Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Saving the Seat on Bus 14

6th grade fiction passage about a best friend away for a month: 252 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade fiction a best friend away for a month 252 words

Saving the Seat on Bus 14

Zoe's best friend Pia had gone to stay with her grandmother for an entire month, and the third seat on Bus 14 sat empty every single morning. Zoe set her backpack on it and told herself that a backpack was a perfectly respectable seatmate.

On Tuesday, a new boy named Clem climbed aboard, carrying a trombone case that was almost as tall as he was. The bus was nearly full, so he hesitated, glanced at the backpack, and then looked at Zoe. "Sorry," she said flatly. "It's saved."

Clem nodded and settled into the seat across the aisle, hugging the case in his arms, and all the way to school it bumped against his knees. Zoe tried hard not to feel guilty about it.

The next day he was there again, and this time he pulled out a crossword puzzle and muttered that he needed seven letters for a type of storm, starting with B. "Blizzard," Zoe blurted before she could stop herself. He smiled and penciled it in, and by Friday they were solving the puzzle together across the aisle, one clue at a time.

When Pia finally came home, Zoe felt nervous. But Pia grinned at the empty seat, slid in beside her, and noticed the puzzle. "Who's the new kid?" she asked. Zoe waved Clem over to the seat in front of them, and he turned around to share the crossword.

"I saved a seat for you," Zoe told Pia, "and I think I accidentally saved one for him too."

Questions

  1. Why was the seat on Bus 14 empty? in the text

  2. What did Clem carry onto the bus? in the text

  3. What did Zoe say when Clem looked at the seat? in the text

  4. What was the answer to Clem's crossword clue? in the text

  5. Why did Zoe try not to feel bad about turning Clem away? think about it

  6. What did Zoe mean when she said she had accidentally saved a seat for Clem? think about it

Words to know

seatmate
the person who sits beside you
hesitated
paused because you were not sure what to do
aisle
the narrow path between rows of seats
crossword
a word puzzle in which you fit answers into a grid
nervous
a little afraid or worried about what will happen
Share

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 · 223 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.5

Zoe's best friend Pia went to stay with her grandmother for a month. The third seat on Bus 14 sat empty each morning. Zoe put her backpack on it. She told herself a backpack was a fine seatmate.

On Tuesday, a new boy named Clem got on the bus. He had a trombone case almost as tall as he was. The bus was nearly full. He stopped, looked at the backpack, and looked at Zoe.

"Sorry," she said. "It's saved."

Clem nodded and sat across the aisle. He hugged the case. All the way to school the case bumped his knees. Zoe tried not to feel bad.

The next day he was there again. He took out a crossword puzzle and said, "Seven letters, a kind of storm, starts with B."

"Blizzard," Zoe said before she could stop herself.

He smiled and wrote it in. By Friday they were doing the puzzle together across the aisle, one clue at a time.

When Pia came home, Zoe was nervous. But Pia grinned at the empty seat and slid in. She saw the puzzle. "Who's the new kid?" she asked. Zoe waved Clem over to the seat in front of them. He turned around to share the crossword.

"I saved a seat for you," Zoe told Pia, "and I think I saved one for him too."

▲ This passage · 252 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.7

Zoe's best friend Pia had gone to stay with her grandmother for an entire month, and the third seat on Bus 14 sat empty every single morning. Zoe set her backpack on it and told herself that a backpack was a perfectly respectable seatmate.

On Tuesday, a new boy named Clem climbed aboard, carrying a trombone case that was almost as tall as he was. The bus was nearly full, so he hesitated, glanced at the backpack, and then looked at Zoe. "Sorry," she said flatly. "It's saved."

Clem nodded and settled into the seat across the aisle, hugging the case in his arms, and all the way to school it bumped against his knees. Zoe tried hard not to feel guilty about it.

The next day he was there again, and this time he pulled out a crossword puzzle and muttered that he needed seven letters for a type of storm, starting with B. "Blizzard," Zoe blurted before she could stop herself. He smiled and penciled it in, and by Friday they were solving the puzzle together across the aisle, one clue at a time.

When Pia finally came home, Zoe felt nervous. But Pia grinned at the empty seat, slid in beside her, and noticed the puzzle. "Who's the new kid?" she asked. Zoe waved Clem over to the seat in front of them, and he turned around to share the crossword.

"I saved a seat for you," Zoe told Pia, "and I think I accidentally saved one for him too."

■ Harder · 261 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.4

Zoe's best friend Pia had gone to stay with her grandmother for an entire month, and the third seat on Bus 14 sat conspicuously empty every single morning. Zoe set her backpack on it and told herself that a backpack was a perfectly respectable seatmate.

On Tuesday, a new boy named Clem climbed aboard, lugging a trombone case that was almost as tall as he was. The bus was nearly full, so he hesitated, glanced at the backpack, and then looked uncertainly at Zoe. "Sorry," she said flatly. "It's saved."

Clem nodded and settled into the seat across the aisle, hugging the enormous case in his arms, and all the way to school it bumped against his knees. Zoe tried hard not to feel guilty about it.

The next day he was there again, and this time he pulled out a crossword puzzle and muttered that he needed seven letters for a type of storm, beginning with B. "Blizzard," Zoe blurted before she could stop herself. He smiled and penciled it in, and by Friday they were solving the puzzle together across the aisle, one clue at a time.

When Pia finally came home, Zoe felt nervous about how the reunion would go. But Pia grinned at the empty seat, slid in beside her, and noticed the puzzle. "Who's the new kid?" she asked. Zoe waved Clem over to the seat in front of them, and he turned around to share the crossword.

"I saved a seat for you," Zoe told Pia, "and I think I accidentally saved one for him too."

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 seatmate, hesitated, aisle, crossword and nervous 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 3 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 "Saving the Seat on Bus 14"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 252 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.7. 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 3 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.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.