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The Substitute Goalie

6th grade fiction passage about a soccer game: 287 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade fiction a soccer game 287 words

The Substitute Goalie

Sam had always played defense, so he was surprised when Coach Reyes called him over after practice on Thursday. "Lucas sprained his wrist at school today," she explained, "and since Saturday's game is an important one, I need somebody to play goalie. Do you think you could do it?"

Sam swallowed hard. Goalies stood alone in front of the net while everyone watched every move, and if the ball slipped past, nobody could pretend that the mistake belonged to someone else. Even so, he did not want to disappoint his teammates, so he nodded slowly.

That afternoon his older sister Jess helped him practice in the backyard. She kicked shot after shot, and at first the ball whizzed past him before he could even move. "You are watching my face," she pointed out, "when you should be watching the ball and my foot." After a dozen tries he began to predict where each kick was headed, and by dinnertime he had stopped about half of them, although his gloves were covered in grass.

On Saturday the other team scored first, and Sam's heart pounded, but Coach called from the sideline, "Shake it off and keep your eyes on the ball." In the second half, a tall striker raced toward the net and fired a hard shot at the corner. Sam dove, stretched his fingertips as far as they would go, and knocked it away while his teammates cheered.

A few minutes later his team scored a goal of its own, and the game ended in a tie. Sam did not mind at all. In the parking lot, Lucas, with his wrist wrapped in a bandage, held up a hand for a high five and said, "Nice save."

Questions

  1. Why did Coach Reyes need a new goalie? in the text

  2. What advice did Jess give Sam during practice? in the text

  3. What was the final result of the game? in the text

  4. Why was Sam nervous about being a goalie? think about it

  5. How do you know Sam improved during the story? think about it

Words to know

goalie
the player who guards the net
sprained
hurt by twisting a joint too far
striker
a player whose job is to score goals
defense
the players who try to stop the other team from scoring
whizzed
moved past very fast with a buzzing sound
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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 · 222 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.3

Sam had always played defense. He was surprised when Coach Reyes called him over on Thursday. "Lucas sprained his wrist at school," she said. "Saturday's game is a big one. I need a goalie. Can you do it?"

Sam swallowed. A goalie stands alone in front of the net. Everyone watches. If the ball gets past, nobody can blame someone else. But he did not want to let the team down. So he nodded.

That afternoon his sister Jess helped him practice in the backyard. She kicked shot after shot. At first the ball zoomed past him. "You watch my face," she said. "Watch the ball and my foot." After a dozen tries, he began to guess where each kick would go. By dinner he had stopped half of them. His gloves were covered in grass.

On Saturday, the other team scored first. Sam's heart pounded. Coach called out, "Shake it off. Watch the ball." In the second half, a tall striker raced toward the net. She fired a hard shot at the corner. Sam dove. He stretched his fingertips and knocked it away. His team cheered.

A few minutes later, his team scored too. The game ended in a tie. Sam did not mind. In the parking lot, Lucas held up a hand with his wrist wrapped. "Nice save," he said.

▲ This passage · 287 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.6

Sam had always played defense, so he was surprised when Coach Reyes called him over after practice on Thursday. "Lucas sprained his wrist at school today," she explained, "and since Saturday's game is an important one, I need somebody to play goalie. Do you think you could do it?"

Sam swallowed hard. Goalies stood alone in front of the net while everyone watched every move, and if the ball slipped past, nobody could pretend that the mistake belonged to someone else. Even so, he did not want to disappoint his teammates, so he nodded slowly.

That afternoon his older sister Jess helped him practice in the backyard. She kicked shot after shot, and at first the ball whizzed past him before he could even move. "You are watching my face," she pointed out, "when you should be watching the ball and my foot." After a dozen tries he began to predict where each kick was headed, and by dinnertime he had stopped about half of them, although his gloves were covered in grass.

On Saturday the other team scored first, and Sam's heart pounded, but Coach called from the sideline, "Shake it off and keep your eyes on the ball." In the second half, a tall striker raced toward the net and fired a hard shot at the corner. Sam dove, stretched his fingertips as far as they would go, and knocked it away while his teammates cheered.

A few minutes later his team scored a goal of its own, and the game ended in a tie. Sam did not mind at all. In the parking lot, Lucas, with his wrist wrapped in a bandage, held up a hand for a high five and said, "Nice save."

■ Harder · 303 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.4

Sam had always played defense, so he was astonished when Coach Reyes called him over after practice on Thursday afternoon. "Lucas sprained his wrist at school today," she explained, "and since Saturday's game is a crucial one for our season, I need somebody to play goalie. Do you think you could do it?"

Sam swallowed hard. Goalies stood alone in front of the net while everyone watched every move, and if the ball slipped past, nobody could pretend that the mistake belonged to someone else. Even so, he did not want to disappoint his teammates, so he nodded slowly and promised to try his best.

That afternoon his older sister Jess helped him practice in the backyard. She kicked shot after shot, and at first the ball whizzed past him before he could even move. "You are watching my face," she pointed out, "when you should be watching the ball and my foot." After a dozen attempts he began to predict where each kick was headed, and by dinnertime he had stopped about half of them, although his gloves were thoroughly covered in grass.

On Saturday the other team scored first, and Sam's heart pounded, but Coach called from the sideline, "Shake it off and keep your eyes on the ball." In the second half, a tall striker raced toward the net and fired a ferocious shot at the corner. Sam dove, stretched his fingertips as far as they would possibly go, and knocked it away while his teammates erupted in cheers.

A few minutes later his team scored a goal of its own, and the game ended in a tie. Sam did not mind in the slightest. In the parking lot, Lucas, with his wrist wrapped snugly in a bandage, held up a hand for a high five and said, "Nice save."

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 goalie, sprained, striker, defense and whizzed 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 4 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 Substitute Goalie"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 287 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.6. 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 five. 3 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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