A1 · Feature
Finding facts and the main idea in a local feature
Read for meaning first. Then return to the text for vocabulary, language choices, and evidence.
Before you read
Build the context out loud.
- Is there a park or garden near your home?
- What fruit or vegetables do people grow in your country?
- Where do you meet your neighbors?
First pass: keep moving when one word is unfamiliar. Dotted words open optional help; every word also appears in the vocabulary bank below.
On Saturday morning, the small garden on Pine Street is busy. People are carrying water, and a radio is playing near the gate.
Ten years ago, this place was an empty lotA piece of land in a town or city with no building on it.Useful chunks: an empty lot · a lot on the corner. Today, there are twenty-four garden bedsSmall areas of soil where people grow plants.Useful chunks: a raised garden bed · plant a garden bed, two apple trees, and a long table.
Members pay $20 a year. They grow tomatoes, beans, peppers, and flowers. Everyone helps with the work, and members usually come on Saturday.
Hoa Tran is sixty-two. She works at a bank, but she always visits the garden before work. She grows mint and other herbsPlants with leaves that people use to give food a good taste or smell.Useful chunks: fresh herbs · grow herbs. “These plants smell like my mother’s kitchen,” she says.
There is also a free shelf by the gate. Gardeners often put extraMore than you need or more than usual.Useful chunks: extra vegetables · something extra vegetables there, and neighbors can take them.
In summer, there is a dinner at the long table on the last Friday of every month. Everyone brings a dishFood that someone prepares and serves as part of a meal.Useful chunks: bring a dish · a favorite dish. “We don’t only grow vegetables here,” Hoa says. “We meet our neighbors.”
Original text written for Thomas’s Classroom Reading Lab.
Words in context
Useful vocabulary and chunks
Learn the word with the partners it naturally keeps.
empty lot
A piece of land in a town or city with no building on it.
an empty lot · a lot on the cornergarden beds
Small areas of soil where people grow plants.
a raised garden bed · plant a garden bedherbs
Plants with leaves that people use to give food a good taste or smell.
fresh herbs · grow herbsextra
More than you need or more than usual.
extra vegetables · something extradish
Food that someone prepares and serves as part of a meal.
bring a dish · a favorite dishCheck your reading
Comprehension check
Choose the answer best supported by the text. Check your choices when you finish the whole set.
01What was the place on Pine Street ten years ago?
02How much do garden members pay?
03When does Hoa Tran visit the garden?
04Why are Hoa’s herbs special to her?
05What can neighbors do at the shelf by the gate?
06What is the main idea of the article?
Language in the text
Describe a place with there is and there are
The article uses there is and there are to tell the reader what is in the garden. Use there is with one thing and there are with two or more things.
Twenty-four garden beds is plural, so the article uses there are.
A free shelf is one thing, so the article uses there is.
A dinner is one event, so there is fits.
Check your reading
Language focus check
Use the surrounding meaning, not only the shape of one sentence.
01Choose the correct sentence about the trees.
02Choose the correct sentence about the gate.
03Choose the correct question about the shelf.
Read like a writer
How a local feature brings a place to life
The writer opens with a busy Saturday scene, gives simple facts about the garden, follows one gardener, and ends with her words about the garden’s real value.
Scene first
The reader can see and hear the garden before reading any facts.
People are carrying water, and a radio is playing near the gate.
One person
Hoa’s words make the garden personal, not only a list of plants.
These plants smell like my mother’s kitchen.
Quote at the end
The last quote tells the reader the main idea in Hoa’s own simple words.
We don’t only grow vegetables here. We meet our neighbors.
From reading to speaking
Build your response
Work through the stages in order. Answer before opening the model.
01GistWhat is the article about?
Useful ways to begin
Compare with a model response
The article is about a community garden on Pine Street. It is a place where neighbors grow food and meet each other.
02Main pointsWhat is in the garden, and what do the people do there?
Useful ways to begin
Compare with a model response
There are twenty-four garden beds, two apple trees, and a long table. There is a free shelf by the gate. People grow vegetables, and they usually come on Saturday.
03ReactDo you want a garden like this near your home? Why or why not?
Useful ways to begin
Compare with a model response
Yes, I want a garden like this because I live in an apartment and I don’t have any space for plants. I also want to meet my neighbors.
Speak
Take a position
Describe a place in your neighborhood for one minute. Say what there is and what there are, what people usually do there, and how often you go.
Write
Make the reading useful
Write a 60-word local feature about a park, market, or cafe near you. Use there is or there are three times and one adverb of frequency.