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The Loudest Whisper in Dunmore

6th grade fiction passage about a tall tale about a booming whisper: 226 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade fiction a tall tale about a booming whisper 226 words

The Loudest Whisper in Dunmore

Gus Tallow of Dunmore had the loudest whisper in the country. When Gus whispered, windows rattled, hats blew off, and dogs three towns over lifted their heads. His mother said he came out of the cradle whispering at the volume of a thunderstorm.

This caused no end of trouble. When Gus whispered a secret in class, the chalkboard cracked down the middle. When he whispered good night to his sister, the roof shingles shivered. The librarian finally gave him a special card that said, "Please do not whisper in here, Gus."

Gus tried everything. He hummed, he mumbled, and he even talked with a sock in his mouth. The sock flew across the room like a cannonball and knocked over the pie table at the fair.

One foggy winter night, a ferry full of passengers drifted off course on Dunmore Lake. The captain's horn had frozen, and nobody could see the shore. A boy on the dock ran to fetch Gus.

Gus took a deep breath and whispered, as gently as he could, "Over here."

The whisper rolled across the water like a friendly drum. The captain turned his wheel, the ferry slid out of the fog, and every passenger cheered. From then on, the town kept a lamp and a chair on the dock, and whenever the fog rolled in, Gus whispered the ferries home.

Questions

  1. What made Gus Tallow different from other people in Dunmore? in the text

  2. What happened to the chalkboard when Gus whispered a secret? in the text

  3. Why did the ferry need help one foggy night? in the text

  4. How did Gus finally use his loud whisper? in the text

  5. What does the card from the librarian tell you about Gus's whisper? think about it

  6. How did Gus's problem become a strength? think about it

Words to know

cradle
a small bed for a baby
volume
how loud or soft a sound is
shingles
thin flat pieces that cover a roof
passengers
people riding in a boat, bus, or train
ferry
a boat that carries people across water
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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 2.5

Gus Tallow of Dunmore had the loudest whisper in the country. When Gus whispered, windows rattled. Hats blew off. Dogs in far towns lifted their heads. His mother said he came out of the cradle whispering as loud as a thunderstorm.

This caused a lot of trouble. Once Gus whispered a secret in class. The chalkboard cracked in half. He whispered good night to his sister, and the roof shingles shivered. The librarian gave him a card that said, "Please do not whisper in here, Gus."

Gus tried everything. He hummed. He mumbled. He even talked with a sock in his mouth. The sock flew across the room like a cannonball. It knocked over the pie table at the fair.

One foggy winter night, a ferry full of passengers drifted off course on Dunmore Lake. The captain's horn had frozen. Nobody could see the shore. A boy on the dock ran to get Gus.

Gus took a deep breath. He whispered as gently as he could, "Over here."

The whisper rolled over the water like a friendly drum. The captain turned his wheel. The ferry slid out of the fog. Everyone cheered. After that, the town kept a lamp and a chair on the dock. When the fog came, Gus whispered the ferries home.

▲ This passage · 226 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.1

Gus Tallow of Dunmore had the loudest whisper in the country. When Gus whispered, windows rattled, hats blew off, and dogs three towns over lifted their heads. His mother said he came out of the cradle whispering at the volume of a thunderstorm.

This caused no end of trouble. When Gus whispered a secret in class, the chalkboard cracked down the middle. When he whispered good night to his sister, the roof shingles shivered. The librarian finally gave him a special card that said, "Please do not whisper in here, Gus."

Gus tried everything. He hummed, he mumbled, and he even talked with a sock in his mouth. The sock flew across the room like a cannonball and knocked over the pie table at the fair.

One foggy winter night, a ferry full of passengers drifted off course on Dunmore Lake. The captain's horn had frozen, and nobody could see the shore. A boy on the dock ran to fetch Gus.

Gus took a deep breath and whispered, as gently as he could, "Over here."

The whisper rolled across the water like a friendly drum. The captain turned his wheel, the ferry slid out of the fog, and every passenger cheered. From then on, the town kept a lamp and a chair on the dock, and whenever the fog rolled in, Gus whispered the ferries home.

■ Harder · 250 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.8

Gus Tallow of Dunmore possessed the loudest whisper in the entire country. Whenever Gus whispered, windows rattled in their frames, hats blew off heads, and dogs three towns over lifted their ears in alarm. His mother insisted that he had emerged from the cradle whispering at the volume of a thunderstorm.

This caused no end of trouble. When Gus whispered a secret in class, the chalkboard cracked down the middle. When he whispered good night to his sister, the roof shingles shivered. The exasperated librarian eventually issued him a special card that read, "Please do not whisper in here, Gus."

Gus experimented with every remedy he could imagine. He hummed, he mumbled, and he even spoke with a sock stuffed in his mouth. The sock shot across the room like a cannonball and knocked over the pie table at the fair.

Then, on a foggy winter night, a ferry full of passengers drifted dangerously off course on Dunmore Lake. The captain's horn had frozen solid, and nobody aboard could see the shore. A boy on the dock sprinted off to fetch Gus.

Gus took a deep breath and whispered, as gently as he possibly could, "Over here."

The whisper rolled across the water like a friendly drum. The captain turned his wheel, the ferry slid out of the fog, and every passenger cheered. From that night on, the town kept a lamp and a chair on the dock, and whenever the fog rolled in, Gus whispered the ferries safely home.

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 cradle, volume, shingles, passengers and ferry 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 "The Loudest Whisper in Dunmore"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 226 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.0. 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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