Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

Gerald the Sourdough Starter

4th grade fiction passage about a new stepbrother: 221 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade fiction a new stepbrother 221 words

Gerald the Sourdough Starter

When Kai's dad married Dev's mom, Kai got a stepbrother and a jar of goo. The goo lived on the kitchen counter, and it was named Gerald. It was a sourdough starter, which is a mixture of flour and water that bubbles and smells a little tangy. Dev fed it every morning, the way a person would feed a pet.

Kai thought the whole thing was disgusting, so he held his nose when he walked past and called it "the swamp."

One Friday, Dev left to spend the weekend with his dad. "Please feed Gerald," he said. "One spoon of flour, one spoon of water, and a stir."

Kai nodded, but he forgot, and on Sunday he looked at the jar and saw that Gerald was flat, with gray liquid on top. Kai gulped. He measured the flour and the water, stirred them in, and whispered, "Sorry, Gerald."

By Monday morning, small bubbles were rising again.

When Dev came home, Kai told him everything. Dev looked in the jar and grinned. "Gerald is tough," he said. "He was just hungry." Then he asked, "Want to help me bake bread with him?"

Kai did. He ended up with flour on his nose. When the loaf came out with a crackly crust, he took a bite. "Not bad," he said, "for a swamp."

Questions

  1. What is a sourdough starter? in the text

  2. What did Kai call Gerald at first? in the text

  3. How was Kai supposed to feed Gerald? in the text

  4. What did Kai see in the jar on Sunday? in the text

  5. Why did Kai whisper sorry to Gerald? think about it

  6. How did Kai's feelings about Gerald change? think about it

Words to know

starter
a bubbly mix of flour and water used to make bread rise
tangy
having a sharp, sour taste or smell
stepbrother
the son of your parent's new husband or wife
crust
the hard outside part of bread
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 · 201 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.1

When Kai's dad married Dev's mom, Kai got a stepbrother. He also got a jar of goo. The goo lived on the kitchen counter. Its name was Gerald. It was a sourdough starter. That is flour and water that bubbles and smells a little tangy. Dev fed it every morning, like a pet.

Kai thought it was gross. He held his nose when he walked by. He called it "the swamp."

One Friday, Dev left to spend the weekend with his dad. "Please feed Gerald," he said. "One spoon of flour, one spoon of water, and a stir."

Kai nodded, but he forgot. On Sunday, he looked at the jar. Gerald was flat. Gray liquid sat on top. Kai gulped. He measured the flour and the water. He stirred them in. "Sorry, Gerald," he whispered.

By Monday morning, small bubbles were rising again.

When Dev came home, Kai told him everything. Dev looked in the jar and grinned. "Gerald is tough," he said. "He was just hungry." Then he said, "Want to bake bread with him?"

Kai did. He got flour on his nose. The loaf had a crackly crust. Kai took a bite. "Not bad," he said, "for a swamp."

▲ This passage · 221 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.8

When Kai's dad married Dev's mom, Kai got a stepbrother and a jar of goo. The goo lived on the kitchen counter, and it was named Gerald. It was a sourdough starter, which is a mixture of flour and water that bubbles and smells a little tangy. Dev fed it every morning, the way a person would feed a pet.

Kai thought the whole thing was disgusting, so he held his nose when he walked past and called it "the swamp."

One Friday, Dev left to spend the weekend with his dad. "Please feed Gerald," he said. "One spoon of flour, one spoon of water, and a stir."

Kai nodded, but he forgot, and on Sunday he looked at the jar and saw that Gerald was flat, with gray liquid on top. Kai gulped. He measured the flour and the water, stirred them in, and whispered, "Sorry, Gerald."

By Monday morning, small bubbles were rising again.

When Dev came home, Kai told him everything. Dev looked in the jar and grinned. "Gerald is tough," he said. "He was just hungry." Then he asked, "Want to help me bake bread with him?"

Kai did. He ended up with flour on his nose. When the loaf came out with a crackly crust, he took a bite. "Not bad," he said, "for a swamp."

■ Harder · 223 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

When Kai's dad married Dev's mom, Kai acquired a stepbrother and a jar of goo. The goo lived on the kitchen counter, and its name was Gerald. It was a sourdough starter, which is a mixture of flour and water that bubbles and smells slightly tangy. Dev fed it every morning, the way a person might feed a pet.

Kai found the whole thing disgusting. He held his nose whenever he walked past, and he referred to it as "the swamp."

One Friday, Dev left to spend the weekend with his dad. "Please feed Gerald," he said. "One spoon of flour, one spoon of water, and a stir."

Kai nodded, but he promptly forgot. On Sunday, he looked at the jar and found Gerald flat, with gray liquid pooled on top. Kai gulped. He hurriedly measured the flour and the water, stirred them in, and whispered, "Sorry, Gerald."

By Monday morning, small bubbles were rising once more.

When Dev returned, Kai confessed everything. Dev peered into the jar and grinned. "Gerald is tough," he said. "He was just hungry." Then he asked, "Want to help me bake bread with him?"

Kai did, and he ended up with flour on the tip of his nose. When the loaf emerged with a crackly crust, he took a bite. "Not bad," he said, "for a swamp."

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 starter, tangy, stepbrother and crust 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 "Gerald the Sourdough Starter"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 221 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 2.8. 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. 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.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.