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Cinder, the Dragon in the Glassblower's Furnace

6th grade fiction passage about a dragon that keeps a furnace hot: 243 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade fiction a dragon that keeps a furnace hot 243 words

Cinder, the Dragon in the Glassblower's Furnace

Behind Lio's shop on Prism Street, a small red dragon named Cinder slept inside the glass furnace. He was no bigger than a spaniel, and he kept the fire at exactly the right heat for making bottles, bowls, and long twisted vases. Lio's uncle, the glassblower, often said that no machine in the whole city could match Cinder's steady warmth.

One cold January morning, however, the furnace began to dim. The glass turned thick and lumpy, and Lio's uncle frowned at a bowl that had cracked while it was cooling on the shelf. Cinder lay curled with his tail over his nose and refused to wake.

Lio knelt beside the furnace. "Are you sick?" he asked quietly.

Cinder opened one gold eye. "Too quiet," he mumbled. "Dragons need songs to keep our fire bright. Nobody sings in this shop anymore."

Lio had not noticed that, since the winter started, the shop had been silent except for the clank of tools. He took a deep breath and began the only song he knew, a goofy tune about a goose who tried to knit. His uncle heard it and, to Lio's surprise, joined in with a deep, rumbling voice.

The coals flared up orange and then white. Cinder stretched, and the glass flowed smooth and bright again. From that day on the shop sang while it worked, and the vases came out of the fire with colors no one else on Prism Street could match.

Questions

  1. Where did Cinder sleep? in the text

  2. What was wrong with the glass when the furnace dimmed? in the text

  3. What do dragons need to keep their fire bright, according to Cinder? in the text

  4. What song did Lio sing? in the text

  5. Why was Lio surprised when his uncle joined in? think about it

  6. Why did the furnace flare up after the singing began? think about it

Words to know

furnace
a very hot oven used for melting and shaping things
glassblower
a person who shapes melted glass into objects
dim
to grow less bright
steady
staying the same without changing
mumbled
spoke in a low, unclear voice
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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 · 221 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.3

Behind Lio's shop on Prism Street, a small red dragon named Cinder slept inside the glass furnace. He was no bigger than a dog. He kept the fire at just the right heat for making bottles, bowls, and twisted vases. Lio's uncle, the glassblower, said no machine could match Cinder's steady warmth.

One cold January morning, the furnace began to dim. The glass turned thick and lumpy. A bowl cracked as it cooled. Lio's uncle frowned. Cinder lay curled up with his tail over his nose. He would not wake.

Lio knelt by the furnace. "Are you sick?" he asked softly.

Cinder opened one gold eye. "Too quiet," he mumbled. "Dragons need songs to keep our fire bright. No one sings in this shop anymore."

Lio had not noticed. Since winter began, the shop had been silent. He heard only the clank of tools. He took a deep breath and sang the one song he knew. It was a goofy tune about a goose who tried to knit. His uncle heard it. To Lio's surprise, he joined in with a deep, rumbling voice.

The coals flared orange and then white. Cinder stretched. The glass flowed smooth and bright again. After that the shop sang while it worked. The vases came out with colors no one else on Prism Street could match.

▲ This passage · 243 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5

Behind Lio's shop on Prism Street, a small red dragon named Cinder slept inside the glass furnace. He was no bigger than a spaniel, and he kept the fire at exactly the right heat for making bottles, bowls, and long twisted vases. Lio's uncle, the glassblower, often said that no machine in the whole city could match Cinder's steady warmth.

One cold January morning, however, the furnace began to dim. The glass turned thick and lumpy, and Lio's uncle frowned at a bowl that had cracked while it was cooling on the shelf. Cinder lay curled with his tail over his nose and refused to wake.

Lio knelt beside the furnace. "Are you sick?" he asked quietly.

Cinder opened one gold eye. "Too quiet," he mumbled. "Dragons need songs to keep our fire bright. Nobody sings in this shop anymore."

Lio had not noticed that, since the winter started, the shop had been silent except for the clank of tools. He took a deep breath and began the only song he knew, a goofy tune about a goose who tried to knit. His uncle heard it and, to Lio's surprise, joined in with a deep, rumbling voice.

The coals flared up orange and then white. Cinder stretched, and the glass flowed smooth and bright again. From that day on the shop sang while it worked, and the vases came out of the fire with colors no one else on Prism Street could match.

■ Harder · 244 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.7

Behind Lio's shop on Prism Street, a small red dragon named Cinder slept inside the glass furnace. He was no larger than a spaniel, yet he kept the fire at precisely the right temperature for crafting bottles, bowls, and long twisted vases. Lio's uncle, the glassblower, insisted that no machine in the world could match Cinder's steady warmth.

One bitterly cold January morning, however, the furnace began to dim. The glass turned thick and lumpy, and Lio's uncle frowned at a bowl that had cracked while cooling. Cinder lay curled up with his tail draped over his nose, and he flatly refused to wake.

Lio knelt beside the furnace. "Are you sick?" he asked quietly.

Cinder opened one gold eye. "Too quiet," he mumbled. "Dragons need songs to keep our fire bright, and nobody sings in this shop anymore."

Lio had never noticed. Since the start of winter, the shop had been silent except for the clank of tools. He took a deep breath and began the only song he knew, a goofy tune about a goose who tried to knit. His uncle overheard it and, to Lio's astonishment, joined in with a deep, rumbling voice.

The coals flared orange and then blazing white. Cinder stretched luxuriously, and the glass flowed smooth and bright once more. From that day on the shop sang while it worked, and the vases emerged from the fire in colors that no one else on Prism Street could match.

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 furnace, glassblower, dim, steady and mumbled 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 "Cinder, the Dragon in the Glassblower's Furnace"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 243 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. 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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