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The Pudding Mix-Up on Elm Street

6th grade fiction passage about swapped dishes at a block party: 244 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

6th grade fiction swapped dishes at a block party 244 words

The Pudding Mix-Up on Elm Street

Every June, the families on Elm Street hold a block party, and every June the tables groan with food. This year, Dara Okafor carried two identical white dishes across the street. One held her mother's vanilla pudding, and the other held Mr. Hale's mashed potatoes. Both were creamy and pale, and both had foil lids.

Dara set one dish on the dessert table and one beside the roast chicken. Unfortunately, she set them on the wrong tables.

Mr. Hale was first in line. He spooned a large helping of pudding next to his chicken, poured gravy over it, and took a big bite. His eyebrows jumped. "Hmm," he said politely. "Sweeter than I remember."

Meanwhile, a line formed at the dessert table. Mrs. Chen scooped potatoes into a bowl, sprinkled cinnamon on top, and tasted it. She chewed for a long moment. "Buttery," she announced. "Daring. Very modern."

Soon the whole street was tasting and guessing. A toddler put gravy on his pudding and declared it the best dinner of his life. Two teenagers argued over whether the potatoes needed more sugar.

At last Dara noticed the labels, which she had stuck to the wrong lids. Her face turned pink. But when she confessed, everybody laughed so hard that the chicken nearly fell off the table. Mr. Hale wiped his eyes and suggested a new rule: from now on, every dish gets a label on the side, and every party gets one mystery dish.

Questions

  1. What did Dara carry across the street? in the text

  2. What did Mr. Hale do with the pudding? in the text

  3. What did Mrs. Chen do to the mashed potatoes? in the text

  4. What mistake did Dara make with the dishes? in the text

  5. Why were the neighbors so polite about the strange tastes? think about it

  6. Why did Dara's face turn pink? think about it

Words to know

identical
exactly alike in every way
creamy
smooth and soft, like thick cream
politely
in a kind and respectful way
daring
bold and willing to try something new
confessed
admitted that you did something
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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 · 219 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.2

Every June the families on Elm Street have a block party. The tables are full of food. This year Dara Okafor carried two white dishes across the street. One had her mother's vanilla pudding. The other had Mr. Hale's mashed potatoes. Both were creamy and pale. Both had foil lids.

Dara put one dish on the dessert table. She put one beside the roast chicken. But she put them on the wrong tables.

Mr. Hale was first in line. He put pudding next to his chicken. He poured gravy on it and took a big bite. His eyebrows jumped. "Hmm," he said. "Sweeter than I remember."

A line formed at the dessert table. Mrs. Chen scooped potatoes into a bowl. She put cinnamon on top and tasted it. "Buttery," she said. "Daring. Very modern."

Soon the whole street was tasting and guessing. A toddler put gravy on his pudding. He said it was the best dinner ever. Two teenagers argued about more sugar for the potatoes.

At last Dara saw the labels were on the wrong lids. Her face turned pink. She told everyone. They laughed so hard the chicken nearly fell off the table. Mr. Hale had an idea. From now on every dish would get a label on the side. Every party would get one mystery dish.

▲ This passage · 244 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 5.4

Every June, the families on Elm Street hold a block party, and every June the tables groan with food. This year, Dara Okafor carried two identical white dishes across the street. One held her mother's vanilla pudding, and the other held Mr. Hale's mashed potatoes. Both were creamy and pale, and both had foil lids.

Dara set one dish on the dessert table and one beside the roast chicken. Unfortunately, she set them on the wrong tables.

Mr. Hale was first in line. He spooned a large helping of pudding next to his chicken, poured gravy over it, and took a big bite. His eyebrows jumped. "Hmm," he said politely. "Sweeter than I remember."

Meanwhile, a line formed at the dessert table. Mrs. Chen scooped potatoes into a bowl, sprinkled cinnamon on top, and tasted it. She chewed for a long moment. "Buttery," she announced. "Daring. Very modern."

Soon the whole street was tasting and guessing. A toddler put gravy on his pudding and declared it the best dinner of his life. Two teenagers argued over whether the potatoes needed more sugar.

At last Dara noticed the labels, which she had stuck to the wrong lids. Her face turned pink. But when she confessed, everybody laughed so hard that the chicken nearly fell off the table. Mr. Hale wiped his eyes and suggested a new rule: from now on, every dish gets a label on the side, and every party gets one mystery dish.

■ Harder · 266 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.2

Every June, the families on Elm Street hold an enormous block party, and every June the tables groan beneath the weight of the food. This year, Dara Okafor carried two identical white dishes across the street. One contained her mother's vanilla pudding, and the other contained Mr. Hale's mashed potatoes. Both were creamy and pale, and both were sealed beneath foil lids.

Dara placed one dish on the dessert table and the other beside the roast chicken. Unfortunately, she had set them down on the wrong tables entirely.

Mr. Hale was the first person in line. He spooned a generous helping of pudding next to his chicken, poured gravy over the top, and took an enthusiastic bite. His eyebrows jumped. "Hmm," he said politely. "Sweeter than I remember."

Meanwhile, a line had formed at the dessert table. Mrs. Chen scooped potatoes into a bowl, sprinkled cinnamon over them, and tasted a spoonful. She chewed for a long moment before announcing, "Buttery. Daring. Very modern."

Before long, the whole street was tasting and guessing. A toddler poured gravy on his pudding and declared it the finest dinner of his life, while two teenagers argued about whether the potatoes needed more sugar.

At last Dara noticed that she had stuck the labels onto the wrong lids, and her face turned pink. But when she confessed, everybody laughed so hard that the chicken nearly slid off the table. Mr. Hale wiped his eyes and proposed a new rule: from now on, every dish would carry a label on its side, and every party would feature exactly one mystery dish.

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 identical, creamy, politely, daring and confessed 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 Pudding Mix-Up on Elm Street"?

It was written for 6th grade. It has 244 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 5.4. 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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