Skip to the content
Peabody TeachFor teachers and grown-ups

The Egg Timer Treaty

5th grade fiction passage about stepsiblings sharing a bathroom: 218 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade fiction stepsiblings sharing a bathroom 218 words

The Egg Timer Treaty

When Dad married Priya's mom, Priya gained a stepbrother named Colm, and she also gained a bathroom that she had to share with him. The trouble started on the first morning of school. Colm spent twenty minutes fixing his hair while Priya stood in the hallway with her toothbrush, hopping from foot to foot.

"You take forever," she called through the door.

"You're too loud," Colm called back.

By Friday, they were not speaking at all. Their parents wrote up a schedule, but the schedule only gave them something new to argue about.

On Saturday, Priya found an old egg timer shaped like a chicken in the back of a kitchen drawer. She carried it upstairs and knocked on the bathroom door. "Ten minutes each," she said. "When it rings, we switch. You can't argue with the chicken."

Colm opened the door and studied the timer. He almost smiled. "What if I need eleven minutes?"

"Then you get up earlier."

"Fine," he said. "But I get to wind it."

The plan worked better than anyone expected. Some mornings Colm left the chicken on the sink for her, already set. Priya started wiping the counter dry for him. Neither of them said a word about it, but the hallway grew quiet, and the quiet felt like a good beginning.

Questions

  1. Who is Colm? in the text

  2. Why did the trouble start on the first morning of school? in the text

  3. What did Priya find in the kitchen drawer? in the text

  4. How much time did Priya say each of them would get? in the text

  5. Why do you think the timer worked when the schedule did not? think about it

  6. What does the story show by saying Colm left the timer set and Priya wiped the counter? think about it

Words to know

stepbrother
the son of your parent's husband or wife
schedule
a plan that lists what happens and when
studied
looked at something closely and carefully
argue
to speak angrily with someone who disagrees
Share

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 · 192 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 1.6

When Dad married Priya's mom, Priya got a stepbrother named Colm. She also got a bathroom to share with him. The trouble started on the first day of school. Colm spent twenty minutes on his hair. Priya waited in the hall with her toothbrush.

"You take forever," she called.

"You're too loud," Colm called back.

By Friday, they were not talking. Their parents made a schedule. It only gave them a new thing to fight about.

On Saturday, Priya found an old egg timer in a drawer. It was shaped like a chicken. She took it upstairs and knocked. "Ten minutes each," she said. "When it rings, we switch. You can't argue with the chicken."

Colm opened the door and looked at the timer. He almost smiled. "What if I need eleven minutes?"

"Then get up earlier."

"Fine," he said. "But I get to wind it."

The plan worked. Some mornings Colm left the chicken on the sink for her. It was already set. Priya began to wipe the counter dry for him. They did not talk about it. But the hall was quiet now, and it felt like a good start.

▲ This passage · 218 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.7

When Dad married Priya's mom, Priya gained a stepbrother named Colm, and she also gained a bathroom that she had to share with him. The trouble started on the first morning of school. Colm spent twenty minutes fixing his hair while Priya stood in the hallway with her toothbrush, hopping from foot to foot.

"You take forever," she called through the door.

"You're too loud," Colm called back.

By Friday, they were not speaking at all. Their parents wrote up a schedule, but the schedule only gave them something new to argue about.

On Saturday, Priya found an old egg timer shaped like a chicken in the back of a kitchen drawer. She carried it upstairs and knocked on the bathroom door. "Ten minutes each," she said. "When it rings, we switch. You can't argue with the chicken."

Colm opened the door and studied the timer. He almost smiled. "What if I need eleven minutes?"

"Then you get up earlier."

"Fine," he said. "But I get to wind it."

The plan worked better than anyone expected. Some mornings Colm left the chicken on the sink for her, already set. Priya started wiping the counter dry for him. Neither of them said a word about it, but the hallway grew quiet, and the quiet felt like a good beginning.

■ Harder · 256 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5

When Dad married Priya's mother, Priya acquired a stepbrother named Colm, along with a bathroom that she was now expected to share with him. The trouble began on the very first morning of the school year. Colm lingered for twenty minutes in front of the mirror, fixing his hair, while Priya stood in the hallway with her toothbrush, hopping impatiently from foot to foot.

"You take forever," she called through the door.

"You're far too loud," Colm called back.

By Friday, the two of them were no longer speaking. Their parents drew up a careful schedule, but all it did was give the pair a brand-new thing to argue about.

On Saturday, Priya discovered an old egg timer shaped like a chicken, hidden at the back of a kitchen drawer. She carried it upstairs and knocked firmly on the bathroom door. "Ten minutes each," she announced. "When it rings, we switch places. Nobody can argue with the chicken."

Colm opened the door and studied the timer for a moment. He very nearly smiled. "What if I need eleven minutes?"

"Then you'll have to get up earlier."

"Fine," he said. "But I'm the one who gets to wind it."

The arrangement worked far better than anyone had expected. On some mornings, Colm left the chicken on the sink for her, already set and ticking. Priya started wiping the counter dry for him without being asked. Neither of them ever mentioned it, yet the hallway grew peaceful, and the peace felt like the beginning of something good.

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 stepbrother, schedule, studied and argue 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 Egg Timer Treaty"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 218 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 3.7. 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.

Nothing you do here is sent to us. No sign-in, no ads.