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The Class Turtle

3rd grade fiction passage about friendship and animals: 179 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade fiction friendship and animals 179 words

The Class Turtle

Room 12 had a pet turtle named Pickle. Every Friday, one student got to take Pickle home for the weekend. This week, it was Marco's turn.

Marco was nervous. He had never had a pet before. "What if I do something wrong?" he asked his sister.

"Just read the care card," she said.

Marco read it twice. Pickle needed fresh water, a few green leaves, and a warm lamp. Marco set up the tank by the window and gave Pickle a lettuce leaf. Pickle slowly tucked his head into his shell, and Marco thought something was wrong.

"He's hiding," said his sister. "Give him time."

So Marco sat quietly and waited. After ten minutes, a small head poked out. Pickle took one slow step, then another, and nibbled the leaf. Marco grinned.

On Monday, Marco carried the tank back to school. "Pickle was shy at first," he told the class. "But then he got brave. I think he likes being around people if they are patient."

Everyone nodded. Marco was surprised to find that he wished it was Friday again.

Questions

  1. Who is Pickle? in the text

  2. What three things did Pickle need, according to the care card? in the text

  3. Why did Marco think something was wrong with Pickle? in the text

  4. How did Marco's feelings change from the start of the story to the end? think about it

  5. What lesson did Marco learn about shy animals? think about it

Words to know

nervous
a little scared or worried about something new
tank
a glass box where an animal lives
nibble
to take small bites
patient
able to wait calmly without getting upset

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 nervous, tank, nibble and patient 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 4 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 Class Turtle"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 179 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 five. 3 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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