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The Bottle Post from Next Tuesday

6th grade fiction passage about a message arriving from the future: 250 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade fiction a message arriving from the future 250 words

The Bottle Post from Next Tuesday

Nadia found the bottle bobbing in the creek behind her house on a quiet Wednesday. Inside was a rolled note, and the handwriting was her own. At the top it said, "Sent from next Tuesday. Read me before Monday night."

Nadia's heart thumped as she unrolled the paper. Her future self had written three short lines. The first said, "The science fair table wobbles. Bring a folded piece of cardboard." The second said, "Do not paint the volcano until the glue is dry." The third said, "Tell Mr. Okafor the thing you are nervous about. He will help."

She read it twice. The science fair was next Tuesday, and she had been planning to paint her model volcano on Monday night. She hadn't told anyone that she was nervous about explaining it to a crowd.

Nadia decided to follow the note, even though she did not know how it worked. She let the glue dry overnight. She folded a square of cardboard and tucked it into her backpack. And on Thursday she nervously asked her teacher for advice. Mr. Okafor suggested that she practice her talk on index cards, and he listened to it twice.

On Tuesday the fair table did wobble, and the cardboard fixed it in a second. Her volcano looked perfect, and her talk went smoothly. That evening Nadia wrote a short note of her own, corked it in the same bottle, and set it in the creek, addressed to a future girl who might need it.

Questions

  1. Where did Nadia find the bottle? in the text

  2. Whose handwriting was on the note? in the text

  3. What were the three pieces of advice in the note? in the text

  4. What did Mr. Okafor suggest she do? in the text

  5. How can you tell that Nadia trusted the note? think about it

  6. Why do you think Nadia sent a bottle of her own at the end? think about it

Words to know

bobbing
moving up and down on water
wobbles
shakes from side to side
nervous
worried and a little afraid
unrolled
opened up something that was curled
corked
closed a bottle with a cork
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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 · 241 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

Nadia found the bottle bobbing in the creek behind her house on a quiet Wednesday. Inside was a rolled note. The handwriting was her own. At the top it said, "Sent from next Tuesday. Read me before Monday night."

Nadia's heart thumped as she unrolled the paper. Her future self had written three short lines. The first said, "The science fair table wobbles. Bring a folded piece of cardboard." The second said, "Do not paint the volcano until the glue is dry." The third said, "Tell Mr. Okafor the thing you are nervous about. He will help."

She read it twice. The science fair was next Tuesday. She had planned to paint her model volcano on Monday night. She had not told anyone she was nervous about talking to a crowd.

Nadia chose to follow the note, even though she did not know how it worked. She let the glue dry overnight. She folded a square of cardboard and put it in her backpack. On Thursday she asked her teacher for help. Mr. Okafor said to practice her talk on index cards. He listened to it twice.

On Tuesday the table did wobble. The cardboard fixed it in a second. Her volcano looked perfect and her talk went well. That night Nadia wrote a note of her own. She put it in the same bottle and set it in the creek for a girl in the future who might need it.

▲ This passage · 250 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.6

Nadia found the bottle bobbing in the creek behind her house on a quiet Wednesday. Inside was a rolled note, and the handwriting was her own. At the top it said, "Sent from next Tuesday. Read me before Monday night."

Nadia's heart thumped as she unrolled the paper. Her future self had written three short lines. The first said, "The science fair table wobbles. Bring a folded piece of cardboard." The second said, "Do not paint the volcano until the glue is dry." The third said, "Tell Mr. Okafor the thing you are nervous about. He will help."

She read it twice. The science fair was next Tuesday, and she had been planning to paint her model volcano on Monday night. She hadn't told anyone that she was nervous about explaining it to a crowd.

Nadia decided to follow the note, even though she did not know how it worked. She let the glue dry overnight. She folded a square of cardboard and tucked it into her backpack. And on Thursday she nervously asked her teacher for advice. Mr. Okafor suggested that she practice her talk on index cards, and he listened to it twice.

On Tuesday the fair table did wobble, and the cardboard fixed it in a second. Her volcano looked perfect, and her talk went smoothly. That evening Nadia wrote a short note of her own, corked it in the same bottle, and set it in the creek, addressed to a future girl who might need it.

■ Harder · 260 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.5

Nadia found the bottle bobbing in the creek behind her house on a quiet Wednesday. Inside was a rolled note, and the handwriting was unmistakably her own. At the top it said, "Sent from next Tuesday. Read me before Monday night."

Nadia's heart thumped as she carefully unrolled the paper. Her future self had written three brief lines. The first said, "The science fair table wobbles. Bring a folded piece of cardboard." The second said, "Do not paint the volcano until the glue is completely dry." The third said, "Tell Mr. Okafor the thing you are nervous about. He will help."

She read it twice. The science fair was next Tuesday, and she had been planning to paint her model volcano on Monday night. She had never mentioned to anyone that she was nervous about explaining it to a crowd.

Nadia resolved to follow the note, even though she could not begin to explain how it worked. She allowed the glue to dry overnight. She folded a square of cardboard and tucked it into her backpack. And on Thursday she nervously approached her teacher for advice. Mr. Okafor suggested that she rehearse her talk on index cards, and he patiently listened to it twice.

On Tuesday the fair table did wobble, and the cardboard steadied it in a second. Her volcano looked flawless, and her talk went smoothly. That evening Nadia composed a short note of her own, corked it in the same bottle, and set it afloat in the creek, addressed to some future girl who might need it.

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 bobbing, wobbles, nervous, unrolled and corked 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 "The Bottle Post from Next Tuesday"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 250 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.6. 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.

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