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Pablo Races the Clouds with a Clothesline

5th grade fiction passage about hanging laundry before the rain: 238 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade fiction hanging laundry before the rain 238 words

Pablo Races the Clouds with a Clothesline

Pablo's family did not own a clothes dryer. On sunny days, laundry hung on a long line behind the house, and it was Pablo's chore to hang it up.

On Sunday morning, he carried out a basket of wet sheets, towels, and socks. The sky was blue and the breeze was gentle. Pablo whistled while he worked. He pinned each towel by two corners and clipped the socks in pairs, so that none would be lost.

Halfway through the basket, he noticed that the wind had changed. It turned colder and began to tug the sheets sideways. In the distance, a gray cloud was sliding over the hills like a lid over a pot.

Pablo worked faster, but faster made him sloppy. A pillowcase fell into the dirt. Two socks slipped from their clips. The sheet puffed up like a sail and nearly pulled the whole line down.

Then he remembered what his grandmother had said. "Hang the heavy things in the middle, where the line is strongest, and put two pins together where one sheet meets the next."

He fixed the sheet that was flapping, rinsed the pillowcase in the bucket, and clipped everything in the right place. This time it held.

By the time the first fat raindrop splashed on the fence, Pablo was inside, watching through the window. The laundry swayed, nearly dry, and a few minutes of rain would only make it smell fresh.

Questions

  1. Whose chore was it to hang the laundry? in the text

  2. How did Pablo hang the socks so none would be lost? in the text

  3. What changed halfway through the basket? in the text

  4. What went wrong when Pablo worked faster? in the text

  5. Why did the sheet nearly pull the line down? think about it

  6. Why did Pablo's grandmother's advice help him in the end? think about it

Words to know

chore
a small job that has to be done regularly
breeze
a light, gentle wind
sloppy
careless and messy
sail
a big piece of cloth that catches the wind on a boat
swayed
moved gently back and forth
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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 · 227 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.5

Pablo's family did not have a clothes dryer. On sunny days, the laundry hung on a long line behind the house. It was Pablo's chore to hang it up.

On Sunday morning, he carried out a basket of wet sheets, towels, and socks. The sky was blue and the breeze was soft. Pablo whistled as he worked. He pinned each towel by two corners. He clipped the socks in pairs so none would get lost.

Halfway through the basket, he saw that the wind had changed. It turned cold and tugged the sheets sideways. Far off, a gray cloud slid over the hills like a lid on a pot.

Pablo worked faster, but faster made him sloppy. A pillowcase fell in the dirt. Two socks slipped out of their clips. A sheet puffed up like a sail and nearly pulled down the whole line.

Then he remembered what his grandmother said. "Hang the heavy things in the middle, where the line is strongest. Put two pins together where one sheet meets the next."

He fixed the flapping sheet. He rinsed the pillowcase in the bucket. He clipped everything in the right place. This time it held.

When the first fat raindrop hit the fence, Pablo was inside, watching from the window. The laundry swayed, almost dry. A few minutes of rain would only make it smell fresh.

▲ This passage · 238 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.2

Pablo's family did not own a clothes dryer. On sunny days, laundry hung on a long line behind the house, and it was Pablo's chore to hang it up.

On Sunday morning, he carried out a basket of wet sheets, towels, and socks. The sky was blue and the breeze was gentle. Pablo whistled while he worked. He pinned each towel by two corners and clipped the socks in pairs, so that none would be lost.

Halfway through the basket, he noticed that the wind had changed. It turned colder and began to tug the sheets sideways. In the distance, a gray cloud was sliding over the hills like a lid over a pot.

Pablo worked faster, but faster made him sloppy. A pillowcase fell into the dirt. Two socks slipped from their clips. The sheet puffed up like a sail and nearly pulled the whole line down.

Then he remembered what his grandmother had said. "Hang the heavy things in the middle, where the line is strongest, and put two pins together where one sheet meets the next."

He fixed the sheet that was flapping, rinsed the pillowcase in the bucket, and clipped everything in the right place. This time it held.

By the time the first fat raindrop splashed on the fence, Pablo was inside, watching through the window. The laundry swayed, nearly dry, and a few minutes of rain would only make it smell fresh.

■ Harder · 248 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.3

Pablo's family did not own a clothes dryer, so on sunny days the laundry hung from a long line behind the house, and it was Pablo's chore to hang it all up.

On Sunday morning, he carried out a basket of wet sheets, towels, and socks. The sky was bright blue and the breeze was gentle, so Pablo whistled cheerfully while he worked. He pinned each towel by two corners and clipped the socks in pairs, so that none of them would go missing.

Halfway through the basket, he noticed that the wind had shifted. It turned colder and began to tug the sheets sideways. In the distance, a gray cloud was sliding over the hills like a lid settling onto a pot.

Pablo hurried, but hurrying made him sloppy. A pillowcase tumbled into the dirt. Two socks slipped from their clips. A sheet billowed out like a sail and nearly dragged the entire line to the ground.

Then he recalled what his grandmother had told him. "Hang the heavy things in the middle, where the line is strongest, and put two pins together wherever one sheet meets the next."

He fixed the flapping sheet, rinsed the pillowcase in the bucket, and clipped everything exactly where it belonged. This time it held firm.

By the time the first fat raindrop splashed on the fence, Pablo was indoors, watching through the window. The laundry swayed, nearly dry, and a few minutes of rain would only make it smell fresh.

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 chore, breeze, sloppy, sail and swayed 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 "Pablo Races the Clouds with a Clothesline"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 238 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.2. 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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