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Benjamin Banneker Inventors and Inventions

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Benjamin Banneker
Print Benjamin Banneker Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print Benjamin Banneker Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.71

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		abolition, redrawing, earthenware, striking, astronomy, legacy, productive, mathematical, teaching, writing, insure, original, calculation, architect, successful, operation
	content words:		Benjamin Banneker, African American, Patapsco River, United States, Pierre L'Enfant, When L'Enfant, President Jefferson, African Americans

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Benjamin Banneker By Sharon Fabian

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¹     Benjamin Banneker, born in 1731, may have been the first famous African American inventor. He built a clock from scratch. He created his own almanac. He was also one of the original surveyors for the city of Washington, D.C.
 
²     Benjamin grew up near Ellicott's Mills, Maryland, on his family's farm along the Patapsco River. There he could play, experiment, and learn about nature. He also learned to read. His grandmother was his first teacher. She used the Bible for his reading lessons. Later, when a schoolteacher moved into the valley where he lived, he was able to attend school. After that, he continued his studies on his own, teaching himself astronomy and surveying.
 
³     His family's farm was a productive tobacco farm even in dry weather, thanks to a system of irrigation devised by Banneker. He built a system of ditches and dams that carried water from the springs on the farm to wherever it was needed to water the crops.
 
⁴     Banneker took over the operation of the farm when he became an adult. He continued to live there for most of his life.

Paragraphs 5 to 11:
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Inventors and Inventions

Inventors and Inventions

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Black History and Blacks in U.S. History

Black History and Blacks in U.S. History

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Social Studies

Social Studies

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United States

United States

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