ShortGarden Detectives · Case 20
The Muddy Brush
Short U · Level 4
Cumulative Short U review with observation, comparison, and cause
Before reading
Open the case file
Hear the focus words
Read and investigate
The Muddy Brush
Natural read-along narration · AmeliaPress Read with Amelia, or choose a sentence to begin.
Gus kept a scrub brush in a tub by the garden hut. A quick shower filled the bottom of the tub. When the sun came out, the brush was gone. Gus found muddy marks below the tub.
They were not paw prints. Each mark was long, flat, and rough. A thin run of water crossed the path. The muddy marks followed it under a shrub.
The brush rested there with wet mud on its bristles. Rainwater had lifted one end from the shallow tub. The runoff pushed while the bristles dragged. That made the long rough marks.
Gus moved the tub onto a dry step. He clipped the brush inside after it had dried.
Check the evidence
Can you solve the case?
Choose the answer that is supported by the story.
What really happened?
Rainwater lifted the brush from the shallow tub. Runoff pushed it while its bristles dragged through mud to the shrub.
For adults
Use evidence, not guesses
Ask the learner to point to the sentence that proves each answer. If decoding is effortful, reread one paragraph at a time. A fluent second reading is more valuable than rushing to the next story.