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Biscuit the Hamster Visits a Loud House

4th grade fiction passage about a class pet at a noisy house: 189 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade fiction a class pet at a noisy house 189 words

Biscuit the Hamster Visits a Loud House

Every weekend, a different student took the class hamster home, and this Friday it was Owen's turn. Owen groaned, because his house was full of noise. He had twin little sisters who shrieked when they played, and a big dog who barked at the mailman.

"Biscuit will be scared," he told his mom.

"Then we will make a plan," she said.

At dinner, Owen explained the rules. First, the twins could look at Biscuit, but only with their hands behind their backs. Second, they had to whisper near the cage. Third, the dog stayed in the backyard.

The twins loved having jobs. Rosa, the older twin by four minutes, made a tiny maze out of toilet paper tubes. Ivy gave Biscuit a name tag out of a sticky note. They checked his water every hour and tiptoed past his cage as if it were a sleeping dragon.

On Monday, Owen carried Biscuit back to school. Ms. Park peered into the cage. "He looks so happy," she said. "Did he have a calm weekend?"

Owen grinned. "It was a loud house," he said. "But we all helped him feel safe."

Questions

  1. Whose turn was it to take the class hamster home? in the text

  2. Why was Owen worried about Biscuit? in the text

  3. What were the three rules? in the text

  4. What did Rosa make for Biscuit? in the text

  5. Why did the twins act so well around Biscuit? think about it

  6. What did Owen mean by saying they all helped Biscuit feel safe? think about it

Words to know

groaned
made a low sound because of worry or annoyance
shrieked
gave a loud, high cry
maze
a set of winding paths that is hard to find a way through
peered
looked closely at something
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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 · 184 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.1

Every weekend, a different student took the class hamster home. This Friday, it was Owen's turn. Owen groaned. His house was full of noise. He had twin little sisters who shrieked when they played. He had a big dog who barked at the mailman.

"Biscuit will be scared," he told his mom.

"Then we will make a plan," she said.

At dinner, Owen told the rules. First, the twins could look at Biscuit, but with their hands behind their backs. Second, they had to whisper near the cage. Third, the dog stayed in the backyard.

The twins loved having jobs. Rosa, the older twin by four minutes, made a tiny maze out of toilet paper tubes. Ivy made Biscuit a name tag from a sticky note. They checked his water every hour. They tiptoed past his cage like it was a sleeping dragon.

On Monday, Owen carried Biscuit back to school. Ms. Park peered into the cage. "He looks so happy," she said. "Was it a calm weekend?"

Owen grinned. "It was a loud house," he said. "But we all helped him feel safe."

▲ This passage · 189 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.9

Every weekend, a different student took the class hamster home, and this Friday it was Owen's turn. Owen groaned, because his house was full of noise. He had twin little sisters who shrieked when they played, and a big dog who barked at the mailman.

"Biscuit will be scared," he told his mom.

"Then we will make a plan," she said.

At dinner, Owen explained the rules. First, the twins could look at Biscuit, but only with their hands behind their backs. Second, they had to whisper near the cage. Third, the dog stayed in the backyard.

The twins loved having jobs. Rosa, the older twin by four minutes, made a tiny maze out of toilet paper tubes. Ivy gave Biscuit a name tag out of a sticky note. They checked his water every hour and tiptoed past his cage as if it were a sleeping dragon.

On Monday, Owen carried Biscuit back to school. Ms. Park peered into the cage. "He looks so happy," she said. "Did he have a calm weekend?"

Owen grinned. "It was a loud house," he said. "But we all helped him feel safe."

■ Harder · 196 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.8

Every weekend, a different student carried the class hamster home, and this Friday it was Owen's turn. Owen groaned. His house was famous for its noise. He had twin little sisters who shrieked whenever they played, and an enormous dog who barked furiously at the mailman.

"Biscuit will be terrified," he told his mom.

"Then we will make a plan," she said.

At dinner, Owen announced the rules. First, the twins could look at Biscuit, but only with their hands clasped behind their backs. Second, they had to whisper near the cage. Third, the dog would stay in the backyard.

The twins loved having jobs. Rosa, the older twin by four minutes, built a tiny maze out of toilet paper tubes, and Ivy fashioned a name tag for Biscuit from a sticky note. They checked his water every hour and tiptoed past his cage as though it contained a sleeping dragon.

On Monday, Owen carried Biscuit back to school. Ms. Park peered into the cage. "He looks so happy," she said. "Did he have a calm weekend?"

Owen grinned. "It was a loud house," he said. "But we all worked together to help him feel safe."

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 groaned, shrieked, maze and peered 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 "Biscuit the Hamster Visits a Loud House"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 189 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.9. 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. 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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