1st grade fiction passage about a tricky spelling word: 97 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.
1st gradefictiona tricky spelling word97 words
The Hard Word on Friday
Every Friday, Mina had a spelling test. This week, the last word was "friend."
Mina wrote "frend." It did not look right. She tried "freind." That did not look right either.
At home, Mina said the word out loud. "Fri-end." She noticed there was an "end" at the end of it. A friend is there until the end!
She wrote it on a card in big letters. She stuck the card on the fridge. She said it each morning.
On Friday, Mina wrote "friend" and got every word right. She smiled at her best pal Lou.
Questions
What day was the spelling test? in the text
What was the last word on the test? in the text
Where did Mina stick the card? in the text
What trick did Mina find to remember the word? think about it
Why did Mina say the word each morning? think about it
Words to know
spelling
writing the letters of a word in the right order
test
a set of questions to see what you know
noticed
saw or found something
pal
a friend
Name ____________________________ Date ______________
The Hard Word on Friday
1st grade reading passage
Every Friday, Mina had a spelling test. This week, the last word was "friend."
Mina wrote "frend." It did not look right. She tried "freind." That did not look right either.
At home, Mina said the word out loud. "Fri-end." She noticed there was an "end" at the end of it. A friend is there until the end!
She wrote it on a card in big letters. She stuck the card on the fridge. She said it each morning.
On Friday, Mina wrote "friend" and got every word right. She smiled at her best pal Lou.
Questions
What day was the spelling test?
What was the last word on the test?
Where did Mina stick the card?
What trick did Mina find to remember the word?
Why did Mina say the word each morning?
Words to know
spelling: writing the letters of a word in the right order
test: a set of questions to see what you know
noticed: saw or found something
pal: a friend
Free at teach.peabody.kids/passages/1/the-hard-word-on-friday
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 · 78 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade -0.4
Every Friday, Mina had a spelling test. The last word was "friend."
Mina wrote "frend." It looked wrong. She wrote "freind." That looked wrong too.
At home, Mina said the word out loud. "Fri-end." She saw an "end" in it. A friend is there to the end!
She wrote it on a card. She put the card on the fridge. She said it each day.
On Friday, Mina got it right. She smiled at her pal Lou.
▲ This passage · 97 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.7
Every Friday, Mina had a spelling test. This week, the last word was "friend."
Mina wrote "frend." It did not look right. She tried "freind." That did not look right either.
At home, Mina said the word out loud. "Fri-end." She noticed there was an "end" at the end of it. A friend is there until the end!
She wrote it on a card in big letters. She stuck the card on the fridge. She said it each morning.
On Friday, Mina wrote "friend" and got every word right. She smiled at her best pal Lou.
■ Harder · 111 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.4
Every Friday, Mina's class had a spelling test, and this week the very last word was "friend."
Mina wrote "frend," but it did not look right to her. Then she tried "freind," and that did not look right either.
When she got home, Mina said the word slowly out loud. "Fri-end." Suddenly she noticed that the word ends with "end." A friend is someone who is there until the end!
She copied the word onto a card in big letters, stuck the card on the fridge and read it aloud each morning.
On Friday, Mina spelled "friend" correctly and got every word right. She grinned at her best pal Lou.
Every Friday, Mina had a spelling test. The last word was "friend."
Mina wrote "frend." It looked wrong. She wrote "freind." That looked wrong too.
At home, Mina said the word out loud. "Fri-end." She saw an "end" in it. A friend is there to the end!
She wrote it on a card. She put the card on the fridge. She said it each day.
On Friday, Mina got it right. She smiled at her pal Lou.
Questions
What day was the test?
What was the last word?
Where did Mina put the card?
What trick did Mina find?
Why did Mina say the word each day?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
The Hard Word on Friday
Every Friday, Mina had a spelling test. This week, the last word was "friend."
Mina wrote "frend." It did not look right. She tried "freind." That did not look right either.
At home, Mina said the word out loud. "Fri-end." She noticed there was an "end" at the end of it. A friend is there until the end!
She wrote it on a card in big letters. She stuck the card on the fridge. She said it each morning.
On Friday, Mina wrote "friend" and got every word right. She smiled at her best pal Lou.
Questions
What day was the spelling test?
What was the last word on the test?
Where did Mina stick the card?
What trick did Mina find to remember the word?
Why did Mina say the word each morning?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
The Hard Word on Friday
Every Friday, Mina's class had a spelling test, and this week the very last word was "friend."
Mina wrote "frend," but it did not look right to her. Then she tried "freind," and that did not look right either.
When she got home, Mina said the word slowly out loud. "Fri-end." Suddenly she noticed that the word ends with "end." A friend is someone who is there until the end!
She copied the word onto a card in big letters, stuck the card on the fridge and read it aloud each morning.
On Friday, Mina spelled "friend" correctly and got every word right. She grinned at her best pal Lou.
Questions
On which day of the week did Mina's class have a spelling test?
What was the last word on this week's test?
Where did Mina stick the card with the word on it?
What trick did Mina discover to remember the spelling?
Why did Mina read the word aloud each morning?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: The Hard Word on Friday
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade -0.4)
Friday.
Friend.
On the fridge.
She saw the word has an "end" in it.
To practice so she would remember it.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.7)
Friday.
Friend.
On the fridge.
She noticed the word has an "end" at the end.
To practice so she would remember it.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.4)
Friday.
Friend.
On the fridge.
She noticed that the word ends with "end."
To practice so she would remember how to spell it.
Free at teach.peabody.kids
How to use it
Press Read it big (or B) to put the text on the projector, or Full screen (F) to fill the whole screen.
Ask the questions one at a time and use Show answer when the class has decided. A shows or hides every answer.
Print student copy for the class, or Print with answers for yourself.
Ideas for class
Before reading, put spelling, test, noticed and pal 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 1 minute 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 4 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.
It was written for 1st grade. It has 97 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 0.7. 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 five. 3 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 1 minute 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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