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Time Moves Slowly Under Maya's Bed

4th grade fiction passage about a place where time runs slowly: 176 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade fiction a place where time runs slowly 176 words

Time Moves Slowly Under Maya's Bed

Maya noticed it first when she crawled under her bed to find a lost sock. Her clock said 7:00. She searched for what felt like an hour, and found the sock behind a box. When she climbed out, her clock still said 7:03.

She tested it again with a stopwatch. Under the bed, the seconds ticked by so slowly that a minute stretched into almost a whole afternoon. It was like having extra time in her pocket.

That week, Maya had a big spelling test on Friday. She took her word list and a flashlight under the bed and studied for what felt like three hours. When she came out, only ten minutes had passed.

She aced the test. But the next night, she tried to use the slow time to do her chores, and she fell asleep under the bed. Her mom had to call her twice.

"I think the bed is for studying," Maya decided, "not for sleeping." She kept her lamp, her word list, and a small cushion there, and left the dust bunnies alone.

Questions

  1. What did Maya go under her bed to find? in the text

  2. How did Maya learn that time moved slowly under the bed? in the text

  3. What did Maya take under the bed to study for her test? in the text

  4. How much time passed outside while she studied for three hours? in the text

  5. Why did Maya fall asleep under the bed the next night? think about it

  6. What did Maya decide the bed was good for? in the text

Words to know

stopwatch
a small clock used to time how long something takes
stretched
became longer than usual
studied
worked to learn something
cushion
a soft pillow to sit or lean on
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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 · 143 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.7

Maya noticed it when she crawled under her bed to find a lost sock. Her clock said 7:00. She searched for what felt like an hour. She found the sock behind a box. When she climbed out, her clock said 7:03.

She tested it with a stopwatch. Under the bed, the seconds went by very slowly. A minute felt like a whole afternoon. It was like having extra time in her pocket.

That week, Maya had a big spelling test on Friday. She took her word list and a flashlight under the bed. She studied for what felt like three hours. When she came out, only ten minutes had passed.

She did well on the test. But the next night, she fell asleep under the bed. Her mom had to call her twice.

"The bed is for studying," Maya decided. "It is not for sleeping."

▲ This passage · 176 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

Maya noticed it first when she crawled under her bed to find a lost sock. Her clock said 7:00. She searched for what felt like an hour, and found the sock behind a box. When she climbed out, her clock still said 7:03.

She tested it again with a stopwatch. Under the bed, the seconds ticked by so slowly that a minute stretched into almost a whole afternoon. It was like having extra time in her pocket.

That week, Maya had a big spelling test on Friday. She took her word list and a flashlight under the bed and studied for what felt like three hours. When she came out, only ten minutes had passed.

She aced the test. But the next night, she tried to use the slow time to do her chores, and she fell asleep under the bed. Her mom had to call her twice.

"I think the bed is for studying," Maya decided, "not for sleeping." She kept her lamp, her word list, and a small cushion there, and left the dust bunnies alone.

■ Harder · 186 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.3

Maya first noticed the oddity when she crawled beneath her bed in search of a lost sock. Her clock read 7:00. She hunted for what felt like a full hour and finally discovered the sock behind a box. When she climbed back out, her clock still said 7:03.

She tested the mystery again with a stopwatch. Under the bed, the seconds ticked by so slowly that a single minute stretched into almost an entire afternoon. It was like having extra time tucked into her pocket.

That week, Maya faced a big spelling test on Friday. She carried her word list and a flashlight under the bed and studied for what felt like three hours. When she emerged, only ten minutes had passed.

She aced the test. The next night, however, she tried to use the slow time to finish her chores, and she drifted off to sleep under the bed. Her mom had to call her twice.

"I think the bed is for studying," Maya decided, "and not for sleeping." She kept her lamp, her word list, and a small cushion there, and left the dust bunnies alone.

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 stopwatch, stretched, studied and cushion 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 "Time Moves Slowly Under Maya's Bed"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 176 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.1. 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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