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The Ladle That Left Soup Night

3rd grade fiction passage about a missing soup ladle: 167 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

3rd grade fiction a missing soup ladle 167 words

The Ladle That Left Soup Night

On the first Friday of every month, the firehouse held Soup Night. Neighbors brought bowls, and the cook, Dev, stirred a huge pot with a long silver ladle.

This time, Dev reached for the ladle and found only the empty hook. "It was here a minute ago," he said.

Kit, the cook's helper, studied the floor. Tiny orange drops led away from the stove. The soup was tomato, so the drops had to be from the ladle. "Follow me," she said.

The trail went past the long tables, past the shiny red truck, and out through the side door. On the porch, they found Gran Mabel sitting in a rocking chair. She held a steaming cup in one hand. In the other hand, she held the ladle.

"The cold crowd out here wanted a taste," Gran said. "I just brought the whole pot's worth, one spoonful at a time."

Dev laughed. He gave her a cup of her own and carried the ladle back to its hook.

Questions

  1. How often did the firehouse hold Soup Night? in the text

  2. What color were the drops on the floor? in the text

  3. Where did the trail lead? in the text

  4. Who had the ladle at the end? in the text

  5. How did Kit know the drops came from the ladle? think about it

  6. Why do you think Gran Mabel took the ladle outside? think about it

Words to know

ladle
a big spoon with a deep bowl for serving soup
firehouse
a building where firefighters work and keep trucks
studied
looked at something very carefully
trail
a line of marks that you can follow
porch
a covered area at the front or side of a building
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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 · 132 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.8

On the first Friday of each month, the firehouse had Soup Night. Neighbors brought bowls. Dev, the cook, stirred a huge pot with a long silver ladle.

This time, the ladle was gone. Only the hook was left. "It was here a minute ago," said Dev.

Kit, his helper, looked at the floor. Small orange drops led away from the stove. The soup was tomato. "Follow me," she said.

The drops went past the tables. They went past the red truck. They went out the side door. On the porch sat Gran Mabel in a rocking chair. She held a hot cup. She also held the ladle.

"The cold crowd out here wanted a taste," said Gran. "I brought it to them."

Dev laughed. He put the ladle back on its hook.

▲ This passage · 167 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7

On the first Friday of every month, the firehouse held Soup Night. Neighbors brought bowls, and the cook, Dev, stirred a huge pot with a long silver ladle.

This time, Dev reached for the ladle and found only the empty hook. "It was here a minute ago," he said.

Kit, the cook's helper, studied the floor. Tiny orange drops led away from the stove. The soup was tomato, so the drops had to be from the ladle. "Follow me," she said.

The trail went past the long tables, past the shiny red truck, and out through the side door. On the porch, they found Gran Mabel sitting in a rocking chair. She held a steaming cup in one hand. In the other hand, she held the ladle.

"The cold crowd out here wanted a taste," Gran said. "I just brought the whole pot's worth, one spoonful at a time."

Dev laughed. He gave her a cup of her own and carried the ladle back to its hook.

■ Harder · 185 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.4

On the first Friday of every month, the firehouse hosted Soup Night. Neighbors arrived with their own bowls, and the cook, Dev, stirred an enormous pot with a long silver ladle.

This time, when Dev reached for the ladle, he found nothing but an empty hook. "It was hanging right here a minute ago," he said, scratching his head.

Kit, the cook's helper, crouched and studied the floor. A trail of tiny orange drops led away from the stove. Since the soup was tomato, the drops could only have fallen from the ladle. "Follow me," she announced.

The trail wound past the long tables, past the gleaming red fire truck, and out through the side door. On the porch, they discovered Gran Mabel rocking in a chair. She cradled a steaming cup in one hand, and in the other she held the missing ladle.

"The people out here in the cold wanted a taste," Gran explained. "So I brought them soup, one spoonful at a time."

Dev burst out laughing, poured her a cup of her own, and carried the ladle back to its hook.

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 ladle, firehouse, studied, trail and porch 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 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 Ladle That Left Soup Night"?

It was written for 3rd grade. It has 167 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.7. 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 six. 4 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 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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