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The Glass Float Washed Up With a Return Address

8th grade fiction passage about a glass fishing float on a beach: 250 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade fiction a glass fishing float on a beach 250 words

The Glass Float Washed Up With a Return Address

After a week of rough surf, Ravi walked the beach early to see what the tide had dragged in. Between a tangle of kelp and a gray driftwood log, he spotted a glass ball the size of a grapefruit, greenish and cloudy, and tied inside a faded net. He knew from a library book that fishing crews once used floats like this to hold up their nets.

When he wiped away the sand, he found a tiny paper tag sealed behind a bubble of glass at the seam. It had survived because the glass had been melted tight around it. The tag read, in faded ink, "Returned to Captain Ilves, Harbor Road, Kallo."

"There is no town named Kallo near here," his mother said, and that made it feel even more like a riddle.

Back home, Ravi studied an atlas. The only Kallo he could find was a small fishing village on another continent, far across the ocean. He imagined the float drifting for months, nudged by currents and storms, and the thought made him dizzy.

He found the village's website and wrote to the harbor office, attaching a photograph of the float. Two weeks later a reply came from a woman named Aino, who said that Captain Ilves had been her grandfather and that the family had often wondered where his floats ended up.

She asked whether he would keep it. Ravi wrote back, "Yes, I'll put it on my shelf, with the tag where everyone can see it."

Questions

  1. What did fishing crews once use glass floats for? in the text

  2. Where was the paper tag found? in the text

  3. Where did Ravi find a village named Kallo? in the text

  4. Who was Aino? in the text

  5. Why did the tag survive its long trip across the ocean? think about it

  6. How do you know Ravi felt amazed by the float's journey? think about it

Words to know

driftwood
wood that the sea has washed up onto a shore
kelp
a large brown seaweed that grows in the sea
atlas
a book of maps
currents
steady flows of water in the ocean
seam
the line where two parts join together
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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 · 230 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

After a week of rough waves, Ravi walked the beach early. He wanted to see what the tide had left. Between some kelp and a gray log, he saw a glass ball as big as a grapefruit. It was cloudy and greenish, and a faded net was tied around it. A library book had taught him that fishing crews once used floats like this to hold up their nets.

He wiped off the sand. At the seam, a tiny paper tag was sealed behind a bubble of glass. The glass had been melted tight around it, so it stayed safe. The tag said, "Returned to Captain Ilves, Harbor Road, Kallo."

"There is no town named Kallo near here," his mother said. It felt like a riddle.

At home, Ravi looked in an atlas. The only Kallo he found was a small fishing village on another continent, far across the ocean. He pictured the float drifting for months. Currents and storms pushed it along. The thought made him dizzy.

He found the village website. He wrote to the harbor office and sent a photo. Two weeks later, a woman named Aino wrote back. Captain Ilves was her grandfather. Her family had often wondered where his floats went.

She asked if he would keep it. Ravi wrote, "Yes. I will put it on my shelf with the tag where everyone can see."

▲ This passage · 250 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.8

After a week of rough surf, Ravi walked the beach early to see what the tide had dragged in. Between a tangle of kelp and a gray driftwood log, he spotted a glass ball the size of a grapefruit, greenish and cloudy, and tied inside a faded net. He knew from a library book that fishing crews once used floats like this to hold up their nets.

When he wiped away the sand, he found a tiny paper tag sealed behind a bubble of glass at the seam. It had survived because the glass had been melted tight around it. The tag read, in faded ink, "Returned to Captain Ilves, Harbor Road, Kallo."

"There is no town named Kallo near here," his mother said, and that made it feel even more like a riddle.

Back home, Ravi studied an atlas. The only Kallo he could find was a small fishing village on another continent, far across the ocean. He imagined the float drifting for months, nudged by currents and storms, and the thought made him dizzy.

He found the village's website and wrote to the harbor office, attaching a photograph of the float. Two weeks later a reply came from a woman named Aino, who said that Captain Ilves had been her grandfather and that the family had often wondered where his floats ended up.

She asked whether he would keep it. Ravi wrote back, "Yes, I'll put it on my shelf, with the tag where everyone can see it."

■ Harder · 259 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.5

After a week of rough surf, Ravi walked the beach early to see what the tide had dragged ashore. Between a tangle of kelp and a gray driftwood log, he spotted a glass ball roughly the size of a grapefruit, greenish and cloudy, and wrapped in a faded net. He knew from a library book that fishing crews once relied on floats like this to hold up their nets.

When he wiped away the sand, he found a tiny paper tag sealed behind a bubble of glass at the seam. It had survived because the glass had been melted tightly around it. The tag read, in faded ink, "Returned to Captain Ilves, Harbor Road, Kallo."

"There is no town named Kallo anywhere near here," his mother said, which made the discovery feel even more like a riddle.

Back home, Ravi studied an atlas. The only Kallo he could locate was a small fishing village on another continent, far across the ocean. He imagined the float drifting for months, nudged along by currents and storms, and the thought made him dizzy.

He tracked down the village's website and wrote to the harbor office, attaching a photograph of the float. Two weeks later a reply arrived from a woman named Aino, who explained that Captain Ilves had been her grandfather and that her family had often wondered where his floats had ended up.

She asked whether Ravi would like to keep it. He wrote back, "Yes, I will put it on my shelf, with the tag where everyone can see it."

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 driftwood, kelp, atlas, currents and seam 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 Glass Float Washed Up With a Return Address"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 250 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 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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