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Rue Takes the Straight Line Through the Thicket

8th grade fiction passage about first orienteering meet: 296 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade fiction first orienteering meet 296 words

Rue Takes the Straight Line Through the Thicket

Rue had practiced with a compass for three weeks, so when the whistle blew at her first orienteering meet, she felt completely prepared for whatever the course might demand. The county park map showed a dozen purple circles, each marking a flag that she had to find and punch with a small clipper. The first flag sat about four hundred steps away, beyond a green smudge that the legend identified as dense undergrowth.

Her coach had advised her that morning to go around anything that looked difficult. But Rue dismissed the memory immediately, reasoning that a straight line was the shortest line and that her compass would keep her on it. She plunged into the thicket. Brambles snagged her sleeves. The ground sank into muddy hollows. Ten minutes later she had no idea whether she was still facing north, because the clearing she expected had never appeared.

She stopped, breathing hard, and studied the map again until she noticed a thin blue line running beside the thicket, which represented a creek. Coach Dalton called such features handrails, since a runner could follow them the way a person follows a railing along a staircase. Rue turned around, forced her way back through the brambles, and reached the creek bank within two minutes. She followed the water until a bend matched the map, then turned left at a boulder. There the flag hung from a branch, orange and white and wonderfully ordinary.

She finished the course in last place, forty minutes behind the winner, with scratched arms and a card full of punches. Coach Dalton shook her hand anyway. He remarked that she had found every flag and that next time she would find them faster, because she now understood why the map bothers to draw a creek.

Questions

  1. What was Rue trying to find at each purple circle on her map? in the text

  2. What did Rue do after ignoring her coach's advice? in the text

  3. What did Coach Dalton call features like the creek? in the text

  4. Where did Rue place in the race? in the text

  5. Why did Rue turn around and go back through the brambles? think about it

  6. Why did the coach shake her hand even though she finished last? think about it

Words to know

thicket
a thick patch of bushes and small trees growing close together
undergrowth
low plants and bushes that grow beneath tall trees
brambles
prickly bushes that catch on clothes and skin
legend
the key on a map that explains what the symbols mean
handrails
long features, like a creek, that you can follow to stay on course
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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 · 255 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.6

Rue had practiced with a compass for three weeks. When the whistle blew at her first orienteering meet, she felt ready. Her map of the park showed purple circles. Each circle marked a flag to find and punch with a small clipper. The first flag was about four hundred steps away. Between her and the flag lay a green patch. The map said it was thick undergrowth.

"Go around," her coach had said that morning. Rue forgot it. A straight line is the shortest line, she thought, and she had a compass. She ran into the thicket. Brambles caught her sleeves. The ground was muddy. Ten minutes later she did not know which way was north. The clearing she wanted was not there.

She stopped and looked at the map again. A thin blue line ran beside the thicket. It was a creek. Coach Dalton called a feature like this a handrail. You can follow it to stay on course. Rue turned around and pushed back through the brambles. In two minutes she found the creek. She followed the water until a bend matched the map. Then she turned left at a boulder.

The flag hung from a branch. It was orange and white. Rue punched her card and laughed.

She finished last, forty minutes behind the winner. Her arms were scratched. Her card was full of punches. Coach Dalton shook her hand. "You found every flag," he said. "Next time you will be faster. And you will know why the map shows the creek."

▲ This passage · 296 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.6

Rue had practiced with a compass for three weeks, so when the whistle blew at her first orienteering meet, she felt completely prepared for whatever the course might demand. The county park map showed a dozen purple circles, each marking a flag that she had to find and punch with a small clipper. The first flag sat about four hundred steps away, beyond a green smudge that the legend identified as dense undergrowth.

Her coach had advised her that morning to go around anything that looked difficult. But Rue dismissed the memory immediately, reasoning that a straight line was the shortest line and that her compass would keep her on it. She plunged into the thicket. Brambles snagged her sleeves. The ground sank into muddy hollows. Ten minutes later she had no idea whether she was still facing north, because the clearing she expected had never appeared.

She stopped, breathing hard, and studied the map again until she noticed a thin blue line running beside the thicket, which represented a creek. Coach Dalton called such features handrails, since a runner could follow them the way a person follows a railing along a staircase. Rue turned around, forced her way back through the brambles, and reached the creek bank within two minutes. She followed the water until a bend matched the map, then turned left at a boulder. There the flag hung from a branch, orange and white and wonderfully ordinary.

She finished the course in last place, forty minutes behind the winner, with scratched arms and a card full of punches. Coach Dalton shook her hand anyway. He remarked that she had found every flag and that next time she would find them faster, because she now understood why the map bothers to draw a creek.

■ Harder · 300 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 9.2

Rue had practiced with a compass for three weeks, so when the whistle blew at her first orienteering meet, she felt completely prepared for whatever the course might demand. The county park map showed a dozen purple circles, each marking a flag that she had to find and punch with a modest clipper. The first flag sat about four hundred steps away, beyond a green smudge that the legend identified as dense undergrowth.

Her coach had advised her that morning to go around anything that looked difficult. But Rue brushed aside the memory immediately, reasoning that a straight line was the shortest line and that her compass would keep her on it, and she plunged into the thicket. Brambles snagged her sleeves. The ground sank into muddy hollows. Ten minutes later she had no idea whether she was still facing north, because the clearing she expected had never appeared.

She stopped, breathing hard, and studied the map again until she noticed a thin blue line running beside the thicket, which represented a creek. Coach Dalton called such features handrails, since a runner could follow them the way a person follows a railing along a staircase, and Rue turned around, forced her way back through the brambles, and reached the creek bank within two minutes. She followed the water until a bend matched the map, then turned left at a boulder. There the flag hung from a branch, orange and white and wonderfully ordinary.

She finished the course in last place, forty minutes behind the winner, with scratched arms and a card full of punches, and Coach Dalton shook her hand anyway. He remarked that she had found every flag and that next time she would find them faster, because she now understood why the map bothers to draw a creek.

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 thicket, undergrowth, brambles, legend and handrails 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 "Rue Takes the Straight Line Through the Thicket"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 296 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.6. 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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