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Mr. Wick Takes Every Word Literally

5th grade fiction passage about a substitute teacher and idioms: 284 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade fiction a substitute teacher and idioms 284 words

Mr. Wick Takes Every Word Literally

When our regular teacher came down with the flu, a substitute named Mr. Wick arrived on Monday morning wearing a neat bow tie and a very serious expression. He also had one strange habit. He believed that every sentence meant exactly what it said, even the sentences that were only jokes or sayings.

"Class," he began, "please hit the books."

Nobody moved at first. Then Rosa slowly lifted her math book and gave it a gentle pat, and Mr. Wick nodded happily. "Excellent hitting."

Later, Jamal remarked that the homework was a piece of cake. Mr. Wick looked puzzled and began searching the shelf, because he could not understand where the cake might possibly be hiding. When Priya told him to hold his horses, he looked around the room for horses and found none. When she said it was raining cats and dogs, he ran to the window and shouted, "Where? I must see this!" He seemed sad to find only a gray sky.

By lunchtime, the class could not stop giggling, but Nina decided to help. After lunch, she carefully drew a big chart on the board with two separate columns. In one column she wrote the sayings, and in the other she wrote what they really meant.

"Hit the books means to study, and piece of cake means that something is easy," she explained patiently.

Mr. Wick read the chart twice. Then he threw back his head and laughed so hard his bow tie wobbled. "I have been confusing all of you since this morning," he said, "and I will keep an eye on my words from now on." Nina grinned. "Please do not take that one out of your head, either."

Questions

  1. Why did a substitute come to the class? in the text

  2. What was Mr. Wick's strange habit? in the text

  3. What did Rosa do when told to hit the books? in the text

  4. Why did Mr. Wick run to the window when he heard it was raining cats and dogs? think about it

  5. How did Nina help Mr. Wick? in the text

  6. Why did Nina's last joke make sense? think about it

Words to know

substitute
a person who takes another person's place for a day
sayings
short, well-known phrases with a special meaning
puzzled
confused and unsure
giggling
laughing in a silly, soft way
wobbled
moved unsteadily from side to side
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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 · 218 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.8

Our teacher had the flu. A substitute named Mr. Wick came on Monday. He wore a neat bow tie and had a serious face. He also had one odd habit. He thought every sentence meant exactly what it said.

"Class," he said, "please hit the books."

No one moved. Then Rosa lifted her math book and gave it a gentle pat. Mr. Wick nodded. "Excellent hitting."

Later Jamal said the homework was a piece of cake. Mr. Wick looked puzzled. "I see no cake," he said. He checked the shelf. Priya told him to hold his horses. He looked around for horses. There were none. Then she said it was raining cats and dogs. He ran to the window. "Where? I must see this!" He was sad to see only gray sky.

By lunch the class could not stop giggling. Nina wanted to help. After lunch she drew a chart on the board. One column had the sayings. The other had what they really meant.

"Hit the books means to study," she said. "Piece of cake means easy."

Mr. Wick read the chart twice. Then he laughed so hard that his bow tie wobbled. "I confused you all day," he said. "I will keep an eye on my words." Nina grinned. "Please keep both eyes in your head."

▲ This passage · 284 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.8

When our regular teacher came down with the flu, a substitute named Mr. Wick arrived on Monday morning wearing a neat bow tie and a very serious expression. He also had one strange habit. He believed that every sentence meant exactly what it said, even the sentences that were only jokes or sayings.

"Class," he began, "please hit the books."

Nobody moved at first. Then Rosa slowly lifted her math book and gave it a gentle pat, and Mr. Wick nodded happily. "Excellent hitting."

Later, Jamal remarked that the homework was a piece of cake. Mr. Wick looked puzzled and began searching the shelf, because he could not understand where the cake might possibly be hiding. When Priya told him to hold his horses, he looked around the room for horses and found none. When she said it was raining cats and dogs, he ran to the window and shouted, "Where? I must see this!" He seemed sad to find only a gray sky.

By lunchtime, the class could not stop giggling, but Nina decided to help. After lunch, she carefully drew a big chart on the board with two separate columns. In one column she wrote the sayings, and in the other she wrote what they really meant.

"Hit the books means to study, and piece of cake means that something is easy," she explained patiently.

Mr. Wick read the chart twice. Then he threw back his head and laughed so hard his bow tie wobbled. "I have been confusing all of you since this morning," he said, "and I will keep an eye on my words from now on." Nina grinned. "Please do not take that one out of your head, either."

■ Harder · 296 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7

When our regular teacher came down with a dreadful case of the flu, a substitute named Mr. Wick arrived on Monday morning wearing a neat bow tie and an extremely serious expression. He also possessed one peculiar habit, which was that he believed every sentence meant precisely what it said, even the sentences that were only sayings.

"Class," he began, "please hit the books."

Nobody moved at first, but then Rosa slowly lifted her math book and gave it a gentle pat, and Mr. Wick nodded with great satisfaction. "Excellent hitting."

Later, Jamal remarked that the homework was a piece of cake. Mr. Wick looked utterly bewildered and began searching the shelf, since he could not imagine where the cake might be hiding. When Priya told him to hold his horses, he scanned the classroom for horses and found none, and when she mentioned that it was raining cats and dogs, he rushed to the window and exclaimed, "Where? I must see this!" He seemed genuinely disappointed to find nothing but a gray sky.

By lunchtime the class could not stop giggling, but Nina decided that somebody ought to help. After lunch she carefully drew a large chart on the board with two separate columns, writing the sayings in one column and what they really meant in the other.

"Hit the books means to study, and piece of cake means that something is very easy," she explained patiently.

Mr. Wick read the chart twice. Then he threw back his head and laughed so hard that his bow tie wobbled. "I have been confusing all of you since this morning," he admitted, "and I will keep an eye on my words from now on." Nina grinned. "Please do not take that one out of your head, either."

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 substitute, sayings, puzzled, giggling and wobbled 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 3 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 4 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 "Mr. Wick Takes Every Word Literally"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 284 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.8. 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 3 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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