Sir Cumference and the Off-the-Charts Dessert

$Sir Cumference and the Off-the-Charts Dessert book cover$

Grade 1
3 skill lessons · 3 math-through-reading

Math

Skill lessons

The mathematics the book carries, taught directly. Printable workbook pages and teacher keys are not available for this book yet.

1One Mark, One Vote: Building the Towers
2Most to Fewest: Putting Bart's Four Counts in Order
3The Same Number: Proving the Tie Without Counting Again

Math + reading

Math through the reading

The same book, entered through a sentence it prints. Change one word in the reading and the numbers change with it.

4Every Time, Or Only Sometimes
5Somebody Has To Win: Talking Lady Dye Into It
6Five More, Five Fewer, One Row

Reading

Reading and language lessons

The same book read as a text. What a word means in its sentence, how a character is shown, how the writing is put together - no mathematics.

7Spicy, Sweet, Creamy, Crumbly: Words for a Mouth
8Smashed, Crashed, Dashed: Words That Make a Noise
9What Went Wrong and Who Fixed It
10The Question That Kept Them Awake
11Named After a Baker: Where a Word Comes From

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Skill lessons

3 lessons on the mathematics the book carries. Printable workbook pages and teacher keys are not available for this book yet.

1. One Mark, One Vote: Building the Towers Representation · Building a count picture with one mark for one vote

The book gives two recording methods invented on the page: a short line in flour dust for every choice, and a dough pinch or a mold laid by each kind. Both rest on one rule, one mark for one vote, and the book says that rule aloud twice. Students cast a real vote, watch a mark appear as it lands, then snap one cube per vote into four towers and stand them on a shared base line. The representation is what is learned here: a tower is not a picture of a treat, it is a count of people, and a cube that stands for nothing breaks it. Nobody adds and nobody writes a numeral; the count is spoken and the arrangement carries it.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Vote once and watch the mark (4 min)
Each of you drops one bean into the bowl of the treat you like best out of four. Watch the recorder: every time a bean lands, she draws one short line under that treat's picture and says the number word she has reached. Say your treat aloud as you drop so the line and the bean happen together.
Word preview: every
I'll make a short line in some flower dust by each kind of Pai every time someone makes a choice.
2. Build the four stacks (6 min)
Work in fours. Take the class's votes for your one treat and snap that many cubes into a tower, one cube for one vote, saying one number word per cube. Do not count the tally lines twice; touch each line as you snap so a line that has been used is behind your finger. Stand the finished tower on the treat's picture.
Word preview: each
I'll line up dough pinches by each of the four types of cookie molds to show each vote.
3. Set the towers on one line (6 min)
Stand all four towers side by side on the same floor line, bases touching the tape. Check with a flat hand across the tops that no tower is propped up higher than it earned. Say aloud which tower is tallest and name the treat, then say how you know the bottoms are fair.
Word preview: tallest
He began to stack up towers of the wooden blocks as the town's people passed molds to him.
4. Say what one cube stands for (4 min)
Point at any single cube in any tower and say what it stands for: one vote from one person. Then point at the whole tower and say the number and the treat. Partner checks by counting that tower aloud and saying the same number back.
Word preview: one for each
If they chose a Pi, Pi a placed small sweet meats, one for each vote, are on the edge of a large dough round.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Vote once and watch the mark (4 min)
Each of you drops one bean into the bowl of the treat you like best. Every time a bean lands, the recorder draws one short line under that treat and says the number word reached. Say your treat aloud as you drop.
Word preview: every
I'll make a short line in some flower dust by each kind of Pai every time someone makes a choice.
2. Build the four stacks (5 min)
In fours, snap one cube for each vote your treat received, saying one number word per cube. Touch each tally line as you snap so no line is used twice. Stand the tower on the treat's picture.
Word preview: each
I'll line up dough pinches by each of the four types of cookie molds to show each vote.

Three levels

Support: Vote on two treats rather than four, and snap your tower one cube at a time while the recorder points at each tally line for you. Keep every tower under ten cubes so the whole count can be said in one breath. Say the number and the treat together each time, the way the recorder does.
At Grade: Vote on four treats, snap all four towers with your group, and set them on the tape yourselves. Say the tallest treat's name and its number aloud, and say why the bottoms must all touch the tape before anyone can tell which is tallest.
Extension: After the towers stand, take one cube out of the tallest tower and put it in the shortest, then say what is now untrue about the picture and what would have to happen in the room for the new picture to be honest. A vote has to move, not a cube.

English learners

The one-to-one rule transfers from any language a child counts in, because it is carried by the hand rather than by the words, and children who count in another language should snap and count in it. English says the number after the object here: one vote, two votes, with the plural landing on the noun and not on the number. Rehearse the frame, One cube is one vote, and Ginger has thirty votes, before the towers are read aloud. Invite each child to say the treat name in their strongest language first and then in English while touching the tower, so the object is in hand while the second word is found.

Materials

A bowl for each of four treat pictures
One dried bean per child
A wide strip of paper for the recorder
A thick marker
Snap cubes in four colours
The four treat pictures from the first step
A length of floor tape as a shared base line
Word cards: vote, tally, each, tallest

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

2. Most to Fewest: Putting Bart's Four Counts in Order Concept · Ordering four counts within thirty by length

The book prints Bart's four cookie counts twice and never puts them in order, never totals them and never takes a difference. Students build 30, 22, 6 and 2 in ten-sticks and loose cubes, lay the four builds in rows from a shared left edge, and order them by which row reaches furthest. Order is reached by looking along the rows rather than by subtracting: the concept is that a longer row means more votes only when the rows start together. The comparison sentence at the end carries a number in it, so the words more than and fewer than are attached to lengths students made rather than to a guess.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the four numbers off the book (4 min)
Listen while the four cookie counts are read to you, then set out one number card for each: 30, 22, 6 and 2. Say each number aloud as you place its card. Do not put them in order yet; leave them as the book gave them.
Word preview: counted
Meanwhile, Bart counted his molds, 30 for ginger cookies, 22 for honey, 6 for cream, and 2 for nut.
2. Build each number in tens and ones (6 min)
Take one number at a time and build it from ten-sticks and loose cubes: three ten-sticks for thirty, two ten-sticks and two cubes for twenty-two, six loose cubes, two loose cubes. Lay each build beside its card. Say what you laid down as you lay it, tens first.
Word preview: thirty
Bart graphs cookies. Ginger, 30. Honey, 22. Cream, 6. Nut, 2.
3. Line the builds up and order them (6 min)
Slide the four builds into one column so every row starts at the same left edge. Now put them in order from most votes to fewest by moving whole rows, not by counting again. Say the order aloud as a list of treats, and say which two rows you had to look at twice.
Word preview: most, fewest
Ginger cookies were most popular for me.
4. Say the sentence the order gives you (4 min)
Point at the top row and say the treat and its number, then point at the bottom row and do the same. Say one sentence that puts them together using more than or fewer than. Partner points at the two rows while you say it, to check you named the right ones.
Word preview: more than, fewer than

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Build each number in tens and ones (5 min)
Build each of the four counts from ten-sticks and loose cubes: three ten-sticks for thirty, two ten-sticks and two cubes for twenty-two, six loose cubes, two loose cubes. Lay each build beside its card, saying tens first.
Word preview: thirty
Bart graphs cookies. Ginger, 30. Honey, 22. Cream, 6. Nut, 2.
2. Line the builds up and order them (4 min)
Slide the four builds into one column with every row starting at the same left edge. Order them from most votes to fewest by moving whole rows. Say the order aloud as a list of treats.
Word preview: most, fewest
Ginger cookies were most popular for me.

Three levels

Support: Work with two numbers rather than four, six and thirty, which are far enough apart to see at a glance. Build both from the same bin so the cubes are the same size, and check the left edges with a ruler before you say which is longer. Say the sentence with the number in it: Ginger has thirty, cream has six, ginger has more.
At Grade: Build all four, order all four, and say the two-row sentence with both numbers in it. Say aloud which pair was hardest to order and why, using the words you used to describe the rows.
Extension: Order the four rows without laying them side by side. Say the order from the number cards alone, then lay the rows out and check whether you were right, and say what in the numbers told you before the rows did.

English learners

Most and fewest are superlatives and English forms them two different ways here, one with a word change and one with a suffix, which is a real load for a child sorting the two out. Give the comparative pair first, more than and fewer than, and only then the ends of the line, most and fewest, with the rows in front of the child. The rehearsable frame is, Ginger has more than honey, and honey has fewer than ginger. Many languages mark the comparison on the noun rather than with a separate word, so invite each child to say the relation in their strongest language while touching the two rows before finding the English one.

Materials

Number cards showing 30, 22, 6 and 2
Four cookie treat labels
Ten-sticks and loose cubes
A long mat with four rows
Word cards: most, fewest, more than, fewer than

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

3. The Same Number: Proving the Tie Without Counting Again Reasoning · Establishing two counts are equal by matching one to one

Twice in one night the book has a character count the rival's votes and find the same number, and the story's whole ending hangs on that equality. Students count two towers of thirty separately, then set the counting aside and match the towers counter against counter until a finger reaches the top of both at once. Matching is the reasoning here, because it settles the equality without either child trusting the other's count. Nobody subtracts and nobody writes an equation; the equality is seen, then said in a sentence that stays true when the two treats swap places.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Count the two towers separately (5 min)
Two of you take the ginger tower and two take the custard tower, in different rooms of the table so you cannot see each other. Count your tower aloud into a cup, ten at a time, and say the number you reached. Do not say it to the other pair yet.
Word preview: counted
She found the tower of wooden molds and counted them.
2. Match the towers one to one (6 min)
Bring the two towers together and lay them side by side, base to base, one counter against one counter all the way up. Do not count. Push a finger up both towers at once and stop where either one runs out. Say what you find at the top.
Word preview: same
Thirty for ginger cookies, she whispered, that's the same as my custard pie.
3. Say the tie without a bigger word (5 min)
Say one sentence about the two towers that has a number in it and does not use the word bigger or the word more. Your partner says the same fact the other way round, naming the other treat first. Both sentences must stay true when you swap which tower you point at first.
Word preview: same, equal
The same number as my top treat.
4. Break the tie and say what changed (4 min)
Add one counter to the custard tower. Match the towers again, finger up both at once, and say where the match now stops. Say what is true now that was not true before, with the number in it.
Word preview: one more

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Match the towers one to one (5 min)
Lay the two towers side by side, base to base, one counter against one counter all the way up. Do not count. Push a finger up both at once and stop where either runs out. Say what you find at the top.
Word preview: same
Thirty for ginger cookies, she whispered, that's the same as my custard pie.
2. Say the tie without a bigger word (4 min)
Say one sentence about the two towers that has a number in it and avoids the words bigger and more. Your partner says the same fact the other way round, naming the other treat first.
Word preview: same, equal
The same number as my top treat.

Three levels

Support: Work with towers of ten rather than thirty so the match can be seen in one look, and match them lying flat on the table rather than standing. Keep both towers in the same size counter. Say the sentence with the teacher's frame, Ginger has ten and custard has ten, so they are the same.
At Grade: Count both towers of thirty separately, match them, and say the equality sentence with the number in it and without the word bigger. Say the same fact the other way round when your partner asks, and say why the match settles it even though you each counted alone.
Extension: Before matching, have your partner secretly take one counter out of a tower. Match, find where the match stops, and say how many are missing and how you know, using only the match and not a recount.

English learners

The English word same is doing two jobs in this book, one of them not mathematical, and children hear both in one reading: the same question kept them awake is a repetition, while that's the same as my custard pie is an equality of number. Separate them with the towers in hand and rehearse the mathematical one as a full frame, Ginger has thirty and custard has thirty, so they have the same number. Many languages mark equality with a verb rather than an adjective, so the English word order is the new part rather than the idea. Invite each child to say the equality in their strongest language with a finger on each tower first.

Materials

Two towers of thirty counters, built in advance in two colours
Two cups
Word cards: same, equal, match

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

Math through the reading

The mathematics is reached through a sentence the book prints: change one word in the reading and the numbers change with it. These carry their own standards, matched against these lessons rather than inherited from the skill ones.

4. Every Time, Or Only Sometimes Integrated · Students vote twice over the same set of choices, once with a mark for every vote and once with marks made only sometimes, then say which tally can be trusted and why the word every is the reason.

Students vote twice over the same set of choices, once with a mark for every vote and once with marks made only sometimes, then say which tally can be trusted and why the word every is the reason.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Hear the baker's rule (3 min)
Students listen to Pia's sentence about the flour dust and say back, in their own words, exactly when she promises to draw a line.
2. Vote once, mark every time (6 min)
Every child drops one bean into a labelled bowl while a recorder draws one short line for every drop; the class counts the beans in one bowl and the lines under that label and finds the two numbers agree.
3. Vote again, mark only sometimes (5 min)
The same children drop the same beans again while the recorder marks only sometimes, and the class counts the beans and the lines a second time and finds the two numbers no longer agree.
4. Count both strips against the room (6 min)
Students point at the two strips and say which one tells how many people chose that treat, giving the number of beans and the number of marks as their reason, and name the word in Pia's sentence that the second recorder broke.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Vote once, mark every time (6 min)
Every child drops one bean into a labelled bowl while a recorder draws one short line for every drop; the class counts the beans in one bowl and the lines under that label and finds the two numbers agree.
2. Count both strips against the room (6 min)
Students point at the two strips and say which one tells how many people chose that treat, giving the number of beans and the number of marks as their reason, and name the word in Pia's sentence that the second recorder broke.

Three levels

Support: Work with one bowl and six beans rather than four bowls, so the whole count is sayable in one breath and the mismatch between six beans and four marks is visible without recounting. Speak the finding with the frame, Six people dropped a bean and the strip has ___ lines, so the strip is missing ___ people. The mathematics is unchanged; only the size of the count is reduced.
At grade: Vote across four bowls, record both strips, count each bowl against its label on both strips, and say which strip can answer how many chose that treat and which cannot, naming every as the word that decides it.
Extension: Take the broken strip and say what would have to be true about the room, not about the strip, for that strip to be honest. The children must reach the point of saying that fewer people would have had to vote, and say how many fewer, using the two counts they took.

English learners

The word every is the load here and it is deceptively small. Many languages mark this idea with a word that also means all, and a child who hears every as all may expect one mark for the whole group rather than one mark per person, which produces a single line and a lost count. Rehearse the frame, One line for one person, every time, with a hand touching a bean and then the line it made, so the pairing lives in the fingers before it lives in the sentence. Invite each child to say the rule in their strongest language while making the marks, then say the English frame with the strip in front of them. Sometimes is the harder of the two words to hear as mathematical, so contrast it directly with every rather than defining it alone.

Materials

Dried beans, one per child
Four labelled bowls
Two paper strips for the two tallies
A thick marker
Snap cubes
The two finished tally strips, set one above the other

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

5. Somebody Has To Win: Talking Lady Dye Into It Integrated · The book calls a tie and never breaks it; students build two rows from the printed counts, take a position on which treat should win, and say it to Lady Dye with their own two numbers in the sentence.

The book calls a tie and never breaks it; students build two rows from the printed counts, take a position on which treat should win, and say it to Lady Dye with their own two numbers in the sentence.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Hear the tie that nobody breaks (3 min)
Students listen to the two sentences where the tie is announced and called difficult, and say back what Lady Dye still does not know at the end of that scene.
2. Build the two rows you will argue from (7 min)
Each pair chooses two of the eight printed counts, builds a row of cubes for each on a shared base line, and says which row reaches further and by how many cubes.
3. Say it to Lady Dye (6 min)
Each child tells a partner holding Lady Dye's part which treat should win, putting at least one of their own counts into the sentence, and then hears a partner who built different rows.
4. Hear the other side and hold or change (4 min)
Students hear one position they did not take, say what rows that child must have built, and say whether they are keeping their own position and why.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Build the two rows you will argue from (7 min)
Each pair chooses two of the eight printed counts, builds a row of cubes for each on a shared base line, and says which row reaches further and by how many cubes.
2. Say it to Lady Dye (6 min)
Each child tells a partner holding Lady Dye's part which treat should win, putting at least one of their own counts into the sentence, and then hears a partner who built different rows.

Three levels

Support: Choose your two counts from the small end of the lists, apple at ten against mince at five or cream at six against nut at two, so both rows can be built and seen without recounting. Speak the position to your partner before saying it to Lady Dye, with the frame I think ___ should win because ___ got ___ and ___ only got ___ , putting your own two numbers in the blanks.
At grade: Choose any two of the eight counts, build both rows on the shared base line, take a position on which treat should win, and say it to Lady Dye with at least one of your counts inside the sentence.
Extension: Take the position you did not argue for and make the strongest case you can for it, using rows you build yourself. Then say whether hearing that case changes your own position, and say which numbers would have to be different for you to change your mind.

English learners

The argument words are the load and they are few: because, but, only. Because carries the whole reason and its clause order is reversed in many languages, so a child may give the numbers first and the position second and be entirely right; take it and recast rather than correcting the order. Only is doing quiet comparative work in the frame and is easy to lose, so rehearse the whole sentence aloud over the two built rows before any child speaks to Lady Dye, with a finger moving from one row to the other on the two numbers. Invite each child to argue it first in their strongest language to a partner who shares it, then say the English frame with the rows still on the table, so the counts are settled before the sentence has to carry them.

Materials

Snap cubes in two colours
A length of floor tape as a shared base line
Number cards showing the eight printed counts
The eight counts written up in two lists, pies and cookies

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

6. Five More, Five Fewer, One Row Integrated · The book prints four pie counts in one sentence and never sets any two of them against each other; students build two of the rows, find the gap, and say the same fact twice with the comparison word changing between the two sayings.

The book prints four pie counts in one sentence and never sets any two of them against each other; students build two of the rows, find the gap, and say the same fact twice with the comparison word changing between the two sayings.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Take the two numbers out of the sentence (3 min)
Students listen to the sentence that gives all four pie counts and set out a number card for quince and a number card for apple, saying each number as they place it.
2. Build the two rows and find the gap (7 min)
Each pair builds a row of fifteen and a row of ten from a shared left edge, runs a finger up both rows together until the shorter one runs out, and counts the cubes left standing past the end.
3. Say it both ways over one arrangement (6 min)
Students say quince got five more votes than apple with a hand on the longer row, then say apple got five fewer votes than quince with a hand on the shorter row, without moving a single cube between the two sentences.
4. Do it again where the gap is different (4 min)
Each pair rebuilds with apple against mince, finds the new gap, and says both sentences again, noticing that the number in the sentence changed and the two comparison words did not.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Build the two rows and find the gap (7 min)
Each pair builds a row of fifteen and a row of ten from a shared left edge, runs a finger up both rows together until the shorter one runs out, and counts the cubes left standing past the end.
2. Say it both ways over one arrangement (6 min)
Students say quince got five more votes than apple with a hand on the longer row, then say apple got five fewer votes than quince with a hand on the shorter row, without moving a single cube between the two sentences.

Three levels

Support: Work with apple at ten against mince at five, so both rows can be built and the gap seen without recounting, and keep the same two rows for both sentences. Say each sentence with the frame ___ got ___ more votes than ___ and then ___ got ___ fewer votes than ___ , with a hand on the row you are naming first. The mathematics stays whole; only the sentence is carried for you.
At grade: Build quince against apple, find the gap by matching rather than by counting one row twice, and say both directions of the relation with the number in each, then do it again for a second pair from the same sentence.
Extension: Say the relation both ways for a pair the book prints on opposite sides of the contest, cream at six against mince at five. Then say what would have to change in the room, not in the rows, for the two sentences to swap their comparison words, and say what the gap would be then.

English learners

Comparative syntax is the whole difficulty here and it is where children with sound arithmetic go wrong. English puts the compared thing after than and marks the direction with two different words, more and fewer, where many languages keep one comparison word and change the word order or add a marker instead; a child who has one word available may say apple got five more fewer than quince and be reasoning correctly while speaking incorrectly. Rehearse the two frames as a matched pair over the same two rows rather than one at a time, so the reversal is heard as one fact and not two. Fewer is the harder of the two and is worth its own rehearsal with the shorter row in hand. Invite each child to say both directions in their strongest language first, with a finger on each row, and only then in English while the rows stay exactly where they are.

Materials

Snap cubes in two colours
A length of floor tape as a shared base line
Number cards showing 30, 22, 15, 10, 6, 5 and 2
The pie counts and the cookie counts written up as two lists

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

Reading and language lessons

5 lessons on the reading and language the book carries - what a word means in its sentence, how a character is shown, how a text is built. No mathematics: these are matched against the English language arts curricula, which are a different and smaller set than the mathematics ones.

7. Spicy, Sweet, Creamy, Crumbly: Words for a Mouth Concept · Using describing words that tell how something tastes and feels

One sentence in this book does nothing but describe a taste, and it does it with four words joined in pairs. Students say the four words aloud, sort them into words about taste and words about how a food feels in your mouth, and then describe a food of their own with two words from each side. Everything students do is oral, which is right for this grade.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Say the four describing words (5 min)
Say this sentence aloud with your teacher three times, a little slower each time. Then hold up a finger for each describing word you hear. There are four. Say them back one at a time, all together.
Word preview: spicy, crumbly
It's spicy and sweet, creamy and crumbly.
2. Sort taste words from feel words (5 min)
Two of these words tell your tongue what it tastes. Two tell your mouth how the food feels. Say each word aloud and put it on the taste side or the feel side of your mat. Tell your partner which side crumbly goes on and why.
It's spicy and sweet, creamy and crumbly.
3. Hear how the words are paired (5 min)
Say the sentence aloud once more, clapping softly on the word and both times you hear it. The words come two by two. With your partner, say just the first pair, then just the second pair, and tell each other which pair sounds crunchier when you say it.
It's spicy and sweet, creamy and crumbly.
4. Describe a food of your own (5 min)
Think of a food you have eaten. Say one sentence about it out loud in the same shape as the sentence reprinted here, with a taste word and a feel word joined by and. Your group listens and says which of your two words told the taste.
It's spicy and sweet, creamy and crumbly.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Say the four describing words (5 min)
Say this sentence aloud three times, slower each time, and hold up a finger for each describing word. Say the four words back together.
Word preview: spicy, crumbly
It's spicy and sweet, creamy and crumbly.
2. Sort taste words from feel words (4 min)
Put each of the four words on the taste side or the feel side of your mat, saying it aloud as you place it.
It's spicy and sweet, creamy and crumbly.

Three levels

Support: Support: work with two words only, sweet and creamy. Say each one aloud while touching your tongue for taste and your cheek for feel, and place just those two on the mat.
At Grade: At Grade: sort all four words correctly and say your own food sentence with one word from each side.
Extension: Extension: add a fifth describing word of your own to the sentence and say the whole thing aloud, keeping the two-by-two pattern working. Tell your group where your word had to go so the pattern still sounded right.

English learners

Taste words are among the earliest words a child owns in any language, so the meanings are already there — only the English labels are new. Point at real or pictured food while saying each word. Frame: 'It is ___ and ___.' Ask students to name the food's taste in their strongest language first and say the English word after; hearing both said together is the point, not replacing one with the other.

Materials

Printed passage strip: It's spicy and sweet, creamy and crumbly
Taste-and-touch sorting mat
Word cards: spicy, crumbly

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

8. Smashed, Crashed, Dashed: Words That Make a Noise Concept · Hearing words that sound like the noise they name

The noisiest moment in the book is built out of three words that end the same way and sound like what they mean. Students say the span aloud, find the three words, feel the ending they share, and then match each noise word to the thing that made the noise. The work is listening to how words sound, which is a first-grade language skill and needs no counting.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Listen for the noisy words (5 min)
Close your eyes while your teacher reads this span aloud. Put a hand up every time you hear a word that sounds like a noise. Then open your eyes, look at the span, and say the three noisy words together.
Word preview: smashed, crashed, dashed
As Pia's plates smashed and Bart's molds crashed, the bakers dashed out into the street. They ran straight into each other.
2. Feel the ending they share (5 min)
Say smashed, crashed and dashed aloud one after another, three times, getting louder. Tell your partner what part sounds the same at the end of all three. Then say one more word of your own that ends the same way.
As Pia's plates smashed and Bart's molds crashed, the bakers dashed out into the street. They ran straight into each other.
3. Match each noise to what made it (5 min)
Read the span again with your teacher. Point at the plates, then say which noisy word goes with them. Do the same for the molds and for the bakers. One of the three words is not really a noise at all — say which one and say what it tells you instead.
As Pia's plates smashed and Bart's molds crashed, the bakers dashed out into the street. They ran straight into each other.
4. Say a quiet moment out loud (5 min)
Here is a quiet span from the same book. Read it aloud with your teacher and listen: there are no noisy words in it at all. Tell your group how this one sounds different from the noisy span reprinted beside it, and say which one you would read louder.
Word preview: evening
It was late evening by the time Paya and Bart moved their votes inside their bakeries. After such a busy day, both were glad they had until the next morning to report their results.
As Pia's plates smashed and Bart's molds crashed, the bakers dashed out into the street. They ran straight into each other.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Listen for the noisy words (5 min)
Close your eyes while this span is read aloud and put a hand up for every noise word. Then look and say the three noisy words together.
Word preview: smashed, crashed, dashed
As Pia's plates smashed and Bart's molds crashed, the bakers dashed out into the street. They ran straight into each other.
2. Feel the ending they share (4 min)
Say smashed, crashed and dashed aloud three times, getting louder, and tell your partner what sounds the same at the end.
As Pia's plates smashed and Bart's molds crashed, the bakers dashed out into the street. They ran straight into each other.

Three levels

Support: Support: work with two words, smashed and crashed. Say each aloud while clapping once, and match each one to the plates or the molds. Leave dashed out.
At Grade: At Grade: find all three, name the shared ending, and correctly say that dashed names a running and not a noise.
Extension: Extension: say the noisy span aloud to your group twice, once fast and once slow, and tell them which speed makes the three words sound most like the noise, pointing at the words as you say them.

English learners

Every language builds noise words, but they do not match across languages — a plate breaking is a different sound-word in each one, and a learner will hear the English word as odd rather than obvious. Say the word and make the sound with your hands together. Frame: 'The plates ___.' Invite students to say the noise word from their strongest language for a plate breaking, then say the English one beside it; the two side by side is the lesson.

Materials

Printed passage strip: As Pia's plates smashed
Noise-word cards
Printed passage strip: It was late evening
Word cards: smashed, crashed, dashed, evening

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

9. What Went Wrong and Who Fixed It Reasoning · Naming the problem in a story and how it gets solved

This story runs on one trouble after another: the cook is ill, the tasters cannot choose, and the bakers end up tied. Students read three short spans, say out loud what the trouble is in each, and then find the span where somebody says they need a plan. They finish by matching the last trouble to the fix the two bakers invent together. Nothing here asks students to count votes.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Say what has gone wrong first (5 min)
Read this span aloud with your teacher. Say to a partner, in one sentence, what the trouble is. Start your sentence with the words 'The trouble is'. Then say who the trouble is a problem for.
Word preview: harvest
The castle cook is in bed with the chills, she answered. And the harvest fair is just around the corner.
2. Find a second trouble (5 min)
Read this span aloud. There is a new trouble now and it belongs to Sir Cumference and Lady Dye, not to the cook. Say it in one sentence beginning 'The trouble is', and write it in the second box of your chart.
Word preview: decide
Sir Cumference and Lady Dye tasted all the desserts, but could not decide which treat was the best.
3. Catch the moment somebody asks for a plan (5 min)
Read these two spans aloud, one after the other. In the first one a baker says four words that tell you they know they are stuck. Point at those words. Then say what the second span tells you the two bakers did about it.
Word preview: tugged
Bart tugged at his beard. We need a plan.
All through the rest of the night, the two bakers worked.
4. Match the trouble to the fix (5 min)
Read this span aloud. Here is the fix. Fill the last box of your chart and then say one sentence to your group in this shape: 'The trouble was ___ and they fixed it by ___.' Both blanks must come from the span in front of you.
Word preview: created
Bart cleared his throat. We created this together, mixing the two favorites, custard pie and ginger cookies.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Say what has gone wrong first (5 min)
Read this span aloud and say in one sentence beginning 'The trouble is' what has gone wrong, and who it is a problem for.
Word preview: harvest
The castle cook is in bed with the chills, she answered. And the harvest fair is just around the corner.
2. Match the trouble to the fix (4 min)
Read this span aloud. Say one sentence in the shape 'The trouble was ___ and they fixed it by ___', taking both blanks from this span.
Word preview: created
Bart cleared his throat. We created this together, mixing the two favorites, custard pie and ginger cookies.

Three levels

Support: Support: work only the first trouble. Say it aloud in the frame 'The trouble is ___' and stop there. The chart stays at one box.
At Grade: At Grade: name all three troubles and match the last one to its fix in a full sentence.
Extension: Extension: the two bakers fix their trouble by working together instead of against each other. Say to your group whether that fix would have worked for the very first trouble too, and point at the words in that span that make you say so.

English learners

Problem-and-solution is a story shape children know from stories in any language, so what is new is the English frame, not the thinking. Rehearse 'The trouble is ___' chorally before anyone works alone. Accept a solution named in the student's strongest language while the trouble is named in English, or the reverse; both halves in one language is also fine at this grade.

Materials

Printed passage strip: The castle cook is in bed
Trouble-and-fix chart
Printed passage strip: Sir Cumference and Lady Dye tasted
Printed passage strip: Bart tugged at his beard
Printed passage strip: All through the rest of the night
Printed passage strip: Bart cleared his throat
Word cards: harvest, decide, tugged, created

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

10. The Question That Kept Them Awake Application · Finding the question a story asks and answering it from the text

The book prints one question in the bakers' own heads, marked with a question mark, and the whole rest of the story is spent answering it. Students find the question, say it aloud as a question rather than a statement, and then go to a later span to find the answer the story gives. They learn that a question mark changes how a sentence is said, and that a story can answer its own question pages later.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Find the sentence with the question mark (5 min)
Read this span aloud with your teacher. Two of the three sentences end with a dot and one ends with a curly mark. Point at the curly mark. Then say that sentence aloud twice, once flat and once the way a question really sounds, with your voice going up at the end.
Word preview: exhaustion
That night, both bakers tossed and turned unable to sleep, despite their exhaustion. The same question kept them awake. Will my dessert be the winner?
2. Say whose question it is (5 min)
Read the span again. The question uses the word my. Tell your partner who is saying my here, and whether it is one baker or both of them wondering the same thing. Copy the question onto the top of your question-and-answer card.
That night, both bakers tossed and turned unable to sleep, despite their exhaustion. The same question kept them awake. Will my dessert be the winner?
3. Find where the story answers it (5 min)
Read this span aloud. The bakers' question was whether one dessert would win. Say to your group what this span tells you instead, and write the answer on the bottom of your card in your own words.
Word preview: favorites
Bart cleared his throat. We created this together, mixing the two favorites, custard pie and ginger cookies.
4. Ask and answer with a partner (5 min)
One of you reads the question aloud from the span reprinted here, making your voice go up. The other answers using the second span reprinted here, in a full sentence. Swap and do it again. Nobody may answer with just yes or no.
That night, both bakers tossed and turned unable to sleep, despite their exhaustion. The same question kept them awake. Will my dessert be the winner?
Bart cleared his throat. We created this together, mixing the two favorites, custard pie and ginger cookies.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Find the sentence with the question mark (5 min)
Read this span aloud. Point at the question mark, then say that sentence twice, once flat and once with your voice going up at the end.
Word preview: exhaustion
That night, both bakers tossed and turned unable to sleep, despite their exhaustion. The same question kept them awake. Will my dessert be the winner?
2. Find where the story answers it (4 min)
Read this span aloud and say to a partner what it tells you instead of one dessert winning. Write the answer on your card.
Word preview: favorites
Bart cleared his throat. We created this together, mixing the two favorites, custard pie and ginger cookies.

Three levels

Support: Support: find the question mark and say the question aloud with your voice going up. Stop there; the teacher reads the answer span to you and you say yes or no to whether the bakers got what they hoped for.
At Grade: At Grade: find the question, say who is asking it, and give the story's answer in a full sentence.
Extension: Extension: the question in the span uses the word my, not our. Say to your group what would change about the ending if both bakers had been wondering our dessert all along, pointing at the words in the later span that make you say so.

English learners

Rising intonation on a question is not universal — several languages mark a question with a word or a particle and keep the pitch flat — so a learner may read the question perfectly and still not sound like they are asking. Model the rise with your hand going up and have the class copy it. Frame: 'The question is ___. The answer is ___.' A student may ask the question in their strongest language to prove they understood it, then say the English one.

Materials

Printed passage strip: That night, both bakers tossed
Question-and-answer card
Printed passage strip: Bart cleared his throat
Word cards: exhaustion, favorites

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.

11. Named After a Baker: Where a Word Comes From Representation · Understanding how a name turns into an everyday word

The book ends by telling you that two ordinary words we say today started out as two bakers' names. Students read the closing spans, say the two words aloud, and hear how each one keeps a piece of the person it came from. Then they name something in their own room that could be called after the person who made it. The skill is where words come from, not what the pictures show.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Say the two words the book leaves you (5 min)
Read this sentence aloud with your teacher. It has two names in it for two kinds of picture. Say both aloud together, then say just the first word of each one: pie, and bar.
Word preview: charts, graphs
Today we call them pie charts and bar graphs.
2. Find the people the words came from (5 min)
Read this span aloud. It tells you the two bakers kept making things for years. Tell your partner the two bakers' names as the span gives them. Then say which of the two words from the last step sounds most like a person's name.
Word preview: afterward
For many years afterward, the two bakers created new treats and made old favorites.
3. Hear the name inside the word (5 min)
Read both spans below aloud, one after the other. Say Bart's name and then say the word bar, slowly, one after the other. Tell your group what your mouth keeps and what your mouth drops. Do the same for the word pie.
Today we call them pie charts and bar graphs.
For many years afterward, the two bakers created new treats and made old favorites.
4. Name something after its maker (5 min)
Look at the sentence reprinted here one more time. Now think of something somebody in your class made or is good at. Say out loud what you would call it if it were named after them, the way the book names its two pictures. Your group says back whether they can still hear the person's name inside your word.
Today we call them pie charts and bar graphs.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Say the two words the book leaves you (5 min)
Read this sentence aloud and say both picture names together, then say just the first word of each: pie, and bar.
Word preview: charts, graphs
Today we call them pie charts and bar graphs.
2. Find the people the words came from (4 min)
Read this span aloud and say the two bakers' names as the span gives them. Say which word sounds most like a person's name.
Word preview: afterward
For many years afterward, the two bakers created new treats and made old favorites.

Three levels

Support: Support: say the two words aloud and match each one to a baker's card the teacher holds up. Stop before the sound work.
At Grade: At Grade: say both words, name both bakers from the span, and say what a word keeps of the name it came from.
Extension: Extension: the book says these were called after the bakers a long time ago. Say to your group whether somebody hearing the word today would know that, and what in the span tells you the naming happened long before now.

English learners

Words made out of people's names exist in every language and students often know one, so the idea will land before the English examples do. Say Bart and bar aloud slowly and let students say them back before any explaining. Frame: 'It is called ___ because a person called ___ made it.' Invite a word from the student's strongest language that comes from someone's name; hearing one is worth more than practising the English pair twice.

Materials

Printed passage strip: Today we call them pie charts and bar graphs
Where-the-name-came-from cards
Printed passage strip: For many years afterward
Word cards: charts, graphs, afterward

Standards & curriculum

Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.