Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Noor Pulls the Curtain on Cue Seven

5th grade fiction passage about working backstage on a school play: 232 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade fiction working backstage on a school play 232 words

Noor Pulls the Curtain on Cue Seven

Noor did not want to be in the school play. She wanted to be the person nobody saw. So she signed up for the curtain rope, the quietest job in the whole show.

The rope was thick, scratchy, and surprisingly heavy. Noor's job was simple. When the narrator said the words "and the story began," she had to open the curtain smoothly and not a second too soon.

At the first rehearsal, she yanked the curtain open too early, and the actors were still hunting for their places. At the second rehearsal, she waited too long, and the narrator had to say his line twice. Mr. Alder, the director, sighed. "It's Cue Seven, Noor. It only matters a little. Everything depends on it."

That night Noor lay awake. Then she had an idea. The next day she brought a roll of bright tape. She stuck a strip on the rope, exactly where her hand should be when the curtain was closed, and another strip where her hand should be when it was open. Then she whispered the narrator's lines to herself, so she would know when to start pulling.

On opening night, the narrator said, "and the story began." Noor pulled hand over hand, from one tape strip to the other, and the curtain swept apart like a wave.

Nobody noticed her. And that, she thought, meant she had done it perfectly.

Questions

  1. Why did Noor sign up for the curtain rope? in the text

  2. What words were Noor's signal to open the curtain? in the text

  3. What went wrong at the second rehearsal? in the text

  4. What did Noor put on the rope to help herself? in the text

  5. Why did Mr. Alder say that everything depends on Cue Seven? think about it

  6. Why did Noor feel she had done the job perfectly when nobody noticed her? think about it

Words to know

rehearsal
a practice before the real show
cue
a signal that tells you when to act
narrator
the person who tells the story to the audience
director
the person who guides everyone putting on a play
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 · 224 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.6

Noor did not want to be in the school play. She wanted to be the one nobody saw. So she signed up to pull the curtain rope. It was the quietest job in the show.

The rope was thick and scratchy and heavy. Noor's job was simple. When the narrator said "and the story began," she had to open the curtain smoothly, not a second too soon.

At the first practice, she yanked the curtain open too early. The actors were still looking for their places. At the second practice, she waited too long. The narrator had to say his line twice. Mr. Alder, the director, sighed. "It's Cue Seven, Noor. It's a small thing. But the whole play depends on it."

That night Noor lay awake. Then she had an idea. The next day she brought bright tape. She put one strip on the rope where her hand should be when the curtain was closed. She put another strip where her hand should be when it was open. She whispered the narrator's words to herself so she would know when to pull.

On opening night, the narrator said, "and the story began." Noor pulled hand over hand from one strip to the other. The curtain swept open like a wave.

Nobody noticed her. And that, she thought, meant she had done it right.

▲ This passage · 232 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.3

Noor did not want to be in the school play. She wanted to be the person nobody saw. So she signed up for the curtain rope, the quietest job in the whole show.

The rope was thick, scratchy, and surprisingly heavy. Noor's job was simple. When the narrator said the words "and the story began," she had to open the curtain smoothly and not a second too soon.

At the first rehearsal, she yanked the curtain open too early, and the actors were still hunting for their places. At the second rehearsal, she waited too long, and the narrator had to say his line twice. Mr. Alder, the director, sighed. "It's Cue Seven, Noor. It only matters a little. Everything depends on it."

That night Noor lay awake. Then she had an idea. The next day she brought a roll of bright tape. She stuck a strip on the rope, exactly where her hand should be when the curtain was closed, and another strip where her hand should be when it was open. Then she whispered the narrator's lines to herself, so she would know when to start pulling.

On opening night, the narrator said, "and the story began." Noor pulled hand over hand, from one tape strip to the other, and the curtain swept apart like a wave.

Nobody noticed her. And that, she thought, meant she had done it perfectly.

■ Harder · 255 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.1

Noor did not want to appear in the school play. She wanted to be the one person whom nobody noticed, so she signed up for the curtain rope, which was the quietest job in the entire production.

The rope was thick, scratchy, and surprisingly heavy. Her responsibility was simple in theory. When the narrator spoke the words "and the story began," she had to open the curtain smoothly and not a second too soon.

At the first rehearsal, she yanked the curtain open far too early, while the actors were still hunting for their places. At the second rehearsal, she hesitated too long, and the narrator was forced to repeat his line. Mr. Alder, the director, sighed. "It's Cue Seven, Noor. It may seem like a small matter, but everything else depends on it."

That night Noor lay awake, and then an idea occurred to her. The next day she brought a roll of bright tape. She stuck one strip on the rope exactly where her hand should be when the curtain was closed, and another strip where her hand should be when it was fully open. Then she whispered the narrator's lines to herself over and over, so that she would recognize the moment to start pulling.

On opening night, the narrator said, "and the story began." Noor pulled hand over hand, from one strip of tape to the other, and the curtain swept apart like a wave.

Nobody noticed her at all. And that, she thought, meant she had done the job perfectly.

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 rehearsal, cue, narrator and director 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 "Noor Pulls the Curtain on Cue Seven"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 232 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.3. 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.