The Slow Leak: read-along
The Slow Leak as a read-along for the projector: 15 pages, 1734 words, level 12, grade 7.
Page 1 of 15
Imani Okoye drank her water the way other people read a book, slowly and all the way to the end, and on Kestrel Station that was the only respectable way to drink it. Every glass of water on the station had been something else first. It had been a shower, or the steam off a pot of rice, or the sweat on a farmer's neck, and the reclamation plant had collected all of it, purified it, and circulated it back around the wheel. Imani found that fact oddly comforting. So on the ninth morning of spring cycle, when she held her glass up to the light and noticed a bead of silver on the inside, she did not simply keep drinking. She set the glass down and observed it carefully.
Keys: ← → or Page Up and Page Down turn the page, Space starts and pauses the voice, Home and End jump, F fills the screen. Tapping the right side of a page goes on; the left side goes back.
How to use it
- Press Full screen (F) to put the book on the projector.
- Press Read to me (Space), or read it yourself and turn pages with the arrow keys or a tap. Pick the Pace that suits the class.
- After the last page, three questions come up to talk about.
About this book
- Level 12, Grade 7
- 15 pages, 1734 words, about 13 minutes aloud
- A story, gentle
Related
About The Slow Leak
On a space station that spins to make gravity, twelve-year-old Imani Okoye finds a tiny bubble in her water and follows it through the pipes. She and the old engineer have four hours to find a leak too small for any alarm.
Words to preview
- hub
- center of the wheel
- gauge (GAYJ)
- measuring dial
- sealed (SEELD)
- shut airtight
- reclamation (rek-luh-MAY-shun)
- recycling
- collar (KOL-er)
- pipe ring
- pressure (PRESH-er)
- push of air
Questions that fit any book
- What happened at the beginning, in the middle and at the end?
- Which page was your favorite? Why?
- How did the main character feel at the end? What tells you?
Questions
How long does The Slow Leak take to read aloud?
It has 15 pages and 1734 words, so about 13 minutes at the Steady pace and a little less at Quick. If you stop to talk on the way, plan for more.
What reading level is The Slow Leak?
Level 12, Grade 7. The library numbers its levels from 0 to 18 and puts the level of a book on its cover; level 12 sits at grade 7. A level is a guide for choosing, so look at the pages yourself.
Whose voice is it?
Your browser's own. Read to me uses a speaking voice already on the computer, so it sounds like that computer and works without a sign-in. Voices differ: some light each word as it is spoken, and some do not, in which case the highlight follows a steady pace instead. Some browsers use an online voice; if yours does, the browser, not us, sends the words of the page to its speech service. If no voice is installed, turn the pages and read it aloud yourself.
Do students need an account?
No. Nothing is asked of anyone and nothing is sent to us. Project the page, or share the link and let students open it on their own screens.
Where does this book come from?
It was written for Peabody's library. It is not copied from a published book.
Nothing you do here is sent to us. The voice is your browser's own. No sign-in, no ads.