Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources
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Reading Comprehension Worksheets
A New Nation
(1776-1830)
Going West

A New Nation<BR>(1776-1830)
A New Nation
(1776-1830)

Going West
Print Going West Reading Comprehension with Fourth Grade Work

Print Going West Reading Comprehension with Fifth Grade Work

Print Going West Reading Comprehension

Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   high interest, readability grades 4 to 5
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   3.68

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    travelers, pike, toll, corduroy, opposite, people, logs, rush, rough, steamboat, goods, faster, collide, aside, record, between
     content words:    New Orleans, John Fitch, Delaware River, Robert Fulton, Hudson River, New York City

Going West
By Cathy Pearl 		  
1     More and more people started going west in the 1800s. There was a lot of land there. People wanted the chance to buy some of this new land at very cheap prices. The land was easy to get. Getting to the land was the hard part. Travel to the west was very hard.
 
2     Many of the roads that travelers used were not even roads. They were trails that were barely wide enough for one wagon. Two wagons going in opposite directions could be quite a problem! Thankfully, this didn't happen much. No one wanted to go east. Most of the wagons were headed west.
 
3     People soon decided that better roads were needed. People in private companies would usually build the roads. To pay for the roads, the company would collect money. This was called a toll.
 
4     On the road, there would be a pike or a pole that blocked it. A man would stand there and collect money from the wagon. When the wagon had paid, the man would move the pike aside and the wagon could get through. These roads were called turnpikes.
 
5     There were also roads called corduroy roads. These roads were made out of logs that were linked together. These roads helped to keep wagons from sinking into the mud. The roads were also very bumpy and noisy to ride on.

Paragraphs 6 to 12:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable
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A New Nation
(1776-1830)
             A New Nation
(1776-1830)

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United States
             United States


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    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  
 
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    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  
 

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