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The Clay Bowl That Cracked in the Kiln

3rd grade fiction passage about making a clay bowl: 165 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade fiction making a clay bowl 165 words

The Clay Bowl That Cracked in the Kiln

In art class, Zadie spent three weeks making a clay bowl for her grandmother. She rolled the clay, pinched the sides, and smoothed the rim with a wet sponge. She even pressed tiny stars into the outside.

Then the bowl went into the kiln, a very hot oven for clay. When Mr. Park opened it, Zadie's heart dropped. A long crack ran across the bottom.

"It happens sometimes," said Mr. Park. "Air bubbles inside the clay can pop in the heat."

Zadie wanted to throw the bowl away. But Mr. Park showed her a shelf of mended pieces. "There is a way to fix a crack," he said. "You can fill it with gold paint, and the crack becomes part of the design."

Zadie painted a thin gold line along the crack, and it shone like a river on a map. She gave the bowl to her grandmother on Sunday.

"It is perfect," said Grandma, and she kept her keys in it by the door.

Questions

  1. Who was the bowl for? in the text

  2. What is a kiln? in the text

  3. Why did the bowl crack? in the text

  4. What did Zadie use to fix the crack? in the text

  5. Why did Zadie's heart drop when she saw the bowl? think about it

  6. How did the gold line change the way the bowl looked? think about it

Words to know

kiln
a very hot oven used to harden clay
rim
the top edge of a bowl or cup
crack
a thin line where something has split
mended
fixed after being broken
design
a pattern or picture that decorates something
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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 · 127 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.2

In art class, Zadie spent three weeks making a clay bowl for her grandmother. She rolled the clay. She pinched the sides. She pressed tiny stars on the outside.

Then the bowl went in the kiln, a hot oven for clay. Mr. Park opened it. Zadie's heart dropped. A long crack ran across the bottom.

"It happens," said Mr. Park. "Air bubbles in the clay can pop in the heat."

Zadie wanted to throw it away. But Mr. Park said, "You can fill a crack with gold paint. Then the crack is part of the design."

Zadie painted a gold line. It shone like a river on a map. She gave the bowl to her grandmother.

"It is perfect," said Grandma. She kept her keys in it.

▲ This passage · 165 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

In art class, Zadie spent three weeks making a clay bowl for her grandmother. She rolled the clay, pinched the sides, and smoothed the rim with a wet sponge. She even pressed tiny stars into the outside.

Then the bowl went into the kiln, a very hot oven for clay. When Mr. Park opened it, Zadie's heart dropped. A long crack ran across the bottom.

"It happens sometimes," said Mr. Park. "Air bubbles inside the clay can pop in the heat."

Zadie wanted to throw the bowl away. But Mr. Park showed her a shelf of mended pieces. "There is a way to fix a crack," he said. "You can fill it with gold paint, and the crack becomes part of the design."

Zadie painted a thin gold line along the crack, and it shone like a river on a map. She gave the bowl to her grandmother on Sunday.

"It is perfect," said Grandma, and she kept her keys in it by the door.

■ Harder · 179 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4

In art class, Zadie devoted three whole weeks to making a clay bowl for her grandmother. She rolled out the clay, pinched up the sides, and smoothed the rim with a damp sponge. She even pressed tiny stars into the outside of the bowl.

Then the bowl went into the kiln, a very hot oven used for hardening clay. When Mr. Park opened it, Zadie's heart sank. A long crack ran straight across the bottom.

"It happens occasionally," said Mr. Park. "Air bubbles trapped inside the clay can burst in the heat."

Zadie wanted to throw the bowl in the trash. But Mr. Park showed her a shelf of mended pieces. "There is a way to repair a crack," he explained. "You can fill it with gold paint, and then the crack becomes part of the design."

Zadie painted a thin gold line along the crack, and it gleamed like a river on a map. She presented the bowl to her grandmother on Sunday.

"It is perfect," Grandma declared, and she kept her keys in it by the door.

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 kiln, rim, crack, mended and design 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 2 minutes 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 "The Clay Bowl That Cracked in the Kiln"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 165 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.1. 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 six. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 2 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 2 minutes 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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