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Gus and the Wrong Laundry Bag

3rd grade fiction passage about two laundry bags mixed up: 159 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade fiction two laundry bags mixed up 159 words

Gus and the Wrong Laundry Bag

Gus carried his laundry bag home from the laundromat. It felt lumpy and a little bit heavy, so he dumped it on his bed when he got home. Out tumbled a red clown nose, two giant shoes, and a rainbow wig.

"These are not my socks," said Gus.

He read the tag on the bag, and it said "Pippa." Gus was not Pippa, so he had taken the wrong bag!

Gus ran back to the laundromat with the bag bumping on his back. At the door he met a woman who was holding a bag of her own. She had pulled out a plain blue shirt and a plain gray sock, and she looked puzzled. "Where is my wig?" she asked.

"Are you Pippa?" asked Gus. They swapped bags and laughed. Pippa honked her red nose twice. "Your clothes are very quiet," she said. "Mine are very loud," said Gus. Next time, he promised, he would check the tag.

Questions

  1. What came out of the lumpy bag? in the text

  2. What name was on the tag? in the text

  3. What did Pippa find in Gus's bag? in the text

  4. Where did Gus and Pippa meet? in the text

  5. What did Gus promise to do next time? in the text

  6. What job do you think Pippa has? think about it

Words to know

laundromat
a place where people wash clothes in big machines
tumbled
fell out in a messy rolling way
tag
a small label that shows a name
plain
simple, with no bright colors or patterns
swapped
traded one thing for another
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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 · 127 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade -0.2

Gus took his laundry bag home. It felt lumpy. At home he dumped it on his bed. Out fell a red clown nose, two big shoes, and a rainbow wig.

"These are not my socks," said Gus.

He read the tag on the bag. It said "Pippa." Gus was not Pippa. He had the wrong bag!

Gus ran back to the laundromat. At the door he met a woman with a bag. She had found a plain blue shirt and a plain gray sock. "Where is my wig?" she asked.

"Are you Pippa?" asked Gus. They swapped bags and laughed. Pippa honked her red nose two times. "Your clothes are quiet," she said. "Mine are loud," said Gus. Next time, he said, he would check the tag.

▲ This passage · 159 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.8

Gus carried his laundry bag home from the laundromat. It felt lumpy and a little bit heavy, so he dumped it on his bed when he got home. Out tumbled a red clown nose, two giant shoes, and a rainbow wig.

"These are not my socks," said Gus.

He read the tag on the bag, and it said "Pippa." Gus was not Pippa, so he had taken the wrong bag!

Gus ran back to the laundromat with the bag bumping on his back. At the door he met a woman who was holding a bag of her own. She had pulled out a plain blue shirt and a plain gray sock, and she looked puzzled. "Where is my wig?" she asked.

"Are you Pippa?" asked Gus. They swapped bags and laughed. Pippa honked her red nose twice. "Your clothes are very quiet," she said. "Mine are very loud," said Gus. Next time, he promised, he would check the tag.

■ Harder · 156 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.2

Gus lugged his laundry bag home from the laundromat. It felt lumpy and slightly heavier than usual. Back in his bedroom, he dumped it onto the bed. Out tumbled a red clown nose, two enormous shoes, and a rainbow wig.

"These are definitely not my socks," said Gus.

He studied the tag on the bag. It said "Pippa." Gus was not Pippa. He had picked up the wrong bag!

Gus hurried back to the laundromat with the bag bumping against his back. At the door, he met a woman clutching a bag of her own. She had just pulled out a plain blue shirt and a plain gray sock. "Where is my wig?" she asked.

"Are you Pippa?" asked Gus. They swapped bags and laughed together. Pippa honked her red nose twice. "Your clothes are very quiet," she said. "Mine are very loud," said Gus. Next time, he promised, he would check the tag before leaving.

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 laundromat, tumbled, tag, plain and swapped 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 2 minutes 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 6 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 "Gus and the Wrong Laundry Bag"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 159 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 1.8. 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 six. 5 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 2 minutes 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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