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The Orb Weaver's Morning Repairs

8th grade fiction passage about a spider who rebuilds her web: 259 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade fiction a spider who rebuilds her web 259 words

The Orb Weaver's Morning Repairs

Between two fence posts at the edge of a garden, an orb weaver named Sable hung her web every evening. It was a marvelous thing, with spokes like a wheel and a spiral of sticky silk wound across them in perfect lines, but by morning it was usually in tatters.

Dew sagged on the threads, a gust of wind tore a hole, and a clumsy beetle had flown through the middle and wrecked a whole section. Each dawn, Sable looked at the damage and felt a wave of discouragement, and she asked a passing ladybug what the point could be when she built all night and the day undid it.

The ladybug paused on a leaf and observed that Sable was still here and still fed. Sable had no answer. She had been so busy counting what was broken that she had not counted what was working. When she thought about it, she realized that the web caught enough flies each evening to keep her strong, and that rebuilding was not punishment at all but simply how a spider lived.

So she changed her habit. Instead of lamenting at sunrise, she began to eat the old silk, rolling it up and swallowing it so that nothing would be wasted, and then she spun a fresh web with the same material, working with a quiet, steady pride.

On the busiest evening of that summer, the new web glittered in the dusk, and Sable knew that repairing something was never a failure. It was a skill she was getting better at.

Questions

  1. Where did Sable hang her web? in the text

  2. What damaged the web overnight? in the text

  3. What did the ladybug point out to Sable? in the text

  4. What did Sable do with the old silk? in the text

  5. Why did Sable feel discouraged each dawn? think about it

  6. What lesson does the story teach? think about it

Words to know

orb
something round, like a ball or a wheel
tatters
torn, ragged pieces of something
discouragement
a loss of hope or confidence
lamenting
feeling or showing deep sadness about something
glittered
sparkled with small flashes of light
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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 · 243 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3

Between two fence posts at the edge of a garden, an orb weaver named Sable hung her web each evening. It was lovely. It had spokes like a wheel and a spiral of sticky silk across them in neat lines. By morning, it was usually torn.

Dew weighed down the threads. A gust of wind ripped a hole. A clumsy beetle had flown through the middle and wrecked a whole part. Each dawn, Sable looked at the damage and felt sad. "What is the point?" she asked a ladybug. "I build all night, and the day wrecks it."

The ladybug stopped on a leaf. "But you are still here," she said. "And you are still fed."

Sable had no answer. She had been so busy counting what was broken that she had not counted what worked. When she thought about it, she saw that the web caught enough flies each evening to keep her strong. Rebuilding was not a punishment. It was just how a spider lived.

So she changed her habit. At sunrise, she stopped feeling sad. She began to eat the old silk, rolling it up and swallowing it so nothing was wasted. Then she spun a new web from the same silk. She worked with quiet, steady pride.

On the busiest evening of that summer, the new web glittered in the dusk. Sable knew that fixing something was never a failure. It was a skill she was getting better at.

▲ This passage · 259 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.6

Between two fence posts at the edge of a garden, an orb weaver named Sable hung her web every evening. It was a marvelous thing, with spokes like a wheel and a spiral of sticky silk wound across them in perfect lines, but by morning it was usually in tatters.

Dew sagged on the threads, a gust of wind tore a hole, and a clumsy beetle had flown through the middle and wrecked a whole section. Each dawn, Sable looked at the damage and felt a wave of discouragement, and she asked a passing ladybug what the point could be when she built all night and the day undid it.

The ladybug paused on a leaf and observed that Sable was still here and still fed. Sable had no answer. She had been so busy counting what was broken that she had not counted what was working. When she thought about it, she realized that the web caught enough flies each evening to keep her strong, and that rebuilding was not punishment at all but simply how a spider lived.

So she changed her habit. Instead of lamenting at sunrise, she began to eat the old silk, rolling it up and swallowing it so that nothing would be wasted, and then she spun a fresh web with the same material, working with a quiet, steady pride.

On the busiest evening of that summer, the new web glittered in the dusk, and Sable knew that repairing something was never a failure. It was a skill she was getting better at.

■ Harder · 278 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 10.3

Between two weathered fence posts at the edge of a garden, an orb weaver named Sable hung her web every evening. It was a marvelous construction, with spokes radiating like those of a wheel and a spiral of sticky silk wound across them in perfectly even lines, but by morning it was usually in tatters.

Dew sagged on the delicate threads, a sudden gust of wind tore a gaping hole, and a clumsy beetle had blundered through the middle and wrecked an entire section. Each dawn, Sable surveyed the damage and felt a wave of discouragement, and she asked a passing ladybug what the point could possibly be when she labored all night and the day simply undid it.

The ladybug paused on a leaf and observed that Sable was still here and still fed. Sable had no answer. She had been so preoccupied with counting what was broken that she had never counted what was working. When she considered the matter carefully, she realized that the web caught enough flies each evening to keep her strong, and that rebuilding was not a punishment at all but simply the way a spider lived.

So she changed her habit. Instead of lamenting at sunrise, she began to eat the old silk, rolling it into a ball and swallowing it so that nothing would be wasted, and then she spun a fresh web from that very material, setting to work with a quiet and steady pride.

On the busiest evening of that summer, the new web glittered in the dusk, and Sable understood that repairing something was never a failure. It was a skill she was steadily getting better at.

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 orb, tatters, discouragement, lamenting and glittered 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 Orb Weaver's Morning Repairs"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 259 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 8.6. 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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