap years and the calendar: 222 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction leap years and the calendar 222 words

The Quarter Day Left Over Every Year

One trip around the sun takes Earth a little more than 365 days. It takes about 365 and a quarter days. Our calendar, though, has only 365 days in most years. So every year the calendar falls about a quarter of a day behind the sun.

A quarter of a day does not seem like much. But think about what happens as years pass. After one year, the calendar is one quarter day behind. After two years, it is half a day behind. After three years, three quarters. After four years, the extra pieces add up to one whole day. 4 times one quarter equals 1.

To fix the problem, we add an extra day to the calendar once every four years. That day is February 29, and the year that has it is called a leap year. Most years that you can divide evenly by four are leap years. The rule has a few extra fine-tuning steps, but dividing by four is the main idea.

Without leap years, the calendar and the seasons would slowly drift apart. After a few hundred years, summer weather would show up in months we now call spring. People born on February 29 are sometimes called leap day babies. In most years they celebrate their birthday on February 28 or on March 1, and they get the real date only once every four years.

Questions

  1. About how long does Earth take to go around the sun? in the text

  2. How many days do most calendar years have? in the text

  3. What extra day is added in a leap year? in the text

  4. How often does a leap year usually come? in the text

  5. Why do four quarter days make a whole extra day? think about it

  6. What would happen to the seasons without leap years? think about it

Words to know

calendar
a chart that shows the days, weeks, and months of a year
leap year
a year with one extra day added
drift
to move slowly away from where something should be
evenly
with nothing left over
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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 · 207 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.2

One trip around the sun takes Earth a bit more than 365 days. It takes about 365 and a quarter days. But our calendar has only 365 days in most years. So each year the calendar falls about a quarter of a day behind the sun.

A quarter of a day is not much. But look at what happens as years go by. After one year, the calendar is one quarter day behind. After two years, it is half a day behind. After three years, it is three quarters of a day behind. After four years, the pieces make one whole day. 4 times one quarter is 1.

To fix this, we add an extra day to the calendar every four years. That day is February 29. A year with that day is a leap year. Most years you can divide evenly by four are leap years. There are a few more small rules, but dividing by four is the main idea.

Without leap years, the calendar and the seasons would drift apart. After a few hundred years, summer weather would come in months we call spring. People born on February 29 are called leap day babies. Most years they celebrate on February 28 or March 1. They get the real date once every four years.

▲ This passage · 222 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.4

One trip around the sun takes Earth a little more than 365 days. It takes about 365 and a quarter days. Our calendar, though, has only 365 days in most years. So every year the calendar falls about a quarter of a day behind the sun.

A quarter of a day does not seem like much. But think about what happens as years pass. After one year, the calendar is one quarter day behind. After two years, it is half a day behind. After three years, three quarters. After four years, the extra pieces add up to one whole day. 4 times one quarter equals 1.

To fix the problem, we add an extra day to the calendar once every four years. That day is February 29, and the year that has it is called a leap year. Most years that you can divide evenly by four are leap years. The rule has a few extra fine-tuning steps, but dividing by four is the main idea.

Without leap years, the calendar and the seasons would slowly drift apart. After a few hundred years, summer weather would show up in months we now call spring. People born on February 29 are sometimes called leap day babies. In most years they celebrate their birthday on February 28 or on March 1, and they get the real date only once every four years.

■ Harder · 235 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.6

A single journey around the sun takes Earth slightly longer than 365 days, or about 365 and a quarter days. Our calendar, however, contains only 365 days in most years. As a result, the calendar slips roughly a quarter of a day behind the sun every year.

A quarter of a day may not seem significant. But consider what happens as the years accumulate. After one year, the calendar lags by a quarter day. After two years, it lags by half a day, and after three years, by three quarters of a day. By the end of four years, the leftover pieces add up to one entire day, since 4 times one quarter equals 1.

To correct the problem, we insert an extra day into the calendar once every four years. That extra day is February 29, and a year that contains it is called a leap year. Most years that can be divided evenly by four are leap years. The rule includes a few additional fine-tuning steps, but dividing by four is the central idea.

Without leap years, the calendar and the seasons would gradually drift apart. After a few hundred years, summer weather would begin to arrive in months we currently call spring. People who are born on February 29 are sometimes called leap day babies. In most years they celebrate their birthday on February 28 or on March 1, and they enjoy the genuine date only once every four years.

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 calendar, leap year, drift and evenly 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 Quarter Day Left Over Every Year"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 222 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.4. 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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