Water for Schools
Menu

Reading passage Kindergarten Science

Washing the Car on the Grass at Hollowell Lane: A Read-Aloud

A kindergarten read-aloud about a girl whose grandpa washes the car on the grass so soapy water sinks in instead of running to the creek where ducks swim.

Objectives

  1. Students will retell where the water on the driveway went and where the water on the grass went.
  2. Students will explain why Grandpa parked the car on the grass.
  3. Students will draw and dictate one thing the characters did to keep the creek clean.

Vocabulary

Key words: creek, drain, curb, soapy, sink in

Teacher overview

Hollowell Lane is a fictional street, and Ada and her grandpa are invented characters written for this passage. The story turns on one small demonstration that a kindergartner can follow: a cup of water poured on pavement runs away to a storm drain, while the same cup poured on grass sinks in and stays. Read the passage aloud twice, once straight through and once stopping at the two pours so students can predict what the water will do. The questions mix details students can find in the story with two that ask them to say why the choice mattered, and the last one asks for a drawing with a dictated line.

Teachers should know that the drain at the curb in this story carries rain straight to the creek without being cleaned first, which is true of storm drains generally and is the reason the grass matters here. Many students assume every drain leads to a cleaning plant first, so say plainly during the second reading that this one does not.

Washing the Car on the Grass at Hollowell Lane: A Read-Aloud — Kindergarten Science
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Passage

Ada lives on Hollowell Lane. A small creek runs past the end of her street. Ducks swim in that creek. Ada likes to watch them.

One warm day, Grandpa said the car was dirty. He filled a bucket with water. He put soap in the bucket. Ada found a soft rag.

Grandpa did not park on the driveway. He drove the car onto the grass. Ada asked him why.

"Watch this," Grandpa said. He poured one cup of water on the driveway. The water ran fast. It ran down to the street. It ran into the drain by the curb.

"That drain goes to the creek," he said. "Soap would ride along with it."

Then Grandpa poured one cup of water on the grass. The water sank in. It did not run away at all.

So Ada and Grandpa washed the car on the grass. They scrubbed the doors. They scrubbed the wheels. The soapy water ran off the car. Then it sank into the ground.

When the car was clean, Grandpa poured the last bucket on the grass too. Ada ran down to look at the creek. The ducks were still there. The water was still clear.

Questions

  1. Where does the creek run near Ada's street?
  2. What did Grandpa pour on the driveway?
  3. Where did that water go?
  4. What happened to the water Grandpa poured on the grass?
  5. Why did Grandpa park the car on the grass?
  6. The drain by the curb goes to the creek. Why is soap in the creek bad for the ducks?
  7. Draw Ada's yard. Draw the car on the grass. Tell one thing Ada and Grandpa did to keep the creek clean.

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: Past the end of her street. The opening of the passage says a small creek runs past the end of Ada's street and that ducks swim in it.
  2. Answer: One cup of water. Grandpa poured a single cup of plain water on the driveway to show Ada what pavement does with it.
  3. Answer: Down to the street and into the drain by the curb. The passage says the water ran fast, ran down to the street, and went into the drain.
  4. Answer: It sank into the ground. The passage says the water sank in and did not run away at all.
  5. Answer: So the soapy water would sink into the grass instead of running to the drain. Accept any answer that connects the grass to the water soaking in, staying put, or not reaching the creek.
  6. Answer: The soap would end up in the water the ducks live in. Accept any answer that says the soap gets into the creek, dirties the creek, or is bad for the ducks and fish there.
  7. Answer: A drawing of the yard and car on the grass with a dictated line such as "They washed the car on the grass." Accept any labeled drawing whose dictated sentence names washing on the grass, keeping soap out of the drain, or pouring the last bucket on the lawn.

Differentiation

Support

Do the two pours for real before the second reading, using a cup of water on a paved walk and a cup on a patch of grass, so these students have watched the demonstration the story describes. Let them answer questions 1 through 4 by pointing at a simple three-part picture strip showing the driveway, the drain, and the grass.

Extension

Ask these students to add a second drawing showing what the creek would look like if the car had been washed on the driveway, and to dictate a caption for it. Have them read both captions aloud and say which yard they would rather live beside.

ELL supports

Pre-teach creek, drain, curb, and sink in by pointing to a photograph or drawing of each one, and act out "sink in" with a sponge and a spoonful of water. Accept one-word answers and pointing throughout, and provide the sentence frame "The water went ___" with the words into the drain and into the ground written beside small arrow drawings.

Extensions

Walk the class, with extra adults, to the nearest curb drain outside the school, keep everyone on the sidewalk, and look for the arrow, fish marker, or stamped words that many towns put beside them, then ask students where they think that drain sends its water. Pair the passage with a simple side-by-side test in which the class pours equal cups of water onto a tray of soil and a tray of plastic and watches which one holds the water.