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The Llama Who Carried the Mountain Mail

3rd grade fiction passage about a llama delivers letters: 174 words, seven questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade fiction a llama delivers letters 174 words

The Llama Who Carried the Mountain Mail

High in the mountains, a village sat far from the next town. A winding path led over a pass. In winter, the path was icy. Nobody wanted to carry letters across it.

Then a llama named Luz stepped forward. "I can do it," she said. "My feet are sure, and my back is strong."

The villagers tied a small pack of letters to her back. Luz began to climb. Each step was careful. The wind blew cold, and snow swirled around her ears. Once, her hoof slipped on a patch of ice. She stopped, took a breath, and set it down again more gently.

Hours later, she came to the town. A baker took the letters and gave her a warm handful of oats. Then Luz carried a new pack home.

Soon the villagers counted on Luz every week. A mother got a letter from her son. A girl got a birthday card from her aunt.

Luz was proud. She had found a job that fit her strengths, and it made everyone's day brighter.

Questions

  1. Where was the village? in the text

  2. Why did nobody want to carry letters over the pass? in the text

  3. What did the villagers tie to Luz's back? in the text

  4. What did Luz do when her hoof slipped? in the text

  5. What did the baker give Luz? in the text

  6. Why was Luz a good choice for the job? think about it

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

Words to know

pass
a path through a gap between mountains
winding
twisting and turning like a snake
hoof
the hard foot of an animal such as a llama
swirled
moved around in circles
strengths
the things that you are good at
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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 · 165 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.4

High in the mountains, a village sat far from the next town. A path wound over a pass. In winter, the path was icy. No one wanted to take letters across.

Then a llama named Luz stepped up. "I can do it," she said. "My feet are sure. My back is strong."

The villagers tied a small pack of letters on her back. Luz began to climb. Each step was careful. The wind blew cold. Snow swirled by her ears. Once, her hoof slipped on ice. She stopped. She took a breath. She set it down more gently.

Hours later, she got to the town. A baker took the letters. He gave her a warm handful of oats. Then Luz took a new pack home.

Soon the villagers counted on Luz each week. A mother got a letter from her son. A girl got a card from her aunt.

Luz felt proud. She had a job that fit her strengths. It made each day brighter.

▲ This passage · 174 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2

High in the mountains, a village sat far from the next town. A winding path led over a pass. In winter, the path was icy. Nobody wanted to carry letters across it.

Then a llama named Luz stepped forward. "I can do it," she said. "My feet are sure, and my back is strong."

The villagers tied a small pack of letters to her back. Luz began to climb. Each step was careful. The wind blew cold, and snow swirled around her ears. Once, her hoof slipped on a patch of ice. She stopped, took a breath, and set it down again more gently.

Hours later, she came to the town. A baker took the letters and gave her a warm handful of oats. Then Luz carried a new pack home.

Soon the villagers counted on Luz every week. A mother got a letter from her son. A girl got a birthday card from her aunt.

Luz was proud. She had found a job that fit her strengths, and it made everyone's day brighter.

■ Harder · 189 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.1

High in the mountains, a small village sat far away from the nearest town. A winding path led over a narrow pass, but in winter that path turned icy and treacherous. Nobody was willing to carry letters across it.

Then a llama named Luz stepped forward. "I can do it," she said confidently. "My feet are sure, and my back is strong."

The villagers fastened a small pack of letters to her back, and Luz began her climb. Every step was careful. The wind blew bitterly cold, and snow swirled around her ears. Once, her hoof slipped on a patch of ice. She paused, took a slow breath, and set it down again more gently.

Hours later, she arrived in the town. A baker accepted the letters and rewarded her with a warm handful of oats. Then Luz carried a fresh pack back home.

Before long, the villagers depended on Luz every week. A mother received a letter from her son, and a young girl received a birthday card from her aunt.

Luz felt proud. She had found a job that suited her strengths, and it brightened everyone's day.

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 pass, winding, hoof, swirled and strengths 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 Llama Who Carried the Mountain Mail"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 174 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.0. 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 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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