Water for Schools
Menu

Reading passage Grade 2 English Language Arts

Soap Suds on Pike Street: A Grade 2 Read-Aloud Passage

A grade 2 read-aloud passage about soapy car-wash water running into a storm drain and a creek, with six questions on key details and one opinion question.

Objectives

  1. Students will answer key-detail questions about a short narrative passage.
  2. Students will explain why grass keeps soapy water out of a creek.
  3. Students will give one opinion with a reason drawn from the text.

Vocabulary

Storm drain
A storm drain is the grate at the edge of a street that swallows rainwater and sends it through pipes to the nearest creek or river. That water is usually not treated, so only rain belongs down the drain.

Also: suds, curb, grime, soak

Teacher overview

This narrative passage follows a boy washing a car in a fictional neighborhood and traces where the soapy water actually goes. It is written for a teacher to read aloud, with short sentences and a neighbor who explains the storm drain in plain words. The misconception it targets is the belief that everything going down a drain gets cleaned somewhere; a storm drain in most towns carries water straight to a creek, while the drain in a kitchen sink does not. Teachers can use the passage before a walk to find the nearest grate on school grounds.

Soap Suds on Pike Street: A Grade 2 Read-Aloud Passage — Grade 2 English Language Arts
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Passage

Soap Suds on Pike Street

On Saturday, Jonah and his aunt washed her car. They parked it on the driveway. They filled a bucket with warm soapy water. Jonah scrubbed the doors, and his aunt sprayed the roof with a hose.

Soon a white stream of suds ran down the driveway. It slid along the curb. Then it slipped through the grate of a storm drain at the corner.

Mrs. Okafor was walking her dog. She stopped and pointed at the grate. She told Jonah that this drain does not go to a plant that cleans water. It goes to Bellwood Creek behind the ball field. Soap and road grime ride along with the water. Fish and frogs do not do well in soapy water.

Jonah felt bad. He asked what he should do instead.

Mrs. Okafor gave him two ideas. He could park the car on the grass and wash it there. The grass would soak up the soapy water, and the soil would hold the grime. He could also ride with his aunt to the car wash on Pike Street. Water from the car wash goes into a pipe that carries it to a plant where it is cleaned.

The next month, Jonah pulled the car onto the grass by the fence. The suds sank into the ground. The creek stayed clear.

Questions

  1. Where did Jonah and his aunt wash the car the first time?
  2. Where did the soapy water go after it went through the grate?
  3. What did Mrs. Okafor say the storm drain does not go to?
  4. Why is soapy water a problem for the creek?
  5. Name one idea Mrs. Okafor gave Jonah.
  6. Why does washing the car on the grass help the creek?
  7. Do you think Jonah made a good choice the next month? Give one reason from the passage.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key
  1. Answer: On the driveway. The passage says they parked the car on the driveway and washed it there.
  2. Answer: To Bellwood Creek. Mrs. Okafor says the drain carries the water to Bellwood Creek behind the ball field.
  3. Answer: A plant that cleans water. She tells Jonah the storm drain does not go to a cleaning plant the way some other drains do.
  4. Answer: Fish and frogs do not do well in soapy water. The passage also says soap and road grime ride along with the water into the creek.
  5. Answer: Either washing the car on the grass or going to the car wash on Pike Street. Both ideas appear in the passage, and only one is needed for credit.
  6. Answer: The grass soaks up the water and the soil holds the grime. Because the suds sink into the ground, they never reach the drain or the creek.
  7. Answer: Answers will vary. A full-credit answer states an opinion and gives one reason from the passage, such as that the suds sank into the ground or that the creek stayed clear.

Differentiation

Support

Read the passage aloud twice and stop after each paragraph to ask one oral question. Let these students trace the path of the suds with a finger on a simple drawing of a driveway, a curb, a grate, and a creek before answering items 2 and 6.

Extension

Ask students to write a short note Jonah could give a neighbor who is about to wash a car in the driveway. Challenge them to include two facts from the passage and one polite suggestion.

ELL supports

Pre-teach suds, curb, grate, and soak with a sketch of each and a small dish of soapy water. Accept phrase answers for items 1 through 5, and give the frame for item 7: "I think Jonah made a ___ choice because ___."

Extensions

Walk the class to a grate on school grounds and have students draw an arrow map from the pavement to the grate to the nearest creek or river they know. Post the maps beside the passage in the hallway.