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The Salt Shaker That Shook Up a Storm

4th grade fiction passage about a kitchen salt shaker with weather magic: 174 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

4th grade fiction a kitchen salt shaker with weather magic 174 words

The Salt Shaker That Shook Up a Storm

Great-aunt Fern kept an old glass salt shaker next to her stove. It looked ordinary, but one summer afternoon, when Mei was helping to make soup, she gave it a shake over the pot. A small gray cloud puffed out, and a little rain fell right into the soup.

"Oh dear," said Great-aunt Fern. "That shaker is a storm shaker. I forgot to tell you."

Mei peeked inside. The shaker was full of tiny white crystals that shimmered. She tipped it again, just a pinch, over the dry flowerpot on the windowsill. A cloud hovered above the soil and gave the plant a gentle sprinkle.

"It is not for soup," said Great-aunt Fern, laughing. "It is for thirsty plants."

For the rest of the week, Mei watered the whole windowsill garden with just a pinch each morning. The basil grew tall and the violets stayed bright.

The soup, by the way, tasted a bit watery. But Mei's great-aunt said it was the best rainy-day soup she had ever eaten.

Questions

  1. What was special about the salt shaker? in the text

  2. What happened when Mei shook it over the soup pot? in the text

  3. What was inside the shaker? in the text

  4. What did Great-aunt Fern say the shaker was really for? in the text

  5. How did Mei use the shaker for the rest of the week? in the text

  6. Why did the soup taste watery? think about it

Words to know

ordinary
plain and normal, not special
crystals
tiny hard pieces with flat shiny sides
shimmered
shone with a soft, flickering light
sprinkle
a light, gentle shower of drops
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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 · 151 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.1

Great-aunt Fern kept an old glass salt shaker by her stove. It looked plain. One summer day, Mei was helping her make soup. Mei shook the shaker over the pot. A small gray cloud puffed out, and a little rain fell into the soup.

"Oh dear," said Great-aunt Fern. "That is a storm shaker. I forgot to tell you."

Mei peeked inside. It was full of tiny white crystals that shimmered. She tipped it, just a pinch, over a dry flowerpot. A cloud hovered over the soil and gave the plant a gentle sprinkle.

"It is not for soup," said Great-aunt Fern, laughing. "It is for thirsty plants."

All week, Mei watered the windowsill plants with a pinch each morning. The basil grew tall and the violets stayed bright.

The soup tasted a bit watery. But Great-aunt Fern said it was the best rainy-day soup ever.

▲ This passage · 174 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.6

Great-aunt Fern kept an old glass salt shaker next to her stove. It looked ordinary, but one summer afternoon, when Mei was helping to make soup, she gave it a shake over the pot. A small gray cloud puffed out, and a little rain fell right into the soup.

"Oh dear," said Great-aunt Fern. "That shaker is a storm shaker. I forgot to tell you."

Mei peeked inside. The shaker was full of tiny white crystals that shimmered. She tipped it again, just a pinch, over the dry flowerpot on the windowsill. A cloud hovered above the soil and gave the plant a gentle sprinkle.

"It is not for soup," said Great-aunt Fern, laughing. "It is for thirsty plants."

For the rest of the week, Mei watered the whole windowsill garden with just a pinch each morning. The basil grew tall and the violets stayed bright.

The soup, by the way, tasted a bit watery. But Mei's great-aunt said it was the best rainy-day soup she had ever eaten.

■ Harder · 179 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.6

Great-aunt Fern kept an old glass salt shaker beside her stove. It looked perfectly ordinary, but one summer afternoon, while Mei was helping to make soup, she gave it a casual shake over the pot. A small gray cloud puffed out, and a light rain fell directly into the soup.

"Oh dear," said Great-aunt Fern. "That shaker is a storm shaker. I completely forgot to mention it."

Mei peered inside. It was filled with tiny white crystals that shimmered like frost. She tipped it again, using only a pinch, over a dry flowerpot on the windowsill. A cloud hovered above the soil and gave the plant a gentle sprinkle.

"It is not meant for soup," said Great-aunt Fern, laughing. "It is meant for thirsty plants."

For the rest of the week, Mei watered the entire windowsill garden with a single pinch each morning. The basil grew tall and the violets stayed bright.

The soup, by the way, tasted a bit watery. Yet Great-aunt Fern declared it the finest rainy-day soup she had ever eaten.

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 ordinary, crystals, shimmered and sprinkle 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 "The Salt Shaker That Shook Up a Storm"?

It was written for 4th grade. It has 174 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.6. 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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