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A Jar of Bubbling Sourdough Starter

5th grade nonfiction passage about sourdough starter: 233 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade nonfiction sourdough starter 233 words

A Jar of Bubbling Sourdough Starter

On a kitchen counter, a glass jar holds a thick, bubbly paste. It looks like something that went wrong, but it is actually a baker's treasure. It is called a sourdough starter, and it can make bread rise without any store-bought yeast.

A starter begins with just flour and water. Flour carries tiny living things on it, and more drift in from the air. Two kinds matter most. One is wild yeast, which eats the sugars in flour and gives off a gas that makes bubbles. The other is a group of friendly bacteria, which make acids that give sourdough its tangy taste. After a few days of sitting in a warm spot, the mixture starts to bubble and smell sharp.

A starter is alive, so it needs to be fed. Every day or so, the baker throws out some of the paste and stirs in fresh flour and water. This gives the yeast and bacteria new food and keeps them healthy. If the baker forgets for a while, the starter gets hungry and weak, but it can often be brought back with regular feeding.

When it is time to bake, the baker mixes a spoonful of starter into the dough. The yeast fills the dough with gas bubbles, and the dough slowly puffs up. Some starters have been kept going for many years, and bakers sometimes share a spoonful with friends.

Questions

  1. What two ingredients does a sourdough starter begin with? in the text

  2. What does wild yeast give off that makes bubbles? in the text

  3. What gives sourdough its tangy taste? in the text

  4. How does a baker feed a starter? in the text

  5. Why does the author call the starter alive? think about it

  6. What might happen to a starter that is not fed for a while? think about it

Words to know

starter
a mix of flour, water and living yeast used to begin bread dough
yeast
a tiny living thing that makes gas bubbles when it eats sugar
bacteria
tiny living things too small to see
tangy
having a sharp, sour taste
dough
a thick mix of flour and water that is baked into bread
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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 · 202 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.6

A glass jar sits on a kitchen counter. It holds a thick, bubbly paste. It looks like a mistake, but it is a baker's treasure. It is called a sourdough starter. It can make bread rise without store-bought yeast.

A starter begins with flour and water. Flour has tiny living things on it. More float in from the air. Two kinds matter most. One is wild yeast. It eats the sugar in flour and gives off a gas. The gas makes bubbles. The other kind is friendly bacteria. They make acids. The acids give sourdough its tangy taste. After a few days in a warm spot, the mix starts to bubble and smell sharp.

A starter is alive, so it needs food. Every day or so, the baker throws out some paste. Then the baker stirs in fresh flour and water. This feeds the yeast and the bacteria. If the baker forgets, the starter gets weak. Regular feeding can often bring it back.

To bake, the baker mixes a spoonful of starter into the dough. The yeast fills the dough with bubbles. The dough slowly puffs up. Some starters have lasted for many years. Bakers sometimes share a spoonful with friends.

▲ This passage · 233 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.2

On a kitchen counter, a glass jar holds a thick, bubbly paste. It looks like something that went wrong, but it is actually a baker's treasure. It is called a sourdough starter, and it can make bread rise without any store-bought yeast.

A starter begins with just flour and water. Flour carries tiny living things on it, and more drift in from the air. Two kinds matter most. One is wild yeast, which eats the sugars in flour and gives off a gas that makes bubbles. The other is a group of friendly bacteria, which make acids that give sourdough its tangy taste. After a few days of sitting in a warm spot, the mixture starts to bubble and smell sharp.

A starter is alive, so it needs to be fed. Every day or so, the baker throws out some of the paste and stirs in fresh flour and water. This gives the yeast and bacteria new food and keeps them healthy. If the baker forgets for a while, the starter gets hungry and weak, but it can often be brought back with regular feeding.

When it is time to bake, the baker mixes a spoonful of starter into the dough. The yeast fills the dough with gas bubbles, and the dough slowly puffs up. Some starters have been kept going for many years, and bakers sometimes share a spoonful with friends.

■ Harder · 240 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.6

On a kitchen counter sits a glass jar filled with a thick, bubbly paste. At first glance it resembles an experiment that has gone wrong, yet it is truly a baker's treasure. This mixture, known as a sourdough starter, is capable of making bread rise without any commercial yeast whatsoever.

A starter begins with nothing more than flour and water. Flour carries microscopic living things on its surface, and others drift in from the surrounding air. Two groups matter most. Wild yeast consumes the sugars in the flour and releases a gas that creates bubbles. A community of friendly bacteria produces acids, and those acids are responsible for sourdough's distinctive tangy flavor. After several days in a warm spot, the mixture begins to bubble and develops a sharp smell.

Because a starter is alive, it must be fed regularly. Every day or so, the baker discards a portion of the paste and stirs in fresh flour and water. This supplies the yeast and bacteria with new food and keeps them healthy. If the baker neglects the jar for a while, the starter grows hungry and weak, although consistent feeding can often revive it.

When it is time to bake, the baker blends a spoonful of starter into the dough. The yeast fills the dough with gas bubbles, and the dough gradually swells. Certain starters have been kept going for many years, and bakers sometimes share a spoonful with their friends.

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, yeast, bacteria, tangy and dough on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text 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 write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "A Jar of Bubbling Sourdough Starter"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 233 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.2. 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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