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The Cricket Who Only Knew One Note

3rd grade fiction passage about a cricket joins a night chorus: 170 words, seven questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade fiction a cricket joins a night chorus 170 words

The Cricket Who Only Knew One Note

Cleo the cricket could play only one note. Chirp. Chirp. Chirp. All the other night singers had fancy songs. The frog sang low and deep. The nightingale sang long, swirling tunes.

"I'm not good enough to join the night chorus," said Cleo. So she sat alone on a stone and chirped softly to herself.

One evening, the chorus began to practice. But something was wrong. The song kept falling apart. The frog came in too soon, and the nightingale ran too fast.

"We need a steady beat," said the nightingale. "Something to keep us together."

Cleo heard the problem. She could keep a beat better than anyone. She chirped her one note, again and again, at the same speed.

The frog slowed down. The nightingale found her place. Soon the whole chorus sang in time, and the song was beautiful.

"Your one note holds our whole song together," said the frog.

Cleo glowed with joy. Even a single note can matter when it is the one that the song needs.

Questions

  1. How many notes could Cleo play? in the text

  2. How did the frog sing? in the text

  3. Why did Cleo think she could not join the chorus? in the text

  4. What went wrong when the chorus practiced? in the text

  5. What did Cleo do to help? in the text

  6. Why did the frog thank Cleo? think about it

  7. What lesson does the story teach? think about it

Words to know

chorus
a group of singers who sing together
note
a single musical sound
steady
staying the same and not speeding up or slowing down
swirling
moving around and around in curves
practice
to do something again and again to get better
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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 · 157 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.1

Cleo the cricket knew only one note. Chirp. Chirp. Chirp. The other night singers had fancy songs. The frog sang low and deep. The nightingale sang long, swirling tunes.

"I am not good enough for the night chorus," said Cleo. So she sat alone on a stone. She chirped softly to herself.

One night, the chorus began to practice. But the song kept falling apart. The frog came in too soon. The nightingale ran too fast.

"We need a steady beat," said the nightingale. "Something to keep us together."

Cleo heard the problem. She could keep a beat well. She chirped her one note, again and again, at the same speed.

The frog slowed down. The nightingale found her place. Soon the whole chorus sang in time. The song was lovely.

"Your one note holds our song together," said the frog.

Cleo glowed with joy. One note can matter when it is the one the song needs.

▲ This passage · 170 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.9

Cleo the cricket could play only one note. Chirp. Chirp. Chirp. All the other night singers had fancy songs. The frog sang low and deep. The nightingale sang long, swirling tunes.

"I'm not good enough to join the night chorus," said Cleo. So she sat alone on a stone and chirped softly to herself.

One evening, the chorus began to practice. But something was wrong. The song kept falling apart. The frog came in too soon, and the nightingale ran too fast.

"We need a steady beat," said the nightingale. "Something to keep us together."

Cleo heard the problem. She could keep a beat better than anyone. She chirped her one note, again and again, at the same speed.

The frog slowed down. The nightingale found her place. Soon the whole chorus sang in time, and the song was beautiful.

"Your one note holds our whole song together," said the frog.

Cleo glowed with joy. Even a single note can matter when it is the one that the song needs.

■ Harder · 193 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.1

Cleo the cricket could play only a single note. Chirp. Chirp. Chirp. All of the other night singers had elaborate songs. The frog sang in a low, deep voice, and the nightingale sang long, swirling tunes that rose and fell.

"I am simply not good enough to join the night chorus," said Cleo. So she sat by herself on a stone and chirped softly.

One evening, the chorus gathered to practice, but something was badly wrong. The song kept falling apart. The frog came in far too soon, and the nightingale raced ahead.

"We need a steady beat," said the nightingale. "Something to keep all of us together."

Cleo recognized the problem at once. She could keep a beat better than anyone. She chirped her one note over and over at exactly the same speed.

The frog slowed down, and the nightingale found her place. Before long, the whole chorus was singing in time, and the song was beautiful.

"Your one note holds our entire song together," said the frog.

Cleo glowed with joy. Even a single note can matter a great deal when it is precisely the one that the song needs.

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 chorus, note, steady, swirling and practice 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 "The Cricket Who Only Knew One Note"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 170 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.9. 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 seven. 5 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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