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The Clock That Ran Backward on Tuesdays

3rd grade fiction passage about a clock that runs backward: 155 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade fiction a clock that runs backward 155 words

The Clock That Ran Backward on Tuesdays

The old clock in Juniper's hallway ticked forward every day but one. On Tuesdays, its hands spun backward, and so did the hallway.

Juniper learned this when she dropped a glass of juice one Tuesday. The glass was in pieces on the floor. Then the clock whirred, and the pieces slid together. The glass jumped back into her hand, full of juice again.

"Oh!" said Juniper. "A do-over!"

She tried it with other things. She un-spilled a bowl of cereal. She un-popped a balloon. She un-tied her shoelace and tied it again, this time neatly.

But she found one rule. The clock could only fix things that happened in the hallway, and only for a few minutes. When she wished for a better grade on her spelling test, nothing changed.

So Juniper practiced her spelling words in the hallway instead. By the next test, she did not need a do-over.

Questions

  1. What happened to the clock's hands on Tuesdays? in the text

  2. What did Juniper drop in the hallway? in the text

  3. What happened to the broken glass when the clock whirred? in the text

  4. What was one limit of the clock's magic? in the text

  5. Why did the clock not help with the spelling test? think about it

  6. What did Juniper do to get ready for the next test? in the text

Words to know

backward
toward the back, or in the opposite direction
whirred
made a soft, fast humming sound
do-over
a second try at something
neatly
in a clean and careful way
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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 · 152 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.8

The old clock in Juniper's hall ticked forward every day but one. On Tuesdays, its hands spun backward. So did the hall.

Juniper learned this when she dropped a glass of juice one Tuesday. The glass broke on the floor. Then the clock whirred. The pieces slid together. The glass jumped back into her hand. It was full of juice again.

"Oh!" said Juniper. "A do-over!"

She tried it with other things. She un-spilled a bowl of cereal. She un-popped a balloon. She un-tied her shoelace and tied it again, this time neatly.

But the clock had a rule. It could only fix things in the hall. And it worked for only a few minutes. When she wished for a better grade on her spelling test, nothing changed.

So Juniper practiced her spelling words in the hall. By the next test, she did not need a do-over.

▲ This passage · 155 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3

The old clock in Juniper's hallway ticked forward every day but one. On Tuesdays, its hands spun backward, and so did the hallway.

Juniper learned this when she dropped a glass of juice one Tuesday. The glass was in pieces on the floor. Then the clock whirred, and the pieces slid together. The glass jumped back into her hand, full of juice again.

"Oh!" said Juniper. "A do-over!"

She tried it with other things. She un-spilled a bowl of cereal. She un-popped a balloon. She un-tied her shoelace and tied it again, this time neatly.

But she found one rule. The clock could only fix things that happened in the hallway, and only for a few minutes. When she wished for a better grade on her spelling test, nothing changed.

So Juniper practiced her spelling words in the hallway instead. By the next test, she did not need a do-over.

■ Harder · 174 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.5

The ancient clock in Juniper's hallway ticked steadily forward every day of the week except one. On Tuesdays, its hands spun backward, and so, strangely enough, did everything in the hallway.

Juniper discovered this when she dropped a glass of juice one Tuesday morning. The glass shattered into pieces across the floor. Then the clock whirred, the pieces slid back together, and the glass leaped into her hand, brimming with juice once again.

"Oh!" said Juniper. "A do-over!"

She experimented with other things. She un-spilled a bowl of cereal and un-popped a balloon. She un-tied her shoelace and then tied it again, this time much more neatly.

However, she soon found out that the magic had limits. The clock could only repair things that happened in the hallway, and only for a few minutes. When she wished for a better grade on her spelling test, nothing changed at all.

So Juniper practiced her spelling words in the hallway instead. By the next test, she no longer needed a do-over.

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 backward, whirred, do-over and neatly 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 Clock That Ran Backward on Tuesdays"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 155 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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