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The Tuba Case That Would Not Stop Rattling

7th grade fiction passage about a rattle in an instrument case: 252 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade fiction a rattle in an instrument case 252 words

The Tuba Case That Would Not Stop Rattling

The band bus rumbled down the highway toward the regional concert, and every few seconds Owen's tuba case let out a small, sharp rattle. Clink, clink, clink. He had rented the instrument only the week before, and he was convinced that he had already managed to break something inside it.

"It could be a loose valve," whispered Mei, who played the trumpet in the seat behind him. "Or possibly a screw."

Owen frowned. Since he could not open a tuba case on a moving bus, he spent forty minutes imagining everything that might be wrong, and every bump in the road made his stomach tighten a little more.

At the concert hall, he laid the case on the floor of the band room and flipped open the latches while Mr. Bell, the director, leaned over his shoulder. The enormous brass horn gleamed, completely undamaged. Owen tipped the bell gently, and something rolled out of the horn and across the floor.

It was a glass marble, deep blue and swirled with white, and a tiny folded note was taped to its side. Owen unfolded it and read aloud: "For luck. Play loud. Love, Nora."

His little sister had slipped it into the bell before he left that morning. "She must have gotten up awfully early to do it," he said, and Mr. Bell chuckled. Owen tucked the marble into his shirt pocket, and when he stepped onto the stage that evening, he played the loudest and cleanest low notes of his entire life.

Questions

  1. What did Owen hear coming from his tuba case on the bus? in the text

  2. What did Owen worry the sound meant? in the text

  3. What rolled out of the tuba's bell? in the text

  4. Who had hidden the marble in the horn? in the text

  5. Why couldn't Owen look inside the case on the bus? think about it

  6. How did the marble change the way Owen felt about the concert? think about it

Words to know

rattle
a quick series of short, hard knocking sounds
regional
having to do with a large area of the country
latch
a fastener that holds a lid or door shut
gleamed
shone brightly
director
the person who leads a band or an orchestra
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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 · 219 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.4

The band bus rumbled down the highway to the regional concert. Every few seconds, Owen's tuba case let out a small, sharp rattle. Clink, clink, clink. He had rented the tuba just last week. He was sure he had broken something.

"It could be a loose valve," whispered Mei. She played the trumpet and sat behind him. "Or a screw."

Owen frowned. He could not open a tuba case on a moving bus. So for forty minutes he pictured everything that might be wrong. Every bump in the road made his stomach tight.

At the concert hall, he put the case on the floor of the band room and flipped the latches. Mr. Bell, the director, leaned over his shoulder. The big brass horn gleamed. It was not damaged. Owen tipped the bell, and something rolled out of the horn across the floor.

It was a glass marble. It was deep blue with white swirls. A tiny folded note was taped to it. Owen read it out loud: "For luck. Play loud. Love, Nora."

His little sister had slipped it into the bell that morning. "She must have been up early," he said. Mr. Bell chuckled.

Owen put the marble in his shirt pocket. That evening, on the stage, he played the loudest, cleanest low notes of his life.

▲ This passage · 252 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.3

The band bus rumbled down the highway toward the regional concert, and every few seconds Owen's tuba case let out a small, sharp rattle. Clink, clink, clink. He had rented the instrument only the week before, and he was convinced that he had already managed to break something inside it.

"It could be a loose valve," whispered Mei, who played the trumpet in the seat behind him. "Or possibly a screw."

Owen frowned. Since he could not open a tuba case on a moving bus, he spent forty minutes imagining everything that might be wrong, and every bump in the road made his stomach tighten a little more.

At the concert hall, he laid the case on the floor of the band room and flipped open the latches while Mr. Bell, the director, leaned over his shoulder. The enormous brass horn gleamed, completely undamaged. Owen tipped the bell gently, and something rolled out of the horn and across the floor.

It was a glass marble, deep blue and swirled with white, and a tiny folded note was taped to its side. Owen unfolded it and read aloud: "For luck. Play loud. Love, Nora."

His little sister had slipped it into the bell before he left that morning. "She must have gotten up awfully early to do it," he said, and Mr. Bell chuckled. Owen tucked the marble into his shirt pocket, and when he stepped onto the stage that evening, he played the loudest and cleanest low notes of his entire life.

■ Harder · 265 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.5

The band bus rumbled steadily down the highway toward the regional concert, and every few seconds Owen's tuba case produced a small, sharp rattle. Clink, clink, clink. He had rented the instrument only the previous week, and he was absolutely convinced that he had already managed to damage something important inside it.

"It could be a loose valve," whispered Mei, who played the trumpet in the seat directly behind him. "Or possibly a screw."

Owen frowned. Because he could not open a tuba case on a moving bus, he spent forty miserable minutes imagining every possible thing that might be wrong, and each bump in the road made his stomach tighten a little more.

At the concert hall, he laid the case on the floor of the crowded band room and flipped open the latches while Mr. Bell, the director, leaned curiously over his shoulder. The enormous brass horn gleamed, completely undamaged. Owen tipped the bell gently, and something rolled out of the horn and across the polished floor.

It was a glass marble, deep blue and swirled with white, and a tiny folded note had been taped to its side. Owen unfolded it carefully and read aloud: "For luck. Play loud. Love, Nora."

His little sister had secretly slipped it into the bell before he left that morning. "She must have gotten up awfully early to do it," he said, and Mr. Bell chuckled warmly. Owen tucked the marble into his shirt pocket, and when he stepped onto the stage that evening, he played the loudest and cleanest low notes of his entire life.

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 rattle, regional, latch, gleamed and director 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 Tuba Case That Would Not Stop Rattling"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 252 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.3. 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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