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Glass Beads in the Paint on the Road

6th grade nonfiction passage about road line painting crew: 232 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction road line painting crew 232 words

Glass Beads in the Paint on the Road

At night, the lines on a road seem to glow in your headlights. That glow is not a trick of the paint. It comes from thousands of tiny glass beads, and a road marking crew is the team that puts them there.

Here is how the work goes. A specialized truck travels slowly along the road while a spray nozzle applies a stripe of paint to the pavement. Right behind the paint, another nozzle drops small glass beads onto the wet stripe, and the paint dries and holds the beads in place, with the top half of each bead showing like a tiny dome.

When a car's headlights shine on the line, each bead catches the light and bends it, and the light bounces back toward the car. Because of this, the driver sees a bright line even when the road is dark or wet. This effect is called reflection, and it helps keep drivers inside their lane.

Crews must work with care. The truck has to follow a straight line, so a worker often guides it using marks set on the road beforehand. Cones and warning signs protect the crew from passing cars. The weather matters too, since paint needs dry pavement to stick well.

Over time, tires wear away the paint and beads, so the lines slowly fade. That is why crews return every so often to paint them fresh.

Questions

  1. What makes road lines glow at night? in the text

  2. When are the beads dropped onto the stripe? in the text

  3. What do the beads do with a car's headlights? in the text

  4. Why do crews use cones and warning signs? in the text

  5. Why does the paint need dry pavement? think about it

  6. Why do crews have to come back and repaint lines? think about it

Words to know

nozzle
a small opening at the end of a pipe that sprays liquid
pavement
the hard surface of a road
reflection
light that bounces off a surface
dome
a rounded shape like half a ball
crew
a group of people who work together
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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 · 211 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.5

At night, the lines on a road seem to glow in your headlights. That glow is not a trick of the paint. It comes from thousands of tiny glass beads. A road marking crew puts them there.

Here is how the work goes. A special truck drives slowly down the road. A nozzle sprays a stripe of paint on the pavement. Right behind it, another nozzle drops small glass beads on the wet stripe. The paint dries and holds the beads. The top half of each bead shows like a tiny dome.

When a car's headlights shine on the line, each bead catches the light and bends it. The light bounces back to the car. So the driver sees a bright line, even when the road is dark or wet. This is called reflection. It helps drivers stay in their lane.

The crew must work with care. The truck must follow a straight line. So a worker often guides it with marks set on the road first. Cones and signs keep the crew safe from cars. The weather matters too. Paint needs dry pavement to stick well.

Over time, tires wear away the paint and beads. The lines slowly fade. So crews come back now and then to paint them fresh.

▲ This passage · 232 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5

At night, the lines on a road seem to glow in your headlights. That glow is not a trick of the paint. It comes from thousands of tiny glass beads, and a road marking crew is the team that puts them there.

Here is how the work goes. A specialized truck travels slowly along the road while a spray nozzle applies a stripe of paint to the pavement. Right behind the paint, another nozzle drops small glass beads onto the wet stripe, and the paint dries and holds the beads in place, with the top half of each bead showing like a tiny dome.

When a car's headlights shine on the line, each bead catches the light and bends it, and the light bounces back toward the car. Because of this, the driver sees a bright line even when the road is dark or wet. This effect is called reflection, and it helps keep drivers inside their lane.

Crews must work with care. The truck has to follow a straight line, so a worker often guides it using marks set on the road beforehand. Cones and warning signs protect the crew from passing cars. The weather matters too, since paint needs dry pavement to stick well.

Over time, tires wear away the paint and beads, so the lines slowly fade. That is why crews return every so often to paint them fresh.

■ Harder · 240 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.9

After dark, the lines on a road appear to glow in your headlights. That glow is not merely a trick of the paint. It originates from thousands of tiny glass beads, and a road marking crew is the team responsible for placing them there.

Here is how the work unfolds. A specialized truck travels slowly along the road while a spray nozzle applies a stripe of paint to the pavement. Immediately behind the paint, a second nozzle scatters small glass beads onto the wet stripe. The paint dries and grips the beads, leaving the upper half of each one exposed like a miniature dome.

When a car's headlights sweep across the line, each bead captures the light and bends it. The light then bounces back toward the car, so the driver perceives a bright line even when the road is dark or soaked with rain. This phenomenon is called reflection, and it helps keep drivers safely within their lane.

Crews must work with considerable care. The truck has to follow a perfectly straight path, so a worker frequently guides it using marks laid out on the road beforehand. Cones and warning signs shield the crew from passing traffic. The weather matters as well, since paint requires dry pavement in order to bond properly.

Over the months, tires gradually grind away the paint and the beads, so the lines slowly fade. That explains why crews return periodically to paint them fresh.

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 nozzle, pavement, reflection, dome and crew 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 "Glass Beads in the Paint on the Road"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 232 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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