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The Moss Observatory and the Watering Comet

6th grade fiction passage about tiny astronomers in a flowerpot: 239 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade fiction tiny astronomers in a flowerpot 239 words

The Moss Observatory and the Watering Comet

On the balcony of apartment 4B sat a clay flowerpot, and in the pot grew a thick cushion of green moss. Inside the moss, hidden from every giant, lived the Mossfolk astronomers. Their observatory was a hollow acorn cap with a thimble-sized telescope pointed at the sky.

Every few days something strange happened. A great silver comet roared across the heavens, and a rain of water fell afterward. The astronomers recorded it in their star charts, but they could never predict it. Chief Astronomer Wren worried that the comet might smash their moss valley.

Ida, who lived in 4B, noticed the tiny telescope while she was pulling weeds. She knelt down and squinted. Wren stood on the rim of the acorn cap and waved a flag.

"Please warn us about the comet!" Wren called, in a voice as thin as a whistle.

Ida laughed softly. "That is not a comet," she said. "It's my watering can."

The astronomers went silent, and then they began to cheer. Because Ida watered the plants every Tuesday and Friday, the comet was not wild at all. It was dependable. Wren crossed out the old charts and wrote a new schedule with Tuesday and Friday circled in bright blue ink.

From then on the Mossfolk set out their buckets and bathtubs before each watering. They called the event the Watering Comet, and Ida always poured it gently over their side of the pot.

Questions

  1. Where was the Mossfolk observatory? in the text

  2. What did the astronomers think the silver comet was? in the text

  3. What was the comet really? in the text

  4. On which days did Ida water the plants? in the text

  5. Why could the astronomers never predict the comet before? think about it

  6. Why did the Mossfolk set out buckets after learning the truth? think about it

Words to know

observatory
a building used for studying the sky
moss
a soft, green plant that grows in thick patches
comet
a ball of ice and dust that glows as it moves across the sky
dependable
able to be trusted to happen the same way
predict
to say what will happen before it does
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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 · 229 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.9

On the balcony of apartment 4B sat a clay flowerpot. In the pot grew a thick cushion of green moss. In the moss, hidden from every giant, lived the Mossfolk astronomers. Their observatory was a hollow acorn cap. A thimble-sized telescope pointed at the sky.

Every few days something strange happened. A great silver comet roared across the sky. A rain of water fell after it. The astronomers wrote it in their star charts, but they could never tell when it would come. Chief Astronomer Wren worried the comet would smash their moss valley.

Ida lived in 4B. She saw the tiny telescope while she pulled weeds. She knelt down and squinted. Wren stood on the rim of the acorn cap and waved a flag.

"Please warn us about the comet!" Wren called in a thin, whistle voice.

Ida laughed softly. "That is not a comet," she said. "It is my watering can."

The astronomers went quiet. Then they began to cheer. Ida watered the plants every Tuesday and Friday. So the comet was not wild. It was dependable. Wren crossed out the old charts. She wrote a new schedule with Tuesday and Friday circled in blue ink.

After that the Mossfolk set out their buckets and bathtubs before each watering. They called it the Watering Comet. Ida always poured it gently over their side of the pot.

▲ This passage · 239 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.5

On the balcony of apartment 4B sat a clay flowerpot, and in the pot grew a thick cushion of green moss. Inside the moss, hidden from every giant, lived the Mossfolk astronomers. Their observatory was a hollow acorn cap with a thimble-sized telescope pointed at the sky.

Every few days something strange happened. A great silver comet roared across the heavens, and a rain of water fell afterward. The astronomers recorded it in their star charts, but they could never predict it. Chief Astronomer Wren worried that the comet might smash their moss valley.

Ida, who lived in 4B, noticed the tiny telescope while she was pulling weeds. She knelt down and squinted. Wren stood on the rim of the acorn cap and waved a flag.

"Please warn us about the comet!" Wren called, in a voice as thin as a whistle.

Ida laughed softly. "That is not a comet," she said. "It's my watering can."

The astronomers went silent, and then they began to cheer. Because Ida watered the plants every Tuesday and Friday, the comet was not wild at all. It was dependable. Wren crossed out the old charts and wrote a new schedule with Tuesday and Friday circled in bright blue ink.

From then on the Mossfolk set out their buckets and bathtubs before each watering. They called the event the Watering Comet, and Ida always poured it gently over their side of the pot.

■ Harder · 260 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.4

On the balcony of apartment 4B sat a weathered clay flowerpot, and in the pot grew a thick cushion of green moss. Deep within the moss, hidden from every giant, lived the Mossfolk astronomers. Their observatory was a hollow acorn cap, and a telescope the size of a thimble pointed up at the sky.

Every few days something peculiar occurred. A great silver comet roared across the heavens, and a shower of water fell soon afterward. The astronomers recorded each visit in their star charts, but they could never predict when the comet would return. Chief Astronomer Wren worried that it might someday smash their moss valley to pieces.

Ida, who lived in apartment 4B, spotted the tiny telescope while she was pulling weeds. She knelt down and squinted at it. Wren climbed onto the rim of the acorn cap and waved a flag frantically.

"Please warn us about the comet!" Wren called, in a voice as thin as a whistle.

Ida laughed softly. "That is not a comet at all," she said. "It's my watering can."

The astronomers fell silent, and then they began to cheer. Because Ida watered her plants every Tuesday and Friday, the comet was not wild after all. It was entirely dependable. Wren crossed out her old charts and wrote a new schedule, with Tuesday and Friday circled in bright blue ink.

From then on the Mossfolk set out their buckets and bathtubs before each watering. They named the event the Watering Comet, and Ida always poured it gently over their side of the pot.

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 observatory, moss, comet, dependable and predict 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 Moss Observatory and the Watering Comet"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 239 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.5. 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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