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Captain Fumble Sails a Bathtub

5th grade fiction passage about a bathtub boat voyage: 255 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade fiction a bathtub boat voyage 255 words

Captain Fumble Sails a Bathtub

Captain Ferdie Fumble was ten years old and sure that every great explorer began with a bathtub. So one sunny Saturday, he dragged the old tub from behind the shed down to the edge of Mill Pond. He tied his sister's red scarf to a broom handle for a sail and used a soup ladle for an oar. His crew was a pile of socks with button eyes.

"All aboard!" Ferdie called to the socks.

The tub slid into the water with a slap. It floated! Ferdie puffed out his chest and said, "Land ho!" even though the only land in sight was the very place he had left.

He paddled and paddled. The wind pushed the scarf, and the tub spun in a slow circle. Ferdie did not mind. He sang a sea song, and the ducks followed him, quacking along.

Halfway across the pond, he noticed that his feet were wet. The tub had a small hole at the bottom, right where the drain was supposed to be. Water bubbled up like a tiny fountain.

"Abandon ship!" cried Ferdie, then remembered the pond was only knee deep. "Never mind," he said. "Stay calm, crew."

He pulled off one muddy sneaker and jammed it into the hole. The bubbling stopped. Ferdie sailed on, hopping on one foot to keep the other dry, and he bumped gently onto the far shore, where his grandfather was waiting with a sandwich.

"Captain," said Grandpa, "I would say your ship is a fine one, if a little shoeless."

Questions

  1. What did Ferdie use for a sail? in the text

  2. Who made up Ferdie's crew? in the text

  3. What problem happened in the middle of the pond? in the text

  4. Why did Ferdie decide not to abandon ship? think about it

  5. How did Ferdie stop the leak? in the text

  6. Why was it funny when Ferdie said land ho at the start? think about it

Words to know

explorer
a person who travels to find new places
ladle
a large deep spoon for serving soup
crew
the people who work together on a ship
fountain
a spray of water shooting up
abandon
to leave something behind for good
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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 · 210 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2

Captain Ferdie Fumble was ten years old. He was sure that every great explorer began with a bathtub. One sunny Saturday he dragged an old tub to the edge of Mill Pond. He tied his sister's red scarf to a broom for a sail. A soup ladle was his oar. His crew was a pile of socks with button eyes.

"All aboard!" Ferdie told the socks.

The tub slid into the water. It floated! Ferdie puffed out his chest. "Land ho!" he said. The only land in sight was the place he had left.

He paddled and paddled. The wind pushed the scarf. The tub spun in a slow circle. Ferdie did not mind. He sang a sea song, and the ducks quacked along.

Halfway across, his feet got wet. The tub had a small hole at the bottom. Water bubbled up like a tiny fountain.

"Abandon ship!" cried Ferdie. Then he remembered the pond was only knee deep. "Stay calm, crew," he said.

He pulled off one muddy sneaker and jammed it in the hole. The bubbling stopped. Ferdie sailed on, hopping on one foot. He bumped onto the far shore. His grandfather was waiting with a sandwich.

"Captain," said Grandpa, "your ship is fine, but a little shoeless."

▲ This passage · 255 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.6

Captain Ferdie Fumble was ten years old and sure that every great explorer began with a bathtub. So one sunny Saturday, he dragged the old tub from behind the shed down to the edge of Mill Pond. He tied his sister's red scarf to a broom handle for a sail and used a soup ladle for an oar. His crew was a pile of socks with button eyes.

"All aboard!" Ferdie called to the socks.

The tub slid into the water with a slap. It floated! Ferdie puffed out his chest and said, "Land ho!" even though the only land in sight was the very place he had left.

He paddled and paddled. The wind pushed the scarf, and the tub spun in a slow circle. Ferdie did not mind. He sang a sea song, and the ducks followed him, quacking along.

Halfway across the pond, he noticed that his feet were wet. The tub had a small hole at the bottom, right where the drain was supposed to be. Water bubbled up like a tiny fountain.

"Abandon ship!" cried Ferdie, then remembered the pond was only knee deep. "Never mind," he said. "Stay calm, crew."

He pulled off one muddy sneaker and jammed it into the hole. The bubbling stopped. Ferdie sailed on, hopping on one foot to keep the other dry, and he bumped gently onto the far shore, where his grandfather was waiting with a sandwich.

"Captain," said Grandpa, "I would say your ship is a fine one, if a little shoeless."

■ Harder · 288 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.7

Captain Ferdie Fumble was ten years old and entirely convinced that every great explorer had begun with a bathtub. So one sunny Saturday, he dragged the old tub from behind the shed all the way down to the edge of Mill Pond. He tied his sister's red scarf to a broom handle for a sail and borrowed a soup ladle to serve as an oar. His loyal crew consisted of a pile of socks with button eyes.

"All aboard!" Ferdie called to the socks.

The tub slid into the water with a slap, and to everyone's astonishment it floated. Ferdie puffed out his chest and cried, "Land ho!" even though the only land in sight was the very spot he had just left.

He paddled and paddled while the breeze nudged the scarf, and the tub drifted around in a slow circle. Ferdie did not mind in the least. He sang a sea song at the top of his lungs, and the ducks paddled behind him, quacking in harmony.

Halfway across the pond, he noticed that his feet were wet. The tub had a small hole in the bottom, right where the drain was supposed to be, and water was bubbling up like a miniature fountain.

"Abandon ship!" cried Ferdie, but then he remembered that the pond was only knee deep. "Never mind," he said. "Stay calm, crew."

He tugged off one muddy sneaker and jammed it into the hole, and the bubbling stopped at once. Ferdie sailed on, hopping on one foot to keep the other dry, and bumped gently onto the far shore, where his grandfather stood waiting with a sandwich.

"Captain," said Grandpa, "I would call your ship a fine one, if a little shoeless."

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 explorer, ladle, crew, fountain and abandon 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 3 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 4 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 "Captain Fumble Sails a Bathtub"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 255 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.6. 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 3 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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