edHelper.com
The United States Grows
(1865-1900)
Wild, Wild West

Settling the West

Settling the West
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   high interest, readability grades 3 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   3.8

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    ownership, registration, federal, settler, caption, fell, country, strips, house, impossible, dangerous, citizen, certain, order, government, heat
     content words:    North Dakota, President Abraham Lincoln, Homestead Act, Native Americans

Print Settling the West
edHelper.com subscriber options:
     Print Settling the West  (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)
     Quickly print reading comprehension
     Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on Settling the West
     Leave your feedback on Settling the West  (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Settling the West
By Cathy Pearl 		  
1     Caption: A sod house in North Dakota
 
2     As the country grew, some Americans began to feel crowded. They wanted the wide open spaces that used to be found in the East. This desire led more and more Americans to begin to head west.
 
3     Americans went west for many different reasons. Some wanted to live apart from a lot of people. Others wanted to start new lives. Some wanted to own a farm. It was hard to find this in the East.
 
4     The federal government gave land to the settlers. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act in 1862. It gave 160 acres of land to settlers. The settlers had to meet certain conditions before they got the land.
 
5     An applicant had to be at least twenty-one. Someone under twenty-one could apply if he or she was the head of a family. The applicants had to be citizens. If an applicant wasn't a citizen, he or she had to apply to be one.

Paragraphs 6 to 14:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable
Copyright © 2008 edHelper