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Harvesting Winter Ice Before Refrigerators

7th grade nonfiction passage about ice harvesting and iceboxes: 239 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade nonfiction ice harvesting and iceboxes 239 words

Harvesting Winter Ice Before Refrigerators

Today, a cold drink is as close as the kitchen. A hundred and fifty years ago in the northern United States, though, cold was a crop that people harvested in winter and saved for summer.

When the ponds and rivers froze hard, crews went out onto the ice. First they marked the surface into a grid of squares. Then they cut along the lines with saws, and horses sometimes pulled a special plow to score the ice. Workers floated the loose blocks down a channel of open water to the shore, then used hooks and ramps to lift them out.

The blocks went into icehouses, which were large buildings with thick wooden walls. Workers packed them in layers and covered them with sawdust, which is a surprisingly good insulator. Ice stored this way could last through the heat of summer. Some of it was loaded onto ships and sent to faraway places, where it was a luxury.

In towns, ice was delivered by an iceman, who carried a block into your home with heavy tongs. Families kept food in an icebox, a wooden cabinet with a compartment for the ice and another for milk, butter, and meat. A card in the window told the iceman how much to leave that day. The melted water drained into a pan that had to be emptied.

Electric refrigerators slowly took over during the early 1900s, and the winter ice trade faded away.

Questions

  1. When did ice cutters do their work? in the text

  2. How was ice cut from a frozen pond? in the text

  3. What material kept the stored ice from melting? in the text

  4. What was an icebox? in the text

  5. Why would a family put a card in the window? think about it

  6. Why did the ice trade fade away? think about it

Words to know

harvested
gathered in, as a crop is gathered
grid
a pattern of squares made by crossing lines
insulator
something that slows the movement of heat
luxury
something special that is not needed but is enjoyed
icebox
a cabinet cooled with a block of ice
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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 · 218 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.6

Today, a cold drink is as close as the kitchen. But a long time ago in the northern United States, cold was a crop. People gathered it in winter and saved it for summer.

When ponds and rivers froze hard, crews went out on the ice. They marked the top into squares. Then they cut along the lines with saws. Sometimes a horse pulled a special plow to score the ice. The loose blocks floated down a channel of open water to the shore. Workers used hooks and ramps to lift them out.

The blocks went into icehouses. These were big buildings with thick wood walls. Workers packed the ice in layers and covered it with sawdust. Sawdust is a good insulator. The ice could last all summer. Some was loaded on ships and sent far away, where it was a luxury.

In towns, an iceman brought ice to homes. He carried a block with heavy tongs. Families kept food in an icebox. This was a wood cabinet with a place for ice and a place for milk, butter, and meat. A card in the window told the iceman how much to leave. The melted water ran into a pan that had to be emptied.

In the early 1900s, electric refrigerators took over. The ice trade faded away.

▲ This passage · 239 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.9

Today, a cold drink is as close as the kitchen. A hundred and fifty years ago in the northern United States, though, cold was a crop that people harvested in winter and saved for summer.

When the ponds and rivers froze hard, crews went out onto the ice. First they marked the surface into a grid of squares. Then they cut along the lines with saws, and horses sometimes pulled a special plow to score the ice. Workers floated the loose blocks down a channel of open water to the shore, then used hooks and ramps to lift them out.

The blocks went into icehouses, which were large buildings with thick wooden walls. Workers packed them in layers and covered them with sawdust, which is a surprisingly good insulator. Ice stored this way could last through the heat of summer. Some of it was loaded onto ships and sent to faraway places, where it was a luxury.

In towns, ice was delivered by an iceman, who carried a block into your home with heavy tongs. Families kept food in an icebox, a wooden cabinet with a compartment for the ice and another for milk, butter, and meat. A card in the window told the iceman how much to leave that day. The melted water drained into a pan that had to be emptied.

Electric refrigerators slowly took over during the early 1900s, and the winter ice trade faded away.

■ Harder · 260 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 9

Today, a cold drink is no farther away than the kitchen. A century and a half ago in the northern United States, however, cold itself was a crop that people harvested in winter and preserved for the heat of summer.

Once the ponds and rivers had frozen solid, crews ventured out onto the ice. They began by marking the surface into a grid of squares. Next, they cut along the lines with long saws, and horses sometimes dragged a specialized plow to score the ice more deeply. The loosened blocks were floated down a channel of open water to the shore, where workers used hooks and ramps to haul them out.

The blocks were then stored in icehouses, which were large buildings with thick wooden walls. Workers stacked them in layers and covered them with sawdust, a surprisingly effective insulator. Ice kept in this manner could last through the heat of the entire summer. Some of it was even loaded onto ships and carried to distant lands, where it was considered a luxury.

In towns, ice was delivered by an iceman, who carried each block into the house with heavy tongs. Families kept their food in an icebox, a wooden cabinet that contained one compartment for the ice and another for milk, butter, and meat. A card displayed in the window informed the iceman how much to leave that day, and the melted water drained into a pan that had to be emptied regularly.

Electric refrigerators gradually replaced iceboxes during the early 1900s, and the winter ice trade slowly disappeared.

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 harvested, grid, insulator, luxury and icebox 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 "Harvesting Winter Ice Before Refrigerators"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 239 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.9. 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 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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