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The Weaver Who Unpicked Her Nest

5th grade fiction passage about a weaver bird fixes her nest: 244 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade fiction a weaver bird fixes her nest 244 words

The Weaver Who Unpicked Her Nest

Tamsin, a young weaver bird, devoted four entire days to constructing her very first nest on a slender branch that hung out above the river. She wove each blade of grass tightly together, and when she finally tied the last knot, she felt enormously proud. The finished nest looked perfect: round, green, and wonderfully neat.

An elderly weaver named Odo hopped along the branch and examined her handiwork with great care. "It is lovely," he said, "but your entrance faces upward. When the rain comes, it will pour straight inside and fill the whole nest."

Tamsin felt hurt and embarrassed, because she had labored so hard and so long. For a long while she sat silent and did not answer him. Then the first drops began to fall, and she watched, with a sinking heart, as water gathered in her nest like a small pond.

That evening she patiently pulled out her knots one by one. It was slow, tiring work, and before long her beak grew sore. By the following sunset she had rebuilt the entrance so that it opened downward, with a short tunnel that would also keep out the wind.

When the next storm rolled across the river, Tamsin lay dry and warm in her nest. She thought about Odo's advice and was grateful she had listened. A good builder is not someone who never makes mistakes. A good builder is someone who is willing to admit them and fix them.

Questions

  1. How much time did Tamsin spend building her first nest? in the text

  2. What problem did Odo notice when he examined the nest? in the text

  3. What happened inside the nest when the first drops fell? in the text

  4. How did Tamsin rebuild the entrance? in the text

  5. Why did Tamsin feel hurt and sit silent after Odo spoke? think about it

  6. What lesson does the story teach about mistakes and advice? think about it

Words to know

weaver
a bird that ties grass into a woven nest
knot
a tied loop that holds things together
entrance
the opening where you go in
tunnel
a narrow passage with walls around it
rebuilt
built again after fixing a problem
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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 · 202 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.5

Tamsin, a young weaver bird, spent four days building her first nest on a thin branch above the river. She wove each blade of grass tightly, and she felt proud when the last knot was tied. The nest looked perfect, round and green and neat.

An old weaver named Odo hopped along the branch and studied her work. "It is lovely," he said, "but the entrance faces upward. When the rain comes, it will pour straight inside."

Tamsin felt hurt. She had worked so hard! For a long while she sat silent and did not answer. Then the first drops began to fall, and she watched water gather in her nest like a small pond.

That evening she pulled out her knots one by one. It was slow work, and her beak grew sore. By the next sunset she had rebuilt the entrance so that it opened downward, with a short tunnel to keep out the wind.

When the next storm rolled over the river, Tamsin lay dry and warm. She thought about Odo's words and was glad she had listened. A good builder is not someone who never makes mistakes. A good builder is someone who is willing to fix them.

▲ This passage · 244 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.3

Tamsin, a young weaver bird, devoted four entire days to constructing her very first nest on a slender branch that hung out above the river. She wove each blade of grass tightly together, and when she finally tied the last knot, she felt enormously proud. The finished nest looked perfect: round, green, and wonderfully neat.

An elderly weaver named Odo hopped along the branch and examined her handiwork with great care. "It is lovely," he said, "but your entrance faces upward. When the rain comes, it will pour straight inside and fill the whole nest."

Tamsin felt hurt and embarrassed, because she had labored so hard and so long. For a long while she sat silent and did not answer him. Then the first drops began to fall, and she watched, with a sinking heart, as water gathered in her nest like a small pond.

That evening she patiently pulled out her knots one by one. It was slow, tiring work, and before long her beak grew sore. By the following sunset she had rebuilt the entrance so that it opened downward, with a short tunnel that would also keep out the wind.

When the next storm rolled across the river, Tamsin lay dry and warm in her nest. She thought about Odo's advice and was grateful she had listened. A good builder is not someone who never makes mistakes. A good builder is someone who is willing to admit them and fix them.

■ Harder · 258 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 11.2

Tamsin, a young weaver bird, devoted four entire days to constructing her very first nest on a slender branch that extended out over the river, and she wove each blade of grass so tightly together that, when she finally tied the last knot, she felt enormously and justifiably proud. The finished nest looked perfect: round, green, and wonderfully neat.

An elderly weaver named Odo hopped along the branch and examined her handiwork with great care before offering his opinion. "It is lovely," he said, "but your entrance faces upward, which means that whenever the rain comes, it will pour straight inside and fill the whole nest."

Tamsin felt hurt and embarrassed, because she had labored so diligently and for so long. For a long while she sat in silence and did not answer him, until the first drops began to fall and she watched, with a sinking heart, as water gathered in her nest like a small pond.

That evening she patiently pulled out her knots one by one, which was slow and tiring work that soon left her beak sore. By the following sunset she had rebuilt the entrance so that it opened downward, with a short tunnel that would additionally keep out the wind.

When the next storm rolled across the river, Tamsin lay dry and warm in her nest, thinking about Odo's advice and feeling grateful that she had listened. A good builder is not someone who never makes mistakes; a good builder is someone who is willing to admit them and then repair them.

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 weaver, knot, entrance, tunnel and rebuilt 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 Weaver Who Unpicked Her Nest"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 244 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.3. 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.

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