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The Treaty Signed on a Thimble

6th grade fiction passage about tiny neighbors under the floor: 233 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade fiction tiny neighbors under the floor 233 words

The Treaty Signed on a Thimble

Juno discovered the tiny town the night her desk lamp flickered. Below the floorboard by her bed was a crack, and in the crack stood a lantern the size of a grain of rice. Beside it a woman no taller than a pencil eraser was waving both arms.

"We are the Floorboard Folk," the woman said in a voice like a squeaking hinge. "I am Mayor Fennick. Every night your vacuum rumbles and shakes our houses. We cannot sleep, and our teacups keep falling."

Juno felt terrible. She had only been cleaning her room. She asked what could be done, and the mayor suggested a treaty, a written promise that would help both neighbors. Juno found a thimble to use as a table, and Fennick climbed up with a feather pen and a scrap of tape that she used as paper.

They worked out the terms together. Juno would vacuum on Saturday mornings only, when the Folk were already awake and could hold their shelves steady. In return, the Folk would sweep crumbs from the edge of the crack, which saved Juno some work. They both signed, Juno with a tiny dot of pencil and Fennick with an elegant curl.

The next Saturday Juno vacuumed slowly and warned the crack with three gentle taps first. A small cheer rose from the floor. After that, nobody's teacups fell, and the lamp never flickered again.

Questions

  1. How big was the lantern Juno saw in the crack? in the text

  2. What was disturbing the Floorboard Folk every night? in the text

  3. What did Juno use as a table for signing the treaty? in the text

  4. What did the Folk promise to do in return? in the text

  5. Why was Juno upset when she heard the mayor's complaint? think about it

  6. Why do you think Juno tapped the floor three times before vacuuming? think about it

Words to know

treaty
a written agreement between two groups
terms
the exact rules of an agreement
flickered
shone with an unsteady light
elegant
graceful and fancy
vacuum
a machine that cleans floors by sucking up dirt
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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

Juno found the tiny town the night her desk lamp flickered. Under the floorboard by her bed was a crack. In the crack stood a lantern the size of a grain of rice. Next to it, a woman as tall as a pencil eraser was waving both arms.

"We are the Floorboard Folk," she said. Her voice sounded like a squeaky hinge. "I am Mayor Fennick. Every night your vacuum shakes our houses. We cannot sleep. Our teacups keep falling."

Juno felt terrible. She had only been cleaning her room. She asked what to do. The mayor said they needed a treaty. That is a written promise. Juno used a thimble as a table. Fennick climbed up with a feather pen and a scrap of tape for paper.

They made the rules together. Juno would vacuum only on Saturday mornings. The Folk would be awake then and could hold their shelves. The Folk would sweep crumbs from the edge of the crack. That would help Juno. They both signed. Juno made a dot with her pencil, and Fennick made a curl.

The next Saturday Juno vacuumed slowly. First she tapped the floor three times as a warning. A small cheer rose from the crack. After that, no teacups fell. The lamp never flickered again.

▲ This passage · 233 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.2

Juno discovered the tiny town the night her desk lamp flickered. Below the floorboard by her bed was a crack, and in the crack stood a lantern the size of a grain of rice. Beside it a woman no taller than a pencil eraser was waving both arms.

"We are the Floorboard Folk," the woman said in a voice like a squeaking hinge. "I am Mayor Fennick. Every night your vacuum rumbles and shakes our houses. We cannot sleep, and our teacups keep falling."

Juno felt terrible. She had only been cleaning her room. She asked what could be done, and the mayor suggested a treaty, a written promise that would help both neighbors. Juno found a thimble to use as a table, and Fennick climbed up with a feather pen and a scrap of tape that she used as paper.

They worked out the terms together. Juno would vacuum on Saturday mornings only, when the Folk were already awake and could hold their shelves steady. In return, the Folk would sweep crumbs from the edge of the crack, which saved Juno some work. They both signed, Juno with a tiny dot of pencil and Fennick with an elegant curl.

The next Saturday Juno vacuumed slowly and warned the crack with three gentle taps first. A small cheer rose from the floor. After that, nobody's teacups fell, and the lamp never flickered again.

■ Harder · 255 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.3

Juno discovered the miniature town on the very night her desk lamp began to flicker. Beneath the floorboard beside her bed was a narrow crack, and inside it stood a lantern no larger than a grain of rice. Next to the lantern, a woman scarcely taller than a pencil eraser was waving both of her arms in the air.

"We are the Floorboard Folk," the woman announced in a voice like a squeaking hinge. "I am Mayor Fennick. Every night your vacuum rumbles and rattles our houses to pieces. We cannot sleep, and our teacups keep tumbling off the shelves."

Juno was mortified. She had only been tidying her room. She asked what could possibly be done, and the mayor proposed a treaty, a written promise that would protect both neighbors. Juno found a thimble to serve as a table, and Fennick scrambled up with a feather pen and a scrap of tape that she used for paper.

Together they worked out the terms. Juno would vacuum only on Saturday mornings, when the Folk were already awake and able to hold their shelves steady. In exchange, the Folk would sweep stray crumbs from the edge of the crack, which would save Juno some effort. They both signed, Juno with a tiny dot of pencil and Fennick with an elegant curl.

The following Saturday Juno vacuumed slowly and warned the crack with three gentle taps beforehand. A small cheer rose from beneath the floor. From then on, nobody's teacups fell, and her lamp never flickered again.

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 treaty, terms, flickered, elegant and vacuum 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 Treaty Signed on a Thimble"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 233 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.2. 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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