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Grandma's Smudged Card

8th grade fiction passage about problem solving and family: 291 words, five questions, an answer key and vocabulary.

8th grade fiction problem solving and family 291 words

Grandma's Smudged Card

Kofi had promised to bake his grandmother's famous oatmeal cookies for the neighborhood picnic, and he felt confident until he pulled the old recipe card out of its tin. A large brown stain, probably from spilled vanilla, had blurred half the ingredients. He could still read the flour and the oats, but the amounts of sugar, butter, and cinnamon had dissolved into an unreadable smudge.

Grandma was visiting her sister and could not be reached until evening, yet the picnic began at noon. Kofi paced around the kitchen in frustration. He could easily buy cookies at the grocery store, but that would not feel like keeping his promise.

Then an idea occurred to him. He knocked on the door of Mrs. Reyes next door, who had been eating Grandma's cookies for twenty years. "They are chewy, with just a hint of cinnamon," she said thoughtfully, tapping her chin. "And I remember Grandma saying the butter is a full stick, because her mother always used a whole stick."

With that clue, Kofi measured everything carefully and wrote down each amount as he worked, so that he would never lose his progress again. He baked a test batch of six cookies and tasted one, which was far too sweet, so he reduced the sugar slightly and tried a second batch, which smelled exactly like his grandmother's kitchen.

At the picnic, the cookies disappeared within minutes. That night, Kofi called his grandmother to tell her what he had done. She laughed warmly and asked him to read the new amounts aloud. "You got it nearly right," she said. "And now the recipe is safe in two places." Kofi copied it onto a fresh card and added a note in the corner: "Fixed by Kofi."

Questions

  1. What happened to the recipe card? in the text

  2. Who helped Kofi remember how much butter to use? in the text

  3. What was wrong with the first test batch? in the text

  4. Why did Kofi write down each amount as he went? think about it

  5. Why did Kofi not simply buy cookies at the store? think about it

Words to know

recipe
a set of directions for making food
ingredients
the foods that are mixed together in a recipe
smudge
a dirty or blurred mark
neighborhood
the area and people living close to your home
reduced
made smaller in amount
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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 · 278 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 3.1

Kofi had promised to bake his grandmother's famous oatmeal cookies for the neighborhood picnic. He felt sure he could do it. Then he took the old recipe card out of its tin. A large brown stain, maybe from spilled vanilla, had blurred half the ingredients. He could still read the flour and the oats. But the amounts of sugar, butter, and cinnamon were lost in a smudge.

Grandma was visiting her sister. She could not be reached until evening. The picnic began at noon. Kofi paced around the kitchen. He could buy cookies at the store. But that would not feel like keeping his promise.

Then he had an idea. He knocked on the door of Mrs. Reyes next door. She had eaten Grandma's cookies for twenty years. "They are chewy, with just a little cinnamon," she said, tapping her chin. "And I remember Grandma saying the butter is a full stick. Her mother always used a whole stick."

With that clue, Kofi measured with care. He wrote down each amount as he worked, so he would not lose his progress again. He baked a test batch of six cookies and tasted one. It was far too sweet. He used a little less sugar and baked a second batch. It smelled just like his grandmother's kitchen.

At the picnic, the cookies were gone in minutes. That night, Kofi called his grandmother and told her what he had done. She laughed and asked him to read the new amounts. "You got it nearly right," she said. "Now the recipe is safe in two places." Kofi copied it onto a new card. In the corner he wrote, "Fixed by Kofi."

▲ This passage · 291 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.2

Kofi had promised to bake his grandmother's famous oatmeal cookies for the neighborhood picnic, and he felt confident until he pulled the old recipe card out of its tin. A large brown stain, probably from spilled vanilla, had blurred half the ingredients. He could still read the flour and the oats, but the amounts of sugar, butter, and cinnamon had dissolved into an unreadable smudge.

Grandma was visiting her sister and could not be reached until evening, yet the picnic began at noon. Kofi paced around the kitchen in frustration. He could easily buy cookies at the grocery store, but that would not feel like keeping his promise.

Then an idea occurred to him. He knocked on the door of Mrs. Reyes next door, who had been eating Grandma's cookies for twenty years. "They are chewy, with just a hint of cinnamon," she said thoughtfully, tapping her chin. "And I remember Grandma saying the butter is a full stick, because her mother always used a whole stick."

With that clue, Kofi measured everything carefully and wrote down each amount as he worked, so that he would never lose his progress again. He baked a test batch of six cookies and tasted one, which was far too sweet, so he reduced the sugar slightly and tried a second batch, which smelled exactly like his grandmother's kitchen.

At the picnic, the cookies disappeared within minutes. That night, Kofi called his grandmother to tell her what he had done. She laughed warmly and asked him to read the new amounts aloud. "You got it nearly right," she said. "And now the recipe is safe in two places." Kofi copied it onto a fresh card and added a note in the corner: "Fixed by Kofi."

■ Harder · 298 words · Flesch-Kincaid grade 7.7

Kofi had promised to bake his grandmother's celebrated oatmeal cookies for the neighborhood picnic, and he felt entirely confident until he pulled the old recipe card out of its tin. A large brown stain, probably from spilled vanilla, had blurred half of the ingredients. He could still read the flour and the oats, but the amounts of sugar, butter, and cinnamon had dissolved into an unreadable smudge.

Grandma was visiting her sister and could not be reached until evening, yet the picnic would begin at noon. Kofi paced around the kitchen in frustration. He could easily purchase cookies at the grocery store, but that would not feel like keeping his promise to her.

Then an idea occurred to him. He knocked on the door of Mrs. Reyes next door, who had been eating Grandma's cookies for twenty years. "They are chewy, with just a hint of cinnamon," she said thoughtfully, tapping her chin. "And I remember Grandma mentioning that the butter is a full stick, because her mother always used a whole stick."

With that valuable clue, Kofi measured everything meticulously and wrote down each amount as he worked, so that he would never lose his progress again. He baked a test batch of six cookies and tasted one, which was far too sweet, so he reduced the sugar slightly and tried a second batch, which smelled exactly like his grandmother's kitchen.

At the picnic, the cookies vanished within minutes. That night, Kofi called his grandmother to tell her what he had accomplished. She laughed warmly and asked him to read the new amounts aloud. "You got it nearly right," she said. "And now the recipe is safe in two places." Kofi copied it onto a fresh card and added a note in the corner: "Fixed by Kofi."

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 recipe, ingredients, smudge, neighborhood and reduced 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 "Grandma's Smudged Card"?

It was written for 8th grade. It has 291 words and works out to a Flesch-Kincaid grade level of about 7.2. 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 five. 3 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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