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Rusk the Scarecrow Who Frightened Nothing

6th grade fiction passage about a robot scarecrow in a cornfield: 234 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade fiction a robot scarecrow in a cornfield 234 words

Rusk the Scarecrow Who Frightened Nothing

Mr. Calloway bought Rusk the robot scarecrow at the county fair. Rusk had a barrel for a body, a pair of copper arms, and a floppy straw hat that made him look more friendly than fierce. Every morning he marched to the middle of the cornfield, raised both arms, and shouted, "Boo!"

The crows were not impressed in the slightest, and they landed on his hat and ate corn right under his nose while he shouted.

"I am not frightening anyone," Rusk said sadly that evening. "My circuits say I should be scary."

Mr. Calloway scratched his chin thoughtfully and suggested that frightening animals might not be the only way to guard a field.

The next morning Rusk stood still and listened. He noticed that the crows were not eating only the corn. They also pecked at the beetles that chewed the leaves. So Rusk tried something new. He hummed a low, steady tune, and he waved gently instead of shouting. When the crows stayed, he showed them the best places to find beetles, near the damp roots at the edge of the rows.

Soon the crows were eating the bugs and leaving most of the corn alone, so the harvest that autumn was the biggest that Mr. Calloway had ever seen. Rusk never learned to frighten anything, but the crows still came every morning to sit on his hat and hear his tune.

Questions

  1. Where did Mr. Calloway get Rusk? in the text

  2. What did Rusk do each morning at first? in the text

  3. What else did the crows peck at besides corn? in the text

  4. How did Rusk change his way of guarding the field? in the text

  5. Why did the crows ignore Rusk at first? think about it

  6. Why was the harvest so big that autumn? think about it

Words to know

scarecrow
a figure put in a field to keep birds away
fierce
wild and scary
circuits
the wired paths that carry power inside a machine
harvest
the crop gathered from a field
guard
to protect something from harm
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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 · 214 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.4

Mr. Calloway bought Rusk the robot scarecrow at the county fair. Rusk had a barrel for a body and copper arms. He had a floppy straw hat. He looked more friendly than fierce. Every morning he marched to the middle of the cornfield. He raised both arms and shouted, "Boo!"

The crows did not care. They landed on his hat. They ate corn right under his nose.

"I am not scaring anyone," Rusk said sadly that night. "My circuits say I should be scary."

Mr. Calloway scratched his chin. "Maybe scaring is not the only way to guard a field," he said.

The next morning Rusk stood still and listened. He saw that the crows did not eat only corn. They also pecked the beetles that chewed the leaves. So Rusk tried something new. He hummed a low, steady tune. He waved gently and did not shout. When the crows stayed, he showed them where the beetles hid, near the damp roots at the edge of the rows.

Soon the crows were eating bugs and leaving most of the corn. The harvest that fall was the biggest Mr. Calloway had ever seen. Rusk never learned to scare anything. But the crows still came each morning to sit on his hat and hear his tune.

▲ This passage · 234 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6

Mr. Calloway bought Rusk the robot scarecrow at the county fair. Rusk had a barrel for a body, a pair of copper arms, and a floppy straw hat that made him look more friendly than fierce. Every morning he marched to the middle of the cornfield, raised both arms, and shouted, "Boo!"

The crows were not impressed in the slightest, and they landed on his hat and ate corn right under his nose while he shouted.

"I am not frightening anyone," Rusk said sadly that evening. "My circuits say I should be scary."

Mr. Calloway scratched his chin thoughtfully and suggested that frightening animals might not be the only way to guard a field.

The next morning Rusk stood still and listened. He noticed that the crows were not eating only the corn. They also pecked at the beetles that chewed the leaves. So Rusk tried something new. He hummed a low, steady tune, and he waved gently instead of shouting. When the crows stayed, he showed them the best places to find beetles, near the damp roots at the edge of the rows.

Soon the crows were eating the bugs and leaving most of the corn alone, so the harvest that autumn was the biggest that Mr. Calloway had ever seen. Rusk never learned to frighten anything, but the crows still came every morning to sit on his hat and hear his tune.

■ Harder · 254 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.3

Mr. Calloway purchased Rusk the robot scarecrow at the county fair. Rusk had a barrel for a body, a pair of gleaming copper arms, and a floppy straw hat that made him look far more friendly than fierce. Every morning he marched to the middle of the cornfield, raised both arms high above his head, and bellowed, "Boo!"

The crows were thoroughly unimpressed by this performance, and they calmly settled on his hat and gobbled corn directly beneath his nose while he continued to bellow.

"I am not frightening anyone," Rusk said mournfully that evening. "My circuits insist that I should be scary."

Mr. Calloway scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps frightening the animals is not the only way to guard a field," he said, considering the situation carefully.

The next morning Rusk stood perfectly still and listened. He noticed that the crows were not eating only the corn. They were also pecking at the beetles that chewed the leaves. So Rusk tried something different. He hummed a low, steady tune and waved gently instead of shouting. When the crows lingered, he showed them the best places to find beetles, near the damp roots at the edge of the rows.

Before long the crows were feasting on the bugs and leaving most of the corn undisturbed, so the harvest that autumn was the most impressive that Mr. Calloway had ever seen. Rusk never did learn to frighten anything, but the crows still arrived every morning to perch on his hat and listen to his tune.

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 scarecrow, fierce, circuits, harvest and guard 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 "Rusk the Scarecrow Who Frightened Nothing"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 234 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.0. 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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