Candy canes are a popular Christmas candy. They usually have a hook

shape and peppermint flavor. While they may look simple to make, they aren’t. It

takes many steps to turn large batches of sugary goop into these striped treats.

To make candy canes, candy makers first cook sugar, water, and corn syrup.

This mixture creates large piles of sugary goop. It can weigh over one hundred

pounds! For candy canes with red stripes, they add red food coloring to a second

mixture. Then, the goop is put onto a table to rest and flatten into sheets. It cools

down but remains hot and elastic. This is important because the goop must be

stretchy and flexible for the next step.

The second step is to flavor the goop. While peppermint is most popular, some

candy makers use strawberry and blueberry flavors. But the flavoring will not mix

with the goop on its own. Candy makers use a special ingredient called starch to

combine them. Starch binds ingredients, helping them stick together. The flavoring

and starch create a powdery mixture, which is sprinkled on top of the gooey sheets.

Last, a machine folds the goop over and over. That spreads the flavor evenly.

After flavoring, the goop must have the right color and shape. First, a machine

with metal arms stretches it. The stretching makes it fluffy and white. Then, rollers

shape the white goop into a log the size of a tree trunk. The red goop is pulled by

hand into thin strips. These strips are stretched around the white log to add a red

stripe. Next, two big wheels squeeze the candy from a tree trunk down to a narrow

rope. The rope travels over two belts that move in opposite directions. These belts

twist the rope to create a swirl. Last, machines lop off pieces of the rope to cut

them into smaller rods.

Making Candy Canes

At this point, the process isn’t done.

The rods are wrapped in plastic. Then, a

machine gives them a quick blast of heat.

The heat shrinks the plastic and makes the

candy flexible. Last, the rods are pushed

around a post. That gives them a quick

bend. The bend turns them into candy

canes.

Lexile: 810L Word Count: 370

13 ©Kristine Nannini www.youngteacherlove.com

The sugary goop with red food coloring added

1.) What does elastic mean as it’s used in the text? Which words or phrases from the text help you understand the meaning? RI.4

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2.) What does binds mean as it’s used in the text? Which words or phrases from the text help you understand the meaning? RI.4

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3.) What does lop mean as it’s used in the text? Which words or phrases from the text help you understand the meaning? RI.4

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4.) What is the text structure of Making Candy Canes (compare and contrast, sequence, problem and solution, cause and effect, or description)? Use evidence from the text to support your answer. RI.5

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Name: ______________________

Complete these questions after your second read. Use evidence from the text to support your answers.

25 ©Kristine Nannini www.youngteacherlove.com