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Trail Marker Fourteen Has Vanished

7th grade fiction passage about a missing trail sign: 267 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade fiction a missing trail sign 267 words

Trail Marker Fourteen Has Vanished

The class had been following yellow paint blazes through the forest all morning, and Grace was proud that she had counted every single one. Marker thirteen stood beside a large boulder, and marker fourteen, according to the park map, should have been waiting at the next fork, but when the group arrived there, the post was simply gone.

"Now what?" asked Ravi. Two paths curved away between the trees, and neither of them carried any paint.

Their guide, Ms. Alvarez, smiled and folded her arms. "Everybody stay here and use what you already know. I will answer questions, but the decision belongs to you."

Grace unfolded the map on a flat rock. "The trail should bend north at this point, and the creek should be on our right," she said. Ravi raised his compass and turned in a slow circle, discovering that the left path headed north while the right one pointed east. Then they listened, and the faint sound of running water drifted from the trees behind the left path, so the creek was on that side.

"That does not match," said Grace. "We need the creek on our right."

"Unless we are facing the wrong direction," said Ravi. He turned around, and from that position the creek was on the right, while the path to the south led back toward the parking lot that the map showed behind them, so at last they were certain that the trail continued along the left path.

Fifty steps further on, they spotted the missing sign lying in the ferns, and Ms. Alvarez propped it up against a tree.

Questions

  1. What marked the trail the class was following? in the text

  2. What was missing at the fork? in the text

  3. What tools did Grace and Ravi use to decide which way to go? in the text

  4. Where did they finally find the missing sign? in the text

  5. Why did Ms. Alvarez let the students decide instead of telling them? think about it

  6. Why did Grace and Ravi stop and check the creek before choosing a path? think about it

Words to know

blaze
a painted mark on a tree used to show a trail
boulder
a very large rock
fork
a place where a path splits into two
compass
a tool with a needle that shows which way is north
propped
held something up by leaning it against a support
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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 · 232 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1

The class had followed yellow paint marks through the woods all morning. Grace was proud that she had counted each one. Marker thirteen stood by a boulder. Marker fourteen, by the park map, should be at the next fork. But at the fork, the post was gone.

"Now what?" asked Ravi. Two paths curved away between the trees. Neither one had paint.

Their guide, Ms. Alvarez, smiled and folded her arms. "Stay here and use what you know. I will answer questions, but you decide."

Grace opened the map on a flat rock. "The trail should bend north here. The creek should be on our right," she said. Ravi held up his compass and turned. The left path went north. The right path went east. Then they listened. They heard water behind the trees on the left path. So the creek was on that side.

"That does not match," said Grace. "We want the creek on our right."

"Not if we look the other way," said Ravi. He turned around. From that way, the creek was on the right. The path to the south led back to the parking lot, and the map showed that ahead of them. Now they were sure. The trail went on by the left path.

Fifty steps along it, they saw the missing sign. It lay in the ferns. Ms. Alvarez propped it up against a tree.

▲ This passage · 267 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.2

The class had been following yellow paint blazes through the forest all morning, and Grace was proud that she had counted every single one. Marker thirteen stood beside a large boulder, and marker fourteen, according to the park map, should have been waiting at the next fork, but when the group arrived there, the post was simply gone.

"Now what?" asked Ravi. Two paths curved away between the trees, and neither of them carried any paint.

Their guide, Ms. Alvarez, smiled and folded her arms. "Everybody stay here and use what you already know. I will answer questions, but the decision belongs to you."

Grace unfolded the map on a flat rock. "The trail should bend north at this point, and the creek should be on our right," she said. Ravi raised his compass and turned in a slow circle, discovering that the left path headed north while the right one pointed east. Then they listened, and the faint sound of running water drifted from the trees behind the left path, so the creek was on that side.

"That does not match," said Grace. "We need the creek on our right."

"Unless we are facing the wrong direction," said Ravi. He turned around, and from that position the creek was on the right, while the path to the south led back toward the parking lot that the map showed behind them, so at last they were certain that the trail continued along the left path.

Fifty steps further on, they spotted the missing sign lying in the ferns, and Ms. Alvarez propped it up against a tree.

■ Harder · 294 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.3

The class had been following yellow paint blazes through the forest all morning, and Grace took considerable pride in the fact that she had counted every single one of them. Marker thirteen stood beside an enormous boulder, and marker fourteen, according to the park map, should have been waiting at the next fork, but when the group finally arrived there, the post was simply gone.

"Now what?" asked Ravi. Two paths curved away between the towering trees, and neither of them carried even a single stroke of paint.

Their guide, Ms. Alvarez, smiled and folded her arms. "Everybody stay right here and use everything that you already know. I will gladly answer questions, but the decision belongs entirely to you."

Grace unfolded the map on a flat rock. "The trail should bend north at this point, and the creek should be on our right," she said carefully. Ravi raised his compass and turned in a slow circle, and he discovered that the left path headed toward the north while the right one pointed away toward the east. Then they both listened, and the faint sound of running water drifted from the trees behind the left path, which meant that the creek lay on that side.

"That doesn't match," said Grace. "We need the creek on our right."

"Unless we are facing the wrong direction," said Ravi. He turned around, and from that position the creek was on the right, while the path to the south led back toward the parking lot that the map showed behind them. At last they were certain that the trail continued along the left path.

Fifty steps further on, they spotted the missing sign lying among the ferns, and Ms. Alvarez gratefully propped it back up against a tree.

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 blaze, boulder, fork, compass and propped 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 "Trail Marker Fourteen Has Vanished"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 267 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.2. 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 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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