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The Sleeping Exhibit at the Mattress Museum

7th grade fiction passage about a mix-up at a museum: 287 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade fiction a mix-up at a museum 287 words

The Sleeping Exhibit at the Mattress Museum

Nell Okonkwo worked as a junior guide at the Museum of Beds and Bedding, which sounds like the dullest place on earth until you hear about the afternoon the exhibit started snoring.

The museum's best room held a sleigh bed from the 1800s, covered in a patchwork quilt and guarded by a velvet rope. Nell had given the tour so many times that she could recite it in her sleep. "This bed," she began that Thursday, "belonged to a sea captain who preferred to sleep sitting up."

A low, rumbling noise interrupted her. Everyone in the group turned. A round-faced man in a rumpled coat lay curled on top of the quilt, deeply asleep, with his hat over his eyes.

Nell froze. Behind her, a woman from the tour whispered, "Is that part of the display?" A boy added, "It looks very realistic." Within a minute, someone had snapped a photo, and a man in a bow tie had started explaining to his daughter that the figure was "clearly a wax sleeper from the Victorian period."

Nell knew that she had two choices. She could pretend, or she could fix it. She stepped over the rope, tapped the sleeper on the shoulder, and said, "Sir, I am so sorry, but the beds are for looking at."

The man sat up, blinked at the crowd, and said, "I came in for a quick rest. I have been traveling since Tuesday." The group burst into applause, and the museum director, who had heard the commotion, offered him a free ticket and a chair. The next morning, a new sign hung by the sleigh bed. It said, PLEASE DO NOT WAKE THE EXHIBITS, AND PLEASE DO NOT BECOME ONE.

Questions

  1. Where does Nell work, and what is her job? in the text

  2. What was the best room in the museum known for? in the text

  3. Why did the tour group think the sleeping man was part of the display? think about it

  4. What did Nell decide to do about the mix-up? in the text

  5. Why was the man asleep on the bed? in the text

  6. What does the new sign suggest about what happened? think about it

Words to know

junior
younger or lower in rank
recite
to say something aloud from memory
rumpled
wrinkled and messy
commotion
a lot of noisy excitement
exhibit
an object shown to the public in a museum
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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 · 256 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.5

Nell Okonkwo was a junior guide at the Museum of Beds and Bedding. That sounds like the dullest place on earth. Then you hear about the day the exhibit started snoring.

The best room had a sleigh bed from the 1800s. It had a patchwork quilt and a velvet rope around it. Nell had given the tour so many times that she could say it in her sleep. "This bed," she began that Thursday, "belonged to a sea captain who liked to sleep sitting up."

A low, rumbling noise stopped her. Everyone turned. A round-faced man in a wrinkled coat lay on the quilt, fast asleep, with his hat over his eyes.

Nell froze. A woman in the group whispered, "Is that part of the display?" A boy said, "It looks real." Soon someone took a photo. A man in a bow tie told his daughter, "That is clearly a wax sleeper from long ago."

Nell had two choices. She could pretend, or she could fix it. She stepped over the rope and tapped the man's shoulder. "Sir, I am so sorry, but the beds are for looking at."

The man sat up and blinked at the crowd. "I came in for a quick rest," he said. "I have been traveling since Tuesday." The group clapped. The museum director heard the noise and gave him a free ticket and a chair. The next day a new sign hung by the bed. It said, PLEASE DO NOT WAKE THE EXHIBITS, AND PLEASE DO NOT BECOME ONE.

▲ This passage · 287 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.7

Nell Okonkwo worked as a junior guide at the Museum of Beds and Bedding, which sounds like the dullest place on earth until you hear about the afternoon the exhibit started snoring.

The museum's best room held a sleigh bed from the 1800s, covered in a patchwork quilt and guarded by a velvet rope. Nell had given the tour so many times that she could recite it in her sleep. "This bed," she began that Thursday, "belonged to a sea captain who preferred to sleep sitting up."

A low, rumbling noise interrupted her. Everyone in the group turned. A round-faced man in a rumpled coat lay curled on top of the quilt, deeply asleep, with his hat over his eyes.

Nell froze. Behind her, a woman from the tour whispered, "Is that part of the display?" A boy added, "It looks very realistic." Within a minute, someone had snapped a photo, and a man in a bow tie had started explaining to his daughter that the figure was "clearly a wax sleeper from the Victorian period."

Nell knew that she had two choices. She could pretend, or she could fix it. She stepped over the rope, tapped the sleeper on the shoulder, and said, "Sir, I am so sorry, but the beds are for looking at."

The man sat up, blinked at the crowd, and said, "I came in for a quick rest. I have been traveling since Tuesday." The group burst into applause, and the museum director, who had heard the commotion, offered him a free ticket and a chair. The next morning, a new sign hung by the sleigh bed. It said, PLEASE DO NOT WAKE THE EXHIBITS, AND PLEASE DO NOT BECOME ONE.

■ Harder · 300 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.8

Nell Okonkwo worked as a junior guide at the Museum of Beds and Bedding, which sounds like the dullest institution on earth until you hear about the afternoon the exhibit started snoring.

The museum's finest room featured a sleigh bed from the 1800s, draped with a patchwork quilt and protected by a velvet rope. Nell had conducted the tour so many times that she could have recited it in her sleep. "This bed," she began that Thursday, "belonged to a sea captain who preferred to sleep sitting upright."

A low, rumbling noise interrupted her. Everyone in the group swiveled around. A round-faced man in a rumpled coat lay curled on top of the quilt, deeply asleep, with his hat tipped over his eyes.

Nell froze. Behind her, a woman from the tour whispered, "Is that part of the display?" A boy added, "It looks remarkably realistic." Within a minute, someone had snapped a photograph, and a gentleman in a bow tie had begun explaining to his daughter that the figure was "obviously a wax sleeper from the Victorian period."

Nell recognized that she had two options. She could play along, or she could set things right. She stepped over the rope, tapped the sleeper gently on the shoulder, and said, "Sir, I am terribly sorry, but the beds are meant for looking at."

The man sat up, blinked at the crowd, and explained, "I came in for a quick rest. I have been traveling since Tuesday." The group burst into applause, and the museum director, who had heard the commotion from down the hall, offered him a free ticket and a comfortable chair. By the next morning, a new sign hung beside the sleigh bed. It read, PLEASE DO NOT WAKE THE EXHIBITS, AND PLEASE DO NOT BECOME ONE.

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 junior, recite, rumpled, commotion and exhibit 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 3 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 Sleeping Exhibit at the Mattress Museum"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 287 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.7. 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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