Carrie Measures Up

$Carrie Measures Up book cover$

Grade 2
3 skill lessons · 2 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.

1The Measuring Spy's List
2Less Than a Foot
3Shortest to Longest on the Line

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.

4Less Than a Foot, More Than a Foot
5Two Inches of Yellow

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.

6Measuring spy: reading a name the book invents
7First, then, finally: retelling how the scarf got made
8Why Carrie knits the scarf, in the book's own sentences
9Cherry red and popping purple: colour words that do extra work
10Who is talking here? Narrator lines and spoken lines

Both exports carry any edits you have made. Edits are saved in this browser only — nobody else sees them, and they are not sent anywhere.

Skill lessons

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

1. The Measuring Spy's List Concept · Measuring a length in whole inches with a tape and recording it

Grandma hands Carrie a tape measure and a job, and the book then names five things Carrie measures and prints a number for exactly one of them. Every other measurement in the story happens offstage. This lesson puts the measuring back in children's hands: they lay a tape flush against an object with no gap, read the number where the object stops, say it aloud with its unit, and write one line per object on a spy list of their own. A length is a number read off a tool laid correctly, and the reading is only trustworthy if the tape starts at the object's end. The lesson closes by reading the longest and shortest lines off the list without taking either number apart, because reading two numbers and saying which is bigger is what a list supports and a difference is not.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Lay the tape and read the number (6 min)
Take the blue tape and put its very end flush against one end of your object, with no gap and no overhang. Hold the tape straight along the object, not curved and not slack. Read the number on the tape at the place where the object stops, and say that number out loud with the word inches after it. If your partner reads a different number, lay the tape again together before either of you writes anything.
Word preview: tape, inches
She hands me a bright blue tape measure.
I unroll the tape.
2. Say the measurement and write it on the list (5 min)
Write your object's name and its number of inches on one line of the measuring spy list. Say the whole line out loud to your partner the way Carrie reports hers, the object first and then the number and then the word inches. Do all six objects, one line each, and keep the lines in the order you measured them.
Word preview: measure, list
You can be my measuring spy, she says.
When nobody's looking, I measure everything on grandma's list.
3. Measure what Carrie measured (5 min)
Carrie names four things she measured for Grandma. Take the four paper stand-ins from the envelope, measure each one with your tape the same way, and add each to your list. Say each measurement aloud before you write it. When two pairs get different numbers for the same stand-in, lay both tapes side by side and find which one started off the end.
Word preview: measure
I measure spiffy for paw warmers.
I measure my baby brother for tiny baby mittens.
I measure mom's laptop for a new carrying case.
I measure the door knocker.
4. Report the longest thing you measured (4 min)
Look down your list and find the object with the biggest number of inches. Point at its line and say to your partner which object it is and how many inches long. Then find the smallest number and say that one too. Do not take the numbers apart or find how much bigger; just read the two lines and say them.
Word preview: longest
I'm a measuring maniac.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Lay the tape and read the number (5 min)
Put the end of the tape flush against one end of your object, with no gap. Hold it straight and read the number where the object stops. Say that number and the word inches out loud to your partner.
Word preview: tape, inches
She hands me a bright blue tape measure.
I unroll the tape.
2. Say the measurement and write it on the list (4 min)
Write your object and its number of inches on one line of the spy list. Read the line aloud the way Carrie would report it, the object first and then the inches.
Word preview: measure, list
You can be my measuring spy, she says.
When nobody's looking, I measure everything on grandma's list.

Three levels

Support: Work with three objects instead of six, each cut to a whole number of inches with a starting notch already cut into the tape end so the tape cannot slide off. Read the number, say it aloud with the word inches, and write it on a list ruled with three lines. The reading and the saying are the same as everybody else's; only the number of objects is smaller.
At Grade: Measure six basket objects and the four paper stand-ins, saying each number aloud with its unit before writing it on the spy list, and settle any disagreement by relaying both tapes side by side. Close by reading the longest and shortest lines aloud.
Extension: Take an object longer than your tape and say what you would have to do to measure it, then do it: mark where the tape ends, slide the tape so its start sits exactly on your mark, and say how you would report the length as two numbers said together. Say aloud what goes wrong if the mark is a little bit off, and why a longer tape would not have that problem.

English learners

Numbers and the act of laying a tape carry across languages, and the reading itself will not be the hard part. What does not carry is the English habit of putting the number before the unit and the unit after it without a preposition, so eleven inches rather than inches eleven or eleven of inch, and the singular one inch against the plural two inches, which many languages do not mark at all. Rehearse the frame aloud with the tape in view, the ___ is ___ inches long, before any writing happens, and let children say the measurement in their strongest language first while pointing at the number on the tape, then say it in English. The word measure is also both a verb and a noun in this book and children may meet it first as the object in tape measure.

Materials

A cloth or paper tape measure marked in inches, one per pair
A basket of six flat classroom objects per pair, each between two and eleven inches long, each with a name card
A measuring spy list, one per pair, ruled with six blank lines each headed object and inches
An envelope of four paper stand-ins per pair, cut to whole-inch lengths, labelled paw, mitten, laptop and knocker
Word cards: measure, inches, length, tape measure

Standards & curriculum

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

2. Less Than a Foot Reasoning · Reading a length to the nearest half inch and comparing it with one foot

This is the book's own sharpest measuring sentence and the only place it states a length and then reasons about it. Dad's foot measures eleven and a half inches, and the book says the foot is less than a foot, which is a joke and a genuine comparison at once. Students find the half-inch line between two whole numbers on a tape, measure a paper slipper cut to that exact length, and then decide against the twelve-inch relation the book prints in its own chart whether what they measured is less than a foot. The reasoning is a comparison of two lengths on one tape, made by putting a finger on each and looking, not by subtracting. The half inch that separates them is named because the book names it, and it is read off the tape rather than computed.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Find the half-inch mark between two numbers (6 min)
Find the 11 on your tape and find the 12. Look at the lines standing between them and put your finger on the one that is longer than the rest and sits exactly halfway. Say eleven and a half out loud. Do the same between 3 and 4, and between 7 and 8, saying each half aloud as you find it.
Word preview: half, inch
11 and a half inches.
2. Measure the slipper the way Carrie did (5 min)
Lay the paper slipper flat with its heel flush against the very start of the tape. Read where the toe stops. It stops on a half-inch line, so say the whole number first and then the half, the way the book says it. Write eleven and a half inches on your card.
Word preview: measure
I crawl over and measure.
3. Say whether it is less than a foot (5 min)
The book's chart says twelve inches make one foot. Put one finger where the slipper's toe stopped and one finger on the 12. Say out loud whether the slipper is less than a foot or more than a foot. Then say how much of an inch is missing between your two fingers, and check it against the book's own sentence.
Word preview: foot, less
Remember 12 inches equal 1 foot.
Dad's feet are just one half inch less than one foot.
That means his foot is less than a foot.
4. Sort three more slippers by the foot line (4 min)
You have three more paper slippers. Measure each against the tape, then put it above or below the line marked one foot on your sorting mat. Say a full sentence for each one naming its inches and whether it is less than a foot. A slipper that lands exactly on 12 goes on the line itself, and say why.
Word preview: shorter
It looks too short.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Find the half-inch mark between two numbers (5 min)
Find 11 on your tape and find 12. Point at the longer line standing exactly halfway between them and say eleven and a half. Lay the paper slipper along the tape and say where it stops.
Word preview: half, inch
11 and a half inches.
2. Say whether it is less than a foot (4 min)
The book says twelve inches make one foot. Put your finger on 12 and then on where the slipper stopped. Say out loud whether the slipper is less than a foot or more than a foot, and say the half-inch that is missing.
Word preview: foot, less
Remember 12 inches equal 1 foot.
Dad's feet are just one half inch less than one foot.
That means his foot is less than a foot.

Three levels

Support: Use the large desk tape strip where the half-inch lines are drawn long, and work only between 11 and 12. Put a finger on 11, a finger on 12, and the third finger on the long line halfway between, saying eleven, eleven and a half, twelve. Measure the slipper on that same strip and say the sentence with the frame in front of you. The comparison you make is the same one everybody else makes.
At Grade: Find half-inch marks in three places on the tape, measure the paper slipper to eleven and a half inches, decide against the book's twelve-inch line whether it is less than a foot, and sort three further slippers above or below the foot line with a full spoken sentence for each.
Extension: One of your slippers measures thirteen inches. Say its length in two ways, first as thirteen inches and then as one foot and some inches, showing on the tape where the foot ends and where the leftover begins. Then say why the book's joke works, that a foot can be less than a foot, using both meanings of the word and pointing at the tape for each.

English learners

The mathematics here is a comparison children can see on a tape, and the language is where it will be hard. English says less than a foot with the yardstick last, while many languages put the compared thing and the yardstick in the other order or mark the comparison on a separate particle, and a child who has the comparison right can still assemble the sentence backward. Rehearse both directions aloud with two fingers on the tape, the slipper is less than one foot and one foot is more than the slipper, before any writing. The word foot is doing two jobs in this book, a body part and a unit, and that pun is the whole point of the book's sentence but it is not a pun in most languages; say plainly that English uses one word for both and let children say the unit in their strongest language while pointing at the twelve.

Materials

A cloth or paper tape measure marked in inches with half-inch lines, one per pair
A large paper tape strip for the desk, marked 1 to 12 with the half-inch lines drawn long
A paper slipper cut to exactly eleven and a half inches, one per pair
A record card per pair with one blank line for the slipper's length
A sentence strip carrying the frame, the slipper is ___ than one foot, one per pair
Three more paper slippers per pair, cut to ten and a half, twelve, and thirteen inches
A sorting mat with one horizontal line labelled one foot
Word cards: half, inch, foot, less than

Standards & curriculum

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

3. Shortest to Longest on the Line Representation · Ordering three lengths by measuring each from a common starting line

The back-matter chart gives three yarn pieces three different lengths and prints them in no particular arrangement, which is exactly the gap this lesson fills. Students cut each piece to its stated length against a tape started at the very beginning, lay all three on a mat with their left ends touching one line, and read the order off the arrangement. The representation is the point: three lengths only compare when they share a starting line, and children prove that to themselves by sliding one piece out of line and saying what then looks true and is not. A fourth unlabelled piece is measured and slid into place, so the ordering is produced rather than copied off the chart. Nobody adds the pieces together and nobody says how much longer one is than another.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Cut the three yarn pieces to the chart (6 min)
The chart at the back gives three lengths. Lay the red yarn along the tape from the very start and cut it at one inch. Lay the blue and cut it at one and a half. Lay the yellow and cut it at three and a half. Say each length aloud as you cut, and start every piece at the tape's very beginning, never at the 1.
Word preview: length, about
Each piece of knitting yarn is a different length.
The red piece is about 1 inch long.
The blue piece is about 1 and a half inches long.
The yellow piece is about 3 and a half inches long.
2. Lay them in order and say the order aloud (5 min)
Line the three pieces up on the mat so their left ends all touch the same starting line, with the shortest at the top and the longest at the bottom. Say the three lengths aloud in order, shortest first. Then say which piece is longest and which is shortest, using the piece's colour and its number of inches.
Word preview: shortest, longest
Length chart.
3. Put a new piece in its place (5 min)
Your teacher hands you a fourth piece of yarn with no length written on it. Measure it against the tape from the start, say its length aloud, then slide it into the right place among your three without moving the others. Tell your partner which two pieces it sits between and why, naming both of their lengths.
Word preview: between
I take out some cherry red yarn.
4. Say why the ends must line up (4 min)
Slide one of your pieces so it starts an inch further along than the others. Look at the mat and say what now looks true that is not true. Push it back to the starting line and say the rule out loud to your partner in your own words. Then check the yellow piece once more against the tape.
Word preview: line up
I knit for what seems like a long time, then I measure.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Cut the three yarn pieces to the chart (5 min)
Cut the red yarn to one inch, the blue to one and a half, and the yellow to three and a half, laying each against the tape from the very start. Say each length aloud as you cut it.
Word preview: length, about
Each piece of knitting yarn is a different length.
The red piece is about 1 inch long.
The blue piece is about 1 and a half inches long.
The yellow piece is about 3 and a half inches long.
2. Lay them in order and say the order aloud (4 min)
Line the three pieces up on the mat with their left ends touching one line, shortest at the top. Say the three lengths in order from shortest to longest, and say which piece is longest.
Word preview: shortest, longest
Length chart.

Three levels

Support: Work with the red and the yellow only, the shortest and the longest, so the order is a choice between two. Cut both against the tape from its very start, lay them with their left ends on the starting line, and say which is longer and which is shorter using the colour and the number of inches. Cutting and laying are the same acts everybody else performs.
At Grade: Cut all three pieces to the chart's lengths, order them from a shared starting line, measure and place a fourth unlabelled piece between the right two, and say what goes wrong when one piece starts further along than the others.
Extension: Your teacher gives you a fifth piece cut to exactly the same length as one you already have. Place it on the mat and say aloud what an equal length does to your ordering, whether it goes above or below its twin and why the question does not have one answer. Then say what you would have to know about two pieces before you could put them in order at all.

English learners

Ordering by length is largely language-independent and children will see the order before they can say it. What does not carry is the English superlative built with -est, shortest and longest, where many languages use a separate word meaning most, and the comparative pair shorter and longer, which English forms from the same root as the plain adjective and many languages do not. Rehearse all four aloud with the mat in view, this one is longer than that one and this one is the longest, and let children give the order in their strongest language while pointing along the pieces before saying it in English. The book's own word about, in about one inch long, is a hedge rather than a measurement word, and it is worth saying plainly that it means close to and not exactly.

Materials

Three lengths of yarn per pair in red, blue and yellow, each cut long for trimming
A cloth or paper tape measure marked in inches with half-inch lines, one per pair
Scissors, one pair per two children
An ordering mat per pair with one vertical starting line down the left side
A fourth unlabelled piece of yarn per pair, cut to two and a half inches
Word cards: shorter, longer, shortest, longest

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. Less Than a Foot, More Than a Foot Integrated · Students measure paper slippers to the half inch, place each one above or below a foot line, and then swap the comparison word to see which placement the tape will actually support.

Students measure paper slippers to the half inch, place each one above or below a foot line, and then swap the comparison word to see which placement the tape will actually support.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Find the half inch on the tape (4 min)
Pairs find the long unnumbered mark halfway between 11 and 12 on their tape and say eleven and a half aloud, then find two more half marks elsewhere on the tape and name each one.
2. Measure the slippers to the half inch (6 min)
Pairs lay each of four paper slippers flush against the start of the tape and read its length, saying the whole number and then the half where there is one, and write each length on the slipper itself.
3. Place each slipper and say the sentence (5 min)
Pairs place each slipper above or below the foot line on the mat and say a full sentence for it using the frame, then write that sentence beside the slipper.
4. Swap the word and test it (5 min)
Pairs take the book's sentence about Dad's foot, say it again with more in place of less, move the slipper to where the new sentence puts it, then check both fingers against the tape and say which sentence the tape allows and why.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Measure the slippers to the half inch (6 min)
Pairs lay each of four paper slippers flush against the start of the tape and read its length, saying the whole number and then the half where there is one, and write each length on the slipper itself.
2. Swap the word and test it (5 min)
Pairs take the book's sentence about Dad's foot, say it again with more in place of less, move the slipper to where the new sentence puts it, then check both fingers against the tape and say which sentence the tape allows and why.

Three levels

Support: Work with two slippers instead of four, one clearly short and one clearly long, and use the sentence frame strip with the comparison words printed on separate cards so the sentence is built by placing a card rather than by recalling a word. Say the sentence aloud before placing the slipper each time. The measuring and the checking against the tape are the same acts everybody else performs.
At grade: Measure four slippers to the half inch, place each against the foot line with a spoken and written comparison sentence, then perform the swap on the book's own sentence and settle it against the tape.
Extension: Take the thirteen-inch slipper and write two true sentences about it, one using less and one using more, each comparing it against a different length you choose from your own tape. Then say what you had to change to make less true of a slipper that is longer than a foot, and explain to your partner why both sentences can be true about the same slipper at the same time.

English learners

The comparison itself is visible on the tape and will not be the hard part. English builds this comparison with the compared thing first and the yardstick last, joined by than, and many languages put them the other way round or mark the comparison on a separate particle entirely, so a child who has the placement right can still assemble the sentence backward. Rehearse both directions aloud with two fingers on the tape, the slipper is less than one foot and one foot is more than the slipper, before any writing. Two further things are worth saying plainly. The word foot is one word for a body part and for a unit in English and is two different words in most languages, and the book's joke depends entirely on that accident. And the phrase one half inch puts the fraction before the unit where several languages put it after, so let children say the measurement in their strongest language while pointing at the mark on the tape before saying it in English.

Materials

An inch tape with half-inch marks, one per pair
Four paper slippers per pair, cut to ten and a half, eleven and a half, twelve, and thirteen inches
A sorting mat with one horizontal line labelled one foot
A sentence frame strip carrying the slipper is ___ than one foot, with less and more on separate cards
The book's two sentences about Dad's foot, enlarged and set one above the other
A large desk tape strip marked 1 to 12 with the half-inch lines drawn long

Standards & curriculum

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

5. Two Inches of Yellow Integrated · Students cut the book's three yarn pieces to their stated lengths, line them up from one starting line, and say and write the relation between two of them both ways round about a single arrangement.

Students cut the book's three yarn pieces to their stated lengths, line them up from one starting line, and say and write the relation between two of them both ways round about a single arrangement.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Cut the three pieces to the chart (5 min)
Pairs read the chart's three sentences and cut the red, blue and yellow yarn against the tape from its very start, to one inch, one and a half, and three and a half, saying each length aloud as they cut.
2. Line them up and find what stands past (5 min)
Pairs lay the blue and the yellow on the mat with both left ends on the starting line, and count on the tape how many inches of yellow stand past the end of the blue, saying the difference aloud and checking it by laying the tape along the overhang.
3. Say it both ways about one arrangement (5 min)
One partner says the relation with the yellow first while pointing at the two pieces, then the other says it with the blue first, with neither piece moved, and they agree aloud that both sentences describe what is on the mat.
4. Draw it once and write both sentences (5 min)
Pairs draw the two pieces on their starting line once, write both sentences beneath the one drawing, circle the word that changed between them, and read the pair to another pair to check.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Cut the three pieces to the chart (5 min)
Pairs read the chart's three sentences and cut the red, blue and yellow yarn against the tape from its very start, to one inch, one and a half, and three and a half, saying each length aloud as they cut.
2. Say it both ways about one arrangement (5 min)
One partner says the relation with the yellow first while pointing at the two pieces, then the other says it with the blue first, with neither piece moved, and they agree aloud that both sentences describe what is on the mat.

Three levels

Support: Work with the red and the yellow, whose difference is two and a half inches, only after working the blue and yellow pair with the pieces already cut and lined up for you. Count the overhang on the tape, then build each sentence by placing longer and shorter cards into the frame rather than recalling the word, saying each sentence aloud before writing it. The counting and the arrangement are the same ones everybody else makes.
At grade: Cut all three pieces to the chart, line up the blue and yellow from a shared start, find the two-inch difference by reading the overhang, and say and write both directions about the one arrangement.
Extension: Take the red piece as well and write the two sentences relating the red to the yellow, whose difference lands on a half inch. Then say which of your two comparisons has the larger difference and show on the mat how you can see that without measuring anything again. Say aloud why the chart's word about matters when a piece is cut a little long, and whether it would change either of your sentences.

English learners

This lesson lives on comparative syntax and that is where it will be hard, not on the arithmetic. English marks the comparison on the adjective itself with -er and puts the yardstick last after than, and many languages use a separate word meaning more and place the two things in the opposite order, so a child who has the two inches right can still assemble the sentence backward. Rehearse both frames aloud with the pieces in view, the ___ is ___ inches longer than the ___ and the ___ is ___ inches shorter than the ___, and let children say the relation in their strongest language while pointing along the overhang before saying it in English. Two more things are worth naming. The book's word long appears in every chart sentence as a plain adjective and never as a comparison, so longer and shorter are both words students supply rather than borrow. And the fraction in one and a half inches is said before the unit in English where several languages say it after, which is worth rehearsing separately from the comparison itself.

Materials

Yarn in red, blue and yellow, cut long for trimming, one set per pair
An inch tape with half-inch marks, one per pair
Scissors, one pair per two children
An ordering mat with one vertical starting line down the left side
A sentence frame strip carrying both directions, with longer and shorter on separate cards
A half sheet for the drawing and the two sentences
The chart's three length sentences, enlarged and set one under another
One blue and one yellow piece already cut and lined up on a large mat where the class can see the overhang

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.

6. Measuring spy: reading a name the book invents Concept · Working out what a made-up name means from the sentences around it

The book never defines measuring spy or measuring maniac. It builds each name out of the sentences beside it: Carrie asks whether it means sneaking around, Grandma says Right, and the next page shows her measuring everything in sight. Students read both spans aloud, point to the exact sentence that tells them what each name means, and say the meaning in their own words. The work is reading meaning off nearby sentences, not off a dictionary.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the spy job aloud and find the sentence that explains it (5 min)
Read the passage below aloud with a partner, one of you as Carrie and one as Grandma. Then put a finger on the one sentence that tells you what a measuring spy does. Say the job in your own words, starting with A measuring spy is someone who.
Word preview: spy, sneak, measure
You can be my measuring spy, she says. You mean sneak around and measure when nobody's looking? I ask. Right, says grandma. That way my presence will be real surprises. She hands me a bright blue tape measure. You'll need this.
2. Read the maniac page and match the name to what Carrie does (5 min)
Read this second passage aloud. List on your slate three things Carrie says she could measure here. Then say what a measuring maniac is, using the list as your proof.
Word preview: maniac, carried away
Then I kind of get carried away. I measure everything in sight. I'm a measuring maniac. Mom would love a TV cover. A bowling ball bag for dad? A hammock would be nice. How about curtains for the bird house?
3. Sort the two names by how much measuring each one does (4 min)
Both passages are printed again here. With your partner decide which name belongs to a girl doing a job for someone else and which belongs to a girl who cannot stop. Point to the sentence in each passage that made you decide.
You can be my measuring spy, she says. You mean sneak around and measure when nobody's looking? I ask. Right, says grandma. That way my presence will be real surprises. She hands me a bright blue tape measure. You'll need this.
Then I kind of get carried away. I measure everything in sight. I'm a measuring maniac. Mom would love a TV cover. A bowling ball bag for dad? A hammock would be nice. How about curtains for the bird house?
4. Say both meanings back without the book open (6 min)
Take turns saying both meanings aloud to your partner from the passage printed here. Say the name, then the sentence in the passage that proves it, then the meaning in your own words. Your partner checks that the sentence you name is really on the page.
You can be my measuring spy, she says. You mean sneak around and measure when nobody's looking? I ask. Right, says grandma. That way my presence will be real surprises. She hands me a bright blue tape measure. You'll need this.
Then I kind of get carried away. I measure everything in sight. I'm a measuring maniac. Mom would love a TV cover. A bowling ball bag for dad? A hammock would be nice. How about curtains for the bird house?

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read the spy job aloud and find the sentence that explains it (5 min)
Read the passage below aloud in partners, one as Carrie and one as Grandma. Put a finger on the sentence that says what the job is, then say A measuring spy is someone who.
Word preview: spy, sneak, measure
You can be my measuring spy, she says. You mean sneak around and measure when nobody's looking? I ask. Right, says grandma. That way my presence will be real surprises. She hands me a bright blue tape measure. You'll need this.
2. Read the maniac page and match the name to what Carrie does (4 min)
Read this passage aloud. Name two things Carrie says she could measure, then say what a measuring maniac is.
Word preview: maniac, carried away
Then I kind of get carried away. I measure everything in sight. I'm a measuring maniac. Mom would love a TV cover. A bowling ball bag for dad? A hammock would be nice. How about curtains for the bird house?

Three levels

Support: Work only with the spy passage. Read Carrie's question and Grandma's answer as a pair, twice, and say the job back in the words Carrie herself uses: sneak around and measure when nobody's looking. Do not take on the second passage until that sentence comes out whole.
At Grade: Work both passages and say each meaning in your own words with the proving sentence named aloud before it.
Extension: Say why the book gives Carrie a name instead of a plain description, using both passages. Then invent one more name for a person who measures too much and say which sentence on the maniac page would have to be there for a reader to work your name out.

English learners

Spy and maniac are both nouns naming a person by what that person does, and many languages build such words the same way, so the pattern transfers. Both are jokes here, though: neither is a real job. Rehearse the frame A measuring spy is someone who ______, then invite the meaning first in the student's strongest language and again in English.

Materials

Printed passage: the measuring spy job
Printed passage: the measuring maniac page
Slates
Word cards: spy, sneak, measure, maniac, carried away

Standards & curriculum

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

7. First, then, finally: retelling how the scarf got made Application · Retelling what happened in order and saying the order words out loud

Three printed spans carry the making of the scarf: Carrie gets the idea, she measures a sleeping Grandma first because of the rule, and then she knits everywhere she goes. Students lay the three spans in the order the book puts them, and retell the stretch using first, next and then. The check is whether the retelling keeps the book's order, not whether it names any length.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the idea and say what starts the whole plan (5 min)
Read the passage below aloud. Tell your partner the one thing Carrie decides to do here. Say it as a sentence that begins with First.
Word preview: idea, birthday
Grandma always says that knitting helps her think. She's right! I get a great idea. Grandma knits for everyone but herself. I say to Spiffy. So I'm going to knit a scarf for Grandma. Her birthday is only one week away.
2. Read the rule page and say what Carrie does next (5 min)
Read this passage aloud. Find the sentence that gives Grandma's rule and read it twice. Then tell your partner what Carrie does next, beginning with Next.
Word preview: rule, asleep
Of course, I have to follow Grandma's rule. Measure first, knit later. I wait for Grandma to take a nap. Soon she closes her eyes. Her knitting drops onto her lap. She's asleep.
3. Read the knitting-everywhere page and say what happens after that (4 min)
Read this passage aloud. Count on your fingers the places Carrie knits. Then say what happens after the measuring, beginning with Then.
Word preview: while
I knit while I watch TV. I knit while I watch the baby. I knit on the school bus. I even knit while my mom takes a splinter out of my big toe. Ouch!
4. Retell all three parts in one turn (6 min)
All three passages are printed here in the order the book gives them. Retell the whole stretch to your partner in one turn using First, Next and Then. Your partner listens for all three order words and for the parts staying in the book's order.
Grandma always says that knitting helps her think. She's right! I get a great idea. Grandma knits for everyone but herself. I say to Spiffy. So I'm going to knit a scarf for Grandma. Her birthday is only one week away.
Of course, I have to follow Grandma's rule. Measure first, knit later. I wait for Grandma to take a nap. Soon she closes her eyes. Her knitting drops onto her lap. She's asleep.
I knit while I watch TV. I knit while I watch the baby. I knit on the school bus. I even knit while my mom takes a splinter out of my big toe. Ouch!

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read the idea and say what starts the whole plan (4 min)
Read the passage aloud and tell your partner the one thing Carrie decides here, beginning with First.
Word preview: idea, birthday
Grandma always says that knitting helps her think. She's right! I get a great idea. Grandma knits for everyone but herself. I say to Spiffy. So I'm going to knit a scarf for Grandma. Her birthday is only one week away.
2. Retell all three parts in one turn (5 min)
All three passages are printed here in the book's order. Retell the stretch in one turn using First, Next and Then while your partner listens for the order words.
Word preview: rule, while
Grandma always says that knitting helps her think. She's right! I get a great idea. Grandma knits for everyone but herself. I say to Spiffy. So I'm going to knit a scarf for Grandma. Her birthday is only one week away.
Of course, I have to follow Grandma's rule. Measure first, knit later. I wait for Grandma to take a nap. Soon she closes her eyes. Her knitting drops onto her lap. She's asleep.
I knit while I watch TV. I knit while I watch the baby. I knit on the school bus. I even knit while my mom takes a splinter out of my big toe. Ouch!

Three levels

Support: Retell two parts, not three. Use the idea passage and the rule passage only, with the order words First and Next supplied on a strip you point to as you say them.
At Grade: Retell all three parts in one turn with First, Next and Then said aloud.
Extension: Retell all three parts, then say which two parts could not swap places and why the rule sentence is what makes the order fixed.

English learners

Order words sit in a fixed slot at the front of the sentence in English, which many students' first languages also allow, so the slot transfers. Rehearse First, Carrie ______. Next, she ______. Then she ______. Let the student rehearse the whole retelling in the strongest language first, and keep the three English order words in place while the rest of the sentence grows.

Materials

Printed passage: Carrie gets her idea
Printed passage: measure first, knit later
Printed passage: Carrie knits everywhere
Retelling checklist
Word cards: idea, birthday, rule, asleep, while

Standards & curriculum

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

8. Why Carrie knits the scarf, in the book's own sentences Reasoning · Saying why a character does something and naming the sentence that shows it

The book gives Carrie's reason in a plain sentence: Grandma knits for everyone but herself. Students find that sentence, say the reason in a because sentence, and then test the reason against a second span where Carrie keeps knitting through a splinter. The skill is grounding a why-answer in a sentence that is actually on the page.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Find the sentence that gives Carrie her reason (5 min)
Read the passage below aloud. Find the one sentence that tells you why Carrie wants to make something for Grandma and underline it on your copy. Read that sentence to your partner on its own.
Word preview: reason, everyone
Grandma always says that knitting helps her think. She's right! I get a great idea. Grandma knits for everyone but herself. I say to Spiffy. So I'm going to knit a scarf for Grandma. Her birthday is only one week away.
2. Say the reason as a because sentence (5 min)
The same passage is printed here. Say to your partner: Carrie knits a scarf for Grandma because ______. Fill the blank using the sentence you underlined, keeping the book's own words for the reason.
Word preview: because
Grandma always says that knitting helps her think. She's right! I get a great idea. Grandma knits for everyone but herself. I say to Spiffy. So I'm going to knit a scarf for Grandma. Her birthday is only one week away.
3. Test the reason against how hard she works (4 min)
Read this new passage aloud. Tell your partner whether it fits the reason you gave or fights it, and name the sentence here that decided you.
Word preview: splinter
I knit while I watch TV. I knit while I watch the baby. I knit on the school bus. I even knit while my mom takes a splinter out of my big toe. Ouch!
4. Give the reason and both proofs in one turn (6 min)
Both passages are printed here again. Say your because sentence, then read aloud the one sentence from each passage that proves it. Your partner checks that both sentences you read are really printed on this page.
Grandma always says that knitting helps her think. She's right! I get a great idea. Grandma knits for everyone but herself. I say to Spiffy. So I'm going to knit a scarf for Grandma. Her birthday is only one week away.
I knit while I watch TV. I knit while I watch the baby. I knit on the school bus. I even knit while my mom takes a splinter out of my big toe. Ouch!

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Find the sentence that gives Carrie her reason (4 min)
Read the passage aloud and underline the one sentence that says why Carrie wants to make something for Grandma. Read it to your partner on its own.
Word preview: reason, everyone
Grandma always says that knitting helps her think. She's right! I get a great idea. Grandma knits for everyone but herself. I say to Spiffy. So I'm going to knit a scarf for Grandma. Her birthday is only one week away.
2. Say the reason as a because sentence (5 min)
The passage is printed here again. Say Carrie knits a scarf for Grandma because ______, filling the blank from the sentence you underlined.
Word preview: because
Grandma always says that knitting helps her think. She's right! I get a great idea. Grandma knits for everyone but herself. I say to Spiffy. So I'm going to knit a scarf for Grandma. Her birthday is only one week away.

Three levels

Support: Stay with the idea passage. The teacher reads the two sentences before and after the reason sentence, and the student picks which of the three is the reason. Then say the because sentence with the book's words repeated whole.
At Grade: Find the reason sentence unaided and say the because sentence in your own words.
Extension: Say the reason, then say what Carrie would have done differently if the sentence Grandma knits for everyone but herself were not in the book, pointing at what else on the page would have to change.

English learners

Because clauses follow the main clause in English, and many students' first languages put the reason first instead, so the order needs rehearsing rather than the idea. Practise Carrie knits a scarf for Grandma because ______ aloud three times. Invite the reason in the strongest language first, then move it into the English frame without changing the reason.

Materials

Printed passage: Carrie gets her idea
Passage copies for underlining
Printed passage: Carrie knits everywhere
Word cards: reason, everyone, because, splinter

Standards & curriculum

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

9. Cherry red and popping purple: colour words that do extra work Concept · Noticing describing words a writer puts in front of a noun

One printed span names three balls of yarn as cherry red, sunburst yellow and popping purple, and calls the shop jam packed. Students read the span, separate the plain colour word from the word stuck in front of it, and say what the extra word makes them picture. Then they write one describing pair of their own for a classroom object. No lesson here counts anything.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the yarn barn page and hear the colour words (5 min)
Read the passage below aloud twice, the second time slowly. Say the three colour names to your partner exactly as the book says them.
Word preview: cherry, sunburst, popping
What a great place! It's jam packed with cool knitting stuff. By the time we leave, I have my own knitting bag, needles and balls of yarn. Cherry red, sunburst yellow, and popping purple.
2. Split each colour name into two parts (5 min)
The passage is printed here again. For each of the three colour names, say the plain colour word on its own, then say the word the writer put in front of it. Write the three pairs in two columns on your slate.
Word preview: colour
What a great place! It's jam packed with cool knitting stuff. By the time we leave, I have my own knitting bag, needles and balls of yarn. Cherry red, sunburst yellow, and popping purple.
3. Say what each front word makes you picture (4 min)
Working from the passage printed here, tell your partner what you see when you hear cherry red that you do not see when you hear plain red. Do the same for sunburst yellow and for popping purple.
Word preview: picture
What a great place! It's jam packed with cool knitting stuff. By the time we leave, I have my own knitting bag, needles and balls of yarn. Cherry red, sunburst yellow, and popping purple.
4. Make one describing pair of your own (6 min)
Look back at the passage printed here for the pattern, then pick something in this room and name its colour the book's way, a front word plus a plain colour word. Say your pair aloud and say what you want your listener to picture.
What a great place! It's jam packed with cool knitting stuff. By the time we leave, I have my own knitting bag, needles and balls of yarn. Cherry red, sunburst yellow, and popping purple.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read the yarn barn page and hear the colour words (4 min)
Read the passage aloud twice and say the three colour names exactly as the book says them.
Word preview: cherry, sunburst, popping
What a great place! It's jam packed with cool knitting stuff. By the time we leave, I have my own knitting bag, needles and balls of yarn. Cherry red, sunburst yellow, and popping purple.
2. Split each colour name into two parts (5 min)
The passage is printed here again. Say each plain colour word on its own, then the word the writer put in front of it, and write the three pairs on your slate.
Word preview: colour
What a great place! It's jam packed with cool knitting stuff. By the time we leave, I have my own knitting bag, needles and balls of yarn. Cherry red, sunburst yellow, and popping purple.

Three levels

Support: Split one colour name, not three. Take cherry red, say red on its own, then say cherry, then say the pair. Add a second pair only once the first comes apart cleanly.
At Grade: Split all three pairs and say what each front word adds.
Extension: Say why a writer would choose popping for purple rather than bright, and find the one other place in this printed passage where a word is stuck in front of another to make a picture.

English learners

Putting the describing word before the noun is an English word order, and several languages place it after, so the position is the thing to rehearse, not the meaning. Say cherry red, sunburst yellow, popping purple as a chant. Then invite the student's own pair first in the strongest language, and rebuild it in the English order.

Materials

Printed passage: the yarn barn
Slates
Word cards: cherry, sunburst, popping, colour, picture

Standards & curriculum

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

10. Who is talking here? Narrator lines and spoken lines Reasoning · Telling apart what a narrator says about someone and what that someone says

This transcript runs speech and narration together and drops most quotation marks, so a reader has to use the speech tags to tell them apart. Two printed spans give clean examples: the opening where Carrie describes Spiffy, and the page where Grandma finally speaks. Students mark which sentences carry a tag naming a speaker and which do not, and read each kind in a different voice.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the opening and find who is telling it (5 min)
Read the passage below aloud. Tell your partner who is telling you about Spiffy. Point to the two words in the passage that show the teller is in the story herself.
Word preview: narrator, teller
Spiffy is getting nose marks all over the window, but I don't mind. He's helping me watch for my grandma. She's coming to visit for two whole weeks. Spiffy is a great look out. He never blinks.
2. Read a page where someone speaks and find the tag (5 min)
Read this passage aloud. Find the words that name who is speaking and read that sentence aloud twice. Tell your partner which part of the sentence is the speaking and which part names the speaker.
Word preview: speaker, says
Whoa, grandma finally says, my knitting will never keep up with all your measuring. It's time for you to learn to knit. At last, I am so excited I can hardly talk.
3. Mark the two kinds of sentence in both passages (4 min)
Both passages are printed here. On your copy put a T beside every sentence that names a speaker and an N beside every sentence that only tells you what is happening.
Spiffy is getting nose marks all over the window, but I don't mind. He's helping me watch for my grandma. She's coming to visit for two whole weeks. Spiffy is a great look out. He never blinks.
Whoa, grandma finally says, my knitting will never keep up with all your measuring. It's time for you to learn to knit. At last, I am so excited I can hardly talk.
4. Read both passages in two voices (6 min)
Read both passages printed here aloud with your partner. Use your ordinary voice for the sentences that only tell what is happening, and Grandma's voice for the words she actually speaks. Swap and read them again.
Spiffy is getting nose marks all over the window, but I don't mind. He's helping me watch for my grandma. She's coming to visit for two whole weeks. Spiffy is a great look out. He never blinks.
Whoa, grandma finally says, my knitting will never keep up with all your measuring. It's time for you to learn to knit. At last, I am so excited I can hardly talk.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read a page where someone speaks and find the tag (4 min)
Read the passage aloud. Find the words naming who is speaking and read that sentence twice, then say which part is the speaking and which part names the speaker.
Word preview: speaker, says
Whoa, grandma finally says, my knitting will never keep up with all your measuring. It's time for you to learn to knit. At last, I am so excited I can hardly talk.
2. Read both passages in two voices (5 min)
Both passages are printed here. Read them aloud with your partner, ordinary voice for the telling sentences and Grandma's voice for her spoken words, then swap.
Word preview: narrator
Spiffy is getting nose marks all over the window, but I don't mind. He's helping me watch for my grandma. She's coming to visit for two whole weeks. Spiffy is a great look out. He never blinks.
Whoa, grandma finally says, my knitting will never keep up with all your measuring. It's time for you to learn to knit. At last, I am so excited I can hardly talk.

Three levels

Support: Work only with the speaking passage. The teacher reads it once running the two parts together and once pausing before grandma finally says, and the student says which reading made the speaker clear.
At Grade: Mark both kinds across both passages and read them in two voices.
Extension: Say what a reader has to do in this book that a reader of a book with quotation marks does not have to do, pointing at a sentence in either printed passage where the speaking and the telling run into each other.

English learners

This text prints speech without quotation marks, so the speech tag is the only signal, and that is unusual in any language, not just in English. Rehearse the frame The words ______ are what she says, and the words ______ tell who says them. Invite the split first in the strongest language, then in English, and keep the passage in front of the student throughout.

Materials

Printed passage: watching for Grandma
Printed passage: time to learn to knit
Passage copies for marking
Word cards: narrator, teller, speaker, says

Standards & curriculum

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