Pizza Night
Reading Comprehension Activity
Parker loves pizza. One night, Mom decides not to order it from the local pizza place and instead buys ingredients to make pizza at home. Students will read the passage and answer follow-up questions about character and other story elements.
Topic(s): Realistic Fiction. Skill(s): Character Traits, Fact & Opinion, Story Elements. Genre(s): Prose
Click for the passage & questions on one printable PDF.
Friday is Parker’s favorite day of the week. Every Friday, Parker and his mom order pizza from their favorite pizza place. They always eat dinner together while they watch TV. Parker likes to watch home shows with Mom. It’s fun to watch people shop for new houses. Parker likes to guess which house they will choose.
Parker never has to guess about what kind of pizza they will eat for dinner. They always get one pizza with half mushrooms and half pepperoni. That way they get two pizzas for the price of one, Mom says.
So, it was surprising when Mom came home from work on Friday with a full grocery bag. Instead of grabbing the takeout menu, she started taking items out of the bag. Parker saw a bag of shredded cheese, a jar of tomato sauce, and several colorful peppers. “I thought it would be fun to make our own pizza,” Mom said.
Parker had never made a pizza before, but was willing to try. First Mom opened two round discs. “These are pizza crusts,” she said. “We can each make our own pizza with whatever toppings we want.”
Parker opened the jar of tomato sauce and put a big spoonful on his crust. He swirled it around to cover all the dough. Mom did the same.
Then Mom opened the bag of cheese. She reached in, grabbed a handful of cheese shreds, and sprinkled the cheese carefully on her crust. Parker did the same.
Next, Mom cut the peppers into small pieces. She covered her pizza with pieces of green, red, yellow, and orange pepper. “I’m going to have a veggie pizza,” Mom said. “It will be nice to have something different.”
Parker had an idea. Wouldn’t it be fun to make the pizza look like a work of art? Parker used the different colored peppers to make a picture. There was a green tree, a yellow sun, and plenty of red and orange flowers.
“What a pretty pizza!” Mom said. “Are you sad that there’s no pepperoni?”
“I was at first,” Parker said, “But now I’m excited to see what art tastes like!”
Mom put the pizzas in the oven. Fifteen minutes later, she and Parker turned on the TV and ate their pizza together. They decided it was the best pizza they had ever tasted.
Get the passage & questions on one printable PDF.