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The Tide Clock of Sandpiper Wharf

6th grade fiction passage about a clock that runs on the sea: 261 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade fiction a clock that runs on the sea 261 words

The Tide Clock of Sandpiper Wharf

Sandpiper Wharf had no church bells and no town hall tower. It had the Tide Clock, a tall brass post at the end of the pier with one long hand that rose and fell with the sea. When the water climbed the post, the hand pointed to market time. When the water dropped, the ferry captains knew it was time to sail. Everyone in the harbor town trusted the clock completely, and it hummed a low, steady note whenever the hour changed.

One foggy morning the hum stopped. The hand froze halfway up the post, and the ferries sat in the harbor, unsure when to leave. Captain Orla grumbled that a stopped clock was far more troublesome than having no clock at all, since people would keep believing it.

Pavel, who sold bait from a bucket, climbed down the ladder to look. Under the pier he discovered the trouble, which was a gull that had stuffed a nest of seaweed and rope into the narrow slot where the float rode up and down. The float could not move, so the hand could not move either.

Pavel did not want to shove the nest out and leave the gull homeless. Instead he tied a wooden crate to a nearby piling and lined it with the same seaweed. He carefully moved the eggs into the crate, and then he lifted the old nest away. The float bobbed free, and the clock gave a deep, happy hum. By noon the ferries were sailing on time, and the gull sat proudly in her new home.

Questions

  1. How did the Tide Clock tell the time? in the text

  2. What did the clock do whenever the hour changed? in the text

  3. What was blocking the float under the pier? in the text

  4. Where did Pavel put the eggs? in the text

  5. Why did the ferries sit in the harbor that morning? think about it

  6. Why did Pavel build a new home for the gull instead of just removing the nest? think about it

Words to know

wharf
a landing place where boats tie up
ferry
a boat that carries people across water
float
something that rides on top of the water
piling
a strong post driven into the water
grumbled
complained in a low, unhappy voice
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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 · 216 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1

Sandpiper Wharf had no church bells. It had the Tide Clock. This was a tall brass post at the end of the pier. A long hand moved up and down with the sea. When the water rose, the hand pointed to market time. When the water fell, the ferry captains knew it was time to sail. The clock hummed a low note each time the hour changed.

One foggy morning the hum stopped. The hand stuck halfway up the post. The ferries sat in the harbor. The captains did not know when to leave. Captain Orla said a stopped clock was worse than no clock.

Pavel sold bait from a bucket. He climbed down the ladder to look. Under the pier he found the trouble. A gull had made a nest of seaweed and rope. It was jammed in the slot where the float moved. The float could not move, so the hand could not move.

Pavel did not want the gull to lose her home. He tied a wooden crate to a post. He lined it with seaweed. He moved the eggs into the crate. Then he took the old nest away. The float bobbed free. The clock gave a happy hum. The ferries sailed on time, and the gull sat in her new home.

▲ This passage · 261 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.4

Sandpiper Wharf had no church bells and no town hall tower. It had the Tide Clock, a tall brass post at the end of the pier with one long hand that rose and fell with the sea. When the water climbed the post, the hand pointed to market time. When the water dropped, the ferry captains knew it was time to sail. Everyone in the harbor town trusted the clock completely, and it hummed a low, steady note whenever the hour changed.

One foggy morning the hum stopped. The hand froze halfway up the post, and the ferries sat in the harbor, unsure when to leave. Captain Orla grumbled that a stopped clock was far more troublesome than having no clock at all, since people would keep believing it.

Pavel, who sold bait from a bucket, climbed down the ladder to look. Under the pier he discovered the trouble, which was a gull that had stuffed a nest of seaweed and rope into the narrow slot where the float rode up and down. The float could not move, so the hand could not move either.

Pavel did not want to shove the nest out and leave the gull homeless. Instead he tied a wooden crate to a nearby piling and lined it with the same seaweed. He carefully moved the eggs into the crate, and then he lifted the old nest away. The float bobbed free, and the clock gave a deep, happy hum. By noon the ferries were sailing on time, and the gull sat proudly in her new home.

■ Harder · 274 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6

Sandpiper Wharf had no church bells and no town hall tower to announce the hour. Instead it had the Tide Clock, a tall brass post at the far end of the pier with a single long hand that rose and fell along with the sea. When the water climbed the post, the hand pointed toward market time, and when the water dropped away, the ferry captains understood that it was time to sail. Everyone in town trusted the clock, and it hummed a deep, low note whenever the hour changed.

One foggy morning the hum suddenly stopped. The hand froze halfway up the post, and the ferries sat idle in the harbor because their captains could not tell when to leave. Captain Orla grumbled that a stopped clock was far worse than having no clock at all.

Pavel, a boy who sold bait from a bucket, climbed down the ladder beneath the pier to investigate. There he discovered the trouble. A gull had crammed a tangled nest of seaweed and rope into the narrow slot where the float rode up and down. Because the float could not budge, the hand above could not budge either.

Pavel refused to shove the nest out and leave the gull without a home. Instead he tied a wooden crate to a nearby piling and lined it with the same seaweed. He carefully lifted the eggs into the crate, and only then did he pull the old nest free. The float bobbed loose, and the clock answered with a deep, contented hum. By noon the ferries were sailing on schedule, and the gull sat proudly in her new 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 wharf, ferry, float, piling and grumbled 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 Tide Clock of Sandpiper Wharf"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 261 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.4. 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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