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Why You Sound Odd on a Voice Recording

3rd grade nonfiction passage about hearing your own voice: 164 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade nonfiction hearing your own voice 164 words

Why You Sound Odd on a Voice Recording

Lena recorded herself reading a poem, and when she pressed play, she frowned. "That does not sound like me," she said. Her brother laughed and told her, "It sounds just like you!"

Who was right? Both of them were, in a way, because you hear your own voice in two different ways at the same time.

When you talk, sound waves travel out of your mouth and through the air to the ears of other people, and that is the only way they hear you. A recording works in the same way, since it picks up only the sound that moves through the air.

But you hear something more. Your voice also shakes the bones in your head, and those shakes reach your ears from the inside, which makes your voice seem deeper and fuller to you.

So the recording is how everyone else hears you. It may feel odd at first. After you hear it a few times, it starts to seem normal.

Questions

  1. Why did Lena frown when she played the recording? in the text

  2. How do other people hear your voice? in the text

  3. What else shakes when you talk? in the text

  4. How does the inner sound make your voice seem to you? in the text

  5. Whose way of hearing your voice does the recording match? in the text

  6. Why might a recording seem less strange after you hear it many times? think about it

Words to know

recording
sound saved so you can play it again later
sound waves
tiny shakes that carry sound through the air
poem
a short piece of writing with lines that often rhyme
inner
on the inside
deeper
lower in sound
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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 · 123 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.9

Lena made a recording of herself reading a poem. When she played it, she frowned. "That does not sound like me," she said. Her brother laughed. "It sounds just like you!"

Who was right? Both were. You hear your voice in two ways at once.

When you talk, sound waves go out of your mouth through the air. Other people hear you this way. A recording picks up sound from the air too.

But you hear more. Your voice also shakes the bones in your head. That sound reaches your ears from the inside. It makes your voice seem deeper and fuller to you.

So the recording is how others hear you. It may feel odd. After a few times, it seems fine.

▲ This passage · 164 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.7

Lena recorded herself reading a poem, and when she pressed play, she frowned. "That does not sound like me," she said. Her brother laughed and told her, "It sounds just like you!"

Who was right? Both of them were, in a way, because you hear your own voice in two different ways at the same time.

When you talk, sound waves travel out of your mouth and through the air to the ears of other people, and that is the only way they hear you. A recording works in the same way, since it picks up only the sound that moves through the air.

But you hear something more. Your voice also shakes the bones in your head, and those shakes reach your ears from the inside, which makes your voice seem deeper and fuller to you.

So the recording is how everyone else hears you. It may feel odd at first. After you hear it a few times, it starts to seem normal.

■ Harder · 175 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5

Lena recorded herself reading a poem aloud. When she pressed play, she frowned in surprise. "That does not sound like me at all," she said. Her brother laughed and replied, "It sounds exactly like you!"

Who was right? In a way, they both were, because you actually hear your own voice in two different ways at the same moment.

When you speak, sound waves travel out of your mouth and through the air to the ears of the people around you, which is the only way they can hear you. A recording works in the same manner, since it picks up only the sound that moves through the air.

You, however, hear something extra. Your voice also makes the bones in your head vibrate, and those vibrations reach your ears from the inside. That inner sound makes your voice seem deeper and fuller to you.

Therefore, the recording is how everyone else hears you. It may feel strange at first, but after you listen to it a few times, it begins to seem perfectly normal.

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 recording, sound waves, poem, inner and deeper on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text 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 write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Why You Sound Odd on a Voice Recording"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 164 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.7. 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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