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Ordo the Hall Monitor and the Rule About Running

6th grade fiction passage about a rule-following robot learns exceptions: 241 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade fiction a rule-following robot learns exceptions 241 words

Ordo the Hall Monitor and the Rule About Running

Ordo was the hall monitor robot at Fairbanks Middle School. He had one blue light on his head, two long arms, and a list of exactly forty-two rules stored in his memory. The first rule on his list was simple: No running in the halls.

Ordo followed his rules perfectly. If a student ran, a polite voice came from his speaker. "Please walk, please walk." Most of the students rolled their eyes, but they walked.

One afternoon the fire alarm began to ring. Ordo's blue light blinked in confusion. His rules said to walk, but the alarm made the students hurry toward the doors. A group of sixth graders hesitated in the hallway, because Ordo was blocking the way and repeating, "Please walk, please walk."

"Ordo, move!" shouted a girl named Priya. "We have to go outside now!"

Ordo's circuits whirred. For the first time, two rules pulled in opposite directions. One said to walk. Another, buried at the bottom of his list, said to keep students safe. After a moment he realized that safety mattered more. He rolled aside and held his arms wide to point at the exit. "Please hurry and follow me," he said.

It turned out to be a drill, and everyone got outside quickly. Afterward Priya helped Ordo add a forty-third rule: rules are for helping people, so sometimes there are exceptions. He kept the rule next to a small star in his memory.

Questions

  1. How many rules did Ordo have at the start? in the text

  2. What was the first rule on his list? in the text

  3. What happened when the fire alarm rang? in the text

  4. What was the forty-third rule? in the text

  5. Why did Ordo's circuits whirr when the alarm rang? think about it

  6. Why did Ordo decide to let the students run? think about it

Words to know

monitor
a person or machine that watches to make sure rules are followed
hesitated
waited a moment because of doubt
exception
a time when a rule does not apply
drill
a practice of what to do in an emergency
buried
hidden far down underneath other things
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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 · 225 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3

Ordo was the hall monitor robot at Fairbanks Middle School. He had one blue light on his head and two long arms. His memory held exactly forty-two rules. The first rule was simple: No running in the halls.

Ordo followed his rules perfectly. If a student ran, a polite voice came from his speaker. "Please walk, please walk." Most students rolled their eyes. But they walked.

One afternoon the fire alarm rang. Ordo's blue light blinked. His rules said to walk. But the alarm made the students hurry to the doors. A group of sixth graders stopped in the hall. Ordo was in the way. He kept saying, "Please walk, please walk."

"Ordo, move!" shouted a girl named Priya. "We have to go outside now!"

Ordo's circuits whirred. For the first time, two rules pulled in opposite ways. One said to walk. Another rule, at the bottom of his list, said to keep students safe. After a moment he knew that safety mattered more. He rolled aside. He held his arms out to point to the exit. "Please hurry and follow me," he said.

It was only a drill, and everyone got outside fast. Later Priya helped Ordo add a forty-third rule. Rules are for helping people, so sometimes there are exceptions. He kept it next to a small star in his memory.

▲ This passage · 241 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.8

Ordo was the hall monitor robot at Fairbanks Middle School. He had one blue light on his head, two long arms, and a list of exactly forty-two rules stored in his memory. The first rule on his list was simple: No running in the halls.

Ordo followed his rules perfectly. If a student ran, a polite voice came from his speaker. "Please walk, please walk." Most of the students rolled their eyes, but they walked.

One afternoon the fire alarm began to ring. Ordo's blue light blinked in confusion. His rules said to walk, but the alarm made the students hurry toward the doors. A group of sixth graders hesitated in the hallway, because Ordo was blocking the way and repeating, "Please walk, please walk."

"Ordo, move!" shouted a girl named Priya. "We have to go outside now!"

Ordo's circuits whirred. For the first time, two rules pulled in opposite directions. One said to walk. Another, buried at the bottom of his list, said to keep students safe. After a moment he realized that safety mattered more. He rolled aside and held his arms wide to point at the exit. "Please hurry and follow me," he said.

It turned out to be a drill, and everyone got outside quickly. Afterward Priya helped Ordo add a forty-third rule: rules are for helping people, so sometimes there are exceptions. He kept the rule next to a small star in his memory.

■ Harder · 261 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.4

Ordo was the hall monitor robot at Fairbanks Middle School. He had a single blue light on top of his head, two long arms, and a list of exactly forty-two rules stored in his memory. The very first rule on his list was simple and firm: No running in the halls.

Ordo followed his rules flawlessly. Whenever a student broke into a run, a courteous voice emerged from his speaker. "Please walk, please walk." Most of the students rolled their eyes, but they walked.

One afternoon the fire alarm began to ring. Ordo's blue light blinked in bewilderment. His rules instructed him to walk, yet the alarm sent the students hurrying toward the doors. A group of sixth graders hesitated in the hallway because Ordo was blocking their path and repeating, "Please walk, please walk."

"Ordo, move!" shouted a girl named Priya. "We have to get outside right now!"

Ordo's circuits whirred. For the first time in his career, two of his rules pulled in opposite directions. One told him to walk. Another, buried at the very bottom of his list, told him to keep students safe. After a moment he concluded that safety mattered far more. He rolled aside and stretched out his arms to point toward the exit. "Please hurry and follow me," he said.

It turned out to be only a drill, and everyone reached the outdoors quickly. Afterward Priya helped Ordo add a forty-third rule: rules exist to help people, so sometimes there are exceptions. He stored it beside a small star in his memory.

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 monitor, hesitated, exception, drill and buried 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 "Ordo the Hall Monitor and the Rule About Running"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 241 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.8. 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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