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The Music Box Town Needs a New Song

4th grade fiction passage about a tiny town inside a music box: 175 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade fiction a tiny town inside a music box 175 words

The Music Box Town Needs a New Song

Lila opened her old music box and, as usual, a tune began to play. But this time she leaned closer and noticed something new. Inside, below the little dancer, stood a town no bigger than a thumbnail. Tiny people were pointing and frowning.

A person the size of a grain of rice waved up at her. "Please help," she called in a voice like a pin dropping. "We have lived with the same song for a hundred years. Everyone is tired of it, and the hens will not lay eggs."

Lila thought about it. She did not know how to change a music box. But she did know how to hum. She held the lid open and hummed a brand new tune, slow at first and then bouncier.

The people below swayed. The hens began to cluck in time. One tiny hen laid an egg the size of a sesame seed.

From then on, Lila hummed to the town every Sunday. The old song still played too, because the town decided it liked having two.

Questions

  1. What did Lila notice inside the music box? in the text

  2. Why were the people unhappy? in the text

  3. How did Lila help the town? in the text

  4. What happened when the new tune played? in the text

  5. Why did the hens start laying eggs again? think about it

  6. How did the town end up feeling about the old song? think about it

Words to know

thumbnail
the hard flat part at the tip of your thumb
tune
a short pattern of musical notes
swayed
moved gently from side to side
bouncier
more lively and springy
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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 · 141 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.7

Lila opened her old music box, and a tune began to play. This time she leaned close and saw something new. Below the little dancer was a town no bigger than a thumbnail. Tiny people were frowning.

One person, as small as a grain of rice, waved up at her. "Please help," she called. "We have had the same song for a hundred years. We are tired of it. The hens will not lay eggs."

Lila did not know how to change a music box. But she knew how to hum. She held the lid open and hummed a brand new tune.

The people below swayed. The hens clucked in time. One tiny hen laid an egg as small as a sesame seed.

Lila hummed to the town every Sunday. The old song still played too. The town liked having two.

▲ This passage · 175 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.2

Lila opened her old music box and, as usual, a tune began to play. But this time she leaned closer and noticed something new. Inside, below the little dancer, stood a town no bigger than a thumbnail. Tiny people were pointing and frowning.

A person the size of a grain of rice waved up at her. "Please help," she called in a voice like a pin dropping. "We have lived with the same song for a hundred years. Everyone is tired of it, and the hens will not lay eggs."

Lila thought about it. She did not know how to change a music box. But she did know how to hum. She held the lid open and hummed a brand new tune, slow at first and then bouncier.

The people below swayed. The hens began to cluck in time. One tiny hen laid an egg the size of a sesame seed.

From then on, Lila hummed to the town every Sunday. The old song still played too, because the town decided it liked having two.

■ Harder · 185 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.1

Lila opened her old music box and, as usual, a familiar tune began to play. This time, though, she leaned closer and noticed something she had never seen before. Beneath the little dancer stood a town no bigger than a thumbnail, where tiny people were pointing and frowning.

A person the size of a grain of rice waved up at her. "Please help us," she called in a voice like a pin dropping. "We have lived with the same song for a hundred years. Everyone is thoroughly tired of it, and the hens refuse to lay eggs."

Lila considered the problem. She had no idea how to change a music box, but she did know how to hum. Holding the lid open, she hummed a brand new tune, slow at first and then bouncier.

The people below began to sway. The hens clucked in time with the rhythm, and one tiny hen laid an egg the size of a sesame seed.

From then on, Lila hummed to the town every Sunday. The old song kept playing too, because the townspeople decided they enjoyed having two.

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 thumbnail, tune, swayed and bouncier 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 Music Box Town Needs a New Song"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 175 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.2. 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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