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The Shed Code Hidden in the Sundial

7th grade fiction passage about a shadow puzzle at a school garden: 249 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade fiction a shadow puzzle at a school garden 249 words

The Shed Code Hidden in the Sundial

On the first morning of gardening club, the tool shed was locked and nobody could find the key, but an index card taped to the combination lock explained what to do. It was written in the teacher's handwriting, and it read, "The code is where the shadow falls at nine, ten, and eleven. Do not hurry."

The club members stood in a puzzled circle around the stone sundial in the middle of the garden, whose metal pointer cast a thin gray shadow across a ring of carved numbers. "At nine o'clock, the shadow sits on seven," announced Tavia, who was holding the card.

"But it is already nine fifteen," said Kofi. "We have missed the right moment."

"Maybe not," said Tavia. "The clue mentions nine, ten, and eleven, and since a sundial can only tell time while the sun is shining, we have to be patient and keep watching it."

So they waited, weeding the carrot rows and watering the lettuces while keeping one eye on the pointer. At ten o'clock the shadow touched the carved four, and at eleven it reached the two, so Tavia wrote the digits down and tried 7, 4, 2 on the lock.

Click. The shackle sprang open and everyone cheered, and inside the shed a second note dangled from a rake. It said, "Good gardeners learn to be patient, and the best ones learn to look." The teacher, Ms. Ford, emerged from behind the compost bin, grinning, because she had been standing there the entire time.

Questions

  1. What was taped to the lock on the tool shed? in the text

  2. What tool did the club use to read the code? in the text

  3. What was the code that opened the lock? in the text

  4. Where was Ms. Ford during the puzzle? in the text

  5. Why did the students have to wait until ten and eleven to finish the puzzle? think about it

  6. What lesson did Ms. Ford want the students to take from the puzzle? think about it

Words to know

sundial
a clock that uses the shadow of the sun to tell time
combination
a set of numbers that opens a lock
carved
cut into a surface such as stone or wood
shackle
the curved metal bar at the top of a padlock
compost
rotted plant scraps used to feed garden soil
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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 · 228 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.4

On the first morning of gardening club, the tool shed was locked. Nobody could find the key. An index card was taped to the combination lock. It was in the teacher's handwriting. It said, "The code is where the shadow falls at nine, ten, and eleven. Do not hurry."

The club stood in a puzzled circle. In the middle of the garden was a stone sundial. Its metal pointer made a thin gray shadow across a ring of carved numbers. "At nine o'clock, the shadow is on seven," said Tavia. She held the card.

"But it is nine fifteen now," said Kofi. "We missed the right time."

"Maybe not," said Tavia. "The clue says nine, ten, and eleven. A sundial only works when the sun is out. We have to wait and watch."

So they waited. They weeded the carrots and watered the lettuce. They kept one eye on the pointer. At ten o'clock, the shadow touched the four. At eleven, it reached the two. Tavia wrote down the digits. She tried 7, 4, 2 on the lock.

Click. The lock sprang open. Everyone cheered. Inside the shed, a second note hung from a rake. It said, "Good gardeners learn to be patient, and the best ones learn to look." The teacher, Ms. Ford, came out from behind the compost bin. She was grinning. She had been there the whole time.

▲ This passage · 249 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.9

On the first morning of gardening club, the tool shed was locked and nobody could find the key, but an index card taped to the combination lock explained what to do. It was written in the teacher's handwriting, and it read, "The code is where the shadow falls at nine, ten, and eleven. Do not hurry."

The club members stood in a puzzled circle around the stone sundial in the middle of the garden, whose metal pointer cast a thin gray shadow across a ring of carved numbers. "At nine o'clock, the shadow sits on seven," announced Tavia, who was holding the card.

"But it is already nine fifteen," said Kofi. "We have missed the right moment."

"Maybe not," said Tavia. "The clue mentions nine, ten, and eleven, and since a sundial can only tell time while the sun is shining, we have to be patient and keep watching it."

So they waited, weeding the carrot rows and watering the lettuces while keeping one eye on the pointer. At ten o'clock the shadow touched the carved four, and at eleven it reached the two, so Tavia wrote the digits down and tried 7, 4, 2 on the lock.

Click. The shackle sprang open and everyone cheered, and inside the shed a second note dangled from a rake. It said, "Good gardeners learn to be patient, and the best ones learn to look." The teacher, Ms. Ford, emerged from behind the compost bin, grinning, because she had been standing there the entire time.

■ Harder · 264 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.7

On the first morning of gardening club, the tool shed was firmly locked and nobody could locate the key anywhere, but an index card that had been taped to the combination lock explained exactly what to do. It was written in the teacher's slanting handwriting, and it read, "The code is where the shadow falls at nine, ten, and eleven. Do not hurry."

The club members stood in a puzzled circle around the stone sundial in the middle of the garden, whose metal pointer cast a thin gray shadow across a ring of carefully carved numbers. "At nine o'clock, the shadow sits on seven," announced Tavia, who was holding the card.

"But it is already nine fifteen," said Kofi. "We have obviously missed the right moment."

"Maybe not," said Tavia. "The clue mentions nine, ten, and eleven, and since a sundial can only tell time while the sun is shining, we simply have to be patient and keep watching it."

So they waited, weeding the carrot rows and watering the lettuces while keeping one eye on the pointer. At ten o'clock the shadow touched the carved four, and at eleven it reached the two, so Tavia carefully wrote the digits down and tried 7, 4, 2 on the lock.

Click. The shackle sprang open and everyone cheered, and inside the shed a second note dangled from a rake. It said, "Good gardeners learn to be patient, and the best ones learn to look." The teacher, Ms. Ford, emerged from behind the compost bin, grinning from ear to ear, because she had been standing there the entire time.

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 sundial, combination, carved, shackle and compost 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 Shed Code Hidden in the Sundial"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 249 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.8. 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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