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Pip and the Mailbox Village

3rd grade fiction passage about tiny folk living in a mailbox: 170 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade fiction tiny folk living in a mailbox 170 words

Pip and the Mailbox Village

Behind the old mailbox on Birch Lane lived a village of tiny folk. They were no taller than a thumbtack. A small girl named Pip was in charge of the mail.

Each morning, Pip tugged on a stamp the size of a tablecloth and hauled it into the village square. Letters were as big as barn doors to them. They used the paper to make walls and the stamps to make colorful flags.

One day, a heavy package fell into the mailbox with a thud. It blocked the door. The village had no way out, and the morning light could not get in.

Pip called everyone together. "We cannot move it alone," she said. "But if we all push, we can."

Forty tiny folk lined up. Pip counted, "One, two, three, push!" The package slid just far enough for a ray of sun to shine in.

The next morning, the mail carrier found a thank-you note in a tiny hand, a smaller note than any she had ever seen.

Questions

  1. Where did the tiny folk live? in the text

  2. What was Pip's job? in the text

  3. What did the tiny folk use stamps for? in the text

  4. What problem did the heavy package cause? in the text

  5. How did the tiny folk solve the problem? in the text

  6. What does the story teach about solving big problems? think about it

Words to know

village
a very small town
thumbtack
a short pin with a flat, round head
hauled
pulled something heavy with effort
package
a box or parcel sent through the mail
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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 · 163 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.8

Behind the old mailbox on Birch Lane lived a village of tiny folk. They were no taller than a thumbtack. A small girl named Pip was in charge of the mail.

Each morning, Pip pulled a stamp as big as a tablecloth into the village square. To them, letters were as big as barn doors. They used the paper for walls. They used the stamps for bright flags.

One day, a heavy package fell into the mailbox with a thud. It blocked the door. The village could not get out. The morning light could not get in.

Pip called everyone together. "We cannot move it alone," she said. "But if we all push, we can."

Forty tiny folk lined up. Pip counted, "One, two, three, push!" The package slid a little. A ray of sun shone in.

The next morning, the mail carrier found a thank-you note. It was in a tiny hand. It was the smallest note she had ever seen.

▲ This passage · 170 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3

Behind the old mailbox on Birch Lane lived a village of tiny folk. They were no taller than a thumbtack. A small girl named Pip was in charge of the mail.

Each morning, Pip tugged on a stamp the size of a tablecloth and hauled it into the village square. Letters were as big as barn doors to them. They used the paper to make walls and the stamps to make colorful flags.

One day, a heavy package fell into the mailbox with a thud. It blocked the door. The village had no way out, and the morning light could not get in.

Pip called everyone together. "We cannot move it alone," she said. "But if we all push, we can."

Forty tiny folk lined up. Pip counted, "One, two, three, push!" The package slid just far enough for a ray of sun to shine in.

The next morning, the mail carrier found a thank-you note in a tiny hand, a smaller note than any she had ever seen.

■ Harder · 179 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.2

Hidden behind the old mailbox on Birch Lane lived a village of tiny folk, none of them taller than a thumbtack. A small girl named Pip was in charge of delivering the mail.

Each morning, Pip tugged a stamp the size of a tablecloth into the village square. To the tiny folk, ordinary letters were as enormous as barn doors. They used the paper to build walls and the stamps to make cheerful, colorful flags.

One day, a heavy package dropped into the mailbox with a thud and blocked the doorway. The villagers could not get out, and the morning light could not get in.

Pip gathered everyone together. "We cannot move it alone," she announced. "But if we all push at the same time, we can."

Forty tiny folk lined up along the package. Pip counted, "One, two, three, push!" The package slid just far enough for a ray of sunshine to stream inside.

The next morning, the mail carrier discovered a thank-you note written in a tiny hand, smaller than any note she had ever seen.

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 village, thumbtack, hauled and package 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 6 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 "Pip and the Mailbox Village"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 170 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.0. 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. 5 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 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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