Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Who Moved the Smoker Behind the Beehives?

8th grade fiction passage about a beekeeper's missing tool: 269 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade fiction a beekeeper's missing tool 269 words

Who Moved the Smoker Behind the Beehives?

Every Thursday, Mina helped Mr. Okafor inspect the six wooden hives at the edge of his orchard, and her favorite responsibility was lighting the smoker, a small metal can with a bellows that puffs cool smoke to keep the bees calm. On this particular Thursday, however, the smoker was not hanging on its nail inside the shed.

Mr. Okafor scratched his white beard thoughtfully. "I put it there myself on Sunday," he said. "Tools do not simply walk away on their own."

Mina decided to treat the problem like a genuine investigation. She searched the shed first and found nothing except spare frames and a jar of honey with a crooked label, so she walked the path toward the hives and noticed something unusual about the grass behind the third one. Someone had flattened it into a neat circle, and in the middle of that circle sat the smoker, still faintly warm.

"Somebody was here this week," she said, "and they lit it."

Next to the can lay a small feather and a few crumbs of seed cake. When Mina looked up, she saw Mr. Okafor's granddaughter Lola peeking from behind the compost bin with a smudge of ash on her cheek.

Lola confessed that she had wanted to practice before the summer, when she would finally be allowed to help with the hives. She had borrowed the smoker, tried it behind the third hive where no bees would mind, and then forgotten to return it after her mother called her inside for supper.

"Next Thursday," Mr. Okafor said with a warm smile, "you may both hold it together."

Questions

  1. What is a smoker used for? in the text

  2. Where did Mina finally find the missing smoker? in the text

  3. What clues were lying near the smoker? in the text

  4. Who had borrowed the smoker, and why? in the text

  5. How did Mina know someone had used the smoker that week? think about it

  6. How does Mr. Okafor feel about what Lola did? think about it

Words to know

smoker
a metal can that puffs smoke to calm bees
bellows
a squeezable tool that pushes out a puff of air
investigation
a careful search to find out what happened
compost
a pile of old plants and food scraps that turns into soil
confessed
admitted to having done something
Share

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 · 213 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7

Every Thursday, Mina helped Mr. Okafor check the six hives at the edge of his orchard. Her best job was lighting the smoker. It is a small metal can that puffs cool smoke to keep the bees calm. But today the smoker was not on its nail in the shed.

Mr. Okafor scratched his white beard. "I put it there on Sunday," he said. "Tools do not walk away."

Mina treated it like a real case. She looked in the shed. She found spare frames and a jar of honey with a crooked label. Then she walked toward the hives. The grass behind the third hive was flat in a neat circle. In the middle sat the smoker. It was still a little warm.

"Someone lit it this week," she said.

Next to the can were a small feather and some crumbs of seed cake. Mina looked up. Lola, Mr. Okafor's granddaughter, was peeking from behind the compost bin. She had ash on her cheek.

Lola said she wanted to practice for summer, when she could help with the hives. She tried the smoker behind the third hive. Then her mother called her to supper, and she forgot to put it back.

"Next Thursday," Mr. Okafor said, smiling, "you may both hold it."

▲ This passage · 269 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.4

Every Thursday, Mina helped Mr. Okafor inspect the six wooden hives at the edge of his orchard, and her favorite responsibility was lighting the smoker, a small metal can with a bellows that puffs cool smoke to keep the bees calm. On this particular Thursday, however, the smoker was not hanging on its nail inside the shed.

Mr. Okafor scratched his white beard thoughtfully. "I put it there myself on Sunday," he said. "Tools do not simply walk away on their own."

Mina decided to treat the problem like a genuine investigation. She searched the shed first and found nothing except spare frames and a jar of honey with a crooked label, so she walked the path toward the hives and noticed something unusual about the grass behind the third one. Someone had flattened it into a neat circle, and in the middle of that circle sat the smoker, still faintly warm.

"Somebody was here this week," she said, "and they lit it."

Next to the can lay a small feather and a few crumbs of seed cake. When Mina looked up, she saw Mr. Okafor's granddaughter Lola peeking from behind the compost bin with a smudge of ash on her cheek.

Lola confessed that she had wanted to practice before the summer, when she would finally be allowed to help with the hives. She had borrowed the smoker, tried it behind the third hive where no bees would mind, and then forgotten to return it after her mother called her inside for supper.

"Next Thursday," Mr. Okafor said with a warm smile, "you may both hold it together."

■ Harder · 286 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 9.1

Every Thursday, Mina assisted Mr. Okafor with the inspection of the six wooden hives at the far edge of his orchard, and her favorite responsibility was lighting the smoker, a small metal can fitted with a bellows that puffs cool smoke to keep the bees calm and unbothered. On this particular Thursday, however, the smoker was nowhere to be found on its nail inside the shed.

Mr. Okafor scratched his white beard thoughtfully. "I hung it there myself on Sunday," he said. "Tools do not simply walk away on their own."

Mina decided to treat the problem as a genuine investigation. She searched the shed first and found nothing except spare frames and a jar of honey with a crooked label, so she followed the path toward the hives and noticed something unusual about the grass behind the third one. Someone had pressed it into a perfectly neat circle, and in the middle of that circle sat the smoker, still faintly warm to the touch.

"Somebody was here this week," she announced, "and they lit it."

Beside the can lay a small feather and a scattering of seed-cake crumbs. When Mina glanced upward, she spotted Mr. Okafor's granddaughter Lola peeking out from behind the compost bin with a smudge of ash across her cheek.

Lola confessed that she had been eager to practice before the summer, when she would finally be permitted to help with the hives. She had borrowed the smoker and tried it behind the third hive, where no bees would mind, but her mother had called her in for supper and she had forgotten to return it.

"Next Thursday," Mr. Okafor said with a warm smile, "you may both hold it together."

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 smoker, bellows, investigation, compost and confessed 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 "Who Moved the Smoker Behind the Beehives?"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 269 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 8.3. 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.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.