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Singapore: A Whole Country on One Small Island

6th grade nonfiction passage about a tiny island country: 212 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction a tiny island country 212 words

Singapore: A Whole Country on One Small Island

Singapore is a country and a city at the same time. It sits on a small island near the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, very close to the equator, so the weather is warm and humid all year long. There is not much land, and millions of people live there. That means careful planning matters in almost everything.

One answer to a lack of space is to build upward. Many families live in tall apartment buildings, and some of these have gardens on the roofs and plants growing up the walls. Another answer is to make new land. Workers pile sand into shallow parts of the sea until dry ground appears, and the country has grown larger in this way.

Water is a second challenge, because the island has few rivers and lakes. Singapore catches rain in reservoirs, recycles used water until it is clean again, and buys some from its neighbor, Malaysia.

Food is a delight in Singapore. People often eat at hawker centers, which are big open-air halls filled with small stalls. Each stall cooks only a few dishes, and the cooks may have practiced them for many years. A family can order noodles, rice, and soup from three different stalls and sit down together at one table.

Questions

  1. Where does Singapore sit? in the text

  2. What are two ways Singapore deals with a lack of land? in the text

  3. Where does Singapore get its water? in the text

  4. What is a hawker center? in the text

  5. Why is the weather warm all year in Singapore? think about it

  6. Why does the country plan carefully? think about it

Words to know

peninsula
a piece of land almost surrounded by water
humid
full of moisture so the air feels sticky
reservoirs
lakes made to store water for people to use
recycles
treats something so it can be used again
stalls
small booths where food or goods are sold
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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 · 204 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.8

Singapore is a country and a city at the same time. It sits on a small island near the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It is very close to the equator, so the weather is warm and humid all year. There is not much land, and millions of people live there. So planning matters in almost everything.

One answer to the lack of space is to build up. Many families live in tall apartment buildings. Some have gardens on the roofs and plants on the walls. Another answer is to make new land. Workers pile sand into shallow parts of the sea until dry ground appears. The country has grown larger this way.

Water is a second problem. The island has few rivers and lakes. Singapore catches rain in reservoirs. It cleans used water so it can be used again. It also buys some water from its neighbor, Malaysia.

Food is a joy in Singapore. People eat at hawker centers. These are big open halls with many small food stalls. Each stall cooks only a few dishes, and the cooks have often practiced for many years. A family can order noodles, rice, and soup from three stalls and eat together at one table.

▲ This passage · 212 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.2

Singapore is a country and a city at the same time. It sits on a small island near the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, very close to the equator, so the weather is warm and humid all year long. There is not much land, and millions of people live there. That means careful planning matters in almost everything.

One answer to a lack of space is to build upward. Many families live in tall apartment buildings, and some of these have gardens on the roofs and plants growing up the walls. Another answer is to make new land. Workers pile sand into shallow parts of the sea until dry ground appears, and the country has grown larger in this way.

Water is a second challenge, because the island has few rivers and lakes. Singapore catches rain in reservoirs, recycles used water until it is clean again, and buys some from its neighbor, Malaysia.

Food is a delight in Singapore. People often eat at hawker centers, which are big open-air halls filled with small stalls. Each stall cooks only a few dishes, and the cooks may have practiced them for many years. A family can order noodles, rice, and soup from three different stalls and sit down together at one table.

■ Harder · 213 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 9.6

Singapore is a country and a city simultaneously. It occupies a small island near the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, remarkably close to the equator, so the climate is warm and humid throughout the year. Land is scarce and millions of people live there, which means that careful planning matters in nearly every part of life.

One solution to the shortage of space is to build upward. Many families reside in tall apartment buildings, and some of these have gardens on their rooftops and plants climbing their walls. Another solution is to manufacture new land. Workers pile sand into shallow parts of the sea until dry ground emerges, and the country has expanded considerably in this manner.

Water presents a second challenge, because the island has few rivers and lakes. Singapore captures rain in reservoirs, recycles used water until it is clean again, and purchases some from its neighbor, Malaysia.

Food is a genuine delight in Singapore. People frequently dine at hawker centers, which are enormous open-air halls filled with small stalls. Each stall prepares only a handful of dishes, and the cooks have often spent many years perfecting them. A family can order noodles, rice, and soup from three different stalls and then sit down together at a single table.

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 peninsula, humid, reservoirs, recycles and stalls 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 "Singapore: A Whole Country on One Small Island"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 212 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.2. 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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