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Zeb Tuttle and the Thirty-Mile Sneeze

5th grade fiction passage about a tall tale about a sneeze: 253 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

5th grade fiction a tall tale about a sneeze 253 words

Zeb Tuttle and the Thirty-Mile Sneeze

Zeb Tuttle lived on a farm so windy that the chickens laid their eggs sideways. One spring morning he walked into the barn and sniffed a pinch of pepper that Grandma had spilled. His nose twitched. His eyes watered. His chest swelled up like a balloon at the fair.

"Ah," said Zeb. "Ah... ah..."

His sister Mabel dove behind a hay bale, because she knew exactly what was coming. The last time Zeb sneezed, the neighbor's hat flew off his head and was never seen again.

"AH-CHOOOO!"

The sneeze rattled every window in the county and blew the laundry off Grandma's clothesline, sending it sailing over the distant hills. A pair of long underwear landed on top of the steeple in town, and three socks fell into the pond, where the frogs wore them for a week. The scarecrow spun around so fast that he grew dizzy and had to sit down.

When the wind calmed, the family stared at the empty clothesline. "Well," said Grandma, "at least the sheets got a ride."

Zeb felt terrible, so he thought of a clever plan. He sewed a giant sack and hung it beside the barn door, and whenever he felt a sneeze coming, he hurried over and sneezed right into the sack. By autumn the sack was so full of wind that Zeb used it to push a little boat across the pond. Grandma's wash now dried in two minutes flat, and the neighbors lined up to borrow his sneezes on washing day.

Questions

  1. What did Zeb smell in the barn that made him sneeze? in the text

  2. What happened to the laundry when Zeb sneezed? in the text

  3. Where did the long underwear land? in the text

  4. Why did Mabel dive behind a hay bale? think about it

  5. How did Zeb fix his sneezing problem? in the text

  6. Why is the ending of the story funny? think about it

Words to know

twitched
moved with a quick little jerk
steeple
a tall pointed tower on top of a building
scarecrow
a dressed-up figure that keeps birds off crops
dizzy
feeling like the world is spinning
borrow
to use something for a while and give it back
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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 1.3

Zeb Tuttle lived on a very windy farm. The hens laid their eggs sideways. One morning Zeb went into the barn. He smelled pepper that Grandma had spilled. His nose twitched. His eyes got wet. His chest puffed up like a balloon.

"Ah," said Zeb. "Ah... ah..."

His sister Mabel hid behind a hay bale. She knew what would come next. The last time Zeb sneezed, the neighbor's hat flew away.

"AH-CHOOOO!"

The sneeze shook every window in the county. It blew the laundry off Grandma's line. It flew over the hills. Long underwear landed on the steeple in town. Three socks fell in the pond, and the frogs wore them. The scarecrow spun so fast that he got dizzy and sat down.

Grandma looked at the empty line. "Well," she said, "the sheets got a ride."

Zeb felt bad. He made a plan. He sewed a giant sack and hung it by the barn door. When a sneeze came, he sneezed into the sack. By fall, the sack was so full of wind that it pushed a boat across the pond. Grandma's wash dried fast. Now the neighbors line up to borrow his sneezes.

▲ This passage · 253 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 4.6

Zeb Tuttle lived on a farm so windy that the chickens laid their eggs sideways. One spring morning he walked into the barn and sniffed a pinch of pepper that Grandma had spilled. His nose twitched. His eyes watered. His chest swelled up like a balloon at the fair.

"Ah," said Zeb. "Ah... ah..."

His sister Mabel dove behind a hay bale, because she knew exactly what was coming. The last time Zeb sneezed, the neighbor's hat flew off his head and was never seen again.

"AH-CHOOOO!"

The sneeze rattled every window in the county and blew the laundry off Grandma's clothesline, sending it sailing over the distant hills. A pair of long underwear landed on top of the steeple in town, and three socks fell into the pond, where the frogs wore them for a week. The scarecrow spun around so fast that he grew dizzy and had to sit down.

When the wind calmed, the family stared at the empty clothesline. "Well," said Grandma, "at least the sheets got a ride."

Zeb felt terrible, so he thought of a clever plan. He sewed a giant sack and hung it beside the barn door, and whenever he felt a sneeze coming, he hurried over and sneezed right into the sack. By autumn the sack was so full of wind that Zeb used it to push a little boat across the pond. Grandma's wash now dried in two minutes flat, and the neighbors lined up to borrow his sneezes on washing day.

■ Harder · 264 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.6

Zeb Tuttle lived on a farm so relentlessly windy that the chickens laid their eggs sideways. One spring morning he wandered into the barn and sniffed a pinch of pepper that Grandma had carelessly spilled. His nose twitched, his eyes watered, and his chest swelled up like a balloon at the county fair.

"Ah," said Zeb. "Ah... ah..."

His sister Mabel dove behind a hay bale, because she knew exactly what was coming. The last time Zeb had sneezed, the neighbor's hat had flown off his head and had never been seen again.

"AH-CHOOOO!"

The sneeze rattled every window in the county. It tore the laundry from Grandma's clothesline and sent it sailing over the distant hills. A pair of long underwear landed on top of the steeple in town, and three socks plunked into the pond, where the frogs wore them for a week. The scarecrow spun around so quickly that he grew dizzy and had to sit down in the dirt.

When the wind finally calmed, the family stared at the empty clothesline. "Well," said Grandma, "at least the sheets got a ride."

Zeb felt terrible, so he came up with a clever plan. He sewed an enormous sack and hung it beside the barn door, and whenever he felt a sneeze approaching, he hurried over and sneezed right into it. By autumn the sack held so much wind that Zeb used it to push a little boat across the pond. Grandma's wash now dried in two minutes flat, and the neighbors lined up on washing day to borrow his sneezes.

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 twitched, steeple, scarecrow, dizzy and borrow 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 "Zeb Tuttle and the Thirty-Mile Sneeze"?

It was written for 5th grade. It has 253 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 4.6. 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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