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Locker 31 and the Cello With No Owner

8th grade fiction passage about an unclaimed cello at a bus depot: 256 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade fiction an unclaimed cello at a bus depot 256 words

Locker 31 and the Cello With No Owner

The bus depot stored lost luggage in a back room, and on Saturdays Rennie helped his uncle sort it. That morning a cello case sat alone in the middle of the floor, and a paper tag tied to its handle read only "Locker 31."

"Every claimed bag has a name on its tag," his uncle explained. "This one has a place instead, which means somebody wanted us to look there."

Locker 31 was in the main hall, and its small door was locked. Rennie checked his uncle's ring of keys and found the one that fit. Inside lay a violin bow, a roll of rosin wrapped in a handkerchief, and a ticket stub for a concert at the college music hall dated nine days earlier.

"Whoever lost the cello also lost the bow," Rennie said slowly. "Nobody leaves a bow behind on purpose. It would be like leaving a pen and keeping an empty notebook."

He phoned the music hall, and a cheerful receptionist explained that a visiting student named Imogen had performed that night and then missed her bus home in the crowd. She had been frantic ever since, but she never realized she had left her things in two separate places.

Imogen arrived the following afternoon with a spare coat and an enormous smile. She tuned the strings right there in the waiting area, drew the bow across them once, and the long low note rolled through the whole depot. A few travelers stopped to listen, and one of them even forgot to board his bus.

Questions

  1. What was written on the tag tied to the cello case? in the text

  2. What did Rennie find inside the locker? in the text

  3. Whom did Rennie telephone to learn more? in the text

  4. Why had Imogen not come back for her instrument sooner? think about it

  5. Why did Rennie decide the bow and the cello belonged together? think about it

  6. What does the ending show about Imogen's playing? think about it

Words to know

depot
a station where buses or trains stop and wait
rosin
a sticky powder rubbed on a bow to help it grip the strings
stub
the small piece of a ticket that you keep
frantic
very worried and upset, rushing around
tuned
adjusted so that each string makes the right sound
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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 · 205 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

The bus depot kept lost bags in a back room. On Saturdays, Rennie helped his uncle sort them. One morning a cello case sat alone on the floor. A tag on the handle said only "Locker 31."

"Every bag has a name on its tag," his uncle said. "This one has a place. Someone wanted us to look there."

Locker 31 was in the main hall. Rennie found the right key on his uncle's ring. Inside he found a violin bow, a roll of rosin in a handkerchief, and a ticket stub. The stub was for a concert at the college music hall nine days before.

"Whoever lost the cello lost the bow too," Rennie said. "Nobody leaves a bow on purpose."

He called the music hall. A receptionist told him that a student named Imogen had played there that night. She missed her bus home in the crowd. She had been worried ever since. She did not know her things were in two places.

Imogen came the next afternoon with a big smile. She tuned the strings in the waiting area and drew the bow across them. One long low note rolled through the depot. Travelers stopped to listen. One man forgot to board his bus.

▲ This passage · 256 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.1

The bus depot stored lost luggage in a back room, and on Saturdays Rennie helped his uncle sort it. That morning a cello case sat alone in the middle of the floor, and a paper tag tied to its handle read only "Locker 31."

"Every claimed bag has a name on its tag," his uncle explained. "This one has a place instead, which means somebody wanted us to look there."

Locker 31 was in the main hall, and its small door was locked. Rennie checked his uncle's ring of keys and found the one that fit. Inside lay a violin bow, a roll of rosin wrapped in a handkerchief, and a ticket stub for a concert at the college music hall dated nine days earlier.

"Whoever lost the cello also lost the bow," Rennie said slowly. "Nobody leaves a bow behind on purpose. It would be like leaving a pen and keeping an empty notebook."

He phoned the music hall, and a cheerful receptionist explained that a visiting student named Imogen had performed that night and then missed her bus home in the crowd. She had been frantic ever since, but she never realized she had left her things in two separate places.

Imogen arrived the following afternoon with a spare coat and an enormous smile. She tuned the strings right there in the waiting area, drew the bow across them once, and the long low note rolled through the whole depot. A few travelers stopped to listen, and one of them even forgot to board his bus.

■ Harder · 270 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.9

The bus depot stored its lost luggage in a cluttered back room, and on Saturdays Rennie helped his uncle sort through it. That morning a single cello case sat alone in the middle of the floor, and a paper tag fastened to its handle read only "Locker 31."

"Every claimed bag carries a name on its tag," his uncle explained. "This one carries a place instead, which suggests that somebody wanted us to look there."

Locker 31 stood in the main hall, and its small door was locked. Rennie searched his uncle's heavy ring of keys until he found the one that fit. Inside lay a violin bow, a roll of rosin wrapped in a handkerchief, and a ticket stub for a concert at the college music hall dated nine days earlier.

"Whoever lost the cello also lost the bow," Rennie said slowly. "Nobody leaves a bow behind on purpose. It would be like keeping an empty notebook and forgetting the pen."

He telephoned the music hall, and a cheerful receptionist explained that a visiting student named Imogen had performed that night and had then missed her bus home in the crowd. She had been frantic ever since, but she had never realized that she had left her belongings in two separate places.

Imogen arrived the following afternoon with a spare coat and an enormous smile. She tuned the strings right there in the waiting area and drew the bow across them once, and a long, low note rolled through the entire depot. Several travelers paused to listen, and one of them became so absorbed that he forgot to board his bus.

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 depot, rosin, stub, frantic and tuned 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 4 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 "Locker 31 and the Cello With No Owner"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 256 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.1. 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. 3 ask for something the text says directly and 3 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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