Reading passage Grade 1 Social Studies & Civics
The Week It Rained in Kilnhurst: A Grade 1 Read-Aloud
An original grade 1 read-aloud about five rainy days in a fictional town, with six comprehension questions and a two-fact writing task about weather and daily life.
Objectives
- Students will recall three things that changed in a town during a rainy week.
- Students will explain why a rising creek changed the school bus route.
- Students will write two facts about the rainy week with a closing sentence.
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: weather, creek, crew, route
Teacher overview
This original read-aloud follows one first grader through five rainy days in a fictional town called Kilnhurst, and each day names a different person whose plans the rain changed. The passage is short enough to read twice, once straight through and once with pauses for the questions.
Teachers using this for social studies should stop after Tuesday and ask the class to predict what else in a town might have to change, then check the predictions against the rest of the passage. The closing writing task collects a short informative sample for the same sitting.
Passage
The Week It Rained in Kilnhurst
Ada lives in the town of Kilnhurst. Her school sits near a small creek.
One Monday, rain began. It did not stop. It rained all week.
On Monday the storm drains filled with wet leaves. Water sat in the street. Mr. Ochoa drives the town truck. He and his crew pulled the leaves out with rakes. Then the street drained.
On Tuesday the creek rose. Water came up over the low road. The bus could not use that road. The driver took the high road instead. Ada got to school late.
On Wednesday the farm stand did not open. The field was too wet to pick. Mr. Beck put up a sign. It told people to come back when the field dried.
On Thursday the park pond grew wide. Ducks swam where the grass had been. Ada watched from the window.
On Friday the crew checked every drain in town. They wanted the rain to have a clear path.
Then the sun came out. The creek went down. The low road dried. The farm stand opened again.
Ada told her class what she saw. She said the rain changed her whole week. She said it changed what people did all over town.
Her teacher wrote one word on the board. The word was weather.
Questions
- What town does Ada live in?
- What did Mr. Ochoa and his crew pull out of the storm drains?
- Why could the bus not use the low road on Tuesday?
- Why did the farm stand stay closed on Wednesday?
- Name two things in Kilnhurst that changed because of the rain.
- Why was the crew's drain work important during that week?
Writing task. Write two facts about the rainy week in Kilnhurst. Then write one closing sentence that tells why weather matters to a town.
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: Kilnhurst. The first line says Ada lives in the town of Kilnhurst, near a small creek.
- Answer: Wet leaves. The Monday paragraph says the crew pulled the leaves out with rakes so the street would drain.
- Answer: The creek rose over the road. Tuesday's paragraph says water came up over the low road, so the driver took the high road instead.
- Answer: The field was too wet. Wednesday's paragraph says the field was too wet to pick, so Mr. Beck put up a sign asking people to come back later.
- Answer: Answers will vary. Accept any two of these: the drains filled with leaves, the creek rose, the bus route changed, Ada arrived late, the farm stand closed, or the pond spread over the grass.
- Answer: Clear drains let the water get away. Friday's paragraph says the crew wanted the rain to have a clear path, and Monday's shows what happens when the drains fill and water sits in the street.
Writing task response. Answers will vary. Accept any two accurate facts from the passage followed by a closing sentence, such as: "It rained in Kilnhurst for five days. The creek rose and the bus took the high road. Weather changes what a town can do."
Differentiation
Support
Read the passage aloud twice, pausing after each day to ask one question about that day only. Provide the questions with the matching day already named in the margin, and accept spoken answers for items one through four. For the writing task, offer a two-line frame with the topic sentence supplied.
Extension
Ask these students to add a sixth day to the story, written in the same pattern, naming one more person in Kilnhurst and one more thing the rain changed. They should keep the day, the person, and the change in the same order the passage uses.
ELL supports
Pre-teach creek, drain, route, and crew with quick sketches on the board and a gesture for each. Read the passage a third time with the class echoing the last sentence of each day. Allow students to answer questions one through four with a single word or by pointing to the paragraph.
Extensions
Keep a five-day class weather log and record one thing that changed at school each day because of the weather, then compare the class log with Ada's week. Students can also interview a family member about a storm that changed a plan and report one sentence back to the class.