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Cabbage That Sours Itself in a Crock

6th grade nonfiction passage about making sauerkraut: 207 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade nonfiction making sauerkraut 207 words

Cabbage That Sours Itself in a Crock

Sauerkraut starts with just two ingredients: shredded cabbage and salt. There is no vinegar and no cooking. Yet after a week or two in a crock, the pale shreds turn tangy and sour. The change is done by living things too small to see.

First, the cook mixes the salt into the cabbage and squeezes it with clean hands. Salt pulls water out of the leaves, and soon the cabbage is sitting in its own salty liquid, called brine. The shreds are pressed down and weighted so that they stay under the brine.

That step matters because of air. Under the liquid there is very little oxygen, and a kind of bacteria that does not need oxygen can thrive there. These lactic acid bacteria were already living on the cabbage leaves. They eat the natural sugars in the cabbage and make lactic acid, the same sour-tasting acid found in yogurt. The acid gives the sauerkraut its tang, and it also makes the crock a hard place for spoiling germs to live.

This process is called fermentation. Cooler rooms make it slower, and warmer rooms make it faster. When the taste is right, the crock goes into the refrigerator, where the change slows almost to a stop.

Questions

  1. What are the two ingredients that sauerkraut starts with? in the text

  2. What is brine? in the text

  3. Why must the cabbage stay under the brine? think about it

  4. What do the lactic acid bacteria eat? in the text

  5. What does the lactic acid do besides add a tangy taste? in the text

  6. Why would a cook move the finished crock to the refrigerator? think about it

Words to know

crock
a heavy pot made of baked clay
brine
water with a lot of salt in it
oxygen
the gas in air that most living things breathe
lactic acid
a sour-tasting acid made by certain bacteria
fermentation
a change in food caused by tiny living things
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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 · 188 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.2

Sauerkraut has just two things in it. They are shredded cabbage and salt. It has no vinegar. It is not cooked. But after a week or two in a crock, the cabbage turns sour. Tiny living things do the work.

First, the cook mixes salt into the cabbage and squeezes it. Salt pulls water out of the leaves. Soon the cabbage sits in salty water called brine. The cook presses the cabbage down so it stays under the brine.

This matters because of air. Under the brine there is very little oxygen. A kind of bacteria that does not need oxygen grows well there. These lactic acid bacteria are already on the cabbage leaves. They eat the sugars in the cabbage. They make lactic acid, a sour acid that is also in yogurt. The acid makes the sauerkraut tangy. It also makes the crock a hard place for spoiling germs.

This is called fermentation. A cool room makes it slow. A warm room makes it fast. When the taste is right, the cook puts the crock in the refrigerator. The cold slows the change almost to a stop.

▲ This passage · 207 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.7

Sauerkraut starts with just two ingredients: shredded cabbage and salt. There is no vinegar and no cooking. Yet after a week or two in a crock, the pale shreds turn tangy and sour. The change is done by living things too small to see.

First, the cook mixes the salt into the cabbage and squeezes it with clean hands. Salt pulls water out of the leaves, and soon the cabbage is sitting in its own salty liquid, called brine. The shreds are pressed down and weighted so that they stay under the brine.

That step matters because of air. Under the liquid there is very little oxygen, and a kind of bacteria that does not need oxygen can thrive there. These lactic acid bacteria were already living on the cabbage leaves. They eat the natural sugars in the cabbage and make lactic acid, the same sour-tasting acid found in yogurt. The acid gives the sauerkraut its tang, and it also makes the crock a hard place for spoiling germs to live.

This process is called fermentation. Cooler rooms make it slower, and warmer rooms make it faster. When the taste is right, the crock goes into the refrigerator, where the change slows almost to a stop.

■ Harder · 235 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.1

Sauerkraut begins with only two ingredients, shredded cabbage and salt. It contains no vinegar, and it is never cooked. Nevertheless, after a week or two in a crock, the pale shreds become tangy and sour, and the transformation is carried out entirely by living organisms far too small to be seen.

To begin, the cook works the salt into the cabbage and squeezes it firmly with clean hands. The salt draws water out of the leaves, and before long the cabbage is sitting in its own salty liquid, which is known as brine. The shreds are then pressed down and weighted so that they remain beneath the surface of the brine.

This step matters a great deal because of air. Beneath the liquid there is hardly any oxygen, and a particular group of bacteria that does not require oxygen can flourish there. These lactic acid bacteria were already living on the cabbage leaves. They feed on the natural sugars in the cabbage and produce lactic acid, the same sour-tasting acid found in yogurt. The acid gives sauerkraut its tang, and it also turns the crock into an unwelcoming place for the germs that cause spoilage.

The whole process is called fermentation. Cooler rooms make it proceed more slowly, while warmer rooms speed it up. Once the flavor is exactly right, the crock is moved to the refrigerator, where the change slows to almost nothing.

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 crock, brine, oxygen, lactic acid and fermentation on the board with their meanings from the Words to know section and have students predict what the text 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 3 asks the reader to infer. Ask students to point to the words in the passage that led them to their answer.
  • Ask students to write one question the passage did not answer, then look for the answer in a book or on a classroom screen.
  • Print the student copy for independent work and keep the answer-key copy for yourself.

Related

Questions

What reading level is "Cabbage That Sours Itself in a Crock"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 207 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.7. 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.

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