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Welcome to
Harrand Creek Elementary School |
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Enterprise, AL 36330
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Welcome to
Harrand Creek Elementary School |
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THIRD GRADE READING PASSAGES
The Tallest Tower
For thousands of years, people have built towers. The first towers were built to
honor gods. They were built of bricks. Pyramids were built to honor the leaders
of Egypt. These towers were made of stone. In the Middle Ages, towers were built
to show power. Builders used wood frames covered by stone or brick. People in
France wanted to build the tallest tower. They would show it at the World’s
Fair. This tower would not be built of brick or stone or wood. It would be made
of iron. Crews of men worked for two years to build the tower. By 1889, they
were done. The Eiffel Tower rose high above Paris. It stood 984 feet (300 m)
tall. The French were happy with their new tower. It was the tallest tower in
the world.
The First Modern Tower
Gustave Eiffel was an engineer. He built buildings and bridges with large metal
frames. He used a strong, flexible iron that could resist high winds. He curved
the bases of his bridges to make them more stable. The French decided to build a
tower for the World’s Fair, to be held in Paris.
They wanted the tower to be 1,000 feet (305 m) tall. They asked French engineers
to submit designs. Eiffel’s design did not look like the others. It showed a new
kind of tower. Eiffel’s tower would be made of wrought
iron, like the bridges he built. Four huge metal piers would curve up from the
base. The piers would come together to form platforms. The tower would have an
open frame to allow wind to pass through. Its base would have curved arches to
make it stable, like his bridges. The people in charge
of the fair chose Eiffel’s design. Not everyone liked it. Some thought it looked
like a big, ugly metal chimney. They thought it would destroy the beauty of
Paris. Eiffel said that his tower would have its own kind of beauty. People
watched in wonder as crews worked on the tower. In only two years, the Eiffel
Tower was finished. Gustave Eiffel was proud, and so were the people of France.
Today, more people visit Eiffel’s tower than any other monument in France.
Gustave’s Worries
When Gustave Eiffel built the Eiffel Tower, he worried about three things. He
worried about water. The tower would stand near a river. The soil on the river
side of the tower was a wet mixture of sand, clay, and mud. This wet soil could
make his tower shift. He worried about wind. His
tower would be 984 feet (300m) tall. A tower so tall would be pushed by strong
winds. The winds might make the tower move, or even fall.
He worried about rust. His tower would be built of iron. When air touches
iron, it causes rust. Rust could keep his tower from lasting a long time.
To keep his tower from shifting, he dug deep down to hard clay soil. He
poured 20 feet (6m) of concrete on top of the soil. He capped the concrete with
stone. He bolted his tower to this firm foundation. To keep wind from moving his
tower, he built it with an open structure. Wind could blow through the tower. It
would not move or fall. To keep rust from aging his tower, he painted it. It
took 60 tons (54 metric tones) of paint to cover the tower. The paint would make
the tower last forever. Although water, wind,
and rust worried Gustave, he planned well. His tower has stood strong and tall
since 1889.
Give Me Liberty!
The king of England ruled the thirteen American colonies. Some men were loyal to
the king. They did not want to break away from his rule. They were called
Loyalists. Some men wanted liberty. They wanted to be free to rule themselves.
They were called Patriots. A group of men met to talk about what should be done.
Some spoke for peace. Others talked of war. A man named Patrick Henry stood up
to speak. “Give me liberty, or give me death!” he said.
No one knows which side fired the first shot in the war. It happened near
Boston on April19, 1775. It became known as the “shot heard ‘round the world.”
The Patriots won the war. They created a new government. Their new
country would have no king. In the new country, all men would have the right to
liberty, the right to be free.
Seattle’s Famous Speech
Chief Seattle was the leader of six tribes in the Pacific Northwest. Chief
Seattle had been friendly and helpful to the white settlers. But tribal lands
were now being taken over by more and more settlers. The U.S. government wanted
to take more of his tribe’s land. On January 9,
1855, Chief Seattle gave a powerful speech to the government. He talked about
how sad he felt about selling the land. He talked about how the land should be
for all people. He also talked about how worried he was for his people. Chief
Seattle did not want the tribal way of life to be lost.
Chief Seattle knew that if he did not sell, he would have to fight the
whites. He did not want his people to suffer. He wanted to keep peace. He agreed
to sign a treaty. The agreement gave the settlers more tribal land.
Some of the people who heard the chief’s speech did not speak his
language. They asked others to tell them what he said. Thirty years later, a
poet wrote down the speech for the first time.
Chief Seattle’s speech became famous. Many people thought his speech was
important. They listened to his special feelings for the land and its people.
They thought Chief Seattle was a strong leader.
Chief Seattle never broke his word. He said, “My words are like the stars that
never change.” Chief Seattle kept the peace for a long time.
Uniting the Tribes
Seattle was born around 1786. He was part of the Suquamish Indian tribe. His
tribe lived in the Pacific Northwest. They lived near the Puget Sound. Five
other tribes lived around this area, too. Each tribe lived in a separate
village. Sometimes the six tribes fought each other.
Seattle’s father was chief of the Suquamish. The chief wanted peace
between the tribes. He had a big lodge built. The leaders of the six tribes met
there. They talked together and had big feasts. Seattle’s father helped to bring
peace. When Seattle was 21, a mountain tribe
planned to attack. The leaders of all six tribes met to decide what to do.
Seattle came up with a plan that the leaders liked. They wanted him to lead the
battle. Seattle had his men cut down a fir tree
near the river. It fell across the river so that no canoe could pass. He told
his men to hide and wait. The enemy came in their canoes. They smashed into the
trees. The men tumbled into the river. Seattle’s men came out of hiding and beat
their enemy. Seattle said they won the battle
because they all fought together. United, they were strong. He said the six
tribes should always join together as one great tribe. Then no other tribe would
want to fight them. The tribes agreed. They chose Seattle to be the new chief to
the united tribe. Chief Seattle was their strong leader for many years.
Chief Seattle’s Welcome
Chief Seattle first saw a white man when he was just a boy. A huge ship sailed
into Puget Sound. This was where his tribe lived. Because his father
was chief, he got to go on board. He met captain Vancouver. The captain
gave him a treat. Seattle decided that some white people were nice.
Seattle became a chief when he grew up. He was chosen to lead all six Puget
Sound tribes. He welcomed white settlers to his land. The settlers did
not know how to survive in this new land. Seattle
taught them to fish for salmon. He showed them how to dig for clams. He taught
them how to split trees to make houses.When winter came, they ran out of food.
Seattle brought them wild potatoes. The white
people needed a name for their new town. They wanted to name it after
the chief who had helped them so much. Most white people could not say
his real name. It sounded something like See-at-hl. So
they called the town Seattle. Today, the town
named after the great leader is the biggest city in Washington State.
An Independent Spirit
People in Europe said that the American colonists had an independent spirit. The
colonists believed that people had rights. They thought that all men had the
right to live, to be free, and to be happy. They also thought they had the right
to vote on taxes and laws. The colonists were ruled by King George III of
England. He began to pass taxes and laws that they did not like. They did not
have anyone to speak for them in England. They could not vote against these
taxes. To protest the taxes, the colonists dumped tea in Boston Harbor. The king
did not like their independent spirit. He passed more laws to try to control
them. The colonists knew that they would have to fight to be free of the king’s
control. All thirteen colonies joined together. On
July 4, 1776, they declared their independence. Bells rang all day and into the
night. People celebrated all over the new nation. King George III thought that
the colonists would be afraid to fight his soldiers. They were not. They fought
and won their freedom.
A New Nation
In 1776, American colonists were ruled by the king of England. They were tired
of being ruled by a king. They wanted a new kind of rule. They wanted to vote on
things like laws and taxes. King George III would not let them. The
colonists said they would no longer obey the king.
They fought for the right to rule themselves. When the
colonists won the war, the colonies became a new nation. It was called the
United States of America. The new nation needed to
decide how it would be ruled. People in all thirteen states chose men to speak
for them. These men wrote a document.
It showed how the new nation would be ruled. They called this
document the Constitution. They did not want one
person to have too much power, like a king has.
They split the power to rule into three
branches. One branch would make the laws. One branch
would enforce the laws. One branch would explain
the laws and make sure they followed the Constitution.
To make the Constitution into law, each state
had to vote in favor of it. Delaware was the
first state to vote in favor. Rhode Island was the
last. After all of the states voted, the United States
had a new kind of government. The men who helped to
create it became known as the Founding Fathers.
