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Mina's Pocket Watch Saved Extra Seconds

2nd grade fiction passage about a watch that stores spare seconds: 135 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

2nd grade fiction a watch that stores spare seconds 135 words

Mina's Pocket Watch Saved Extra Seconds

Mina's grandmother gave her a silver pocket watch. "It saves extra seconds," she said. "Use them well."

Every night, the watch ticked in Mina's pocket. Each tick was a spare second, and they piled up inside the watch like pennies.

One day, Mina was carrying a pie to a picnic. Her toe caught on a root. The pie flew into the air!

Mina turned the little silver crown on the watch. The whole world went slow. The pie hung in the air like a floating moon. Mina stepped over, held out her plate, and caught it softly.

Then the seconds ran out, and time zoomed on again.

At the picnic, no one knew about the watch. They just ate the pie. It was delicious, and Mina saved the rest of her seconds for another day.

Questions

  1. What did Mina's grandmother give her? in the text

  2. What was the watch saving? in the text

  3. What made Mina drop the pie? in the text

  4. What happened when Mina turned the crown? in the text

  5. Why did Mina save the rest of her seconds? think about it

Words to know

spare
extra and kept for later
crown
the little knob on a watch that you turn
zoomed
moved very fast
delicious
tasting very good
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One passage, three levels

The same topic and facts written three ways, so a mixed class can read and talk about one text. Each group’s sheet shows only a shape; the key says which is which.

● Easier · 116 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1

Mina's grandmother gave her a silver pocket watch. "It saves extra seconds," she said. "Use them well."

Each night, the watch ticked in Mina's pocket. Each tick was a spare second. The seconds piled up like pennies.

One day, Mina carried a pie to a picnic. Her toe hit a root. The pie flew up!

Mina turned the little crown on the watch. The world went slow. The pie hung in the air like a moon. Mina held out her plate and caught it.

Then the seconds ran out. Time sped up again.

At the picnic, no one knew about the watch. They ate the pie. It was good. Mina saved the rest of her seconds.

▲ This passage · 135 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7

Mina's grandmother gave her a silver pocket watch. "It saves extra seconds," she said. "Use them well."

Every night, the watch ticked in Mina's pocket. Each tick was a spare second, and they piled up inside the watch like pennies.

One day, Mina was carrying a pie to a picnic. Her toe caught on a root. The pie flew into the air!

Mina turned the little silver crown on the watch. The whole world went slow. The pie hung in the air like a floating moon. Mina stepped over, held out her plate, and caught it softly.

Then the seconds ran out, and time zoomed on again.

At the picnic, no one knew about the watch. They just ate the pie. It was delicious, and Mina saved the rest of her seconds for another day.

■ Harder · 139 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.7

Mina's grandmother presented her with a silver pocket watch. "It collects extra seconds," she explained. "Spend them wisely."

Every night, the watch ticked softly in Mina's pocket. Each tick was a spare second, and the seconds piled up inside the watch like pennies in a jar.

One afternoon, Mina was carrying a pie to a picnic when her toe caught on a root. The pie flew high into the air!

Mina quickly turned the little silver crown. The whole world slowed down, and the pie hung in the air like a floating moon. Mina stepped forward, held out her plate, and caught it softly.

Then the seconds ran out, and time rushed on again.

At the picnic, nobody guessed what had happened. They simply enjoyed the delicious pie, and Mina saved the rest of her seconds for another day.

Download as one PDF

How to use it

  1. Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
  2. Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
  3. Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.

Ideas for class

  • Before reading, put spare, crown, zoomed and delicious on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the story will be about.
  • Read it aloud once while students follow along, then have them reread it alone or with a partner. At a calm 100 words a minute it takes about 1 minute to read aloud.
  • Use the Read it big button (or B) to put the text on the projector, and Show answer on one question at a time so the class commits to an answer first.
  • Question 5 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to retell the story in three sentences: how it began, what the problem was, and how it ended.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Mina's Pocket Watch Saved Extra Seconds"?

It was written for 2nd grade. It has 135 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.6. That is a formula's estimate from sentence length and syllables, and it is not a Lexile or a guided reading level, so check it against your students.

What do the questions ask?

There are five. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 1 ask the reader to work something out from clues. Each has an answer in the key, and the answers are written as a teacher would accept them, not as the only possible wording.

How long does it take to read?

About 1 minute read aloud at 100 words a minute. For a one-minute fluency check, paste it into the fluency timer and use the word count.

Can I print it?

Yes. Print student copy gives the passage, the questions with lines to write on, and the word meanings. Print with answers gives the same page with the answers filled in. Both are made in your browser.

Is this passage from a published book?

No. It was written for Peabody Teach, so there is no book to buy and no login to read it.

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