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Raking Leaves: By the Hour or by the Job

7th grade nonfiction passage about comparing pay rates: 228 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade nonfiction comparing pay rates 228 words

Raking Leaves: By the Hour or by the Job

A student who wants to earn money in autumn is offered two ways to be paid for raking a neighbor's yard. The neighbor will pay $10 for every hour of work, or the neighbor will pay a flat fee of $50 for the whole yard, however long it takes. Which choice is better? The answer depends on a rate, which compares two different quantities, such as dollars and hours.

Start with the hourly offer, whose rate is $10 per hour and never changes. The flat fee has to be turned into dollars per hour before the two offers can be compared fairly. That means dividing the fee by the number of hours worked, and the number of hours is exactly what makes the decision tricky.

Suppose the student can finish in 4 hours. Then $50 divided by 4 comes to $12.50 per hour, which beats $10. But suppose the leaves are thick and wet, and the job drags on for 6 hours. Now $50 divided by 6 is only about $8.33 per hour, and the hourly pay would have been better.

The lesson is that a flat fee rewards speed, while hourly pay protects you when a job takes longer than expected. Before choosing, the student can look over the yard, estimate the time, and do the division. Adults use this same thinking when they decide whether to take a salary, charge by the project, or bill by the hour.

Questions

  1. What are the two ways the student could be paid? in the text

  2. What is a rate? in the text

  3. How much per hour does the flat fee pay if the job takes 4 hours? in the text

  4. How much per hour does the flat fee pay if the job takes 6 hours? in the text

  5. Why might wet, thick leaves make the hourly offer the better choice? think about it

  6. Who does a flat fee reward most? think about it

Words to know

rate
a comparison of two different kinds of amounts
flat fee
one set price that does not change with the time taken
hourly
done or paid for each hour
estimate
to guess a number by using what you know
salary
a fixed pay for a year of work
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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 2.3

A student wants to earn money in autumn. A neighbor offers two ways to pay for raking the yard. One way is $10 for every hour of work. The other way is a flat fee of $50 for the whole yard, no matter how long it takes. Which is better? It depends on a rate. A rate compares two different things, like dollars and hours.

Start with the hourly offer. The rate is $10 per hour. It never changes. Now look at the flat fee. To compare, turn it into dollars per hour. Divide the fee by the number of hours worked. The number of hours is what makes it tricky.

Say the student finishes in 4 hours. Then $50 divided by 4 is $12.50 per hour. That beats $10. But say the leaves are thick and wet. The job takes 6 hours. Now $50 divided by 6 is only about $8.33 per hour. The hourly pay would have been better.

The lesson is simple. A flat fee rewards speed. Hourly pay protects you if a job takes longer than you thought. Before choosing, the student can look at the yard, guess the time and divide. Adults think this way too when they choose a salary, a price for a project, or pay by the hour.

▲ This passage · 228 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.6

A student who wants to earn money in autumn is offered two ways to be paid for raking a neighbor's yard. The neighbor will pay $10 for every hour of work, or the neighbor will pay a flat fee of $50 for the whole yard, however long it takes. Which choice is better? The answer depends on a rate, which compares two different quantities, such as dollars and hours.

Start with the hourly offer, whose rate is $10 per hour and never changes. The flat fee has to be turned into dollars per hour before the two offers can be compared fairly. That means dividing the fee by the number of hours worked, and the number of hours is exactly what makes the decision tricky.

Suppose the student can finish in 4 hours. Then $50 divided by 4 comes to $12.50 per hour, which beats $10. But suppose the leaves are thick and wet, and the job drags on for 6 hours. Now $50 divided by 6 is only about $8.33 per hour, and the hourly pay would have been better.

The lesson is that a flat fee rewards speed, while hourly pay protects you when a job takes longer than expected. Before choosing, the student can look over the yard, estimate the time, and do the division. Adults use this same thinking when they decide whether to take a salary, charge by the project, or bill by the hour.

■ Harder · 252 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.5

A student hoping to earn some money during the autumn months is presented with two alternative arrangements for raking a neighbor's yard. The neighbor is willing to pay $10 for every hour of labor, or else to pay a flat fee of $50 for the entire yard, regardless of how long the work takes. Which option is preferable? The answer hinges on a rate, which is a comparison between two different quantities, such as dollars and hours.

Begin with the hourly proposal. Its rate is $10 per hour, and that figure never varies. The flat fee, on the other hand, must be converted into dollars per hour before the two offers can be compared fairly. This requires dividing the fee by the number of hours worked, and the unpredictable number of hours is precisely what complicates the decision.

Suppose the student can complete the job in 4 hours. Then $50 divided by 4 comes to $12.50 per hour, which surpasses the hourly offer. Now suppose the leaves are thick and soaked, and the work drags on for 6 hours. In that case, $50 divided by 6 is only about $8.33 per hour, and the hourly arrangement would have paid more.

The lesson is that a flat fee rewards speed, whereas hourly pay offers protection when a job takes longer than anticipated. Before deciding, the student can inspect the yard, estimate the time required, and carry out the division. Adults rely on the same reasoning when they decide whether to accept a salary, charge a price for a project, or bill by the hour.

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 rate, flat fee, hourly, estimate and salary 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 "Raking Leaves: By the Hour or by the Job"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 228 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.5. 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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