Paper Clock Face and Hands full page
It's About Time, Max! — Which Hand Tells the Hour?
Paper Clock Face and Hands
Cut out the clock face and both hands.
Push a paper fastener through the hole in each hand and the dot in the middle.
It's About Time, Max!
Grade 2
5 skill lessons · 3 math-through-reading
Math
Skill lessons
The mathematics the book carries, taught directly. Each lesson has printable workbook pages and a separate teacher key.
- 1Which Hand Tells the Hour?
- 2Count by Fives All the Way Around
- 3Where Is Max at This Time?
- 4Three Ways to Say the Same Time
- 5Is That Reading Right?
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.
- 6Two Words, Two Different Times
- 7How Long Is Max's Morning?
- 8Say It Both Ways Round
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.
- 9Max Says He Is Never Late
- 10Stalling, and Other Words Max Gives You
- 11One Word, Two Meanings, One Missed Movie
- 12Clues That Rhyme On Purpose
- 13Uh-oh, Yikes, What a Bummer
Skill lessons
5 lessons on the mathematics the book carries. Each lesson has printable workbook pages and a separate teacher key.
1. Which Hand Tells the Hour?
The book never prints a clock for a reader to look at; it prints sentences about where two hands point, and Mom's rhyme supplies the rule that sorts them out. Students build both hands on a paper clock, set them where the book's sentences put them, read the hour off the short hand, then trade the two hands and read the second clock that comes out of the very same two numerals.
Full lesson — 20 minutes
1. Sort the short hand from the long hand (4 min)
Each pair takes a paper clock and lays its two hands on the face, longest first. Say aloud which hand is short and which is long, then chant Mom's rhyme together twice, touching the short hand on the word hour. Leave both hands parked on the twelve.
Word preview: hour, little hand
The little hand has all the power. That is why it tells the hour.
2. Set the clock the sentence describes (6 min)
One partner reads the sentence off the strip; the other moves the short hand to the seven and the long hand to the one. Both partners then say the hour out loud and put a finger on the hand that gave it. Swap jobs and run the second strip the same way.
Word preview: big hand, hour hand
The little hand was on seven, and the big hand was on one.
The hour-hand was on seven.
3. Trade the two hands and read again (6 min)
Move the short hand to the numeral the long hand was on. Move the long hand to the numeral the short hand was on. Change no numeral at all. Read the new clock and draw both settings side by side on the sheet. Say out loud which numeral changed jobs.
Word preview: hour
When the little hand was by the six, and the big hand was on the five, I woke up my dad.
4. Say which hand did the work (4 min)
Each pair finishes one frame out loud for both of their clocks: the short hand is on ___, so the hour is ___. Partners listen for the wrong hand being named and answer with try the other hand rather than with the time.
Word preview: hour hand
Short version — 9 minutes
1. Set the clock the sentence describes (6 min)
One partner reads the strip; the other sets the short hand on the seven and the long hand on the one. Both say the hour and point at the hand that gave it.
Word preview: big hand, hour hand
The little hand was on seven, and the big hand was on one.
The hour-hand was on seven.
2. Say which hand did the work (3 min)
Each pair says the frame once for their clock: the short hand is on ___, so the hour is ___.
Word preview: hour hand, minute hand
Three levels
- Support
- Park the long hand on the twelve and leave it there for every reading, so the only decision left is which hand is short and which numeral it sits on. Students still set the clock themselves, still say the hour aloud and still do the trade; only the minute side comes off the table.
- At Grade
- Set both hands where the sentence puts them and read the hour off the short hand. Then trade the two hands, read the second clock, and record both settings before saying which numeral changed jobs.
- Extension
- Set one clock for Dad's instruction and a second for the sentence Max acted on, then name the two words that differ between them and say how those two words carried the waking from half past five to twenty-five past six.
English learners
Number words and clock numerals travel across languages almost untouched, so a child who counts to twelve in any language already owns the reading half of this lesson. What does not travel is hand for a part of a clock, and little and big describing length rather than bulk; several languages name the two hands only as long and short. Practise one sentence until it runs by itself: name the numeral the short hand is on, then name the hour. Invite students to work the hour out in their first language and then report it in English with the frame.
Materials
- Paper clock faces with a movable short hand and a movable long hand, one per pair
- Sentence strips carrying the book's hand sentences, one set per pair
- Recording sheet with two blank clock faces side by side, one headed as written and one headed hands traded
- Word cards: big hand, hour, hour hand, little hand
Workbook
Sentence Strips and Word Cards strip set
It's About Time, Max! — Which Hand Tells the Hour?
Sentence Strips
Cut the strips apart. One partner reads a strip out loud.
The other partner sets the two hands on the clock.
Word Cards
Cut out the four word cards.
Recording Sheet: As Written and Hands Traded full page
It's About Time, Max! — Which Hand Tells the Hour?
Draw Both Settings
Draw a short hand and a long hand on the first face, the way your strip says.
Trade the two hands, then draw the second face.
Teacher key (1 page) — not for the class
Teacher Key: The Hour Each Face Gives full page
It's About Time, Max! — Which Hand Tells the Hour? — Teacher Key
Strips 2 and 3: The little hand was on seven, and the big hand was on one.
- As written: short hand on 7, long hand on 1. The hour is seven.
- Hands traded: short hand on 1, long hand on 7. The hour is one.
- Numerals that changed jobs: seven and one. No numeral moved; the two hands did.
Strip 4: When the little hand was by the six, and the big hand was on the five, I woke up my dad.
- As written: short hand by 6, long hand on 5. The hour is six.
- Hands traded: short hand on 5, long hand on 6. The hour is five.
- Numerals that changed jobs: six and five.
What this lesson asks for
The hour only. Counting the minutes is not asked for here, so a pair that names the hour and nothing else has done the whole task. Accept either strip as the pair's drawn clock; both were on the table.
The spoken frame: the short hand is on ___, so the hour is ___
Both faces get the frame once. A partner who hears the long hand named answers try the other hand and waits, rather than supplying the time.
Read for
A close response finds the short hand first, touches it, and reads the hour off it, and can say that trading the hands changed the hour while both numerals stayed put. A loose response reads the numeral the long hand happens to sit on, or names the same hour for both faces because the two numerals did not move.
Standards & curriculum
Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.
Standards are held back while this plan is edited. Every standard shown here was matched against the supplied wording of this lesson, quoting its steps, so a changed step is no longer the thing that was checked. Undo your changes to bring the standards back — your edits stay in this browser either way.
2. Count by Fives All the Way Around
A single line carries the rule, and Max has to use it three times, running the count from the twelve round to the six before he can name a time. Students count by fives to sixty on a clock face, one touch per number word, label every numeral with the minute it carries, and then use the count to read the minutes on the clocks the book describes.
Full lesson — 20 minutes
1. Count by fives to sixty (5 min)
Pairs put one finger on the twelve and count by fives all the way round to sixty, one touch per number word. Go round three times: slowly, then at speaking pace, then with eyes on the clock and no help from the other hand.
Word preview: minutes
You count by fives to find the minutes.
An hour is 60 minutes.
2. Label every numeral with its minute (5 min)
Deal out the minute cards and set one beside each numeral, working round from the twelve. Check by counting by fives aloud and lifting each card as its number is said. Any card that does not match its count goes back to the pile and is placed again.
Word preview: count by fives, minutes
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30
3. Read the book's clocks by counting (6 min)
Set the long hand where each sentence puts it, count by fives from the twelve to that hand, and say the minutes. Then add the hour from the short hand and say the whole time in one breath.
Word preview: hour, minutes
The little hand was between 7 and 8. The big hand was on 6.
So it was 30 minutes after 7.
4. Count on from a numeral (4 min)
Start the five-count at a numeral the teacher names, instead of at the twelve. Begin at fifteen on the three. Carry the count on to the long hand. Say only the number you land on, and let your partner check it by counting from the twelve.
Word preview: count by fives, hour
Short version — 9 minutes
1. Label every numeral with its minute (5 min)
Deal out the minute cards and set one beside each numeral from the twelve round. Check by counting by fives aloud and lifting each card as its number is said.
Word preview: count by fives, minutes
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30
2. Count on from a numeral (4 min)
Start the five-count at a numeral the teacher names and carry it on to the long hand. Say only the number you land on; your partner checks from the twelve.
Word preview: count by fives, hour
Three levels
- Support
- Count by fives from the twelve round to the six only, stopping at thirty, which is the half face the book's own count run covers. Keep the one-touch-one-word rule and the same clock, and add the far half of the face once the near half arrives without hesitation.
- At Grade
- Count by fives to sixty around the whole face, label every numeral with its minute, and then read the minutes on each clock the book's sentences describe before naming the hour.
- Extension
- Run the count both ways from any starting numeral: count by fives forward to the long hand, then count back by fives to the twelve, and show that both counts land on the same numeral and the same minute card.
English learners
Counting by fives is one of the most portable things a child brings to an English classroom: the rhythm and the quantities are the same whatever language the count was learned in, so students can count in their home language and only the naming needs English. The phrase minutes after puts the smaller amount first and the hour second. Drill a sentence naming the minutes and then the hour, with two or three examples before pairs work alone, and let a student count under their breath in their own language and report in English.
Materials
- Paper clock faces with a movable short hand and a movable long hand, one per pair
- Minute cards 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55 and 60, one set per pair
- Sentence strips carrying the book's hand sentences, one set per pair
- Word cards: count by fives, hour, minutes
Workbook
Paper Clock Face and Hands full page
It's About Time, Max! — Count by Fives All the Way Around
Paper Clock Face and Hands
Cut out the clock face and both hands.
Push a paper fastener through the hole in each hand and the dot in the middle.
Minute Cards card set
It's About Time, Max! — Count by Fives All the Way Around
Minute Cards
Cut out the twelve cards.
Set one card beside each numeral, working round from the twelve.
Sentence Strips and Word Cards strip set
It's About Time, Max! — Count by Fives All the Way Around
Sentence Strips
Cut the strips apart. Set the long hand where the strip puts it.
Count by fives from the twelve to that hand.
Word Cards
Cut out the three word cards.
Teacher key (1 page) — not for the class
Teacher Key: Where Each Minute Card Lands full page
It's About Time, Max! — Count by Fives All the Way Around — Teacher Key
The twelve cards, working round from the twelve
- 5 beside the 1
- 10 beside the 2
- 15 beside the 3
- 20 beside the 4
- 25 beside the 5
- 30 beside the 6
- 35 beside the 7
- 40 beside the 8
- 45 beside the 9
- 50 beside the 10
- 55 beside the 11
- 60 beside the 12
The lesson's own line puts the count and the whole face together: an hour is 60 minutes, and the twelve is where the count both starts and finishes.
The clock in the strips
Little hand between 7 and 8, big hand on 6. The five-count runs 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, so the minutes are thirty and the hour is seven. The lesson gives the answer in the book's own words: So it was 30 minutes after 7.
Counting on from a numeral
Started at fifteen on the three, the count carries on 20, 25, 30 to the six. Whatever numeral you call, the count on and a partner's count from the twelve must land on the same number and the same minute card.
Read for
A close response touches one numeral per number word, stops the count on the long hand rather than running past it, and gives the minutes before the hour. A loose response counts the numerals themselves as minutes, or recites five, ten, fifteen without matching the touches to the words.
Standards & curriculum
Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.
Standards are held back while this plan is edited. Every standard shown here was matched against the supplied wording of this lesson, quoting its steps, so a changed step is no longer the thing that was checked. Undo your changes to bring the standards back — your edits stay in this browser either way.
3. Where Is Max at This Time?
Max's morning is written out time by time, and the family's treasure hunt turns that schedule into a set of questions: read the clock, say what Max is doing then, and that is where the next clue is hiding. Students lay the schedule out, read a clock the teacher or a partner sets, find the strip whose times cover it, and name the job.
Full lesson — 20 minutes
1. Lay out Max's morning (5 min)
Spread the schedule strips face up and read each one aloud with your partner. Put them in the order the clock times run, earliest at the left, and say the start time of each as you place it. Leave the row where everyone can reach it.
Word preview: schedule, before
Every morning from 7.05 to 7.15 I take a shower.
From 7.15 to 7.20 I brush my teeth.
2. Set the clock, name the job (6 min)
One partner sets both hands to a time the teacher calls. The other reads the clock. They run a finger along the row and stop on the strip whose two times hold that reading. Say the job out loud and read the strip's sentence back as proof. Swap after every three times.
Word preview: schedule, after
From 7.20 to 7.30 I get dressed.
3. Answer a clue (5 min)
Take a clue card, read the rhyme aloud, and read the clock printed beside it. Say the time, then say the job and the place in the house where the next clue would be. Your partner checks the answer against the schedule row before you take another card.
Word preview: schedule, after
Hickory, dickory, dock. What time is on this clock?
I brushed my teeth at 7.15.
4. Write the clue the hunt is missing (4 min)
One job on the row never gets a clue in the book. Find it, draw its clock on a blank card with both hands in the right place, and write two lines that ask what Max does then. Hand the card to another pair to solve.
Word preview: schedule, before
At 7.30 each day I eat my breakfast.
Short version — 9 minutes
1. Lay out Max's morning (5 min)
Spread the schedule strips, read each aloud, and lay them in clock-time order, earliest at the left, saying each start time as you place it.
Word preview: schedule, before
Every morning from 7.05 to 7.15 I take a shower.
From 7.15 to 7.20 I brush my teeth.
2. Answer a clue (4 min)
Read a clue card's rhyme and its clock aloud, say the time, then say the job and the place where the next clue would be. Your partner checks it against the row.
Word preview: schedule, after
Hickory, dickory, dock. What time is on this clock?
I brushed my teeth at 7.15.
Three levels
- Support
- Work with three schedule strips instead of the whole row, and set the long hand only on the twelve, the three or the six, so every reading lands on a time the class has already named together. Students still find the strip themselves and still say the job out loud.
- At Grade
- Lay out the whole row, read clocks set at any five-minute mark in the morning, and name the job by finding the strip whose two times hold the reading, reading the sentence back as proof.
- Extension
- Write a clue for a time that falls in the middle of a job rather than at its start, twenty-five past seven for instance, and show from the strip's two times why Max is still getting dressed then. Trade cards and solve a partner's.
English learners
Times of day are a place where languages differ more than numbers do: some name the hour before the minutes, some after, and morning routines are described with verb forms that do not map onto English one to one. The quantities themselves transfer completely. Model a sentence naming the time and what Max is doing at it before pairs work alone, and accept a student naming the job in their own language while pointing at the strip, then saying the whole sentence in English once.
Materials
- Schedule strips carrying the book's morning sentences, one set per pair
- Paper clock faces with a movable short hand and a movable long hand, one per pair
- Clue cards in the book's rhyme form, each printed with a clock face, one set per pair
- Blank clue cards with an empty clock face, two per pair
- Word cards: after, before, schedule
Workbook
Schedule Strips and Word Cards strip set
It's About Time, Max! — Where Is Max at This Time?
Schedule Strips
Cut the strips apart and read each one out loud.
Lay them in clock-time order, earliest at the left.
Word Cards
Cut out the three word cards.
Clue Cards and Blank Clue Cards card set
It's About Time, Max! — Where Is Max at This Time?
Clue Cards
Cut out the cards. Read the rhyme, then read the clock beside it.
Say the time, then say the job and where the next clue is hiding.
Blank Clue Cards
Draw both hands on the empty clock.
Write two lines that ask what Max does then.
Paper Clock Face and Hands full page
It's About Time, Max! — Where Is Max at This Time?
Paper Clock Face and Hands
Cut out the clock face and both hands.
Push a paper fastener through the hole in each hand and the dot in the middle.
Teacher key (1 page) — not for the class
Teacher Key: The Row, the Clues and the Missing One full page
It's About Time, Max! — Where Is Max at This Time? — Teacher Key
The row in clock-time order, earliest at the left
- 7.05 to 7.15, take a shower
- 7.15 to 7.20, brush my teeth
- 7.20 to 7.30, get dressed
- 7.30, eat my breakfast
The three printed clues
- Clue 1, short hand just past the 7 and long hand on the 1, five minutes after seven: taking a shower.
- Clue 2, long hand on the 3, fifteen minutes after seven: brushing his teeth. The book's own answer line settles this one: I brushed my teeth at 7.15. It settles the rule for the whole row.
- Clue 3, long hand on the 4, twenty minutes after seven: getting dressed.
The rule the book's clue supplies: a start time belongs to the job it starts, not to the job it ends. 7.15 ends the shower and starts the teeth, and the book calls it teeth.
The job with no clue
Breakfast at 7.30. It is the one strip on the row that this lesson gives no clue for, and the pair should be able to run a finger down the clue cards and show that nothing lands inside it. Where a pair names a different job, accept it only if they can point to the strip's two times and show that no clue falls between them.
The blank card the pair writes
No single right answer. A strong card draws a short hand and a long hand at a time the strips actually cover, asks in two lines what Max is doing then, and can be solved by another pair using the row alone. A weak card draws one hand, or asks about a time no strip covers, so the row cannot answer it.
Read for
A close response reads the clock first and then hunts the row, and reads the strip's sentence back as proof. A loose response guesses the job from the picture in its head and reads the strip afterwards to agree with itself, or names a job whose two times do not hold the reading.
Standards & curriculum
Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.
Standards are held back while this plan is edited. Every standard shown here was matched against the supplied wording of this lesson, quoting its steps, so a changed step is no longer the thing that was checked. Undo your changes to bring the standards back — your edits stay in this browser either way.
4. Three Ways to Say the Same Time
A closing chart says one single time three different ways, and the story before it shows exactly what it costs a child to know only one of them. Students set a clock, produce all three names for the time it shows, and match name cards onto one face until every card that belongs there is there.
Full lesson — 20 minutes
1. Read the chart's three names (4 min)
Read the chart line aloud with your partner, then set your clock to the time it names. Point at the long hand as you say each of the three names in turn. Say which name you would use if you were telling somebody in a hurry.
Word preview: quarter after, o'clock
15 minutes after 2 or 2 15 or a quarter after 2.
2. Match three cards to one clock (5 min)
Set your clock to half past two and hunt through the name cards for every card that describes it. Lay the three you find beneath the clock and read them out in a row. Any card left over should describe a different clock, and you must say which.
Word preview: half past, quarter after
30 minutes after 2 or 2 30 or half past 2.
3. Name a time from Max's morning three ways (7 min)
Take one time from Max's breakfast sentence, set it on your clock, and fill all three slots on the sheet with names for it. Count by fives from the twelve before you write the minutes-after name, and check the quarter name against the chart's definition.
Word preview: quarter after, half past
From 7.30 to 7.45 I eat my crispy critters, yum!
A quarter hour is 15 minutes.
4. Trade and check (4 min)
Swap sheets with another pair. Set your clock to their drawn time and test each of their three names against it. Cross out only a name the clock cannot show, and tell them which hand disagrees with it.
Word preview: o'clock, half past
Short version — 9 minutes
1. Match three cards to one clock (5 min)
Set your clock to half past two, find every name card that describes it, lay the three beneath the clock and read them out in a row.
Word preview: half past, quarter after
30 minutes after 2 or 2 30 or half past 2.
2. Trade and check (4 min)
Swap sheets with another pair, set your clock to their time and test each of their three names, saying which hand disagrees with any name you cross out.
Word preview: o'clock, half past
Three levels
- Support
- Work with two names for each time instead of three, o'clock and half past, on the same clock and with the same trading step at the end. Bring in the quarter name once both of the first two land on the right face every time.
- At Grade
- Produce all three of the chart's names for a time you have set, count by fives before writing the minutes-after name, and test another pair's three names against your own clock.
- Extension
- Take the chart line where 2 45 is also called a quarter to 3 and build the clock for it. Say why the hour in the words sits one higher than the hour the short hand has passed, then find a second time on the face that behaves the same way.
English learners
Quarter and half are fraction words doing double duty here, and in many languages the clock uses different words again for these than the kitchen or the coin does, so a direct translation can mislead. After and past both mean counted forward from the hour, while to means counted back from the next one, which is the reversal most likely to trip a fluent counter. Rehearse ___ minutes after ___ and a quarter after ___ side by side, and let students say the time in their strongest language first and then choose the English name that matches it.
Materials
- Paper clock faces with a movable short hand and a movable long hand, one per pair
- Time-name cards in three forms, minutes-after, numeral and quarter-or-half, one set per pair
- Recording sheet with one clock face and three blank name slots beneath it, one per pair
- Word cards: half past, o'clock, quarter after
Workbook
Paper Clock Face and Hands full page
It's About Time, Max! — Three Ways to Say the Same Time
Paper Clock Face and Hands
Cut out the clock face and both hands.
Push a paper fastener through the hole in each hand and the dot in the middle.
Time-Name Cards and Word Cards card set
It's About Time, Max! — Three Ways to Say the Same Time
Time-Name Cards
Cut out the six cards. Set your clock, then find every card that names the time it shows.
Lay the cards you find in a row under the clock.
Rule Card
Word Cards
Cut out the three word cards.
Recording Sheet: One Clock, Three Names full page
It's About Time, Max! — Three Ways to Say the Same Time
One Clock, Three Names
Take one time from Max's sentence. Set it on your clock and draw it here.
Write a name for that same time in each of the three slots.
Teacher key (1 page) — not for the class
Teacher Key: The Three Names for Each Time full page
It's About Time, Max! — Three Ways to Say the Same Time — Teacher Key
Matching cards to half past two
Three cards belong: 30 minutes after 2, 2 30, half past 2. They are the chart's own line for that time, 30 minutes after 2 or 2 30 or half past 2.
The three cards left over are the chart's other line, 15 minutes after 2 or 2 15 or a quarter after 2. The pair must say which clock those describe, not merely set them aside.
Max's sentence: either time in it is a sound choice
- 7.30: minutes after, 30 minutes after 7. Numeral, 7 30. Quarter or half, half past 7.
- 7.45: minutes after, 45 minutes after 7. Numeral, 7 45. Quarter or half, a quarter to 8.
The chart's own quarter-to line is the model for the second one: 2 45 is also called a quarter to 3, so the hour named in the words sits one higher than the hour the short hand has passed.
The mistake to expect at 7.45
A quarter after 7 written for 7.45. It reads the long hand as a quarter of the way round instead of three quarters. Send the pair back to the rule card, a quarter hour is 15 minutes, and to the five-count from the twelve.
Trade and check
No single right answer here, since the pair is testing another pair's clock. A strong check crosses out only a name the drawn clock cannot show and names the hand that disagrees with it. Crossing out a name that is merely unfamiliar is the loose version.
Read for
A close response counts by fives before writing the minutes-after name, and can say that all three slots hold the same time under different names. A loose response writes three names for three different times, or leaves the quarter slot empty because the numeral name already looked like an answer.
Standards & curriculum
Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.
Standards are held back while this plan is edited. Every standard shown here was matched against the supplied wording of this lesson, quoting its steps, so a changed step is no longer the thing that was checked. Undo your changes to bring the standards back — your edits stay in this browser either way.
5. Is That Reading Right?
Max reads two clocks wrong in this book and both mistakes are repairable by counting: he takes the hands in the wrong order once, and once he takes a quarter to mean twenty-five. Students set the clock each sentence describes, set beside it the clock that was actually asked for, and then say which reading is right and give the five-count as the reason.
Full lesson — 20 minutes
1. Set the clock Max read (4 min)
Read Max's sentence off the sheet and set your clock exactly as it says, short hand by the six and long hand on the five. Count by fives from the twelve to the long hand and say the time. Draw it on the face headed read.
Word preview: quarter, minutes
When the little hand was by the six, and the big hand was on the five, I woke up my dad.
2. Set the clock Dad asked for (6 min)
Now set the clock to Dad's own instruction, long hand on the six and short hand between the five and the six. Count by fives again and say this time. Draw it on the face headed asked for, so both clocks sit in front of you.
Word preview: minutes, quarter
when the big hand is on the six, and the little hand is between the five and the six
I asked you to wake me at 5.30
3. Test the two quarters (6 min)
Put the two quarter cards side by side. Count the coin's quarter as money and say the cents; count the clock's quarter by fives and say the minutes. Then set a clock to a quarter after three and say which of Max's two numbers the clock agrees with.
Word preview: quarter, cents
A quarter is 25 cents and it's 3.25.
A quarter hour is 15 minutes.
4. Give the reason, not the answer (4 min)
Each pair says one sentence about each of their clocks: this clock says ___ because I counted ___ from the twelve to the long hand. A partner who hears the time repeated without a count answers where did you start counting, and waits.
Word preview: minutes, cents
Short version — 9 minutes
1. Set the clock Dad asked for (5 min)
Set the clock to Dad's instruction, long hand on the six and short hand between the five and the six, count by fives, say the time and draw it on the face headed asked for.
Word preview: minutes, quarter
when the big hand is on the six, and the little hand is between the five and the six
I asked you to wake me at 5.30
2. Give the reason, not the answer (4 min)
Say one sentence about each clock: this clock says ___ because I counted ___ from the twelve to the long hand. A partner who hears no count asks where you started.
Word preview: minutes, cents
Three levels
- Support
- Hand the pair both clocks already set, one asked for and one read, and ask only which hand has moved and what each face says. The setting comes off the table; the judging and the spoken reason stay exactly as they are.
- At Grade
- Set both clocks yourself from the two sentences, count by fives on each, and say which reading is right with the count as the reason rather than the answer restated.
- Extension
- Change one word of Max's sentence so that it would have woken Dad on time, say what the clock reads after the change, and count how many jumps of five separate that reading from the one Max actually made.
English learners
The mathematics of this lesson is almost language-free once the clock is in front of a child: counting by fives and comparing two faces need no English at all. The English that does the work is the reason frame, and because because-clauses sit in different places in different languages, the frame is worth rehearsing rather than assuming. Practise this clock says ___ because I counted ___ twice with the whole class before pairs start, and invite a student to give the reason in their strongest language first and then run the English frame once over the same clock.
Materials
- Paper clock faces with a movable short hand and a movable long hand, one per pair
- Recording sheet with two blank clock faces side by side, one headed asked for and one headed read, one per pair
- Quarter cards, one showing a quarter of a dollar and one showing a quarter of a clock face, one pair per pair of students
- Word cards: cents, minutes, quarter
Workbook
Paper Clock Face and Hands full page
It's About Time, Max! — Is That Reading Right?
Paper Clock Face and Hands
Cut out the clock face and both hands.
Push a paper fastener through the hole in each hand and the dot in the middle.
Recording Sheet: Asked For and Read full page
It's About Time, Max! — Is That Reading Right?
Two Clocks, Side by Side
Read each sentence and set it on your clock.
Then draw both hands on the face with the same heading.
Quarter Cards and Word Cards card set
It's About Time, Max! — Is That Reading Right?
Quarter Cards
Cut out both cards and lay them side by side.
Count one as money and one by fives, and say what each quarter is worth.
Word Cards
Cut out the three word cards.
Teacher key (1 page) — not for the class
Teacher Key: The Two Clocks and the Two Quarters full page
It's About Time, Max! — Is That Reading Right? — Teacher Key
read: the clock Max set
Short hand by the six, long hand on the five. The five-count runs 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, so the face reads twenty-five minutes after six.
asked for: the clock Dad's instruction gives
Long hand on the six, short hand between the five and the six. The count runs 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, so the face reads thirty minutes after five, half past five. The lesson gives the same time in the book's own words: I asked you to wake me at 5.30.
Which reading is right, and why
The asked-for clock. Max took the two hands in the wrong order, and the two numerals five and six changed jobs between the sentences. The reason a pair gives must carry the count and its starting point, not the time said again.
The two quarters
- The coin card: a quarter of a dollar is twenty-five cents.
- The clock card: a quarter of a clock face is the run from the twelve to the three, and the five-count over it is 5, 10, 15, so a quarter hour is fifteen minutes.
- A clock set at a quarter after three has its long hand on the three and reads 3.15. It agrees with the fifteen, not with the twenty-five Max carried over from the coin.
Read for
A close response answers where did you start counting with from the twelve and can run the count again on the face while saying it. A loose response repeats the time louder, or gives the right time with a count that starts at the hour numeral instead of the twelve.
Standards & curriculum
Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.
Standards are held back while this plan is edited. Every standard shown here was matched against the supplied wording of this lesson, quoting its steps, so a changed step is no longer the thing that was checked. Undo your changes to bring the standards back — your edits stay in this browser either way.
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.
6. Two Words, Two Different Times
Students set one clock from Max's sentence and a second from the same sentence with the two hand words traded, then say which word moved the time and by how much.
Full lesson — 20 minutes
1. Set the clock the sentence names (5 min)
Pairs read Max's sentence off the strip, with the two hand words printed in different colours, and set the first clock exactly as it says. They count by fives from the twelve to the long hand, say the time and draw it on the left face of the sheet.
2. Trade the two hand words and set it again (6 min)
Students read the sentence again with the two coloured words swapped, set the second clock to what it now says, count by fives again and draw it on the right face. Both clocks stay on the desk side by side.
3. Say the two words and the gap (5 min)
Each pair says which two words changed and what each clock reads, then counts the jumps of five between the two readings and says the difference. They write one sentence naming the two words and both times.
4. Test the two quarters (4 min)
Pairs hold the quarter of a dollar beside the quarter of a clock face, count the cents in one and the minutes in the other, and set a clock to a quarter after three to say which of Max's two numbers the clock agrees with.
Short version — 9 minutes
1. Set the clock the sentence names (5 min)
Pairs read Max's sentence off the strip, with the two hand words printed in different colours, and set the first clock exactly as it says. They count by fives from the twelve to the long hand, say the time and draw it on the left face of the sheet.
2. Trade the two hand words and set it again (6 min)
Students read the sentence again with the two coloured words swapped, set the second clock to what it now says, count by fives again and draw it on the right face. Both clocks stay on the desk side by side.
Three levels
- Support
- Give the pair the two sentences already printed on separate strips with the hand words underlined, and read both aloud twice before they start. Students still set both clocks, still count by fives and still find the gap; only the work of spotting the difference between two long sentences is taken off them.
- At grade
- Set both clocks from the sentence and its traded version, count by fives on each, name the two words that separate them and write one sentence carrying both times.
- Extension
- Write a third sentence about the same clock that names the time correctly without using either the word little or the word big, then hand it to another pair and check that the clock they set matches yours.
English learners
Number and quantity carry across languages here almost untouched, so the counting half of this lesson is available to every child in the room from the first minute. The part that does not carry is the pair of adjectives: English marks these hands by size words that actually mean length, and many languages use long and short, or a completely different noun, so a literal translation can point a child at the wrong hand. Rehearse one frame in both directions before pairs start, The ___ hand is on ___, so ___, and invite students to say which hand is which in their strongest language first, then run the English frame over the clock they have set.
Materials
- Two paper clock faces per pair, each with a movable short hand and a movable long hand
- Sentence strips of Max's sentence and of Dad's instruction, with the hand words printed in two colours
- Recording sheet with two blank clock faces headed as written and words traded
- A quarter of a dollar and a card showing a quarter of a clock face, one pair per pair of students
- A large clock face for reading the first sentence together with the whole class
Standards & curriculum
Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.
Standards are held back while this plan is edited. Every standard shown here was matched against the supplied wording of this lesson, quoting its steps, so a changed step is no longer the thing that was checked. Undo your changes to bring the standards back — your edits stay in this browser either way.
IB PYP developmental alignment
Phases are not grades. The Primary Years Programme is a developmental continuum and your school places each student in a phase, so this names the strand the lesson works in and the phases it could sit across. Confirm against your own school's placement.
Measurement · Phases 1–3
- Phase 1
- Compare and describe measurable attributes of objects and sequence familiar events using direct experience and non-standard units.
- Phase 2
- Use standard units, estimation, measuring tools, calendars, money, temperature, and time to describe and solve practical problems.
- Phase 3
- Measure perimeter, area, and volume; select appropriate units and tools; interpret scales and develop angle as a measure of rotation.
Number · Phases 1–3
- Phase 1
- Develop meaning for counting, quantity, number relationships, simple operations, and early fractions in meaningful contexts.
- Phase 2
- Develop place value and whole-number operations, mental strategies, fractions, and mathematical language for practical problem solving.
- Phase 3
- Extend number understanding to larger numbers, fractions, decimals, percentages, and efficient strategies for the four operations.
7. How Long Is Max's Morning?
Students find the two sentences that fix the ends of Max's morning, count the hour and the extra fives between them, and answer with the number of minutes and the sentence that funds it.
Full lesson — 20 minutes
1. Hunt the two ends (5 min)
Pairs read down the schedule page and underline the one sentence that says when Max's morning starts and the one that says when it ends. They read both aloud to each other and say why each is an end rather than a middle, using the words every morning and before I catch.
2. Jump the hour, then the fives (6 min)
On the number line, students put a finger on 7 o'clock, take one whole hour to 8 o'clock and say sixty, then count on by fives to 8.05 and say sixty-five. They repeat the same count round the clock face so the two pictures give the same number.
3. Answer with the number and the line (5 min)
Each pair writes the number of minutes on the answer card and copies underneath it the sentence they used, then reads the sentence aloud before saying the number. A number offered without its line is sent back for the line.
4. Do it again for one job (4 min)
Pairs pick Max's breakfast sentence, compute how many minutes it takes by counting from its start time to its stop time, and fill a second answer card with that number and that sentence.
Short version — 9 minutes
1. Hunt the two ends (5 min)
Pairs read down the schedule page and underline the one sentence that says when Max's morning starts and the one that says when it ends. They read both aloud to each other and say why each is an end rather than a middle, using the words every morning and before I catch.
2. Answer with the number and the line (5 min)
Each pair writes the number of minutes on the answer card and copies underneath it the sentence they used, then reads the sentence aloud before saying the number. A number offered without its line is sent back for the line.
Three levels
- Support
- Mark the number line for the pair with the hour jump already drawn from 7 o'clock to 8 o'clock and labelled sixty, so the remaining work is the five-count on to 8.05. Students still hunt for both sentences, still read them aloud and still supply the line with their number.
- At grade
- Find both end sentences unaided, count the hour and the fives on the number line and again on the clock, and report a number with the sentence that funds it read aloud.
- Extension
- Take the four jobs whose start and stop times the book prints cleanly, compute each one's length, and say how many of the sixty-five minutes are still unaccounted for and which sentence you cannot use because its times are damaged.
English learners
The counting in this lesson is language-independent and a child can do all of it before reading a word of English. What is not independent is the searching: finding a sentence that fixes an endpoint means holding a purpose in mind while reading, in a text that names many other times. Give the two candidate sentences on a strip for students who need the search narrowed, rehearse the frame Max's morning starts at ___ and ends at ___, so it is ___ minutes long, and invite students to reason through the count in their strongest language and report the finished frame in English. No student is asked about their own morning or their own family.
Materials
- A copy of the schedule page with the sentences printed in full, one per pair
- A five-minute number line marked from 7 o'clock to 8.05, one per pair
- Paper clock faces with a movable short hand and a movable long hand, one per pair
- Answer cards with a box for the number of minutes and ruled lines beneath for the sentence that funds it, two per pair
- A large clock face for counting the whole hour together before pairs start
Standards & curriculum
Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.
Standards are held back while this plan is edited. Every standard shown here was matched against the supplied wording of this lesson, quoting its steps, so a changed step is no longer the thing that was checked. Undo your changes to bring the standards back — your edits stay in this browser either way.
IB PYP developmental alignment
Phases are not grades. The Primary Years Programme is a developmental continuum and your school places each student in a phase, so this names the strand the lesson works in and the phases it could sit across. Confirm against your own school's placement.
Measurement · Phases 1–4
- Phase 1
- Compare and describe measurable attributes of objects and sequence familiar events using direct experience and non-standard units.
- Phase 2
- Use standard units, estimation, measuring tools, calendars, money, temperature, and time to describe and solve practical problems.
- Phase 3
- Measure perimeter, area, and volume; select appropriate units and tools; interpret scales and develop angle as a measure of rotation.
- Phase 4
- Use procedures and formulas for perimeter, area, and volume; convert units, determine required accuracy, and measure and construct angles.
Number · Phases 1–4
- Phase 1
- Develop meaning for counting, quantity, number relationships, simple operations, and early fractions in meaningful contexts.
- Phase 2
- Develop place value and whole-number operations, mental strategies, fractions, and mathematical language for practical problem solving.
- Phase 3
- Extend number understanding to larger numbers, fractions, decimals, percentages, and efficient strategies for the four operations.
- Phase 4
- Apply whole-number, fraction, decimal, percentage, ratio, and proportion concepts with increasingly efficient and flexible computation.
8. Say It Both Ways Round
Students mark a quarter hour and a half hour on one clock face, count the gap between them, and say the relation forward and reversed, changing the comparison word each time.
Full lesson — 20 minutes
1. Mark both spans on one clock (5 min)
Pairs read the chart's two sentences off the strip and mark the quarter span from the twelve to the three in one colour and the half span from the twelve to the six in the other, counting by fives as they draw each one and saying the minutes at the end.
2. Say it forward (5 min)
Students count the fives between the end of the quarter span and the end of the half span, say the gap, and then say the forward sentence with a finger on each mark, choosing the comparison word from the frame cards.
3. Say it the other way round (6 min)
Now students say the same fact starting from the other side, which forces the comparison word to change. Partners check that the reversed sentence still describes the one clock in front of them, and reject any reversal that flips the order but keeps the first word.
4. Turn it on Max's afternoon (4 min)
Pairs mark 3.15 and 3.25 on the same face, count the gap, and produce both directions about those two times, saying which of them Mom asked for and which one Max brought.
Short version — 9 minutes
1. Say it forward (5 min)
Students count the fives between the end of the quarter span and the end of the half span, say the gap, and then say the forward sentence with a finger on each mark, choosing the comparison word from the frame cards.
2. Say it the other way round (6 min)
Now students say the same fact starting from the other side, which forces the comparison word to change. Partners check that the reversed sentence still describes the one clock in front of them, and reject any reversal that flips the order but keeps the first word.
Three levels
- Support
- Hand the pair a clock with both spans already marked and give the two sentence frames with the comparison word missing from each. Students still count the gap themselves and still choose which word goes in; only the marking and the sentence building come off them.
- At grade
- Mark both spans, count the gap, and produce both directions of the relation with the correct comparison word in each, checking both against the one marked clock.
- Extension
- Take the chart line where 2 45 is also a quarter to 3 and say the relation between those two names in both directions, then explain why reversing this one changes the hour that gets named and not only the comparison word.
English learners
Comparative syntax carries more error here than the arithmetic ever will. English attaches than to the smaller side no matter which side is mentioned first, and marks the comparison on the adjective, where many languages mark it on the noun, use a separate particle, or reverse the order of the two things being compared. A child whose counting is faultless can still produce a reversed sentence that says the opposite of what they mean. Rehearse the two frames aloud in both directions before pairs start, ___ is ___ minutes longer than ___ and ___ is ___ minutes shorter than ___, and invite students to say the relation in their strongest language first, then point at the two marks while running the English frame.
Materials
- One wipe-clean clock face per pair, large enough to mark both spans
- Two coloured markers per pair, one for the quarter span and one for the half span
- Sentence frame cards reading is ___ minutes longer than and is ___ minutes shorter than
- A strip carrying the chart's three time sentences
- A large clock face where the teacher marks the first pair of spans with the class
Standards & curriculum
Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.
Standards are held back while this plan is edited. Every standard shown here was matched against the supplied wording of this lesson, quoting its steps, so a changed step is no longer the thing that was checked. Undo your changes to bring the standards back — your edits stay in this browser either way.
IB PYP developmental alignment
Phases are not grades. The Primary Years Programme is a developmental continuum and your school places each student in a phase, so this names the strand the lesson works in and the phases it could sit across. Confirm against your own school's placement.
Measurement · Phases 1–4
- Phase 1
- Compare and describe measurable attributes of objects and sequence familiar events using direct experience and non-standard units.
- Phase 2
- Use standard units, estimation, measuring tools, calendars, money, temperature, and time to describe and solve practical problems.
- Phase 3
- Measure perimeter, area, and volume; select appropriate units and tools; interpret scales and develop angle as a measure of rotation.
- Phase 4
- Use procedures and formulas for perimeter, area, and volume; convert units, determine required accuracy, and measure and construct angles.
Number · Phases 1–4
- Phase 1
- Develop meaning for counting, quantity, number relationships, simple operations, and early fractions in meaningful contexts.
- Phase 2
- Develop place value and whole-number operations, mental strategies, fractions, and mathematical language for practical problem solving.
- Phase 3
- Extend number understanding to larger numbers, fractions, decimals, percentages, and efficient strategies for the four operations.
- Phase 4
- Apply whole-number, fraction, decimal, percentage, ratio, and proportion concepts with increasingly efficient and flexible computation.
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.
9. Max Says He Is Never Late
Max opens by promising the reader he is never late and closes by saying it again. In between he misses a bus, a surprise and a movie. Students read the opening claim aloud, read the morning it falls apart, and say in their own words why a storyteller would put the same sentence at both ends. The work is reading a claim, testing it against what the same narrator later reports, and stating the mismatch in a sentence.
Full lesson — 20 minutes
1. Read the boast aloud (5 min)
Read the printed opening twice with a partner. The first time, read it flat. The second time, read it like someone showing off, and land hard on the last sentence. Then tell your partner one thing Max wants you to believe about him.
Word preview: boast, never
Time to wake up, Max, called my mom. I yawned and checked my watch, 7 o'clock. I wake up at the same time every morning. Then I can do all the things I need to do before I catch the school bus at 8.05. I'm never late.
2. Read what actually happened (6 min)
Read the printed morning-after passage with your partner, taking turns by sentence. Underline two things on your copy that prove Max was late: the words describing Mom's face in the first sentence, and the thing Mom had to write in the third. Then say out loud, in one sentence, how Max felt about it.
Word preview: embarrassed, late note
Oops, my mom was waiting outside with a not very happy look on her face. You just messed a bus, she said. So mom had to drive me to school and write a late note. I was so embarrassed.
3. Put the two sentences side by side (5 min)
Look at the two printed passages together. Copy Max's three-word claim from the first onto a sentence strip. On a second strip copy the late-note sentence from the morning passage, the one beginning So mom had to drive. Read your pair to the class, claim first, and say which of the two you believe and why.
Word preview: claim, proof
Time to wake up, Max, called my mom. I yawned and checked my watch, 7 o'clock. I wake up at the same time every morning. Then I can do all the things I need to do before I catch the school bus at 8.05. I'm never late.
Oops, my mom was waiting outside with a not very happy look on her face. You just messed a bus, she said. So mom had to drive me to school and write a late note. I was so embarrassed.
4. Read the ending and answer why (4 min)
Read the printed ending aloud. Max says the same thing about himself that he said on page one. With your partner, finish this sentence out loud: Max can say it now because ___. Then say whether the last sentence made you laugh, and point to the word that did it.
Word preview: ending
Alright, I said. I never did find my digital watch, but that doesn't matter. Now I can tell time on all kinds of clocks. And as I said, I'm never late. Sometimes I'm even early.
Short version — 9 minutes
1. Read the boast aloud (4 min)
Read the printed opening twice with a partner, once flat and once like someone showing off. Land hard on the last sentence. Tell your partner what Max wants you to believe.
Word preview: boast, never
Time to wake up, Max, called my mom. I yawned and checked my watch, 7 o'clock. I wake up at the same time every morning. Then I can do all the things I need to do before I catch the school bus at 8.05. I'm never late.
2. Read the ending and answer why (5 min)
Read the printed ending aloud. Max repeats his page-one claim. Finish out loud: Max can say it now because ___. Point to the word in the last sentence that makes it funny.
Word preview: ending
Alright, I said. I never did find my digital watch, but that doesn't matter. Now I can tell time on all kinds of clocks. And as I said, I'm never late. Sometimes I'm even early.
Three levels
- Support
- Support: work only with the opening passage in step one and the ending passage in step four. Read each aloud with the teacher, then answer one question about each: what does Max say about himself here? Skip the sentence-strip pairing and say the mismatch out loud instead of writing it.
- At Grade
- At Grade: run all four steps as written, marking the morning passage independently and reading the strip pair to the class claim first.
- Extension
- Extension: after step four, write two sentences saying whether Max's last claim is now true, quoting one printed sentence from the ending that supports your answer and naming which printed passage it came from.
English learners
The frame Max is late for the bus transfers directly; the boast structure does not, because a flat self-claim like I'm never late reads as a fact rather than a joke in many languages. Rehearse the frame Max says he is ___, but he ___ before step three, and let students say the mismatch in their strongest language first, then in English with the frame.
Materials
- Printed opening passage
- Printed morning passage
- Coloured pencil
- Sentence strips
- Printed ending passage
- Word cards: boast, never, embarrassed, late note, claim, proof, ending
Standards & curriculum
Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.
Standards are held back while this plan is edited. Every standard shown here was matched against the supplied wording of this lesson, quoting its steps, so a changed step is no longer the thing that was checked. Undo your changes to bring the standards back — your edits stay in this browser either way.
10. Stalling, and Other Words Max Gives You
Two printed passages carry words a second grader can crack without a dictionary: stalling, old-fashioned, and nightstand. Each one sits beside a sentence that hands over the clue. Students read the passage, point at the neighbouring sentence that explains the word, and say the meaning in their own words. The work is using nearby sentences as evidence, not guessing from the sound of a word.
Full lesson — 20 minutes
1. Read for the word stalling (6 min)
Read the printed passage aloud with a partner. Find the word stalling and put your finger on it. Now put your other finger on the sentence just before it that tells you why Max would stall. Say what stalling means using the words wait and answer.
Word preview: stalling, old-fashioned
I stared at Dad. My parents are sort of old-fashioned. There wasn't a single digital clock in the house. Five thirty, I said, stalling. You know, said Dad, when the big hand is on the six, and the little hand is between the five and the six, he smiled. That made it a little easier.
2. Prove old-fashioned from its neighbour (5 min)
In the same printed passage, find old-fashioned. Read the very next sentence out loud. Tell your partner what that next sentence proves about Max's parents, then finish the frame: old-fashioned here means they ___.
Word preview: old-fashioned
I stared at Dad. My parents are sort of old-fashioned. There wasn't a single digital clock in the house. Five thirty, I said, stalling. You know, said Dad, when the big hand is on the six, and the little hand is between the five and the six, he smiled. That made it a little easier.
3. Crack nightstand from its list (5 min)
Read the printed searching passage. Max names three places in one sentence. Two of them you already know. Use the two you know to say what kind of thing a nightstand must be, and where in a bedroom it sits. Write your answer on the word log in one sentence.
Word preview: nightstand
Then I reached for my digital watch. It wasn't on my nightstand, or in my bathroom pocket, or on the sink. Oh no!
4. Say all three back (4 min)
Look at both printed passages again. Take one word card each and read your word, then the printed sentence it came from, then your meaning. Your partner says agree or not yet and points at the sentence that decides it.
I stared at Dad. My parents are sort of old-fashioned. There wasn't a single digital clock in the house. Five thirty, I said, stalling. You know, said Dad, when the big hand is on the six, and the little hand is between the five and the six, he smiled. That made it a little easier.
Then I reached for my digital watch. It wasn't on my nightstand, or in my bathroom pocket, or on the sink. Oh no!
Short version — 9 minutes
1. Read for the word stalling (5 min)
Read the printed passage aloud with a partner. Put a finger on stalling and another on the sentence before it. Say what stalling means using the words wait and answer.
Word preview: stalling, old-fashioned
I stared at Dad. My parents are sort of old-fashioned. There wasn't a single digital clock in the house. Five thirty, I said, stalling. You know, said Dad, when the big hand is on the six, and the little hand is between the five and the six, he smiled. That made it a little easier.
2. Crack nightstand from its list (4 min)
Read the printed searching passage. Max names three places in one sentence. Use the two you know to say what a nightstand must be. Write one sentence on the word log.
Word preview: nightstand
Then I reached for my digital watch. It wasn't on my nightstand, or in my bathroom pocket, or on the sink. Oh no!
Three levels
- Support
- Support: work one word, stalling, from the printed dinner-table passage. The teacher reads the passage aloud twice and the student echoes the sentence containing the word, then answers one question: was Max ready to answer Dad, yes or no? Say the meaning aloud; the word log is optional.
- At Grade
- At Grade: all three words, both printed passages, one written line per word on the word log.
- Extension
- Extension: after step four, find one more word in either printed passage whose meaning a neighbouring sentence gives away, and write the word, the neighbouring sentence, and your meaning on the word log.
English learners
Stalling has no one-word equivalent in many languages and is often taught only as an engine word, so preview it as talking to buy time. Nightstand is a transparent compound once split, and splitting it aloud transfers well. Give the frame ___ means ___ because the story says ___, and let students name the meaning in their strongest language before saying it in English.
Materials
- Printed dinner-table passage
- Printed searching passage
- Word log
- Word cards: stalling, old-fashioned, nightstand
Standards & curriculum
Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.
Standards are held back while this plan is edited. Every standard shown here was matched against the supplied wording of this lesson, quoting its steps, so a changed step is no longer the thing that was checked. Undo your changes to bring the standards back — your edits stay in this browser either way.
11. One Word, Two Meanings, One Missed Movie
The funniest exchange in the book turns on a single word that Mom and Max each hear differently. The set-up is printed on one page and the pay-off on another, and both are printed here. Students find the word both characters use, say what each of them thought it meant, and explain why the reader laughs at a sentence neither character finds funny. The work is reading dialogue for two meanings of one word.
Full lesson — 20 minutes
1. Read the plan they agree on (4 min)
Read the printed plan passage aloud in two voices, one partner as Mom and one as Max. Circle the four words Mom and Max both say. Say out loud whether the two of them sound like they agree.
Word preview: agree, plan
And I want to go to the CD store, said Mom. I'll meet you here at a quarter after three. Um, maybe I'll go with you, I said, then I remembered that the comic book store had a big digital clock on the wall. Okay, I said, a quarter after three is fine.
2. Read the argument in two voices (6 min)
Read the printed argument passage aloud in the same two voices. Stop at the line where Max explains himself. Tell your partner what Max thought a quarter meant, using his own printed sentence as your proof.
Word preview: quarter, argument
Max, I've been waiting for 10 minutes, Mom said. The movie already started. But I'm on time, I said. It's a quarter after. A quarter is 25 cents and it's 3.25. No Max, Mom said. Time doesn't work like money. A quarter after 3 is 3.15, not 3.25.
3. Fill the two-meanings chart (6 min)
With both printed passages in front of you, fill the two-meanings chart: one row for what Max heard, one for what Mom meant. In each row copy the printed sentence that proves it. Then read your two proof sentences aloud, Max's first.
Word preview: meaning
And I want to go to the CD store, said Mom. I'll meet you here at a quarter after three. Um, maybe I'll go with you, I said, then I remembered that the comic book store had a big digital clock on the wall. Okay, I said, a quarter after three is fine.
Max, I've been waiting for 10 minutes, Mom said. The movie already started. But I'm on time, I said. It's a quarter after. A quarter is 25 cents and it's 3.25. No Max, Mom said. Time doesn't work like money. A quarter after 3 is 3.15, not 3.25.
4. Say why the reader laughs (4 min)
Look again at the printed argument passage. Neither Max nor Mom is laughing. Tell your partner in one sentence why a reader does, using the frame: it is funny because Max heard ___ but Mom meant ___. Then read Mom's last printed sentence aloud as the punchline.
Word preview: punchline
Max, I've been waiting for 10 minutes, Mom said. The movie already started. But I'm on time, I said. It's a quarter after. A quarter is 25 cents and it's 3.25. No Max, Mom said. Time doesn't work like money. A quarter after 3 is 3.15, not 3.25.
Short version — 9 minutes
1. Read the argument in two voices (5 min)
Read the printed argument passage aloud in two voices, one as Mom and one as Max. Tell your partner what Max thought a quarter meant, using his own printed sentence as proof.
Word preview: quarter, argument
Max, I've been waiting for 10 minutes, Mom said. The movie already started. But I'm on time, I said. It's a quarter after. A quarter is 25 cents and it's 3.25. No Max, Mom said. Time doesn't work like money. A quarter after 3 is 3.15, not 3.25.
2. Say why the reader laughs (4 min)
Look again at the printed argument passage. Say in one sentence why a reader laughs when the characters do not, using the frame: Max heard ___ but Mom meant ___. Read Mom's last printed sentence aloud as the punchline.
Word preview: punchline
Max, I've been waiting for 10 minutes, Mom said. The movie already started. But I'm on time, I said. It's a quarter after. A quarter is 25 cents and it's 3.25. No Max, Mom said. Time doesn't work like money. A quarter after 3 is 3.15, not 3.25.
Three levels
- Support
- Support: use only the printed argument passage. The teacher reads Mom's lines and the student reads Max's. Answer two questions aloud: what did Max say a quarter was, and what did Mom say it was? Fill the two-meanings chart by pointing at the printed sentences rather than copying them.
- At Grade
- At Grade: both printed passages, both chart rows copied out, and the punchline read aloud.
- Extension
- Extension: after step four, write two lines of new dialogue in which Max explains his mistake to Ann, using the word quarter twice with a different meaning each time. Mark which meaning each use carries.
English learners
The double meaning is language-specific: in many languages the coin word and the fraction-of-an-hour word are not the same word at all, so the joke does not transfer and must be built rather than recognised. Say both meanings plainly before step two. The dialogue frame ___ said ___ transfers well and is worth rehearsing so students can attribute each meaning to a speaker in English even while reasoning in their strongest language.
Materials
- Printed plan passage
- Coloured pencil
- Printed argument passage
- Two-meanings chart
- Word cards: agree, plan, quarter, argument, meaning, punchline
Standards & curriculum
Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.
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12. Clues That Rhyme On Purpose
Max's family writes his treasure hunt in two-line rhymes, and the book prints four of them. Each pair rhymes on its very last word and each ends with a question that tells Max where to go next. Students read the printed rhymes aloud, name the rhyming pair in each, and then write a two-line clue of their own that rhymes and asks a question. The work is hearing end rhyme and copying a poem's pattern.
Full lesson — 20 minutes
1. Say the hand rhyme aloud (5 min)
Read the printed rhyme passage aloud twice, the second time clapping on the last word of each of Mom's two lines. Say the two words that rhyme. Then say the rhyme from memory to your partner with the book turned over.
Word preview: rhyme, hour
Then Mom told me this rhyme. The little hand has all the power. That is why it tells the hour. That was easy to remember. Okay, I said, where's my first clue?
2. Find the rhyming pair in two clues (6 min)
Read the two printed clue passages aloud with a partner, one clue each. In each one, find the two lines the family wrote and underline the last word of each line. Say the rhyming pair out loud. Tell your partner which of the two clue rhymes is easier to say fast, and why.
Word preview: clue, rhyme
To find the first clue, read this little rhyme. Where are you each morning at this time? But where in my room? Ah-ha! At seven o'clock I was in bed. I picked up my pillow and there was the next clue.
The next clue is very near. It's where you are at the time shown here. 5, 10, 15, hmm. The little hand was on 7 and the big hand was on 3. So it was 15 minutes after 7. I brushed my teeth at 7.15. Sure enough, the next clue was wrapped around my toothbrush.
3. Name what every clue does (4 min)
Look at the printed kitchen clue. Like the others, it is two lines and the second one asks something. With your partner, say the one job every clue in this book has to do, and name the punctuation mark that shows it. Then read the kitchen clue's two lines aloud and say its rhyming pair.
Word preview: question mark
This clock clue was not so tough. Just think, who says rough, rough, rough? Zombie, I yelled. I walked Zombie at 7.45. Zombie came running into the kitchen.
4. Write your own two-line clue (5 min)
Using the printed clues as your model, write a two-line clue on a clue card that hides something in this classroom. Your last words must rhyme and your second line must be a question. Read it aloud and let a partner hunt.
Word preview: hunt
To find the first clue, read this little rhyme. Where are you each morning at this time? But where in my room? Ah-ha! At seven o'clock I was in bed. I picked up my pillow and there was the next clue.
Short version — 9 minutes
1. Say the hand rhyme aloud (4 min)
Read the printed rhyme passage aloud twice, clapping on the last word of each of Mom's two lines. Say the two words that rhyme, then say the rhyme from memory with the book turned over.
Word preview: rhyme, hour
Then Mom told me this rhyme. The little hand has all the power. That is why it tells the hour. That was easy to remember. Okay, I said, where's my first clue?
2. Write your own two-line clue (5 min)
Using the printed clue as your model, write a two-line clue on a clue card that hides something in this classroom. The last words must rhyme and the second line must be a question. Read it aloud and let a partner hunt.
Word preview: hunt
To find the first clue, read this little rhyme. Where are you each morning at this time? But where in my room? Ah-ha! At seven o'clock I was in bed. I picked up my pillow and there was the next clue.
Three levels
- Support
- Support: stay with the printed hand rhyme and the printed first clue. Say each aloud with the teacher and name the rhyming pair by echoing the two final words. For step four, the teacher supplies the first line and the student supplies only a rhyming second line that asks a question.
- At Grade
- At Grade: all four printed rhymes, rhyming pairs named independently, and an original two-line clue written and hunted.
- Extension
- Extension: write a chain of two clues, where the answer to the first tells the hunter where to find the second. Both must rhyme on their last words and both second lines must be questions.
English learners
End rhyme is heard rather than read, so run every printed rhyme aloud before any is discussed. Rhyme itself exists in most home languages and transfers, but English rhymes on the vowel-plus-ending, and pairs like power and hour look unlike each other on the page while sounding alike. Invite students to name a rhyming pair from a song in their strongest language first, then hunt for the English pair in the printed passage.
Materials
- Printed hand-rhyme passage
- Printed first-clue passage
- Printed soap-dish clue passage
- Coloured pencil
- Printed kitchen-clue passage
- Clue cards
- Word cards: rhyme, hour, clue, question mark, hunt
Standards & curriculum
Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.
Standards are held back while this plan is edited. Every standard shown here was matched against the supplied wording of this lesson, quoting its steps, so a changed step is no longer the thing that was checked. Undo your changes to bring the standards back — your edits stay in this browser either way.
13. Uh-oh, Yikes, What a Bummer
Max never writes I was scared. He writes Oh no, Uh-oh, Yikes and What a bummer, and lets short sentences and exclamation marks carry the feeling. Students read three printed passages, sort the short outbursts from the long reporting sentences, and match each outburst to the feeling it stands for. The work is reading punctuation and sentence length as evidence of how a narrator feels.
Full lesson — 20 minutes
1. Read the searching passage aloud (5 min)
Read the printed searching passage aloud with a partner. Find the shortest sentence in it and read just that one again, loudly. Tell your partner how Max feels at that moment and what on the page told you, naming the punctuation mark.
Word preview: exclamation mark
Then I reached for my digital watch. It wasn't on my nightstand, or in my bathroom pocket, or on the sink. Oh no!
2. Sort short from long (6 min)
Read the printed corner passage aloud. On your feelings log, make two columns and sort every sentence into them: short outbursts on the left, sentences that report what happened on the right. Read your left column aloud, one after another, and say what all of them have in common.
Word preview: outburst
Uh-oh. I was five minutes behind schedule. I put on Anne's watch, called Zombie, and zoomed out the door. When we got to the corner, I decided to check the time. Yikes! It wasn't a digital watch! This one had hands on it.
3. Match the outburst to the feeling (5 min)
Read the printed party passage. Take the feeling cards and lay one beside each printed outburst you have collected so far. Argue for your choice out loud by reading the sentence right after the outburst, because that sentence usually tells you what caused it.
Word preview: disappointed
I must have mixed up the hands. We drove straight to the party, but I missed the best part when everyone jumps out and yells, surprise! What a bummer!
4. Rewrite one outburst flat (4 min)
Choose one outburst from the printed corner passage. On your feelings log, rewrite that moment as a plain sentence that begins I felt. Read both versions aloud to your partner, Max's first, then yours. Say which one sounds more like a real boy, and why.
Word preview: plain
Uh-oh. I was five minutes behind schedule. I put on Anne's watch, called Zombie, and zoomed out the door. When we got to the corner, I decided to check the time. Yikes! It wasn't a digital watch! This one had hands on it.
Short version — 9 minutes
1. Read the searching passage aloud (4 min)
Read the printed searching passage aloud with a partner. Find the shortest sentence and read just that one again, loudly. Say how Max feels and name the punctuation mark that told you.
Word preview: exclamation mark
Then I reached for my digital watch. It wasn't on my nightstand, or in my bathroom pocket, or on the sink. Oh no!
2. Sort short from long (5 min)
Read the printed corner passage aloud. On your feelings log, sort every sentence into two columns: short outbursts and sentences that report what happened. Read the left column aloud and say what those sentences share.
Word preview: outburst
Uh-oh. I was five minutes behind schedule. I put on Anne's watch, called Zombie, and zoomed out the door. When we got to the corner, I decided to check the time. Yikes! It wasn't a digital watch! This one had hands on it.
Three levels
- Support
- Support: work only the printed searching passage and the printed corner passage. The teacher reads each aloud and the student echoes just the outbursts. Sort three sentences the teacher hands over rather than the whole passage, and choose a feeling card by pointing rather than writing.
- At Grade
- At Grade: all three printed passages, the full two-column sort, feeling cards argued aloud, and one outburst rewritten flat.
- Extension
- Extension: write three sentences of your own about a morning that went wrong, using one outburst and two reporting sentences in Max's order. Underline your outburst and mark its punctuation.
English learners
Uh-oh, Yikes and What a bummer are idioms rather than words, and none of them translates piece by piece, so preview each one as a whole sound with a face and a gesture before step one. The exclamation mark itself transfers for most students and is the safest evidence to point at. Give the frame Max says ___ because he feels ___, and let students supply their home language's equivalent outburst beside Max's on the feelings log.
Materials
- Printed searching passage
- Printed corner passage
- Feelings log
- Printed party passage
- Feeling cards
- Word cards: exclamation mark, outburst, disappointed, plain
Standards & curriculum
Choose your curriculum above to see the standards for this lesson.
Standards are held back while this plan is edited. Every standard shown here was matched against the supplied wording of this lesson, quoting its steps, so a changed step is no longer the thing that was checked. Undo your changes to bring the standards back — your edits stay in this browser either way.