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The Dragon Who Learned to Breathe Softly

5th grade fiction passage about a dragon and a cold bakery: 232 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade fiction a dragon and a cold bakery 232 words

The Dragon Who Learned to Breathe Softly

Brindle the dragon lived in a snug shed behind Mrs. Fenn's bakery. She was friendly and good-natured, but she was always careful, too. Her breath was so ferociously hot that it had once toasted an entire row of the baker's muffins into black stones.

One frosty morning, the big oven cracked and stopped working. The fair was only a day away, and forty loaves of bread still needed to rise. Bread dough requires a warm place to grow, and in the freezing bakery, it sat flat and miserable.

"If only I had a gentle fire," Mrs. Fenn sighed heavily.

Brindle's tail twitched nervously. "I could try," she said. "But I might burn everything to cinders."

Then she remembered how she fogged a window on a cold day. That kind of breath was not fire at all. It was merely warm air. Brindle drew in a deep breath and released it as slowly as a sleepy yawn.

A soft, warm cloud drifted over the bowls. The dough did not burn. Instead, it swelled a little. Brindle kept breathing, one slow sigh after another, and the dough climbed higher and higher until it peeked over the rims of the bowls.

By sunset, the loaves were ready for baking in a neighbor's oven. Mrs. Fenn handed Brindle the first warm slice. "You are not a flame," she said fondly. "You are a warm morning."

Questions

  1. Why was Brindle always careful about her breath? in the text

  2. What went wrong in the bakery on the frosty morning? in the text

  3. What does bread dough require in order to rise? in the text

  4. How did Brindle soften her breath? in the text

  5. Why did the dough swell instead of burn? think about it

  6. What does Mrs. Fenn mean by calling Brindle a warm morning? think about it

Words to know

bakery
a shop where bread and cakes are made and sold
dough
a soft mix of flour and water that becomes bread
rise
to swell up and get bigger
gentle
soft and careful, not rough
rims
the top edges of a bowl or cup
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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 · 215 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.7

Brindle the dragon lived behind Mrs. Fenn's bakery. She was friendly, but she was careful, too. Her breath was so hot that it had once toasted a whole row of the baker's muffins into black stones.

One frosty morning, the big oven broke. The fair was only a day away, and forty loaves of bread had to rise. Bread dough needs a warm place to grow. In the cold bakery, the dough sat flat and sad.

"If only I had a gentle fire," Mrs. Fenn sighed.

Brindle's tail twitched. "I could try," she said. "But I might burn everything."

She thought of how she fogged a window on a cold day. That kind of breath was not fire at all. It was only warm air. Brindle took a deep breath and let it out as slowly as a sleepy yawn.

A soft, warm cloud drifted over the bowls. The dough did not burn. Instead, it puffed up a little. Brindle kept breathing, one slow sigh after another, and the dough rose higher and higher until it peeked over the rims of the bowls.

By sunset, the loaves were ready for baking in a neighbor's oven. Mrs. Fenn gave Brindle the first warm slice. "You are not a flame," she said. "You are a warm morning."

▲ This passage · 232 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.1

Brindle the dragon lived in a snug shed behind Mrs. Fenn's bakery. She was friendly and good-natured, but she was always careful, too. Her breath was so ferociously hot that it had once toasted an entire row of the baker's muffins into black stones.

One frosty morning, the big oven cracked and stopped working. The fair was only a day away, and forty loaves of bread still needed to rise. Bread dough requires a warm place to grow, and in the freezing bakery, it sat flat and miserable.

"If only I had a gentle fire," Mrs. Fenn sighed heavily.

Brindle's tail twitched nervously. "I could try," she said. "But I might burn everything to cinders."

Then she remembered how she fogged a window on a cold day. That kind of breath was not fire at all. It was merely warm air. Brindle drew in a deep breath and released it as slowly as a sleepy yawn.

A soft, warm cloud drifted over the bowls. The dough did not burn. Instead, it swelled a little. Brindle kept breathing, one slow sigh after another, and the dough climbed higher and higher until it peeked over the rims of the bowls.

By sunset, the loaves were ready for baking in a neighbor's oven. Mrs. Fenn handed Brindle the first warm slice. "You are not a flame," she said fondly. "You are a warm morning."

■ Harder · 233 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.8

Brindle the dragon lived in a snug shed behind Mrs. Fenn's bakery, and although she was friendly and good-natured, she was also extremely cautious. Her breath was so ferociously hot that it had once toasted an entire row of the baker's muffins into lumps of black stone.

One frosty morning, the enormous oven cracked and refused to work. The harvest fair was only a day away, and forty loaves of bread still needed to rise. Dough requires a warm place in which to grow, and in the freezing bakery it sat flat and miserable.

"If only I had a gentle fire," Mrs. Fenn sighed heavily.

Brindle's tail twitched nervously. "I could try," she offered, "but I might burn everything to cinders."

Then she remembered how she fogged windows on cold days. That kind of breath was not fire whatsoever, merely warm air. Brindle drew in a tremendous breath and released it as slowly as a sleepy yawn.

A soft, warm cloud drifted across the bowls. The dough did not burn. Instead, it swelled gradually. Brindle continued breathing, one slow sigh after another, and the dough climbed higher and higher until it peeked over the rims of the bowls.

By sunset, the loaves were ready for baking in a neighbor's oven. Mrs. Fenn handed Brindle the very first warm slice. "You are not a flame," she said affectionately. "You are a warm morning."

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 bakery, dough, rise, gentle and rims 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 "The Dragon Who Learned to Breathe Softly"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 232 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.1. 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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