The Magic of Houdini

The Magic of Houdini

The Magic of Houdini
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 4 to 6
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	5.79

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		ambition, Ehrich, mayer, straitjackets, salary, mere, worldwide, admirers, stunts, religion, entire, acrobatics, fortune, wherever, mystery, nickname
	content words:		Harry Houdini, Erich Weisz, Mayer Weisz, United States, Kansas City, New York City, When Erich, Houdini Brothers, Coney Island, Beatrice Raymond

Print The Magic of Houdini

Print The Magic of Houdini (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)

Quickly Print - PDF format

	Quickly Print: PDF (2 columns per page)
	Quickly Print: PDF (full page)

Quickly Print - HTML format

Quickly Print: HTML

Proofreading Activity

Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on The Magic of Houdini

Leave your feedback on The Magic of Houdini (use this link if you found an error in the story)

The Magic of Houdini
By Jane Runyon

¹     The name Houdini and the word magic mean almost the same thing. When famous magicians are discussed, the name of Harry Houdini is almost always mentioned. He was known worldwide for his famous escapes. He was chained. He was handcuffed. He was placed into straitjackets. He was hung upside down in water. He was always able to escape his bonds. What he did was powerful magic to those who watched. Houdini knew that there was no magic involved. But he never let on.

²     Harry Houdini maintained that he was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, in April of 1874. Why he would say that no one is quite sure. The truth is he was born in Budapest, Hungary, in March of 1874. His name at birth was Erik Weisz. Erik's father was a teacher of religion in Hungary. Times were tough for the Weisz family. Mayer Weisz, Erik's father, decided that his family would have a better chance if they went to America. He left Hungary first to establish a home in the United States. He found a job as a rabbi to a small Jewish temple in Appleton. His salary was a mere $750 a year.

³     Mayer changed the spelling of the family name to Weiss so that it would appear to be more American. "Erik" was changed to "Ehrich." In 1876, Mayer had saved enough to send for his family. Ehrich was just a small boy when he reached his new home in Wisconsin. Mayer had a hard time keeping his job. His religious rules brought from Europe were much stricter than the people of Wisconsin wanted to follow. Mayer moved his family to Milwaukee when Ehrich was just eight. The family was struggling. Ehrich had to get his own jobs just to help the family out. He sold newspapers and shined shoes on the streets of Milwaukee.

Paragraphs 4 to 7:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

Weekly Reading Books

          Create Weekly Reading Books

Prepare for an entire week at once!

Children in History

             Children in History

United States

             United States

American Government

Black History and Blacks in U.S. History

Children in History

Government Careers

Hispanic Heritage

How Can I Help?

Immigration

National Parks and Monuments

Native Americans

Presidents of the United States

Women's History

United States History

A Nation Divided
(1840-1861)

A New Nation
(1776-1830)

After the Civil War
(1865-1870)

American Revolution

Cold War
(1947-1991)

Colonial America (1492-1776)

Lewis and Clark
(1804-1806)

Pearl Harbor

Spanish American War (1898)

The 1890's

The 1900's

The 1910's

The 1920's

The 1930's

The 1940's

The 1950's

The 1960's

The 1970's

The 1980's

The 1990's

The 2000's

The Civil War
(1861-1865)

The Great Depression
(1929-1945)

The United States Grows
(1865-1900)

The War of 1812

Wild, Wild West

World War I
(1914-1918)

World War II

50 States

             Fifty States Theme Unit

Document Based Activities

      Document Based Activities

More Activities, Lesson Plans, and Worksheets

Back to School
Graphic Organizers
Alphabet Worksheets
Sight Words
Math Worksheets
Mazes
50 States
Education
Teaching

Monthly Themes
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Fractions
Place Value
Time and Calendar
Money
Earth Day
Solar System
Analogies
Nouns
Following Directions
Listening
Capitalization
Cursive Writing
Patterns and Sequencing
Dinosaurs
All About Me

Kindergarten
First Grade
Second Grade
Third Grade
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
Sixth Grade

Multiplication
Division
Main Idea
Cause and Effect
Measurement
Decimals
Rounding
Order of Operations
Verbs
Community Helpers
Adjectives
Plants
Grammar
Addition and Subtraction
Contractions
Bulletin Board Ideas
Word Searches
Crossword Puzzles
Printable Puzzles

Reading Comprehension
Reading Skills
English Language Arts

Copyright © 2012 edHelper