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Cousin Rafi and the Jar on the Porch

6th grade fiction passage about a visiting cousin and a rainy week: 243 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade fiction a visiting cousin and a rainy week 243 words

Cousin Rafi and the Jar on the Porch

When Cousin Rafi flew in for a two-week visit, Imani had a long list of things to show him. There was the creek, the skate park, and the ice cream stand with forty flavors. Unfortunately, it rained for four days straight, and Imani flopped on the sofa and sighed at the ceiling.

Rafi, however, sat on the porch steps and watched the sky as if it were a movie. He explained that it hardly ever rains where he lives. Some summers pass without a single good storm. "Well, you are welcome to mine," Imani muttered.

Rafi laughed, then fetched an empty pickle jar from the recycling bin and asked for a ruler and some tape. He fastened the ruler up the side of the jar and set it at the edge of the porch, where the roof would not drip into it. Now they could measure exactly how much water came down.

Imani rolled her eyes, but she wrote the first number in a notebook anyway. Before long she was checking the jar every hour while Rafi sketched a chart. They discovered that the rain fell fastest in the early afternoon and nearly stopped around suppertime.

On the fifth morning the sun finally appeared, and Imani gazed at the dripping yard with a strange feeling of disappointment. "We should keep the jar," she said. "Rain is more interesting when you count it." Rafi grinned. The creek would be completely full by now.

Questions

  1. How long did the rain last at the start of Rafi's visit? in the text

  2. Why did Rafi enjoy watching the rain? in the text

  3. What did Rafi use to make the rain gauge? in the text

  4. Why did they put the jar at the edge of the porch? in the text

  5. How did Imani's feelings about the rain change? think about it

  6. Why did Rafi say the creek would be full? think about it

Words to know

sighed
let out a long breath because you are bored or sad
muttered
said something in a low voice, not very clearly
fetched
went and brought something back
measure
to find out how much or how big something is
chart
a drawing that shows numbers in an easy 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 · 220 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.8

Cousin Rafi came to stay for two weeks. Imani had a list of fun things to show him: the creek, the skate park, and the ice cream stand. Then it began to rain. It rained for four days in a row. Imani flopped on the sofa and sighed.

Rafi sat on the porch steps and watched the sky like a movie. "At home, it hardly ever rains," he said. "Some summers we get no good storm at all."

"Well, you can have mine," Imani said.

Rafi laughed. He got an empty pickle jar from the recycling bin. He asked for a ruler and some tape. He taped the ruler up the side of the jar. He set it at the edge of the porch, where the roof would not drip on it. "Now we can measure the rain," he said.

Imani rolled her eyes, but she wrote the first number in a notebook. Soon she was checking the jar every hour. Rafi drew a chart. The rain fell fastest in the early afternoon. It almost stopped at supper.

On the fifth morning the sun came out. Imani looked at the wet yard and felt a little sad. "Let's keep the jar," she said. "Rain is more fun when you count it."

Rafi grinned. "And the creek will be full now."

▲ This passage · 243 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.6

When Cousin Rafi flew in for a two-week visit, Imani had a long list of things to show him. There was the creek, the skate park, and the ice cream stand with forty flavors. Unfortunately, it rained for four days straight, and Imani flopped on the sofa and sighed at the ceiling.

Rafi, however, sat on the porch steps and watched the sky as if it were a movie. He explained that it hardly ever rains where he lives. Some summers pass without a single good storm. "Well, you are welcome to mine," Imani muttered.

Rafi laughed, then fetched an empty pickle jar from the recycling bin and asked for a ruler and some tape. He fastened the ruler up the side of the jar and set it at the edge of the porch, where the roof would not drip into it. Now they could measure exactly how much water came down.

Imani rolled her eyes, but she wrote the first number in a notebook anyway. Before long she was checking the jar every hour while Rafi sketched a chart. They discovered that the rain fell fastest in the early afternoon and nearly stopped around suppertime.

On the fifth morning the sun finally appeared, and Imani gazed at the dripping yard with a strange feeling of disappointment. "We should keep the jar," she said. "Rain is more interesting when you count it." Rafi grinned. The creek would be completely full by now.

■ Harder · 269 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.6

When Cousin Rafi flew in for a two-week visit, Imani had prepared an ambitious list of things to show him, including the creek, the skate park, and the ice cream stand that advertised forty flavors. Unfortunately, it rained for four straight days, and Imani flopped dramatically on the sofa and sighed at the ceiling.

Rafi, by contrast, sat on the porch steps and studied the sky with the fascination other people reserve for a movie. He explained that it hardly ever rains in the region where he lives. Some summers pass without a single memorable storm. "Well, you are more than welcome to mine," Imani muttered.

Rafi laughed, then fetched an empty pickle jar from the recycling bin and requested a ruler and some tape. He fastened the ruler along the side of the jar and carefully set it at the edge of the porch, where the roof would not drip into it and spoil the results. Now they could measure exactly how much water was falling from the clouds.

Imani rolled her eyes, but she recorded the first number in a notebook anyway. Before long she was checking the jar every single hour while Rafi sketched an elaborate chart. They discovered that the rain fell hardest in the early afternoon and nearly stopped around suppertime.

On the fifth morning the sun finally reappeared, and Imani gazed at the dripping yard with a surprising feeling of disappointment. "We should definitely keep the jar," she said. "Rain is considerably more interesting when you count it." Rafi grinned and reminded her that the creek would be completely full by now.

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 sighed, muttered, fetched, measure and chart 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 "Cousin Rafi and the Jar on the Porch"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 243 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.5. 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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