Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets Inventors and Inventions

John Deere Inventors and Inventions

---

John Deere
Print John Deere Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 7 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	6.26

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		waterpower, forge, steamship, self-scouring, arrival, finding, booming, stagecoach, repaired, cleanly, reputation, frontier, further, solution, provided, supply
	content words:		East Coast, John Deere, When John, New Englanders, Grand Detour, New England, Great Plains, Atlantic Ocean, Illinois River, Mississippi River

---

John Deere By Sharon Fabian

---

¹     Many Americans were moving west. Business was no longer booming on the East Coast, and there were reports about a land of opportunity further west. So, adventurous people packed up everything they had and bought a ticket for the stagecoach.
 
²     One of these people was John Deere. John Deere had grown up in a poor family. His father had died at sea, and his mother tried to make ends meet working as a knitter. When John turned 17 years old, he became an apprentice blacksmith. He made shovels and hay forks. He was a hard worker and soon had a reputation for doing fine work. For a while he made a good living, but then, in the 1830s business slowed down. Like many other New Englanders, John decided to go west.
 
³     He bundled up his tools and began his journey, which took him to the village of Grand Detour, Illinois. Grand Detour had already been settled by other New Englanders. As it turned out, they were very happy about John's arrival, because they badly needed a blacksmith. John set up his forge and was hard at work by his second day there. He repaired farmers' plows and made shoes for their horses.

Paragraphs 4 to 10:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

---

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once!

---

Feedback on John Deere

Leave your feedback on John Deere   (use this link if you found an error in the story)

---

Inventors and Inventions

Inventors and Inventions

---

Social Studies

Social Studies

United States History and Theme Units         American Government         Ancient America         Ancient China         Ancient Egypt         Ancient Greece         Ancient India         Ancient Mesopotamia         Ancient Rome         Biographies         Canadian Theme Unit         Country Theme Units         Crime and Terrorism         Economics         European History: 1600s-1800s

Explorers         Famous Educators         Geography         Grades 2-3 Social Studies Wendy's World Series         History of Books and Writing         History of Mathematics         How Can I Help?         Inventors and Inventions         Middle Ages         Renaissance         World Religion         World War I         World War II         World Wonders

Copyright © 2025 edHelper