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The Nile, a River in the Desert

6th grade nonfiction passage about geography and history: 269 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction geography and history 269 words

The Nile, a River in the Desert

Stretching about four thousand miles, the Nile is one of the longest rivers on Earth. Unlike most rivers, it flows north, beginning in the highlands of East Africa and ending at the Mediterranean Sea. Along the way it crosses some of the driest land in the world, the Sahara Desert.

For thousands of years, the Nile has been the lifeline of Egypt. Each summer, rain falling far upstream caused the river to swell and spill over its banks. When the water drew back, it left behind a layer of dark, fertile mud called silt. Farmers planted wheat, barley, and flax in this rich soil, and they could harvest enough food to feed a growing civilization.

The ancient Egyptians organized their whole calendar around the river. They divided the year into a flood season, a growing season, and a harvest season. They also used the Nile as a highway. Boats carried travelers, grain, and the huge stone blocks used to build the pyramids, and because the current flows north while the wind usually blows south, sailors could drift one way and sail the other.

Today, the Nile no longer floods the way it once did. In 1970, Egypt finished the Aswan High Dam, which holds back the water in a huge lake and controls how much is released. The dam protects farms from floods and droughts and produces electricity. But it also traps the silt that once refreshed the fields, so many farmers now rely on fertilizer. Like many great rivers, the Nile still gives life to millions of people, but they must keep working to balance its benefits and costs.

Questions

  1. In which direction does the Nile flow, and where does it end? in the text

  2. What is silt, and why was it important to farmers? in the text

  3. How did the Nile help with transportation in ancient Egypt? in the text

  4. What are two effects of the Aswan High Dam? think about it

  5. What does the author mean in saying people "must keep working to balance its benefits and costs"? think about it

Words to know

fertile
able to grow plants and crops well
civilization
a large, organized society with cities, farming, and government
lifeline
something that a group depends on to survive
drought
a long time with little or no rain
highlands
an area of high ground

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 fertile, civilization, lifeline, drought and highlands 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 3 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 4 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 Nile, a River in the Desert"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 269 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.9. 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 five. 3 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 3 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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