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The Pump With No Home

3rd grade fiction passage about a bike pump shared by a whole street: 207 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade fiction a bike pump shared by a whole street 207 words

The Pump With No Home

On Birch Street, one red bike pump belonged to everybody. It had a squeaky handle, and it hung on a hook in nobody's garage. People just borrowed it and brought it back, or so they said.

On Saturday morning, Ben had a flat tire and a race to ride in. He ran to the hook. It was empty.

Ben knocked on four doors. Mr. Cole thought Mrs. Fenn had it. Mrs. Fenn thought the twins had it. The twins said they had given it to Mr. Cole. Round and round it went, like a game nobody wanted to play.

At last Ben found the pump in the grass behind Mrs. Fenn's house. Her grandson had used it to blow up a pool float and then forgotten it. The red paint was wet with dew.

Ben fixed his tire just in time. After the race, he did something smart. He nailed a board to the lamp post and tied a basket to it. Beside the basket he hung a row of clothespins, one for each house on the street. Each name was written in marker.

Now, whoever borrowed the pump clipped a clothespin to the basket. The next time it went missing, everybody knew exactly where to look.

Questions

  1. What color was the pump on Birch Street? in the text

  2. Why did Ben need the pump on Saturday morning? in the text

  3. Where did Ben find the pump? in the text

  4. How had the pump ended up in the grass? in the text

  5. What did Ben build after the race? in the text

  6. How do the clothespins help the neighbors? think about it

Words to know

borrowed
took something to use and planned to give it back
flat
with no air inside
dew
tiny drops of water that form on grass at night
clothespins
small clips that hold things in place
belonged
was owned by or shared by a person or group
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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 · 173 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.2

On Birch Street, one red bike pump was for everyone. It had a squeaky handle. It hung on a hook in nobody's garage. People borrowed it and brought it back, or so they said.

On Saturday, Ben had a flat tire. He had a race that day. He ran to the hook. It was empty.

Ben knocked on four doors. Mr. Cole said Mrs. Fenn had it. Mrs. Fenn said the twins had it. The twins said Mr. Cole had it. Round and round it went.

At last Ben found the pump in the grass behind Mrs. Fenn's house. Her grandson had used it for a pool float. He had forgotten it there.

Ben fixed his tire in time. After the race, he nailed a board to the lamp post. He tied a basket to it. He hung one clothespin for each house on the street. Each one had a name.

Now when you borrow the pump, you clip your clothespin to the basket. If it goes missing, everyone knows where to look.

▲ This passage · 207 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.9

On Birch Street, one red bike pump belonged to everybody. It had a squeaky handle, and it hung on a hook in nobody's garage. People just borrowed it and brought it back, or so they said.

On Saturday morning, Ben had a flat tire and a race to ride in. He ran to the hook. It was empty.

Ben knocked on four doors. Mr. Cole thought Mrs. Fenn had it. Mrs. Fenn thought the twins had it. The twins said they had given it to Mr. Cole. Round and round it went, like a game nobody wanted to play.

At last Ben found the pump in the grass behind Mrs. Fenn's house. Her grandson had used it to blow up a pool float and then forgotten it. The red paint was wet with dew.

Ben fixed his tire just in time. After the race, he did something smart. He nailed a board to the lamp post and tied a basket to it. Beside the basket he hung a row of clothespins, one for each house on the street. Each name was written in marker.

Now, whoever borrowed the pump clipped a clothespin to the basket. The next time it went missing, everybody knew exactly where to look.

■ Harder · 237 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5

On Birch Street, a single red bike pump belonged to the whole neighborhood. It had a squeaky handle, and it hung on a hook in nobody's garage in particular. Everyone borrowed it and promised to return it, or so they claimed.

On Saturday morning, Ben discovered that his bike had a flat tire, and a race was about to begin. He hurried to the hook, but it was completely empty.

Ben knocked on four different doors. Mr. Cole believed that Mrs. Fenn had it. Mrs. Fenn was certain that the twins had it. The twins insisted they had handed it to Mr. Cole. The blame traveled round and round, like a game that nobody wanted to play.

Finally, Ben found the pump lying in the grass behind Mrs. Fenn's house. Her grandson had used it to blow up a pool float and then forgotten all about it. The red paint was damp with morning dew.

Ben repaired his tire just in time for the race. Afterward, he did something clever. He nailed a board to the lamp post and tied a basket to it. Beside the basket he hung a row of clothespins, one for every house on the street, each with a family name written in marker.

From then on, whoever borrowed the pump clipped a clothespin to the basket. The next time it went missing, the whole street would know exactly where to start looking.

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 borrowed, flat, dew, clothespins and belonged 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 Pump With No Home"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 207 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 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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