Reading passage Kindergarten English Language Arts
Ruby Turns Off the Tap: A Water-Saving Read-Aloud Story
An original kindergarten read-aloud story about a girl who learns a simple tap trick for saving water while brushing her teeth, with oral comprehension questions.
Objectives
- Students will listen to a read-aloud story and recall two stated facts about it.
- Students will put the steps of Ruby's tap trick in the correct order.
- Students will state and support an opinion about whether Ruby's idea is worth trying.
Teacher overview
This original story follows a kindergartner named Ruby, who learns from her grandmother why leaving the tap running while brushing her teeth wastes water, and invents a simple trick to fix it. Read the story aloud to the class rather than assigning it as independent reading, and let students answer the questions orally, by telling a partner, or through a quick drawing, since the goal at this age is listening comprehension and discussion rather than independent decoding. The final task doubles as a beginning opinion-writing sample, matching how kindergartners are asked to compose an opinion through drawing and dictation.
Plan to read the story twice: once straight through for enjoyment, and a second time pausing to ask the questions.
Passage
Ruby's Tap Trick
Ruby loved to brush her teeth before bed. One night she turned on the tap. She let it run and run while she brushed. Her grandmother walked by. She reached over and turned the tap off.
"Let's save that water, Ruby," she said.
Ruby asked why.
Grandmother knelt down next to her. "Water runs down the drain when nobody is using it," she said. "Then we do not get to use it later. Our water comes from a lake near town. Workers at a water plant clean it. Then they send it all the way to our house. That is a lot of work. So we try not to waste it."
Ruby thought about the workers who clean the water. She did not want to let it run down the drain for no reason. The next night she tried something new. She turned on the tap. She wet her toothbrush. Then she turned the tap off while she brushed. When she was done, she turned the tap on again. She rinsed her mouth and her brush. Then she turned the tap off.
At school the next day, Ruby taught her tap trick to her friend Sam. "Water on, wet your brush. Water off. Brush, brush, brush. Water on, rinse. Water off," she said. She showed him with her hands.
Sam tried it that very night. It worked for him too.
By the end of the week, Ruby and Sam felt proud. They were brushing their teeth well. They were also helping take care of their town's water. They saved one small drop at a time.
Questions
- What did Ruby do with the tap at the start of the story?
- Who saw the running tap and talked to Ruby?
- Grandmother told Ruby where their water comes from. Where does it come from?
- What are the steps of Ruby's new tap trick? Put them in order: turn off to brush, turn on to wet the brush, turn on to rinse, turn off after rinsing.
- Why do you think Ruby wanted to try the tap trick? Use something from the story in your answer.
- How did Ruby help her friend Sam save water too?
Opinion task (draw and tell). Do you think Ruby's tap trick is a good idea? Draw a picture of yourself trying it at your own sink. Then tell a grown-up one reason why it is or is not a good idea for you.
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Answer Key
- Answer: She let the tap run the whole time she brushed her teeth instead of turning it off. This is stated in the first paragraph.
- Answer: Ruby's grandmother noticed the running tap and turned it off. Accept "grandma" or "grandmother."
- Answer: From a lake near town. The passage states the grandmother's explanation directly: "Our water comes from a lake near town."
- Answer: Turn on to wet the brush, turn off to brush, turn on to rinse, turn off after rinsing. Full credit for any answer that keeps the on-off-on-off pattern in the correct order described in the paragraph where Ruby first tries the trick.
- Answer: Answers will vary but should reference that Ruby thought about the workers who clean the water, and did not want to waste their work by letting it run for no reason, which is the reason stated just before she tries the new trick.
- Answer: Ruby showed Sam the words and hand motions for the tap trick at school, and Sam tried it himself that night. Accept "she taught him" or "she showed him how" as a shorter full-credit answer.
Opinion task answer. Answers will vary. Accept any drawn or dictated response that states a clear opinion (good idea or not) and gives one supporting reason, such as "it is a good idea because it saves water for other people too."
Differentiation
Support (below grade level)
Read the story a third time in short chunks, pausing after each paragraph to ask one simple yes-or-no question before moving on ("Was the tap on or off when grandmother walked by?"). For question 4, provide four picture cards of the steps and have students place them in order rather than stating the order in words.
Extension (above grade level)
After question 6, ask students to think of one more person they could teach the tap trick to at home, and to practice saying the four steps ("water on, water off") from memory without looking at the story. Invite these students to act out the whole story as a two-person skit for the class.
ELL supports
Pre-teach tap, drain, waste, and save with simple gestures (a twisting hand for turning the tap, a downward sweep for the drain) before reading. Allow students to answer questions 1 through 3 by pointing to a picture that matches the correct answer, and accept single-word responses throughout.
Extensions
Set up a real classroom sink or a pitcher-and-bowl station and let each student practice the physical tap trick once, narrating the four steps aloud as they go. Send the opinion drawing home with a note asking a family member to try the tap trick with the student that night and report back at morning meeting the next day.