Tom Sawyer and the Fence: read-along
Tom Sawyer and the Fence as a read-along for the projector: 14 pages, 1625 words, level 13, grade 8.
Page 1 of 14
Tom Sawyer lived with his Aunt Polly in St. Petersburg, a sleepy little town on the banks of the Mississippi River, and Aunt Polly loved him tremendously, which was precisely the difficulty. She could never quite bring herself to punish him properly, and Tom could wriggle out of a scolding faster than a cat escapes a bath. One Friday he skipped school to go swimming, and he very nearly got away with it, until his tattletale half brother Sid observed that the thread in Tom's collar had mysteriously changed color since breakfast. That settled the matter. On Saturday, Aunt Polly announced, Tom would whitewash the fence.
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 13, Grade 8
- 14 pages, 1625 words, about 12 minutes aloud
- A classic tale, gentle
Related
About Tom Sawyer and the Fence
Tom Sawyer has to whitewash a whole fence on a summer Saturday, so he tricks every boy in town into paying him for the chance to do it. Then he and his friends run off to be pirates on an island, and turn up at their own funeral.
Words to preview
- whitewash (WYT-wash)
- white paint
- tattletale (TAT-ul-tayl)
- one who tells
- bribery (BRY-ber-ee)
- paying for favors
- reluctantly (rih-LUK-tunt-lee)
- not wanting to
- mourning (MOR-ning)
- grieving a death
- sheepish (SHEEP-ish)
- embarrassed
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 Tom Sawyer and the Fence take to read aloud?
It has 14 pages and 1625 words, so about 12 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 Tom Sawyer and the Fence?
Level 13, Grade 8. The library numbers its levels from 0 to 18 and puts the level of a book on its cover; level 13 sits at grade 8. 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.
Is this the original text?
No. It is a retelling in Peabody's own words at this reading level, so it may differ from the edition you know.
Nothing you do here is sent to us. The voice is your browser's own. No sign-in, no ads.