Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets World War I

A New Weapon - Gas World War I

---

A New Weapon - Gas
Print A New Weapon - Gas Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print A New Weapon - Gas Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.01

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		determined, uncivilized, stalemate, vaporize, rethink, unsuccessful, unthinkable, launched, warfare, unacceptable, outcome, further, accuracy, artillery, command, occurrence
	content words:		Western Europe, World War I., In August, In April, Second Battle, United States, By September, World War

---

A New Weapon - Gas By Jane Runyon

---

¹     By the fall of 1914, the Germans realized that their plan for a quick, decisive conclusion to their war against Western Europe was not going to happen. The British and French troops had entrenched themselves and refused to be defeated. The fighting had reached a stalemate. The Germans knew that they needed to do something drastic to swing the tide of victory to them. It was suggested that the use of gas as a weapon might be just the answer they needed.
 
²     In the past, it had been generally agreed that the use of gas as a weapon was unacceptable. It was uncivilized. The French, however, decided to make use of gas in the first month of World War I. In August of 1914, the French fired grenades filled with an irritating tear gas at the German lines. This gas, as the name implies, caused the eyes to fill with tears and make it hard to see. It also hurt.
 
³     In October of the same year, the Germans retaliated against the French by firing canisters of gas which brought on violent fits of sneezing. Three months later, they stepped up their gas attack by using tear gas in an attack on the Russians. There was one big problem with this attack. The gas was loaded into the firing canisters in a liquid form. In order for the attack to be successful, the liquid needed to change to a vapor that would envelop the enemy. The Germans made their attack at the end of January. What kind of weather would you expect to find in Russia at the end of January? If you said cold, you are absolutely correct. The temperatures were so cold that the liquid could not vaporize. The attack was unsuccessful.

Paragraphs 4 to 8:
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 A New Weapon - Gas

Leave your feedback on A New Weapon - Gas   (use this link if you found an error in the story)

---

World War I

World War I

---

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

---

United States

United States

American Government         Black History and Blacks in U.S. History         Children in History         Government Careers         Hispanic Heritage         How Can I Help?

Immigration         National Parks and Monuments         Native Americans         Presidents of the United States         Women's History

---

United States History

A Nation Divided (1840-1861)         A New Nation (1776-1830)         After the Civil War (1865-1870)         American Revolution         Cold War (1947-1991)         Colonial America (1492-1776)         Lewis and Clark (1804-1806)         Pearl Harbor         Spanish American War (1898)         The 1890's         The 1900's         The 1910's         The 1920's         The 1930's

The 1940's         The 1950's         The 1960's         The 1970's         The 1980's         The 1990's         The 2000's         The Civil War (1861-1865)         The Great Depression (1929-1945)         The United States Grows (1865-1900)         The War of 1812         Wild, Wild West         World War I (1914-1918)         World War II

---

50 States

Fifty States Theme Unit

---

Document Based Activities

Document Based Activities

Copyright © 2025 edHelper