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Hana and the Twelve-Cup Tower

5th grade fiction passage about learning cup stacking: 230 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade fiction learning cup stacking 230 words

Hana and the Twelve-Cup Tower

At the after-school club, Hana watched a boy named Dario build a tower of twelve plastic cups and knock it flat again in less time than it takes to sneeze. Both of his hands moved at once, like two little birds.

Hana tried it, but her left hand grabbed three cups while her right hand sat there doing nothing, and the cups slid, wobbled, and tumbled over the edge of the table. Dario was kind about it. "Everybody's hands start out lazy," he said.

For a week Hana practiced at the kitchen table, staring at her fingers and feeling certain that they would behave if she watched them closely. They did not behave, and her tower fell down every single time.

On Friday, Dario gave her a different idea. "Stop looking at your hands," he said. "Look at the middle of the stack. Your eyes can see both sides at once if you let them."

Hana felt silly, but she tried it anyway, letting her eyes rest on the center of the table until her hands seemed to wake up. Left, right, left, right, the cups clicked into a neat pyramid, and then she swept them back down in one smooth motion.

The timer on the table said she was slow. Hana did not care. For the first time, both hands had worked together, and nothing had fallen over.

Questions

  1. What did Dario do that amazed Hana? in the text

  2. What was wrong with the way Hana first used her hands? in the text

  3. Where did Hana practice for a week? in the text

  4. What new advice did Dario give her? in the text

  5. Why did watching her fingers closely not help Hana? think about it

  6. Why did Hana not care that the timer said she was slow? think about it

Words to know

tumbled
fell over in a messy way
pyramid
a shape that is wide at the bottom and narrow at the top
certain
completely sure
motion
a movement
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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 · 196 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.9

At the after-school club, Hana watched a boy named Dario stack twelve plastic cups and knock them flat again. He did it faster than a sneeze. Both of his hands moved at once, like two little birds.

Hana tried it. Her left hand grabbed three cups. Her right hand just sat there. The cups slid and wobbled and fell off the table. Dario was kind. "Everybody's hands start out lazy," he said.

For a week Hana practiced at the kitchen table. She stared at her fingers. She was sure they would behave if she watched them. They did not. Her tower fell every time.

On Friday, Dario had a new idea. "Stop looking at your hands," he said. "Look at the middle of the stack. Your eyes can see both sides at once."

Hana felt silly, but she tried. She looked at the center of the table. Her hands seemed to wake up. Left, right, left, right, the cups clicked into a pyramid. Then she swept them down in one smooth move.

The timer said she was slow. Hana did not care. For the first time, both hands had worked together, and nothing fell over.

▲ This passage · 230 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.2

At the after-school club, Hana watched a boy named Dario build a tower of twelve plastic cups and knock it flat again in less time than it takes to sneeze. Both of his hands moved at once, like two little birds.

Hana tried it, but her left hand grabbed three cups while her right hand sat there doing nothing, and the cups slid, wobbled, and tumbled over the edge of the table. Dario was kind about it. "Everybody's hands start out lazy," he said.

For a week Hana practiced at the kitchen table, staring at her fingers and feeling certain that they would behave if she watched them closely. They did not behave, and her tower fell down every single time.

On Friday, Dario gave her a different idea. "Stop looking at your hands," he said. "Look at the middle of the stack. Your eyes can see both sides at once if you let them."

Hana felt silly, but she tried it anyway, letting her eyes rest on the center of the table until her hands seemed to wake up. Left, right, left, right, the cups clicked into a neat pyramid, and then she swept them back down in one smooth motion.

The timer on the table said she was slow. Hana did not care. For the first time, both hands had worked together, and nothing had fallen over.

■ Harder · 255 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6

At the after-school club, Hana watched a boy named Dario build a tower of twelve plastic cups and then flatten it again in less time than it takes to sneeze. Both of his hands moved at the same moment, like a pair of little birds darting back and forth.

Hana decided to try it herself, but her left hand snatched three cups while her right hand sat there doing absolutely nothing, and the cups slid, wobbled, and tumbled over the edge of the table. Dario was remarkably kind about it. "Everybody's hands start out lazy," he said with a shrug.

For an entire week Hana practiced at the kitchen table. She stared at her fingers, certain that they would behave if she watched them closely enough. They never did, and her tower collapsed every single time.

On Friday, Dario offered a different suggestion. "Stop looking at your hands," he told her. "Look at the middle of the stack instead. Your eyes can take in both sides at once if you let them."

Hana felt rather silly, but she tried it anyway, letting her gaze rest on the center of the table until her hands suddenly seemed to wake up. Left, right, left, right, the cups clicked into a neat pyramid, and then she swept them back down in one smooth, flowing motion.

The timer on the table said she was slow. Hana did not care in the least. For the first time, both of her hands had worked together, and nothing had fallen over.

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 tumbled, pyramid, certain and motion 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 "Hana and the Twelve-Cup Tower"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 230 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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