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The Bakery Receipts With Circled Letters

7th grade fiction passage about a hidden message on receipts: 248 words, six questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

7th grade fiction a hidden message on receipts 248 words

The Bakery Receipts With Circled Letters

On Saturdays, Nate helped at his uncle's bakery by bagging rolls and counting out change, and by the third week of March he had noticed something peculiar. Every Saturday a gray-haired customer named Mrs. Varga bought a single loaf of rye bread, and every time she took her receipt, she circled one letter in the shop's name with a pencil.

Nate began keeping the crumpled slips that she left behind on the counter. During the first week she had circled a T, during the second week a W, and during the third week an E. "That could be a pattern," he muttered. "Or it could simply be an accident."

He wrote the letters in order in his notebook as the weeks went by. After a month he had T, W, E, N, T, Y, and after several more Saturdays the pattern had grown into TWENTY YEARS, at which point he dropped his pencil in astonishment.

He sprinted to the back of the shop. "Uncle Gus, I think someone is planning something for your anniversary," he said breathlessly. "It has been twenty years since you opened, hasn't it?"

His uncle blinked, and then a broad smile spread across his face. The next Saturday, Mrs. Varga strolled in with a dozen neighbors who were carrying an enormous hand-lettered banner. "Thank you for twenty years of rye bread," it read.

She winked at Nate. "I wondered who would notice," she said. "Most people never bother to read the receipt."

Questions

  1. What did Mrs. Varga buy every Saturday? in the text

  2. What did she do to each receipt? in the text

  3. What message did the circled letters spell? in the text

  4. What did Mrs. Varga bring to the bakery in the end? in the text

  5. Why did Nate keep the crumpled receipts? think about it

  6. Why did Mrs. Varga hide the message in the receipts? think about it

Words to know

receipt
a slip of paper that shows what a customer paid
pattern
an order or design that repeats or follows a rule
crumpled
squeezed or wrinkled into a ball
anniversary
a yearly celebration of an important date
hand-lettered
written by hand rather than printed
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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 · 216 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 2.6

On Saturdays, Nate helped at his uncle's bakery. He bagged rolls and counted change. By the third week of March, he saw something odd. Every Saturday, a gray-haired woman named Mrs. Varga bought one loaf of rye bread. Each time, she circled one letter in the shop's name on her receipt with a pencil.

Nate kept the crumpled slips she left on the counter. The first week she circled a T. The second week it was a W. The third week it was an E. "That could be a pattern," he muttered. "Or it could be an accident."

He wrote the letters in his notebook as the weeks went by. After a month he had T, W, E, N, T, Y. A few Saturdays later, it spelled TWENTY YEARS. He dropped his pencil.

He ran to the back of the shop. "Uncle Gus, I think someone is planning something for your anniversary," he said. "You opened twenty years ago, didn't you?"

His uncle blinked. Then he smiled. The next Saturday, Mrs. Varga came in with a dozen neighbors. They had a huge banner that they made by hand. "Thank you for twenty years of rye bread," it said.

She winked at Nate. "I wondered who would notice," she said. "Most people never read the receipt."

▲ This passage · 248 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.3

On Saturdays, Nate helped at his uncle's bakery by bagging rolls and counting out change, and by the third week of March he had noticed something peculiar. Every Saturday a gray-haired customer named Mrs. Varga bought a single loaf of rye bread, and every time she took her receipt, she circled one letter in the shop's name with a pencil.

Nate began keeping the crumpled slips that she left behind on the counter. During the first week she had circled a T, during the second week a W, and during the third week an E. "That could be a pattern," he muttered. "Or it could simply be an accident."

He wrote the letters in order in his notebook as the weeks went by. After a month he had T, W, E, N, T, Y, and after several more Saturdays the pattern had grown into TWENTY YEARS, at which point he dropped his pencil in astonishment.

He sprinted to the back of the shop. "Uncle Gus, I think someone is planning something for your anniversary," he said breathlessly. "It has been twenty years since you opened, hasn't it?"

His uncle blinked, and then a broad smile spread across his face. The next Saturday, Mrs. Varga strolled in with a dozen neighbors who were carrying an enormous hand-lettered banner. "Thank you for twenty years of rye bread," it read.

She winked at Nate. "I wondered who would notice," she said. "Most people never bother to read the receipt."

■ Harder · 257 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.9

On Saturdays, Nate assisted at his uncle's bakery by bagging rolls and counting out change, and by the third week of March he had noticed something genuinely peculiar. Every Saturday, a gray-haired customer named Mrs. Varga purchased a single loaf of rye bread, and every time she accepted her receipt, she carefully circled one letter in the shop's name with a pencil.

Nate began collecting the crumpled slips that she abandoned on the counter. During the first week she had circled a T, during the second week a W, and during the third week an E. "That could be a pattern," he muttered to himself. "Or it could simply be an accident."

He recorded the letters in order in his notebook as the weeks passed. After a month he had T, W, E, N, T, Y, and after several more Saturdays the pattern had grown into TWENTY YEARS, at which point he dropped his pencil in complete astonishment.

He sprinted to the back of the shop. "Uncle Gus, I think someone is planning something extraordinary for your anniversary," he said breathlessly. "It has been twenty years since you opened the bakery, hasn't it?"

His uncle blinked, and then a broad, delighted smile spread across his face. The following Saturday, Mrs. Varga strolled in with a dozen neighbors who were proudly carrying an enormous hand-lettered banner. "Thank you for twenty years of rye bread," it read.

She winked at Nate. "I wondered who would eventually notice," she remarked. "Most people never bother to read the receipt."

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 receipt, pattern, crumpled, anniversary and hand-lettered 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 Bakery Receipts With Circled Letters"?

It was written for 7th grade. It has 248 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 6.3. 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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