Lars and the Grass House
Lars looked at his new home on the wide prairie. The house was built from thick blocks of earth and grass. People called it a sod house. Lars missed his old wooden home far away. Here, there were no tall trees to climb. There was only flat land under a big blue sky.
The sod house felt dark and quiet inside. Dirt sometimes fell from the ceiling when the wind blew hard. Lars felt sad and lonely in the new place. He helped his father dig in the dry soil. He helped his mother sweep the hard dirt floor. Lars wondered if he would ever feel happy here.
One afternoon, Lars went outside to sit in the sun. A small brown bird hopped near his boots. The bird sang a cheerful tune. Lars looked across the endless green grass. The wind made the grass move like soft waves in the ocean. The big sky felt open and grand.
Lars smiled and walked back inside the little sod house. The thick walls kept out the hot sun, making the room cool and cozy. They all sat together to eat warm bread for supper. Lars knew that this sweet grass house was finally becoming his real home.
- prairie:
- A large area of flat land covered mainly with grass.
- sod:
- A layer of soil filled with grass roots used for building or planting.
- ceiling:
- The top inside surface of a room.
- cheerful:
- Happy and bright in feeling or sound.
- cozy:
- Warm, comfortable, and pleasant inside.
More sheets from this passage
Built from the text itself — answer key included where it counts.
fix the sentence
Sentences from the passage with the capitals and punctuation removed — rewrite each one correctly.
vocabulary worksheet
Match the passage words to their meanings, then fill the missing words back into real sentences.
writing prompts
Two writing tasks that build on the passage, with plenty of lines to write on.
- All 4 sheets as one workbookPro
One PDF with a cover, contents page and every answer key at the back.
You Might Also Like
About this short story passage for Lower Elementary
“Lars and the Grass House” is a short story reading passage about Pioneer Life, written for Lower Elementary. It takes about 1 minute to read (205 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.