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How to Teach Your Shoes to Tie Themselves

3rd grade fiction passage about a silly how-to about shoelaces: 156 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade fiction a silly how-to about shoelaces 156 words

How to Teach Your Shoes to Tie Themselves

Do you want shoes that tie themselves? Here is how to teach them, but it takes lots of patience and it may not work.

Step one: Sit on the floor and set your shoes in front of you. Look at them in a friendly way, because shoes like to be looked at.

Step two: Say in a calm voice, "Loop, swoop, and pull." Say it ten times, and say it slowly so the laces can follow along.

Step three: Wiggle your fingers to show how it is done, and make the bunny ears. Ask the shoes to copy you. Your shoes will do nothing at all, which is normal.

Step four: Wait for one whole hour. If the laces still have not moved, say "Good try" in a kind voice.

Step five: Tie them yourself, using the loop, swoop, and pull. Now check the knot. Your shoes did not learn a thing, but you sure did.

Questions

  1. What are you trying to teach your shoes? in the text

  2. What words should you say to the shoes? in the text

  3. How many times should you say the words? in the text

  4. What do the shoes do when you show them how? in the text

  5. Who ends up tying the shoes? in the text

  6. Why does the writer say the plan may not work? think about it

Words to know

patience
being able to wait calmly without getting upset
calm
quiet and relaxed
laces
the strings that tie shoes shut
loop
a curve made when a string or lace bends around
knot
a tie made by twisting string together tightly
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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 · 144 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.3

Do you want shoes that tie themselves? Here is how to teach them. It takes a lot of patience, and it may not work.

Step one: Sit on the floor and put your shoes in front of you. Look at them in a friendly way. Shoes like to be looked at.

Step two: Say in a calm voice, "Loop, swoop, and pull." Say it ten times. Say it slowly so the laces can follow.

Step three: Wiggle your fingers to show how. Make the bunny ears. Ask the shoes to copy you. Your shoes will do nothing. That is normal.

Step four: Wait one hour. If the laces have not moved, say "Good try" in a kind voice.

Step five: Tie them yourself with a loop, a swoop, and a pull. Check the knot. Your shoes did not learn a thing, but you did.

▲ This passage · 156 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.9

Do you want shoes that tie themselves? Here is how to teach them, but it takes lots of patience and it may not work.

Step one: Sit on the floor and set your shoes in front of you. Look at them in a friendly way, because shoes like to be looked at.

Step two: Say in a calm voice, "Loop, swoop, and pull." Say it ten times, and say it slowly so the laces can follow along.

Step three: Wiggle your fingers to show how it is done, and make the bunny ears. Ask the shoes to copy you. Your shoes will do nothing at all, which is normal.

Step four: Wait for one whole hour. If the laces still have not moved, say "Good try" in a kind voice.

Step five: Tie them yourself, using the loop, swoop, and pull. Now check the knot. Your shoes did not learn a thing, but you sure did.

■ Harder · 157 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.4

Have you ever wished for shoes that could tie themselves? Here is how to teach them, although it requires tremendous patience and may not work at all.

Step one: Sit on the floor and set your shoes in front of you. Gaze at them in a friendly way, because shoes enjoy being admired.

Step two: Say in a calm voice, "Loop, swoop, and pull." Repeat it ten times, and say it slowly so the laces can follow along.

Step three: Wiggle your fingers to demonstrate how it is done, and make the bunny ears. Ask the shoes to copy you. Your shoes will do absolutely nothing, which is perfectly normal.

Step four: Wait for one whole hour. If the laces still have not moved, say "Good try" in a kind voice.

Step five: Tie them yourself, using the loop, swoop, and pull. Now inspect the knot. Your shoes did not learn a thing, but you certainly did.

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 patience, calm, laces, loop and knot 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 "How to Teach Your Shoes to Tie Themselves"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 156 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 1.9. 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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