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The Pencil That Drew Lost Things

3rd grade fiction passage about a pencil that finds lost items: 160 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade fiction a pencil that finds lost items 160 words

The Pencil That Drew Lost Things

Ivo found a short, striped pencil in the pocket of his coat. It had a worn pink eraser and a very sharp tip.

At first he drew a cat, but the cat did not move. Then he drew a circle for a lost button. The circle began to glow. The pencil pulled his hand across the page, and a line led off the paper and onto the floor.

Ivo followed the glowing line. It went under the couch, and there lay the button, covered in dust.

The pencil worked every time. It found a missing sock, a library card, and even his sister's tooth, which she had saved in a tiny box.

But the pencil kept getting shorter. Each drawing used up a little more of the lead.

On the last day, Ivo drew one thing: the dog's favorite ball. When he found it, he set the stubby pencil on his shelf. "Thank you," he said, "for all your help."

Questions

  1. Where did Ivo find the pencil? in the text

  2. What did the glowing line lead Ivo to first? in the text

  3. What are two other things the pencil helped find? in the text

  4. Why did the pencil keep getting shorter? in the text

  5. What did Ivo find on the last day? in the text

  6. Why did Ivo put the stubby pencil on a shelf at the end? think about it

Words to know

striped
marked with long lines of color
eraser
a small rubber piece that rubs out pencil marks
glow
to shine with a soft light
stubby
short and thick
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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 1.6

Ivo found a short pencil in his coat pocket. It had stripes. It had a worn pink eraser and a sharp tip.

At first he drew a cat. The cat did not move. Then he drew a circle for a lost button. The circle began to glow. The pencil pulled his hand across the page. A line ran off the paper and onto the floor.

Ivo followed the glowing line. It went under the couch. There was the button, covered in dust.

The pencil worked every time. It found a missing sock and a library card. It even found his sister's tooth, which she saved in a tiny box.

But the pencil got shorter. Each drawing used up a bit of lead.

On the last day, Ivo drew the dog's favorite ball. He found it. Then he put the stubby pencil on his shelf. "Thank you for all your help," he said.

▲ This passage · 160 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3

Ivo found a short, striped pencil in the pocket of his coat. It had a worn pink eraser and a very sharp tip.

At first he drew a cat, but the cat did not move. Then he drew a circle for a lost button. The circle began to glow. The pencil pulled his hand across the page, and a line led off the paper and onto the floor.

Ivo followed the glowing line. It went under the couch, and there lay the button, covered in dust.

The pencil worked every time. It found a missing sock, a library card, and even his sister's tooth, which she had saved in a tiny box.

But the pencil kept getting shorter. Each drawing used up a little more of the lead.

On the last day, Ivo drew one thing: the dog's favorite ball. When he found it, he set the stubby pencil on his shelf. "Thank you," he said, "for all your help."

■ Harder · 175 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.5

Ivo discovered a short, striped pencil tucked in the pocket of his winter coat. It had a worn pink eraser and an extremely sharp tip.

At first he drew a cat, but the cat just sat there on the page. Then he sketched a circle to stand for a lost button, and the circle began to glow. The pencil tugged his hand across the paper, and a shining line led off the page and across the floor.

Ivo followed the glowing line under the couch, and there lay the button, covered in a layer of dust.

The pencil worked every single time. It found a missing sock, a library card, and even his sister's tooth, which she had saved in a tiny box.

Unfortunately, the pencil kept getting shorter, because each drawing used up a little more of the lead.

On the last day, Ivo drew just one thing: the dog's favorite ball. After he found it, he placed the stubby pencil carefully on his shelf. "Thank you," he said, "for all of your help."

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 striped, eraser, glow and stubby 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 Pencil That Drew Lost Things"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 160 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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