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Reading passage Grade 2 Science

After the Rain at Corley Park: Two Ways to Hold the Bank

A grade 2 read-aloud passage about a park that tried a stone wall and a grass strip to keep a creek bank from washing away, with eight comprehension questions.

Objectives

  1. Students will answer where, what, and why questions about key details in an informational passage.
  2. Students will compare two solutions built to keep a creek bank from washing away.

Vocabulary

Key words: bank, groove, slope, roots, storm

Teacher overview

This passage describes the fictional Corley Park, where two different fixes were tried on a washing creek bank and both were kept. Watch for the idea that plants hold soil the way a wall does, by standing in the way of the water, which the text answers directly by saying that grass roots grip the soil from underneath. Read the passage aloud the first time through while students follow along, since "groove" and "slope" are hard to decode on sight at this grade, then let them reread it on their own before answering. The comparison questions at the end are the ones worth discussing as a class.

After the Rain at Corley Park: Two Ways to Hold the Bank — Grade 2 Science
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Passage

Corley Park sits beside a creek. A dirt path runs along the top of the bank. Rain used to wash that path into the creek. Each big storm took a little more dirt. The path grew thin. The creek water turned brown.

The park workers wanted to slow the water down. They tried two fixes.

First they built a low stone wall. The wall ran along the edge of the path. It held back big chunks of dirt. The workers put it up in one week. But the rain still ran fast beside the wall. At the far end, that water dug a deep groove.

Next they planted a strip of thick grass. The strip sat on the slope below the path. Grass roots grip the soil under the ground. The roots hold the soil in place. The grass slowed the water down. Less brown water reached the creek.

The grass took a long time to help. Seeds need time to grow. The strip needed a whole spring. Workers had to water it each dry week.

Now the park keeps both fixes. The stone wall stops the big chunks. The grass slows the water and holds the soil. After a storm, the creek runs much clearer than it used to.

Mr. Deacon is the park keeper at Corley. He walks the path after each storm. He looks for new grooves in the dirt. He writes down what he finds. Last fall he found no new grooves at all.

Questions

  1. Where does Corley Park sit?
  2. What did the rain wash into the creek?
  3. What did the workers build first?
  4. What did the workers plant on the slope?
  5. Why did the grass take a long time to help?
  6. What problem did the stone wall cause at its far end?
  7. Which fix holds the soil with roots?
  8. Which fix would you pick for a new path? Tell why.

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: Beside a creek. The first sentence says the park sits beside a creek.
  2. Answer: Dirt from the path. Each big storm washed a little more of the dirt path into the creek.
  3. Answer: A low stone wall. The workers built it along the edge of the path in one week.
  4. Answer: A strip of thick grass. They planted it on the slope below the path.
  5. Answer: Seeds need time to grow. The strip needed a whole spring before it could slow the water.
  6. Answer: Water dug a deep groove at the far end. The rain still ran fast beside the wall.
  7. Answer: The grass. Its roots grip the soil under the ground and hold it in place.
  8. Answer: Accept either fix when the reason comes from the passage. A choice of the wall should mention that it holds back big chunks or that it went up in one week, and a choice of the grass should mention that it slows the water or holds the soil with roots.

Differentiation

Support

Read the passage aloud twice and pause after each paragraph to ask what that part was about. Give these students the passage with the answer sentences for questions 1 through 4 already underlined so the search is about matching rather than scanning.

Extension

Ask students to write two sentences telling what Mr. Deacon should check next spring, using one strength and one weakness named in the passage. The writing should name the far end of the wall as a place to watch.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "bank," "slope," and "groove" with three quick board sketches, drawing the groove as a channel cut into a hill. Provide the sentence frames "The workers built ___" and "The grass helped because ___" for questions 3 and 7.