Carla’s classmates think her sandwiches are strange—until something unexpected happens at the class picnic.
Learning Objective: Students will use details from the story to identify the main character’s traits.
All About Sandwiches
You’re going to read a story about a student named Carla, who brings in creative sandwiches for lunch. Some of her sandwich ingredients are unusual. They’re not what you would normally expect to find in a sandwich. How much do you know about these food items? Take this quiz to find out. (Don’t worry if you don’t know the answers. By the time you’re done, you’ll be an expert!)
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Carla brought weird sandwiches to school. Buster noticed it first. He was sitting next to Carla at lunch one Monday.
“EEEW! What are you eating?” Buster asked.
“It’s all green and slimy!”
“It’s an olive, pickle, and green bean sandwich,” said Carla. “I made it myself. Would you like to try some?”
“No way!” said Buster, pinching his nose. “That’s gross!”
“It’s not gross,” said Carla. “It’s different. I like to be different.”
“It’s gross,” said Buster. And he went to sit with Leslie instead.
On Tuesday, Carla’s sandwich had yellow and white stuff oozing out of the sides.
“What in the world is that?” asked Leslie.
“It’s my Banana-Cottage-Cheese Delight,” said Carla.
“Bananas and cottage cheese?” asked Leslie, sticking out her tongue. “That’s disgusting.”
“It’s not disgusting,” said Carla. “It’s creative.”
“It’s disgusting,” said Leslie, and she went to sit next to Natie instead.
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On Wednesday, Carla’s sandwich was orange and brown and lumpy. It crunched when she bit into it.
“Ugh,” said Natie, who was sitting next to her. “What is that?”
“I call it Carla’s Crunch,” said Carla. “It’s peanut butter, crackers, and cheddar cheese in a lovely pita bread. I brought extra. Would you like some?”
“No way!” said Natie, scrunching his face. “That’s sick.”
“It’s not sick,” said Carla. “It’s unique.”
“It’s sick,” said Natie, and he went to sit next to Marcus instead.
Art by Sheila Bailey
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On Thursday, Carla brought a chopped liver, potato chip, and cucumber sandwich. On Friday, she brought a sardine and mustard sandwich with sunflower seeds. By Monday, no one wanted to sit next to Carla, so she ate by herself.
The Class Picnic
At the end of the day, Miss Pimento made an announcement.
“Tomorrow we will have a picnic.”
“Hooray!” everyone shouted.
The next day, when the bell rang, the kids ran to get their picnic lunches.
“I have peanut butter and jelly,” Natie announced to the class.
“I have baloney,” said Leslie.
“Tuna,” called Buster. “Carla, what do you have? It’s probably a ketchup, spinach, and jelly bean sandwich.”
He and Leslie snickered. So did Natie. “It’s not,” said Carla firmly.
Then the children followed Miss Pimento out the door and to the park.
“Yuck!” said Buster. He pointed at Carla’s lunch as everyone sat down in the park. “What is that?”
“It’s a lettuce, tomato, raisin, bean sprout, pretzel, and mayonnaise sandwich,” said Carla happily. “I call it the Combo Deluxe.”
“It looks like a worm sandwich!” teased Buster. Natie and Leslie laughed.
Buster looked through his backpack. “Uh-oh,” he said quietly. He dumped everything out of his bag. Soon everyone was eating—everyone except Buster. Carla looked at Buster.
“You can have one of mine,” she offered. “I brought extra.”
“No way!” said Buster.
Art by Sheila Bailey
Is It Gross?
A few minutes later, Buster’s mouth began to water. He looked at Carla’s sandwich. Maybe bean sprouts aren’t so bad, he thought.
Buster was growing hungrier and hungrier. His stomach grumbled loudly. Raisins are kind of fun, he thought, and who doesn’t like pretzels?
Buster eyed Carla’s sandwich again.
Carla sang out, “You don’t know what you’re missing . . .”
Finally, Buster couldn’t take it anymore.
“OK,” he whispered to Carla.
“OK what?” asked Carla.
“OK, can I have one?” he said.
“Can you have one what?” asked Carla.
Buster said impatiently, “Can I please have one of your sandwiches?”
Everyone looked up. Carla smiled and handed Buster a Combo Deluxe. Buster looked closely at the lettuce, tomato, raisin, bean sprout, pretzel, and mayonnaise sandwich.
And then he took a very small bite.All eyes were watching as he chewed and swallowed.
“I can’t believe he’s eating it!” said Natie in disgust.
“What does it taste like?” asked Leslie. “Is it gross?”
Buster didn’t say anything. He looked at everyone and took another bite. And another. And another.
Really Creative
When the last bite was gone, Buster licked his fingers and smacked his lips.
“Yum!” he said. “That was the best sandwich I ever ate!”
“It was?” asked Natie in horror.
“It was!” said Buster, smiling at Carla. Carla beamed.
“I bet you’d all enjoy the Combo Deluxe,” said Carla. “Who’d like to try some?”
Slowly, Leslie raised her hand. Then Natie raised his. Then Darcy, Susan, Rufus, and Fabio. Soon all the kids had their hands in the air. Carla took her last sandwich, broke it into pieces, and handed them out to everyone.
“This is terrific!” said Leslie.
“Yeah!” said Natie. “It tastes great!”
“Tomorrow I’m going to bring a creative sandwich too,” said Leslie. “Maybe it’ll be a mustard sandwich with baked beans and french fries. What do you think of that, Carla?”
“That’s really creative,” said Carla.
“I’ll bring a spaghetti and soy sauce sandwich,” said Buster, as he got up and sat next to Carla.
“Yum,” said Carla.
“I don’t know what I’m bringing yet,” said Natie. “But it’ll be unique.”
The next day, everyone in Miss Pimento’s class brought an unusual sandwich to school. There was an asparagus and salad dressing sandwich, a pistachio and tangerine sandwich, and even a pizza sandwich.
“What did you bring today, Carla?” asked Buster.
“I’m not telling,” said Carla. “You’ll have to wait until lunchtime.”
Art by Sheila Bailey
I Like to Be Different
The morning seemed to last forever, but finally the lunch bell rang. Buster pulled out his spaghetti and soy sauce sandwich and glanced at Carla.
This time her sandwich was not green. It was not slimy or lumpy, and nothing was oozing out of the sides.
“What kind of sandwich is that?” Buster asked.
“Yeah,” said Leslie. “What’s inside?”
Everyone looked at Carla, waiting for an answer.
“Well,” said Carla, “today I have . . . peanut butter and jelly.”
“Peanut butter and jelly?” asked Buster in shock.
“Peanut butter and jelly?” Leslie and Natie asked together.
“Peanut butter and jelly!” Carla said, biting into her sandwich. “I like to be different.”
THINK AND WRITE
Imagine you’re one of Carla’s classmates. Write a letter to your friend describing what Carla is like and how she is special.
Can't Miss Teaching Extras
For more great fiction in which students learn to fit in with their peers while staying true to themselves, check out “The Name Jar” and “Veronica’s Pack,” two stories from last year.
Food can be a powerful way to express personality and culture. Share Jerry Craft’s graphic novel-style story “A Recipe for Disaster” with your students and ask students to compare Carla’s experience with Liz’s attempts to complete her intimidating homework assignment. How does each character find a way to express herself through food?
Think some of Carla’s food is a little strange? Wait until you see what candy might be like in the future, in our Paired Texts feature from May/June 2020: “How Candy Conquered America” and “The Future of Candy.” Ask students: Would you rather eat Carla’s Combo Deluxe or a chocolate made with mushrooms?
Table of Contents
4. Differentiate and Customize
Striving Readers, Multilingual Learners, Advanced Readers
1. Preparing to Read
Set a Purpose for Reading/Preview Text Features
Ask students to predict what this story will be about based on the title, subtitle, and images on pages 10-11. Review the predictions after reading.
Introduce Vocabulary
2. Close Reading
Project or assign the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions. (Alternatively, use all or part of the Learning Journey Slide Deck.)
Close-Reading Questions
Critical-Thinking Questions
Class Discussion: Staying True to Yourself
3. Skill Building and Writing
Featured Skill: Character Traits
Distribute or digitally assign the Character Traits Skill Builder and have students complete it in class or for homework.
Ask students to write a response to the Think and Write prompt on
page 15.
Differentiate and Customize
For a first read, play our read-aloud version of the story as students follow along in their magazines. Then have students read it again in small groups, stopping to discuss the Pause and Think questions.
Some of Carla’s sandwich ingredients may be unfamiliar to your multilingual learners. Ask students to highlight each ingredient in the story. Then look up pictures of these foods together. Ask students if they have ever had each food before and invite them to share their answers. Then ask: If you had to choose one of Carla’s sandwiches to eat for lunch, which would you have? Invite students to describe some of their favorite sandwiches.
Challenge your students to think of three or four new types of sandwiches that are even more bizarre, unique, or delicious than Carla’s! For each sandwich, have students write a description of the ingredients and a few sentences explaining why they chose that specific recipe. Encourage them to include illustrations!
