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The Bowerbird and the Plain Gray Feather

4th grade fiction passage about pride and kindness, birds: 188 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade fiction pride and kindness, birds 188 words

The Bowerbird and the Plain Gray Feather

A bowerbird named Rufus spent every morning decorating his bower. A bower is a little stage of sticks, and Rufus wanted his to be the finest in the forest. He lined it with blue berries, blue bottle tops, and one blue feather he had found. He would not allow a single thing that was not blue.

One afternoon a small wren landed nearby. She held a plain gray feather in her beak. "I found this for you," she said. "It was the softest thing in the forest."

Rufus frowned. "It is not blue," he said. "It does not belong."

The wren said nothing and flew away, and the feather drifted to the ground by the edge of the bower. That night a cold wind blew through the trees. Rufus shivered on his branch, and he looked at his bower. Berries and bottle tops are hard and cold. The gray feather lay in the dust, soft and warm.

In the morning Rufus carried it to the very center of the bower. A fine collection, he decided, is not about matching. It is about what you are glad to have.

Questions

  1. What is a bower? in the text

  2. What color did Rufus want everything in his bower to be? in the text

  3. What gift did the wren bring to Rufus? in the text

  4. Why did Rufus say the feather did not belong? in the text

  5. What made Rufus change his mind about the feather? think about it

  6. What do you think the wren felt when Rufus frowned? think about it

Words to know

bower
a little stage of sticks built by a bowerbird
decorating
making a place look nice with extra things
drifted
moved slowly and gently through the air
collection
a group of things gathered together
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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 · 161 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.3

A bowerbird named Rufus spent every morning on his bower. A bower is a little stage of sticks. Rufus wanted his to be the best in the forest. He put blue berries, blue bottle tops, and one blue feather in it. Nothing could be in his bower unless it was blue.

One day a small wren landed nearby. She had a plain gray feather in her beak. "I found this for you," she said. "It is the softest thing in the forest."

Rufus frowned. "It is not blue," he said. "It does not belong."

The wren flew away. The feather fell to the ground by the bower. That night a cold wind blew. Rufus shivered on his branch. Berries and bottle tops are hard and cold. The gray feather was soft and warm.

In the morning Rufus put it in the middle of his bower. A good collection is not about matching. It is about what you are glad to have.

▲ This passage · 188 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.5

A bowerbird named Rufus spent every morning decorating his bower. A bower is a little stage of sticks, and Rufus wanted his to be the finest in the forest. He lined it with blue berries, blue bottle tops, and one blue feather he had found. He would not allow a single thing that was not blue.

One afternoon a small wren landed nearby. She held a plain gray feather in her beak. "I found this for you," she said. "It was the softest thing in the forest."

Rufus frowned. "It is not blue," he said. "It does not belong."

The wren said nothing and flew away, and the feather drifted to the ground by the edge of the bower. That night a cold wind blew through the trees. Rufus shivered on his branch, and he looked at his bower. Berries and bottle tops are hard and cold. The gray feather lay in the dust, soft and warm.

In the morning Rufus carried it to the very center of the bower. A fine collection, he decided, is not about matching. It is about what you are glad to have.

■ Harder · 200 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5

A bowerbird named Rufus devoted every morning to decorating his bower. A bower is a little stage built from sticks, and Rufus was determined that his would be the finest in the entire forest. He lined it with blue berries, blue bottle tops, and a single blue feather that he had found. He would not permit one thing that was not blue.

One afternoon a small wren landed nearby, holding a plain gray feather in her beak. "I found this for you," she said. "It was the softest thing in the whole forest."

Rufus frowned. "It is not blue," he said stiffly. "It does not belong here."

The wren said nothing and flew away, and the feather drifted down beside the edge of the bower. That night a bitter wind blew through the trees, and Rufus shivered on his branch as he gazed at his collection. Berries and bottle tops are hard and cold, but the gray feather lay in the dust, soft and warm.

At dawn Rufus carried it to the very center of his bower. A fine collection, he finally decided, is not about matching at all. It is about the things you are truly glad to have.

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 bower, decorating, drifted and collection 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 5 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 Bowerbird and the Plain Gray Feather"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 188 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.5. 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. 4 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.

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