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Grade 4 Reading Comprehensions

The Donkey and Girl Who Tried Something New

The Donkey and Girl Who Tried Something New
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grade 4
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   4.8

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    title, curiosity, dune, unrelenting, upcoming, therefore, occasionally, writing, presenting, remain, interesting, story, meander, precipice, celebration, view
     content words:    Donkey Who Traveled, English Language, Tuttle Turtle, Sometimes Rodney

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The Donkey and Girl Who Tried Something New
By Beth Beutler 		  
1     "The title of my story is, 'The Donkey Who Traveled the World,'" Bethany stated loud and clear. She was standing in front of her class. They were presenting creative short stories as part of a "Celebration of the English Language."
 
2     Bethany had always been interested in writing. For as long as she could remember, she enjoyed making up stories. She spent many hours pretending and telling stories to her family. As soon as she could write, they encouraged her to start putting her ideas down on paper. Therefore, when the teacher assigned short stories, Bethany was happy. This was a strong point of hers.
 
3     Getting up in front of the class was another issue, though. Bethany enjoyed creating the stories behind the scenes, but when it came to presenting them, she got really nervous. However, the teacher required each student to read their story out loud. She felt it was a good experience for them to get comfortable in front of others. Bethany agreed that it would be good experience, but she still didn't like it.
 
4     Bethany cleared her throat and began.
 
5     "Once upon a time, a donkey lived high on a mountain. He was content to stay in his corner of the woods. Occasionally, he would walk out near a precipice that overlooked a beautiful valley. The view was always breathtaking. He would sometimes wonder what the rest of the world was like. But he was afraid. He'd always step back and remain near his own home. He maintained a vegetable patch and had plenty to eat. He even had some friends who would stop by to see him.
 
6     One day, his friend Tuttle Turtle came by for lunch. Tuttle began sharing about his upcoming vacation.
 
7     "I can hardly wait!" said Tuttle. "We are going to see the ocean!"
 
8     "The ocean?" Rodney asked. "What's that?"
 
9     Tuttle looked at Rodney as if he had turned purple. "You mean you don't know what the ocean is!?" he asked in surprise.

Paragraphs 10 to 20:
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