Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

The Bassoon Taller Than Dev

4th grade fiction passage about learning a big instrument: 201 words, seven questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade fiction learning a big instrument 201 words

The Bassoon Taller Than Dev

When Mr. Okafor held up the school bassoon, Dev laughed out loud. It was almost as tall as he was. It looked like a brown stick with silver buttons and a curly metal pipe on top.

"Somebody has to play it," said Mr. Okafor. "The band needs a low voice."

Dev picked the bassoon because every other instrument was already taken. At home he put the reed in his mouth and blew. The sound was a loud, flat honk, like a goose with a cold. His little sister covered her ears and ran out of the room.

For two weeks Dev practiced every afternoon. Every afternoon the bassoon honked. He almost gave it back.

Then one day he stopped blowing so hard. He let the air come out slowly, the way you would blow on hot soup. A deep, round note rolled across the room. It sounded warm and a little bit funny, like a friendly bear humming.

His sister poked her head back in the door. "Do that again," she said.

At the next band practice, the other kids played the tune up high. Dev played the low notes underneath. Mr. Okafor smiled and said the band finally sounded complete.

Questions

  1. Why did Dev laugh when he first saw the bassoon? in the text

  2. Why did Dev end up with the bassoon? in the text

  3. What did his first sound remind the writer of? in the text

  4. How long did Dev practice before he almost gave up? in the text

  5. What did Dev change that made the note sound deep and round? in the text

  6. Why did Dev's sister ask him to do it again? think about it

  7. Why did Mr. Okafor say the band sounded complete? think about it

Words to know

bassoon
a tall wooden instrument that plays deep notes
reed
a thin piece of cane you blow on to make a sound
practiced
did something again and again to get better
complete
having all the parts it needs
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 · 157 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.4

Mr. Okafor held up the school bassoon. Dev laughed. It was almost as tall as he was. It was a brown stick with silver buttons.

"The band needs a low voice," said Mr. Okafor.

Dev took the bassoon because all the other instruments were taken. At home he blew into the reed. The sound was a loud honk. It was like a goose with a cold. His little sister ran out of the room.

Dev practiced for two weeks. The bassoon still honked. He almost gave it back.

Then one day he stopped blowing so hard. He let the air out slowly, like blowing on hot soup. A deep, round note filled the room. It was warm and funny, like a friendly bear.

His sister peeked in. "Do that again," she said.

At band practice, the other kids played the tune up high. Dev played the low notes. Mr. Okafor smiled. He said the band sounded complete.

▲ This passage · 201 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.3

When Mr. Okafor held up the school bassoon, Dev laughed out loud. It was almost as tall as he was. It looked like a brown stick with silver buttons and a curly metal pipe on top.

"Somebody has to play it," said Mr. Okafor. "The band needs a low voice."

Dev picked the bassoon because every other instrument was already taken. At home he put the reed in his mouth and blew. The sound was a loud, flat honk, like a goose with a cold. His little sister covered her ears and ran out of the room.

For two weeks Dev practiced every afternoon. Every afternoon the bassoon honked. He almost gave it back.

Then one day he stopped blowing so hard. He let the air come out slowly, the way you would blow on hot soup. A deep, round note rolled across the room. It sounded warm and a little bit funny, like a friendly bear humming.

His sister poked her head back in the door. "Do that again," she said.

At the next band practice, the other kids played the tune up high. Dev played the low notes underneath. Mr. Okafor smiled and said the band finally sounded complete.

■ Harder · 243 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.4

When Mr. Okafor lifted the school bassoon out of its case, Dev burst out laughing. The instrument was nearly as tall as he was, a long brown tube of wood decorated with silver keys and a curling metal pipe near the top.

"Somebody must play it," Mr. Okafor said calmly. "The band is missing a low voice."

Dev ended up with the bassoon only because every other instrument had already been claimed. That evening at home, he placed the reed between his lips and blew as hard as he could. What came out was a loud, flat honk, much like a goose suffering from a cold. His little sister clapped her hands over her ears and fled from the room.

For two weeks Dev practiced every afternoon, and every afternoon the bassoon honked back at him. By the end of the second week, he was seriously thinking of returning it.

Then, one day, he stopped forcing the air. Instead he released it slowly and steadily, the way you would blow across a spoonful of hot soup. A deep, rounded note rolled across the room, warm and slightly comical, like a friendly bear humming to itself.

His sister cautiously poked her head back through the doorway. "Do that again," she begged.

At the next band practice, the other children played the melody in high, bright voices while Dev supplied the low notes underneath. Mr. Okafor grinned and announced that the band finally sounded complete.

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 bassoon, reed, practiced and complete 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 Bassoon Taller Than Dev"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 201 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.3. 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.

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