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The Crossing Robot Who Learned to Say Maybe

5th grade fiction passage about a robot crossing guard: 231 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade fiction a robot crossing guard 231 words

The Crossing Robot Who Learned to Say Maybe

Every school morning, a tall, gleaming robot named Pim stood guard at the corner of Birch Street. Pim wore two lamps on its hat. A green lamp meant "go," and a red lamp meant "stop." For years, those two simple signals had been entirely sufficient.

Then came a foggy Monday. When Tamsin reached the corner, she could see nothing but gray. Pim's red lamp was glowing, yet its eyes were whirring in confusion.

"I cannot decide," Pim buzzed anxiously. "I see a shape far down the road. It could be a bus, or it could be a bush. Green is not correct, and red is not correct either."

Cars hummed somewhere in the mist, and a long line of children waited behind Tamsin, shifting their feet restlessly.

Tamsin dug through her backpack and found a yellow bottle cap and a roll of tape. She stood on tiptoe and fastened the cap to Pim's hat between the two lamps. Then she took a marker and drew a tiny eye on it.

"This lamp means look," she explained. "Look carefully, and only then make a choice."

Pim's sensors flickered, and a soft yellow glow spread across the hat. "Maybe," said Pim delightedly. "Maybe means look first."

Everyone looked closely. The shape was only a bush. Pim switched the light to green, and the children crossed together, listening for every car before they stepped.

Questions

  1. What did Pim's green lamp and red lamp signal? in the text

  2. Why was Pim unable to decide on the foggy Monday? in the text

  3. What did Tamsin use to build a new lamp? in the text

  4. What did the yellow light mean? in the text

  5. Why did the children listen for cars as they crossed? think about it

  6. What lesson does the story teach about difficult choices? think about it

Words to know

sensors
parts of a machine that notice light, sound or movement
whirring
making a soft, steady spinning sound
mist
a cloud of very small drops of water near the ground
tiptoe
the tips of your toes
carefully
with close attention so you do not make a mistake
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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 · 207 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.1

Every school morning, a tall robot named Pim stood at the corner of Birch Street. Pim had two lamps on its hat. A green lamp meant "go," and a red lamp meant "stop." For years, that was enough.

Then came a foggy Monday. Tamsin reached the corner and saw nothing but gray. Pim's red lamp was lit, but its eyes were whirring.

"I cannot decide," Pim buzzed. "I see a shape far down the road. It could be a bus. It could be a bush. Green is not right, and red is not right either."

Cars hummed somewhere in the mist. A line of children waited behind Tamsin, shifting their feet.

Tamsin dug in her backpack and found a yellow bottle cap and some tape. She stood on tiptoe and stuck the cap to Pim's hat between the two lamps. Then she took a marker and drew a tiny eye on it.

"This lamp means look," she said. "Look carefully, and then choose."

Pim's sensors flickered. A soft yellow glow spread across the hat. "Maybe," said Pim happily. "Maybe means look first."

Everyone looked. The shape was only a bush. Pim switched the light to green, and the children crossed together, hearing every car before they stepped.

▲ This passage · 231 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.9

Every school morning, a tall, gleaming robot named Pim stood guard at the corner of Birch Street. Pim wore two lamps on its hat. A green lamp meant "go," and a red lamp meant "stop." For years, those two simple signals had been entirely sufficient.

Then came a foggy Monday. When Tamsin reached the corner, she could see nothing but gray. Pim's red lamp was glowing, yet its eyes were whirring in confusion.

"I cannot decide," Pim buzzed anxiously. "I see a shape far down the road. It could be a bus, or it could be a bush. Green is not correct, and red is not correct either."

Cars hummed somewhere in the mist, and a long line of children waited behind Tamsin, shifting their feet restlessly.

Tamsin dug through her backpack and found a yellow bottle cap and a roll of tape. She stood on tiptoe and fastened the cap to Pim's hat between the two lamps. Then she took a marker and drew a tiny eye on it.

"This lamp means look," she explained. "Look carefully, and only then make a choice."

Pim's sensors flickered, and a soft yellow glow spread across the hat. "Maybe," said Pim delightedly. "Maybe means look first."

Everyone looked closely. The shape was only a bush. Pim switched the light to green, and the children crossed together, listening for every car before they stepped.

■ Harder · 245 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.5

Every school morning, a tall and gleaming robot named Pim stood guard at the corner of Birch Street. It wore two lamps on its hat, a green lamp that meant "go" and a red lamp that meant "stop," and for years those two simple signals had been entirely sufficient.

Then came a foggy Monday. When Tamsin arrived at the corner, she could see nothing except gray. Pim's red lamp was glowing, yet its eyes whirred in obvious confusion.

"I cannot decide," Pim buzzed anxiously. "I detect a shape far down the road, but it might be a bus or it might be a bush. Green is not correct, and red is not correct either."

Somewhere in the mist, engines hummed, and a long line of children waited restlessly behind Tamsin, shifting their feet.

Tamsin searched her backpack and discovered a yellow bottle cap and a roll of tape. She stood on tiptoe and fastened the cap to Pim's hat between the two lamps, and then she drew a tiny eye on it with a marker.

"This lamp means look," she explained. "Look carefully first, and only then make your choice."

Pim's sensors flickered, and a soft yellow glow spread across the hat. "Maybe," said Pim delightedly. "Maybe means look first."

Everyone looked closely, and the mysterious shape turned out to be a bush. Pim switched the light to green, and the children crossed together, listening for every approaching car before they took a single step.

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 sensors, whirring, mist, tiptoe and carefully 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 "The Crossing Robot Who Learned to Say Maybe"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 231 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.9. 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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