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Three Mittens on the Fence Post

1st grade fiction passage about a mitten puzzle: 103 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

1st grade fiction a mitten puzzle 103 words

Three Mittens on the Fence Post

Ana found three mittens on a fence post. Two were green. One was yellow with a star.

"Whose are these?" she asked. Her teacher said, "A pair is two that match. Let us find the match."

Ana held up the two green mittens. They matched. They had the same small stripe. But the yellow one had no pair.

Ana walked to the sled hill. A boy named Raj sat there with one cold hand. He had a yellow mitten with a star on his other hand!

"That is the match!" said Ana. Raj put on both mittens. Ana took the green pair home.

Questions

  1. How many mittens did Ana find? in the text

  2. What did the yellow mitten have on it? in the text

  3. Where did Ana find Raj? in the text

  4. Who got the green pair? in the text

  5. How did Ana know the yellow mitten was Raj's? think about it

Words to know

mitten
a warm cover for your hand
pair
two things that go together
match
to be the same as another thing
stripe
a long, thin line of color
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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 · 93 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade -0.4

Ana found three mittens on a fence post. Two were green. One was yellow with a star.

"Whose are these?" she asked. Her teacher said, "A pair is two that match. Find the match."

The two green mittens matched. They had the same stripe. But the yellow one had no pair.

Ana walked to the sled hill. A boy named Raj sat there with one cold hand. His other hand had a yellow mitten with a star!

"That is the match!" said Ana. Raj put on both. Ana took the green pair home.

▲ This passage · 103 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade -0.2

Ana found three mittens on a fence post. Two were green. One was yellow with a star.

"Whose are these?" she asked. Her teacher said, "A pair is two that match. Let us find the match."

Ana held up the two green mittens. They matched. They had the same small stripe. But the yellow one had no pair.

Ana walked to the sled hill. A boy named Raj sat there with one cold hand. He had a yellow mitten with a star on his other hand!

"That is the match!" said Ana. Raj put on both mittens. Ana took the green pair home.

■ Harder · 121 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.6

Ana discovered three mittens hanging on a fence post. Two of them were green, and one was yellow with a star stitched on it.

"Whose mittens are these?" she wondered. Her teacher explained, "A pair is two things that match. Let us look for the match."

Ana held up the two green mittens, and they matched perfectly, with the same small stripe. But the yellow mitten had no partner at all.

She walked over to the sled hill, where a boy named Raj sat shivering with one cold, bare hand. On his other hand he wore a yellow mitten with a star!

"That is the match!" Ana exclaimed. Raj put on both yellow mittens, and Ana carried the green pair home.

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 mitten, pair, match and stripe 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 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 "Three Mittens on the Fence Post"?

It was written for 1st grade. It has 103 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about below 1. 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. 4 ask for something the text says directly and 1 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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