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Walkie-Talkies Along the Fence

5th grade fiction passage about making friends with a new neighbor: 215 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade fiction making friends with a new neighbor 215 words

Walkie-Talkies Along the Fence

Nell watched the moving truck park next door and felt a small, hopeful flutter. Then she saw that the only kid in the family was a boy her age who dragged a box to the porch without once looking up. By supper, she had decided he must be unfriendly.

Her grandmother disagreed. "Maybe he's just shy," she said. "Try something easy."

So Nell dug her old walkie-talkies out of the closet. That night she hung one on the fence by his window with a note: "Channel 3. Say something if you want."

Nothing happened for two days. Then, late on a rainy afternoon, the walkie-talkie crackled. "Hello?" said a quiet voice. "This is Arjun. Is anyone there?"

"This is Nell," she said, nearly dropping her sandwich. "Welcome to Maple Street."

They talked about everything. Arjun told her that his old dog was staying with an aunt until his family unpacked. Nell told him which neighbor gave out full-sized candy bars at Halloween. Neither of them had to look at the other, and that made the talking easy.

On Saturday, Arjun walked to the fence and held up his own walkie-talkie. He was smiling, a little nervously. "Hi," he said, out loud.

"Hi," said Nell. She did not need the radio for that.

Questions

  1. Why did Nell first think the new boy was unfriendly? in the text

  2. What did Nell hang on the fence by Arjun's window? in the text

  3. How long did Nell wait before the walkie-talkie crackled? in the text

  4. Where was Arjun's old dog staying? in the text

  5. Why did the walkie-talkie help Arjun? think about it

  6. What does Nell mean when she says she did not need the radio for that? think about it

Words to know

flutter
a quick, light feeling of excitement
unfriendly
not kind or welcoming to others
crackled
made a sharp, snapping sound
nervously
in a worried or uneasy way
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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 · 213 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.6

Nell watched the moving truck park next door. She felt a small, hopeful flutter. Then she saw that the only kid in the family was a boy her age. He dragged a box to the porch and did not look up once. By supper, she had decided he must be unfriendly.

Her grandmother did not agree. "Maybe he's just shy," she said. "Try something easy."

So Nell dug her old walkie-talkies out of the closet. That night she hung one on the fence by his window. She left a note: "Channel 3. Say something if you want."

Nothing happened for two days. Then, on a rainy afternoon, the walkie-talkie crackled. "Hello?" said a quiet voice. "This is Arjun. Is anyone there?"

"This is Nell," she said. She almost dropped her sandwich. "Welcome to Maple Street."

They talked about everything. Arjun said his old dog was staying with an aunt until his family unpacked. Nell said which neighbor gave out full-sized candy bars at Halloween. They did not have to see each other, so talking was easy.

On Saturday, Arjun walked to the fence. He held up his own walkie-talkie. He smiled a little nervously. "Hi," he said, out loud.

"Hi," said Nell. She did not need the radio for that.

▲ This passage · 215 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.5

Nell watched the moving truck park next door and felt a small, hopeful flutter. Then she saw that the only kid in the family was a boy her age who dragged a box to the porch without once looking up. By supper, she had decided he must be unfriendly.

Her grandmother disagreed. "Maybe he's just shy," she said. "Try something easy."

So Nell dug her old walkie-talkies out of the closet. That night she hung one on the fence by his window with a note: "Channel 3. Say something if you want."

Nothing happened for two days. Then, late on a rainy afternoon, the walkie-talkie crackled. "Hello?" said a quiet voice. "This is Arjun. Is anyone there?"

"This is Nell," she said, nearly dropping her sandwich. "Welcome to Maple Street."

They talked about everything. Arjun told her that his old dog was staying with an aunt until his family unpacked. Nell told him which neighbor gave out full-sized candy bars at Halloween. Neither of them had to look at the other, and that made the talking easy.

On Saturday, Arjun walked to the fence and held up his own walkie-talkie. He was smiling, a little nervously. "Hi," he said, out loud.

"Hi," said Nell. She did not need the radio for that.

■ Harder · 236 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.8

Nell watched the moving truck pull up next door and felt a small, hopeful flutter of excitement. Then she noticed that the only child in the family was a boy her own age, who dragged a heavy box onto the porch without once glancing up. By suppertime, she had concluded that he must be unfriendly.

Her grandmother disagreed. "Perhaps he's simply shy," she said. "Try something easy and low-pressure."

So Nell dug her old walkie-talkies out of the back of the closet. That night she hung one on the fence beside his bedroom window, along with a note: "Channel 3. Say something if you want."

Nothing happened for two whole days. Then, late on a rainy afternoon, the walkie-talkie crackled to life. "Hello?" said a quiet voice. "This is Arjun. Is anyone there?"

"This is Nell," she answered, nearly dropping her sandwich. "Welcome to Maple Street."

They talked about everything under the sun. Arjun explained that his old dog was staying with an aunt until his family finished unpacking. Nell told him which neighbor handed out full-sized candy bars at Halloween. Neither of them had to look at the other, and that made the conversation flow easily.

On Saturday, Arjun walked right up to the fence and held up his own walkie-talkie, smiling a little nervously. "Hi," he said, out loud.

"Hi," said Nell. She did not need the radio for that.

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 flutter, unfriendly, crackled and nervously 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 "Walkie-Talkies Along the Fence"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 215 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.5. 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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