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The New Kid at Lunch

4th grade fiction passage about kindness and friendship: 170 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade fiction kindness and friendship 170 words

The New Kid at Lunch

On Monday, a new boy named Tomas arrived in Ms. Park's class. He had just moved from a faraway town, and he did not know anyone. At lunchtime, he stood in the cafeteria holding his tray while every table looked completely full. His stomach felt tight with worry.

Jonah noticed him from across the room. Jonah remembered how difficult it had been when he was new last year, so he picked up his tray and walked over. "You can sit with us," he said. "We have an extra seat."

Tomas sat down and said quietly, "Thanks." Then he opened his lunch box. Inside was a sandwich cut in the shape of a star. "Cool," said Maria. "How did you do that?" Tomas grinned. "My dad has a cookie cutter," he said.

Soon the whole table was laughing and trading funny stories. By the time the bell rang, Tomas no longer felt nervous inside. "See you tomorrow," Jonah said. For the first time all day, Tomas could not wait for tomorrow.

Questions

  1. Why did Tomas not know anyone in Ms. Park's class? in the text

  2. What was Tomas's problem at lunch? in the text

  3. Why did Jonah invite Tomas to sit with them? think about it

  4. What was special about Tomas's sandwich? in the text

  5. How did Tomas's feelings change by the end of lunch? think about it

  6. How did Tomas make his dad's idea help him make friends? think about it

Words to know

cafeteria
a large room in a school where students eat
faraway
a long distance from here
noticed
saw something and paid attention to it
grinned
smiled with a wide, happy face
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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 · 160 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.1

On Monday, a new boy named Tomas came to Ms. Park's class. He had just moved from a faraway town. He did not know anyone. At lunch, he stood in the cafeteria with his tray. All the tables looked full. His stomach felt tight.

Jonah saw him from across the room. Jonah remembered how hard it was when he was new last year. He took his tray and walked over. "You can sit with us," he said. "We have an extra seat."

Tomas sat down and said quietly, "Thanks." Then he opened his lunch box. Inside was a sandwich cut in the shape of a star. "Cool," said Maria. "How did you do that?" Tomas grinned. "My dad has a cookie cutter," he said.

Soon the whole table was laughing and trading stories. When the bell rang, Tomas did not feel tight inside. "See you tomorrow," Jonah said. For the first time all day, Tomas could not wait for tomorrow.

▲ This passage · 170 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.7

On Monday, a new boy named Tomas arrived in Ms. Park's class. He had just moved from a faraway town, and he did not know anyone. At lunchtime, he stood in the cafeteria holding his tray while every table looked completely full. His stomach felt tight with worry.

Jonah noticed him from across the room. Jonah remembered how difficult it had been when he was new last year, so he picked up his tray and walked over. "You can sit with us," he said. "We have an extra seat."

Tomas sat down and said quietly, "Thanks." Then he opened his lunch box. Inside was a sandwich cut in the shape of a star. "Cool," said Maria. "How did you do that?" Tomas grinned. "My dad has a cookie cutter," he said.

Soon the whole table was laughing and trading funny stories. By the time the bell rang, Tomas no longer felt nervous inside. "See you tomorrow," Jonah said. For the first time all day, Tomas could not wait for tomorrow.

■ Harder · 179 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.8

On Monday, a new boy named Tomas arrived in Ms. Park's class. He had recently relocated from a faraway town, and he did not know a single person. At lunchtime, he stood in the enormous cafeteria clutching his tray, and every table appeared to be completely occupied. His stomach felt tight with worry.

Jonah noticed him from across the room. Jonah remembered how uncomfortable it had been when he was new last year, so he picked up his tray and walked over to the lonely boy. "You can sit with us," he said. "We have an extra seat."

Tomas sat down and said quietly, "Thanks." Then he opened his lunch box. Inside was a sandwich cut in the shape of a star. "Cool," said Maria. "How did you do that?" Tomas grinned. "My dad has a cookie cutter," he said.

Soon the whole table was laughing and trading entertaining stories. By the time the bell rang, Tomas no longer felt nervous inside. "See you tomorrow," Jonah said. For the first time all day, Tomas could hardly wait for tomorrow.

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 cafeteria, faraway, noticed and grinned 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 3 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 New Kid at Lunch"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 170 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.7. 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. 3 ask for something the text says directly and 3 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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