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Playing the Theremin Without Touching It

5th grade nonfiction passage about the theremin: 216 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction the theremin 216 words

Playing the Theremin Without Touching It

Most instruments need a player to pluck, blow, or strike. The theremin is different. A player makes music by moving both hands in the air, and never touches the instrument at all.

A theremin has two metal antennas. One is a straight rod that stands up from the side of the box. The other is a loop shaped like a handle. The rod controls pitch, which means how high or low a note is. When a player moves a hand closer to the rod, the note rises. When the hand moves away, the note falls. The loop controls volume. Moving the other hand closer to the loop makes the sound softer, and pulling it away makes the sound louder.

The antennas do not feel your hand. Instead, they send out invisible electric fields, and the closeness of a hand slightly changes the signals inside the box. The electronics turn those tiny changes into a sound that wobbles and glides, a little like a singer or a violin.

The theremin was invented by a Russian scientist about one hundred years ago. It is very hard to play well, because nothing marks where each note is. A player has to learn the exact spots in empty air, and a small shake of the finger can change the tune.

Questions

  1. What does a player never do with a theremin? in the text

  2. What does the rod antenna control? in the text

  3. What happens to the sound when a hand moves closer to the loop? in the text

  4. How do the antennas know where the hands are? in the text

  5. Why is the theremin hard to play well? think about it

  6. Who invented the theremin? in the text

Words to know

antennas
metal parts that send out or pick up signals
pitch
how high or low a sound is
volume
how loud or soft a sound is
electric
having to do with electricity
invented
made or thought of for the first time
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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 · 198 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.5

Most instruments need a player to pluck, blow, or hit them. The theremin is not like that. A player moves both hands in the air. The player never touches the instrument at all.

A theremin has two metal antennas. One is a straight rod. The other is a loop shaped like a handle. The rod controls pitch. Pitch is how high or low a note is. When a hand moves close to the rod, the note goes up. When the hand moves away, the note goes down. The loop controls volume. When the other hand moves close to the loop, the sound gets softer. When it moves away, the sound gets louder.

The antennas do not feel your hand. They send out invisible electric fields. A hand nearby changes the signals in the box a little. The box turns those small changes into a sound. The sound wobbles and glides, like a singer or a violin.

A Russian scientist invented the theremin about one hundred years ago. It is hard to play well. Nothing marks where each note is. A player must learn the spots in empty air. A small shake of a finger can change the tune.

▲ This passage · 216 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5

Most instruments need a player to pluck, blow, or strike. The theremin is different. A player makes music by moving both hands in the air, and never touches the instrument at all.

A theremin has two metal antennas. One is a straight rod that stands up from the side of the box. The other is a loop shaped like a handle. The rod controls pitch, which means how high or low a note is. When a player moves a hand closer to the rod, the note rises. When the hand moves away, the note falls. The loop controls volume. Moving the other hand closer to the loop makes the sound softer, and pulling it away makes the sound louder.

The antennas do not feel your hand. Instead, they send out invisible electric fields, and the closeness of a hand slightly changes the signals inside the box. The electronics turn those tiny changes into a sound that wobbles and glides, a little like a singer or a violin.

The theremin was invented by a Russian scientist about one hundred years ago. It is very hard to play well, because nothing marks where each note is. A player has to learn the exact spots in empty air, and a small shake of the finger can change the tune.

■ Harder · 214 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.5

Most instruments require a player to pluck, blow, or strike them, but the theremin is entirely different. A musician creates sound simply by moving both hands through the air, without ever touching the instrument.

A theremin has two metal antennas. One is a straight rod that rises from the side of the cabinet, and the other is a loop shaped somewhat like a handle. The rod controls pitch, meaning how high or low a note sounds. As a player brings a hand closer to the rod, the note rises, and as the hand moves away, the note falls. The loop governs volume: moving the other hand toward the loop makes the sound softer, while pulling it back makes the sound louder.

The antennas cannot actually feel a hand. Instead, they send out invisible electric fields, and the nearness of a hand slightly alters the signals inside the cabinet. The electronics convert those tiny changes into a sound that wobbles and glides, somewhat like a singer or a violin.

A Russian scientist invented the theremin roughly one hundred years ago. It is notoriously difficult to master, because nothing marks the location of each note. A player must memorize exact positions in empty air, and even a slight tremble of a finger can alter the tune.

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 antennas, pitch, volume, electric and invented on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text 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 write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Playing the Theremin Without Touching It"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 216 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.0. 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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