One story, three reading levels. Every student reads the same story at a level that fits, answers the same questions in a format that fits, and talks about it together.

Cardboard Champions: Nina and Cole spend three weeks building a tall cardboard rocket for the school parade, certain it will win Best Float. But on parade day everything goes wrong — a wheel pops off, the nose cone droops, and a box of glitter spills all over them. Instead of giving up, they lean into the mess and ham it up, and the crowd ends up loving their wobbly rocket after all.

• Social-Emotional Learning focus: adaptability, optimism, and teamwork
• Comprehension skills: literal recall, compare/contrast, inference, theme, personal connection

What's inside:

• The same story at 3 reading levels (about first through fifth grade)
• 5 comprehension questions per story, building from literal recall up to inference, theme, and a personal connection
• 3 response formats for those questions: Multiple Choice, Sentence Starters, and Open Response
• A Summarize page (Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then) for whole-group, small-group, or partner discussion
• A one-page Educator's Guide with the answer key, discussion prompts, and the story's social-emotional learning focus

Why teachers love it:

• Differentiate twice: choose each student's reading level and their response format, so reading support and writing support are set separately. Every student works on the same story and the same questions at the same time.
• Works for whole-class, small-group, one-on-one, and homeschool/multi-age settings
• High interest, low readability, real comprehension, plus a built-in Social-Emotional Learning theme
• Print-and-go, no prep

Recommended for grades 3–5 (ages 8–11).