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The Tiny Pins on a Music Box Drum

5th grade nonfiction passage about how a music box plays a tune: 213 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction how a music box plays a tune 213 words

The Tiny Pins on a Music Box Drum

Wind up a small music box, lift the lid, and a tune begins to tinkle out. There is no tiny band inside. The music comes from a clever arrangement of metal and a spinning drum.

Inside the box is a metal comb. Its teeth are cut to different lengths. Short teeth make high notes, and long teeth make low ones. Each tooth is a thin strip of metal that vibrates when it is plucked, and a vibration is what we hear as sound.

The plucking is done by a cylinder covered with small pins. As a spring unwinds, it turns the cylinder slowly. Each pin sticks out a little, so when it passes a tooth of the comb, it flicks the tooth and a note rings out. The position of each pin along the cylinder decides which note it plays. The spacing around the cylinder decides when.

So the cylinder is really a kind of memory. The maker places every pin by hand or machine to match a song. When the cylinder turns the same way each time, it repeats the song exactly the same way.

A music box is a small example of how a machine can store instructions. Later machines, such as player pianos, used the same idea with paper rolls.

Questions

  1. What is inside a music box that plays the notes? in the text

  2. Which teeth make the low notes? in the text

  3. What turns the cylinder as it unwinds? in the text

  4. What do the pins on the cylinder do to the teeth? in the text

  5. Why does a music box play the same song every time? think about it

  6. Why does the passage call the cylinder a kind of memory? think about it

Words to know

vibrate
to shake back and forth very quickly
cylinder
a shape like a can or a tube
spring
a coil of metal that stores energy
arrangement
a way that parts are put in order
tinkle
to make a light, ringing sound
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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 · 177 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2

Wind up a music box. Lift the lid. A tune tinkles out. There is no tiny band inside. The music comes from metal and a spinning drum.

Inside is a metal comb. Its teeth have different lengths. Short teeth make high notes. Long teeth make low notes. Each tooth is a thin strip of metal. When it is plucked, it vibrates. We hear the vibration as sound.

A cylinder covered with small pins does the plucking. A spring unwinds and turns the cylinder slowly. Each pin sticks out a little. When a pin passes a tooth, it flicks the tooth. A note rings out. Where the pin sits along the cylinder picks the note. How far apart the pins are around the cylinder picks when.

The cylinder is like a memory. The maker puts each pin in place to match a song. The cylinder turns the same way each time. So the song repeats the same way.

A music box shows how a machine can store a song. Player pianos used the same idea with paper rolls.

▲ This passage · 213 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.9

Wind up a small music box, lift the lid, and a tune begins to tinkle out. There is no tiny band inside. The music comes from a clever arrangement of metal and a spinning drum.

Inside the box is a metal comb. Its teeth are cut to different lengths. Short teeth make high notes, and long teeth make low ones. Each tooth is a thin strip of metal that vibrates when it is plucked, and a vibration is what we hear as sound.

The plucking is done by a cylinder covered with small pins. As a spring unwinds, it turns the cylinder slowly. Each pin sticks out a little, so when it passes a tooth of the comb, it flicks the tooth and a note rings out. The position of each pin along the cylinder decides which note it plays. The spacing around the cylinder decides when.

So the cylinder is really a kind of memory. The maker places every pin by hand or machine to match a song. When the cylinder turns the same way each time, it repeats the song exactly the same way.

A music box is a small example of how a machine can store instructions. Later machines, such as player pianos, used the same idea with paper rolls.

■ Harder · 221 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.1

Wind up a small music box and lift its lid, and a delicate tune begins to tinkle out. There is no miniature band hiding inside. The music comes from a clever arrangement of metal parts and a slowly spinning drum.

Within the box sits a metal comb whose teeth are cut to different lengths. Short teeth produce high notes, whereas long teeth produce low ones. Each tooth is a thin strip of metal that vibrates when it is plucked, and a vibration is exactly what we hear as sound.

The plucking is accomplished by a cylinder studded with small pins. As a spring gradually unwinds, it rotates the cylinder. Each pin protrudes slightly, so when it passes a tooth of the comb, it flicks the tooth and a note rings out. The position of each pin along the cylinder determines which note it plays, while the spacing around the cylinder determines when.

In this way, the cylinder serves as a kind of memory. The maker arranges every pin, by hand or by machine, to match a song. Because the cylinder turns identically each time, it repeats the song in precisely the same way.

A music box is a charming example of how a machine can store instructions. Later inventions, such as player pianos, used the same principle with rolls of paper.

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 vibrate, cylinder, spring, arrangement and tinkle 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 "The Tiny Pins on a Music Box Drum"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 213 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.9. 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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