Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

The Town Inside the Button Tin

3rd grade fiction passage about a tiny town in a tin: 152 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade fiction a tiny town in a tin 152 words

The Town Inside the Button Tin

Tomas found a round tin of buttons in his aunt's attic. When he lifted the lid, he heard a tiny sound, like a bell the size of a seed.

He looked closer. Between the buttons was a whole town. The big brass buttons were round houses. The tiny blue ones were ponds. Little people the size of rice grains waved up at him.

"Please close the lid!" called a tiny mayor named Pim. "Our roof is too bright!"

Tomas closed it halfway. "Is there anything you need?" he asked.

"A needle," said Pim. "Our bridge is a thread, and it has come loose."

Tomas fetched a needle and a spool. He sewed the thread tight across a gap between two buttons. The mayor crossed the bridge three times just to test it.

Each week after that, Tomas left the tin open a crack. A tiny bell rang whenever he came to visit.

Questions

  1. Where did Tomas find the tin? in the text

  2. What were the big brass buttons in the tiny town? in the text

  3. Why did Pim ask Tomas to close the lid? in the text

  4. What was the town's bridge made of? in the text

  5. How did Tomas fix the bridge? in the text

  6. Why did Tomas leave the tin open only a crack? think about it

Words to know

attic
a room under the roof of a house
brass
a shiny yellow metal
mayor
the leader of a town
spool
a small roll that holds thread
Share

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 · 149 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1

Tomas found a round tin of buttons in his aunt's attic. He lifted the lid. He heard a tiny sound. It was like a bell as small as a seed.

He looked close. There was a whole town between the buttons. The big brass buttons were round houses. The tiny blue ones were ponds. Little people waved up at him. They were as small as rice.

"Please close the lid!" called a tiny mayor named Pim. "Our roof is too bright!"

Tomas closed it halfway. "What do you need?" he asked.

"A needle," said Pim. "Our bridge is a thread. It came loose."

Tomas got a needle and a spool. He sewed the thread tight across a gap between two buttons. The mayor crossed the bridge three times to test it.

Each week after that, Tomas left the tin open a crack. A tiny bell rang when he came.

▲ This passage · 152 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.1

Tomas found a round tin of buttons in his aunt's attic. When he lifted the lid, he heard a tiny sound, like a bell the size of a seed.

He looked closer. Between the buttons was a whole town. The big brass buttons were round houses. The tiny blue ones were ponds. Little people the size of rice grains waved up at him.

"Please close the lid!" called a tiny mayor named Pim. "Our roof is too bright!"

Tomas closed it halfway. "Is there anything you need?" he asked.

"A needle," said Pim. "Our bridge is a thread, and it has come loose."

Tomas fetched a needle and a spool. He sewed the thread tight across a gap between two buttons. The mayor crossed the bridge three times just to test it.

Each week after that, Tomas left the tin open a crack. A tiny bell rang whenever he came to visit.

■ Harder · 171 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.7

Tomas discovered a round tin of buttons in the corner of his aunt's dusty attic. When he lifted the lid, he heard a faint, tinkling sound, like a bell no bigger than a seed.

He leaned in closer. Nestled between the buttons was an entire town. The large brass buttons were round houses, and the tiny blue ones were ponds. Little people no larger than grains of rice waved up at him.

"Please close the lid!" called a tiny mayor named Pim. "The light is far too bright for our roofs!"

Tomas lowered it halfway. "Is there anything that you need?" he asked.

"A needle," said Pim. "Our bridge is made of thread, and it has come loose."

Tomas fetched a needle and a spool and sewed the thread tightly across the gap between two buttons. The mayor crossed the bridge three times, just to be certain it was safe.

Every week after that, Tomas left the tin open a crack, and a tiny bell rang whenever he came to visit.

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 attic, brass, mayor and spool 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 Town Inside the Button Tin"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 152 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.1. 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.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.