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The Lemonade Line to the Next Town

2nd grade fiction passage about a very long line at a lemonade stand: 131 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

2nd grade fiction a very long line at a lemonade stand 131 words

The Lemonade Line to the Next Town

Rosa set up a lemonade stand on Maple Street. She had one pitcher, one sign, and one wobbly table.

At noon, a man bought a cup. He told his neighbor. The neighbor told a friend. By one o'clock, the line was around the block.

By two o'clock, the line stretched past the park. By three, it went over the bridge.

"Folks say it reaches the next town!" said Rosa's brother.

Rosa did not have enough lemons. She ran to the store. All the lemons were gone, because the people in line had bought them to make their own.

Rosa smiled. "Then I will share the recipe," she said. She wrote it on a big poster, and soon all the people made lemonade together, which was the best part of the day.

Questions

  1. Where did Rosa set up her lemonade stand? in the text

  2. What did Rosa have at the start? in the text

  3. How far did the line stretch by three o'clock? in the text

  4. What did Rosa write on the poster? in the text

  5. Why were the lemons gone from the store? think about it

Words to know

pitcher
a jug used for pouring drinks
wobbly
shaky and not steady
stretched
reached out very far
recipe
a list of steps for making food or drink
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 · 124 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.8

Rosa set up a lemonade stand on Maple Street. She had one pitcher, one sign, and one wobbly table.

At noon, a man bought a cup. He told his neighbor. The neighbor told a friend. By one o'clock, the line was around the block.

By two o'clock, the line went past the park. By three, it went over the bridge.

"Folks say it reaches the next town!" said Rosa's brother.

Rosa ran out of lemons. She ran to the store. All the lemons were gone. The people in line had bought them to make their own.

Rosa smiled. "I will share the recipe," she said. She wrote it on a big poster. Soon all the people made lemonade together. That was the best part.

▲ This passage · 131 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.5

Rosa set up a lemonade stand on Maple Street. She had one pitcher, one sign, and one wobbly table.

At noon, a man bought a cup. He told his neighbor. The neighbor told a friend. By one o'clock, the line was around the block.

By two o'clock, the line stretched past the park. By three, it went over the bridge.

"Folks say it reaches the next town!" said Rosa's brother.

Rosa did not have enough lemons. She ran to the store. All the lemons were gone, because the people in line had bought them to make their own.

Rosa smiled. "Then I will share the recipe," she said. She wrote it on a big poster, and soon all the people made lemonade together, which was the best part of the day.

■ Harder · 155 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.1

Rosa set up a lemonade stand on Maple Street. All she had was one glass pitcher, one hand painted sign, and one wobbly little table.

At noon, a man bought a cold cup of lemonade. He told his neighbor about it, and the neighbor told a friend. By one o'clock, the line had grown all the way around the block.

By two o'clock, the line stretched past the park. By three, it reached across the bridge.

"Folks say it goes all the way to the next town!" said Rosa's brother.

Soon Rosa did not have enough lemons, so she hurried to the store. Every lemon was gone, because the people waiting in line had bought them to make their own.

Rosa smiled. "Then I will share my recipe," she said. She wrote it on a big poster, and before long everybody made lemonade together, which turned out to be the best part of the day.

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 pitcher, wobbly, stretched and recipe 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 "The Lemonade Line to the Next Town"?

It was written for 2nd grade. It has 131 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.5. 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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