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 · 261 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.3
The seventh grade Library Club had a plan. They would hold a bake sale in the school courtyard. They would use the money to buy new books. The club president, Marcus, wrote a shopping list for the grocery delivery. His co-organizer, Priya, typed it into the order form.
Marcus's list said, "We need two big bags of flour." But Priya typed, "We need two big bags of flower." She was in a rush. Her spell-checker said nothing, because flower is a real word.
On Friday afternoon, a van pulled up to the school. The driver wheeled out a stack of boxes. The club opened them one by one. Inside were tulips, daisies, marigolds, and a bunch of sunflowers taller than Marcus. There was not one bit of flour.
"We cannot bake a cake with a sunflower," Priya moaned. Marcus stared at the boxes. Then he began to smile. "Maybe we do not have to bake with them," he said. "Maybe we can sell them."
The club hurried. They borrowed vases from the cafeteria. They tied the flowers into small bouquets and set up a second table next to the ovens. A friendly cook from the lunchroom gave them ten pounds of real flour, so the cookies could still be baked.
On Saturday, families bought cookies. Then they bought bouquets to take home. By closing time the courtyard smelled like a garden. The club had made twice what they hoped. Marcus pinned a sign to the table. It said, PROOFREAD YOUR ORDER, OR YOU MAY END UP WITH A BOUQUET.
▲ This passage · 286 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.7
The seventh grade Library Club had an ambitious plan to hold a bake sale in the school courtyard and use the proceeds to buy new books. The club president, Marcus, wrote a shopping list for the grocery delivery, and his co-organizer, Priya, typed it into the online order form.
Marcus's list said, "We need two big bags of flour." What Priya typed, however, was, "We need two big bags of flower." She had been in a rush, and her spell-checker raised no objection, because flower is a perfectly legitimate word.
On Friday afternoon, a delivery van pulled up to the school, and the driver wheeled out a tall stack of boxes. The club opened them one at a time and discovered tulips, daisies, marigolds, and a bundle of sunflowers that was taller than Marcus. There was not a single grain of flour in the entire shipment.
"We cannot bake a cake with a sunflower," Priya moaned. Marcus stared at the boxes for a long moment, and then he began to smile. "Maybe we do not have to bake with them," he said. "Maybe we can sell them."
The club scrambled into action. They borrowed vases from the cafeteria, arranged the blooms into small bouquets, and set up a second table beside the ovens. A generous cook from the lunchroom donated ten pounds of real flour, so the cookies could still be baked.
On Saturday, families bought cookies and then bought bouquets to take home. By closing time the courtyard smelled like a spring garden, and the club had earned twice what it had expected. Marcus pinned a sign to the table that read, PROOFREAD YOUR ORDER, OR YOU MAY END UP WITH A BOUQUET.
■ Harder · 296 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.2
The seventh grade Library Club had devised an ambitious plan to hold a bake sale in the school courtyard and use the proceeds to purchase new books. The club president, Marcus, composed a shopping list for the grocery delivery, and his co-organizer, Priya, typed it into the online order form.
Marcus's list read, "We need two big bags of flour." What Priya typed, however, was, "We need two big bags of flower." She had been in considerable haste, and her spell-checker raised no objection whatsoever, because flower is a perfectly legitimate word.
On Friday afternoon, a delivery van pulled up to the school, and the driver wheeled out an impressive stack of boxes. The club opened them one at a time and discovered tulips, daisies, marigolds, and a bundle of sunflowers that towered over Marcus. There was not a single grain of flour anywhere in the entire shipment.
"We cannot bake a cake with a sunflower," Priya moaned. Marcus stared at the boxes for a long moment, and then a slow, thoughtful smile spread across his face. "Perhaps we do not have to bake with them," he said. "Perhaps we can sell them."
The club scrambled into action immediately. They borrowed vases from the cafeteria, arranged the blooms into small bouquets, and established a second table beside the borrowed ovens. A generous cook from the lunchroom donated ten pounds of genuine flour, so the cookies could still be baked as originally planned.
On Saturday, families purchased cookies and then bought bouquets to carry home. By closing time the courtyard smelled like a spring garden, and the club had earned twice what it had anticipated. Marcus pinned a sign to the table that read, PROOFREAD YOUR ORDER, OR YOU MAY END UP WITH A BOUQUET.
Name ____________________●
The Flour and Flower Bake Sale Disaster
The seventh grade Library Club had a plan. They would hold a bake sale in the school courtyard. They would use the money to buy new books. The club president, Marcus, wrote a shopping list for the grocery delivery. His co-organizer, Priya, typed it into the order form.
Marcus's list said, "We need two big bags of flour." But Priya typed, "We need two big bags of flower." She was in a rush. Her spell-checker said nothing, because flower is a real word.
On Friday afternoon, a van pulled up to the school. The driver wheeled out a stack of boxes. The club opened them one by one. Inside were tulips, daisies, marigolds, and a bunch of sunflowers taller than Marcus. There was not one bit of flour.
"We cannot bake a cake with a sunflower," Priya moaned. Marcus stared at the boxes. Then he began to smile. "Maybe we do not have to bake with them," he said. "Maybe we can sell them."
The club hurried. They borrowed vases from the cafeteria. They tied the flowers into small bouquets and set up a second table next to the ovens. A friendly cook from the lunchroom gave them ten pounds of real flour, so the cookies could still be baked.
On Saturday, families bought cookies. Then they bought bouquets to take home. By closing time the courtyard smelled like a garden. The club had made twice what they hoped. Marcus pinned a sign to the table. It said, PROOFREAD YOUR ORDER, OR YOU MAY END UP WITH A BOUQUET.
Questions
- What was the Library Club raising money for?
- What did Marcus write on the shopping list?
- What mistake did Priya make?
- Why did the spell-checker miss the mistake?
- How did the club fix the problem?
- What lesson does the sign teach?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________▲
The Flour and Flower Bake Sale Disaster
The seventh grade Library Club had an ambitious plan to hold a bake sale in the school courtyard and use the proceeds to buy new books. The club president, Marcus, wrote a shopping list for the grocery delivery, and his co-organizer, Priya, typed it into the online order form.
Marcus's list said, "We need two big bags of flour." What Priya typed, however, was, "We need two big bags of flower." She had been in a rush, and her spell-checker raised no objection, because flower is a perfectly legitimate word.
On Friday afternoon, a delivery van pulled up to the school, and the driver wheeled out a tall stack of boxes. The club opened them one at a time and discovered tulips, daisies, marigolds, and a bundle of sunflowers that was taller than Marcus. There was not a single grain of flour in the entire shipment.
"We cannot bake a cake with a sunflower," Priya moaned. Marcus stared at the boxes for a long moment, and then he began to smile. "Maybe we do not have to bake with them," he said. "Maybe we can sell them."
The club scrambled into action. They borrowed vases from the cafeteria, arranged the blooms into small bouquets, and set up a second table beside the ovens. A generous cook from the lunchroom donated ten pounds of real flour, so the cookies could still be baked.
On Saturday, families bought cookies and then bought bouquets to take home. By closing time the courtyard smelled like a spring garden, and the club had earned twice what it had expected. Marcus pinned a sign to the table that read, PROOFREAD YOUR ORDER, OR YOU MAY END UP WITH A BOUQUET.
Questions
- What was the Library Club trying to raise money for?
- What did Marcus write on the shopping list?
- What mistake did Priya make when she typed the order?
- Why didn't the spell-checker catch the error?
- How did the club turn the problem into a success?
- What lesson does the sign on the table teach?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Name ____________________■
The Flour and Flower Bake Sale Disaster
The seventh grade Library Club had devised an ambitious plan to hold a bake sale in the school courtyard and use the proceeds to purchase new books. The club president, Marcus, composed a shopping list for the grocery delivery, and his co-organizer, Priya, typed it into the online order form.
Marcus's list read, "We need two big bags of flour." What Priya typed, however, was, "We need two big bags of flower." She had been in considerable haste, and her spell-checker raised no objection whatsoever, because flower is a perfectly legitimate word.
On Friday afternoon, a delivery van pulled up to the school, and the driver wheeled out an impressive stack of boxes. The club opened them one at a time and discovered tulips, daisies, marigolds, and a bundle of sunflowers that towered over Marcus. There was not a single grain of flour anywhere in the entire shipment.
"We cannot bake a cake with a sunflower," Priya moaned. Marcus stared at the boxes for a long moment, and then a slow, thoughtful smile spread across his face. "Perhaps we do not have to bake with them," he said. "Perhaps we can sell them."
The club scrambled into action immediately. They borrowed vases from the cafeteria, arranged the blooms into small bouquets, and established a second table beside the borrowed ovens. A generous cook from the lunchroom donated ten pounds of genuine flour, so the cookies could still be baked as originally planned.
On Saturday, families purchased cookies and then bought bouquets to carry home. By closing time the courtyard smelled like a spring garden, and the club had earned twice what it had anticipated. Marcus pinned a sign to the table that read, PROOFREAD YOUR ORDER, OR YOU MAY END UP WITH A BOUQUET.
Questions
- What was the Library Club trying to raise money to buy?
- What did Marcus write on the shopping list?
- What mistake did Priya make when typing the order?
- Why did the spell-checker fail to catch the error?
- How did the club turn the problem into a success?
- What lesson does the sign on the table teach?
Free at teach.peabody.kids
Answer key: The Flour and Flower Bake Sale Disaster
● Easier (Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.3)
- New books for the library.
- We need two big bags of flour.
- She typed flower instead of flour.
- Flower is a real word, so it was spelled right.
- They sold the flowers as bouquets and got real flour from the cook.
- Check your work, because words that sound alike can cause mix-ups.
▲ This passage (Flesch-Kincaid grade 6.7)
- New books for the library.
- We need two big bags of flour.
- She typed flower instead of flour.
- Flower is a real word, so it was spelled correctly.
- They sold the flowers as bouquets and got real flour from the cook, so they sold cookies too.
- Check your work carefully because words that sound alike can cause mix-ups.
■ Harder (Flesch-Kincaid grade 8.2)
- New books for the library.
- We need two big bags of flour.
- She typed flower instead of flour.
- Flower is a legitimate word, so it was spelled correctly.
- They sold the blooms as bouquets and received real flour from the cook, so cookies could still be sold.
- Review your work carefully, because words that sound alike can cause mix-ups.
Free at teach.peabody.kids