edHelper.com
Grade 4 Reading Comprehensions

The Peasant Maid

The Peasant Maid
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grade 4
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   4.39

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    gristmill, hamlet, millpond, workload, latch, mounted, armed, meantime, against, fell, manor, melancholy, peasant, sufficient, toils, height

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

Feedback on The Peasant Maid
     Leave your feedback on The Peasant Maid  (use this link if you found an error in the story)

The Peasant Maid
By Mary L. Bushong 		  
1     Gertrude stood and rested her back against the apple tree whose fruit she had been picking. It felt good to rest for even a few minutes. The warm fall breeze dried the sweat on her brow. She closed her eyes and listened to the familiar sounds around her. Her youngest brother had recently learned to swim, and he was shrieking with glee in the nearby stream. Just beyond that was the gristmill. The turning water wheel rattled and groaned as it moved. It reminded her of her father's toils and how he complained of his aching back each night.
 
2     Gertie sighed. Work needed to be done, and she was only a peasant maid. Since her mother had died last year, she did all of the work around the house. Perhaps later she could lay some wild flowers on her grave.
 
3     Her home was a frame house near the mill and was one of the nicest in the village. Behind their small hamlet, a strong castle rested on the area's lone hill. It was not a royal holding, so their lives remained simple. Even so, the lord of the manor would sometimes ride through with an escort of armed men.

Paragraphs 4 to 8:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable
Copyright © 2008 edHelper