Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

The Kakapo Who Climbed the Tall Rimu

4th grade fiction passage about patience, flightless birds: 194 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade fiction patience, flightless birds 194 words

The Kakapo Who Climbed the Tall Rimu

A kakapo is a big, round parrot that cannot fly. Instead it walks through the forest on strong legs and climbs trees with its beak and claws. A kakapo named Huia wished more than anything to see the whole forest from above, the way the pigeons did.

"Flying is easy," the pigeons told her. "You just flap harder."

Huia flapped until her wings ached. She flapped from stumps and from logs and once from a very wobbly branch. Each time she landed in a heap of ferns, with leaves in her feathers.

One morning an old kakapo named Tane found her sitting sadly in the ferns. "You are trying to be a pigeon," he said. "Try being a kakapo."

So Huia began to climb. She climbed slowly, one grip at a time, up the trunk of a tall rimu tree. It took her most of the morning. At the top she opened her wings, not to fly, but to float gently down, like a green parachute.

On the way, she saw the whole forest spread out below her, the river shining like a silver thread. She had found her own way to the sky.

Questions

  1. What can a kakapo not do? in the text

  2. What did Huia wish more than anything? in the text

  3. What happened each time Huia tried to fly? in the text

  4. What advice did Tane give Huia? in the text

  5. How did Huia use her wings at the top of the tree? think about it

  6. What does the story mean by finding her own way to the sky? think about it

Words to know

kakapo
a large round parrot of New Zealand that cannot fly
stumps
the short bottoms left when a tree is cut down
wobbly
shaky and not steady
parachute
a large cloth that slows a fall through the air
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 · 172 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.3

A kakapo is a big, round parrot that cannot fly. It walks through the forest on strong legs. It climbs trees with its beak and claws. A kakapo named Huia wanted to see the whole forest from above, like the pigeons.

"Flying is easy," the pigeons said. "Just flap harder."

Huia flapped until her wings ached. She flapped from stumps and logs. Once she flapped from a wobbly branch. Each time she landed in the ferns with leaves in her feathers.

One morning an old kakapo named Tane found her sitting sadly in the ferns. "You are trying to be a pigeon," he said. "Try being a kakapo."

So Huia began to climb. She climbed slowly up a tall rimu tree. It took most of the morning. At the top she opened her wings. She did not fly. She floated gently down, like a green parachute.

On the way, she saw the whole forest below her. The river shone like a silver thread. She had found her own way to the sky.

▲ This passage · 194 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.5

A kakapo is a big, round parrot that cannot fly. Instead it walks through the forest on strong legs and climbs trees with its beak and claws. A kakapo named Huia wished more than anything to see the whole forest from above, the way the pigeons did.

"Flying is easy," the pigeons told her. "You just flap harder."

Huia flapped until her wings ached. She flapped from stumps and from logs and once from a very wobbly branch. Each time she landed in a heap of ferns, with leaves in her feathers.

One morning an old kakapo named Tane found her sitting sadly in the ferns. "You are trying to be a pigeon," he said. "Try being a kakapo."

So Huia began to climb. She climbed slowly, one grip at a time, up the trunk of a tall rimu tree. It took her most of the morning. At the top she opened her wings, not to fly, but to float gently down, like a green parachute.

On the way, she saw the whole forest spread out below her, the river shining like a silver thread. She had found her own way to the sky.

■ Harder · 210 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.2

A kakapo is a large, round parrot that is unable to fly. Instead it travels through the forest on strong legs and scales trees with its beak and claws. A kakapo named Huia wished more than anything to see the whole forest spread out below her, the way the pigeons did.

"Flying is easy," the pigeons assured her. "You simply have to flap harder."

Huia flapped until her wings ached. She flapped from stumps and from fallen logs, and once she even flapped from a very wobbly branch. Each time she tumbled into a heap of ferns with leaves tangled in her feathers.

One morning an elderly kakapo named Tane discovered her sitting dejectedly among the ferns. "You are trying to be a pigeon," he observed. "Try being a kakapo instead."

So Huia began to climb. She climbed patiently, one firm grip at a time, up the trunk of a towering rimu tree, and the effort took most of the morning. At the very top she spread her wings, not to fly, but to float gently down like a green parachute.

On the way, she saw the entire forest laid out beneath her, with the river shining like a silver thread. She had discovered her own way to the sky.

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 kakapo, stumps, wobbly and parachute 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 Kakapo Who Climbed the Tall Rimu"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 194 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.

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