Keep Your Distance!

$Keep Your Distance! book cover$

Grade 2
5 skill lessons

Math

Skill lessons

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

1Twelve Inches Make a Foot
2Measure Jen's Line
3Add Three Feet for Each New Yard
4Same Distance, Bigger Number
5Nine Places on One 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.

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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.

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Skill lessons

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

1. Twelve Inches Make a Foot Concept · Building one foot from twelve inches and one yard from three feet

This book says the same distance twice in different words on nearly every page, and the back matter does it in a table. One foot equals 12 inches. Two feet equals 24 inches. One yard equals three feet, and one yard equals thirty-six inches. Children build those sentences out of inch tiles laid end to end, a row at a time, and count what they have after each row: twelve, twenty-four, thirty-six. What settles in is that the floor they covered never changed while the number did, because the number counts the unit and not the distance. The last row is the one to slow down on, because thirty-six tiles and three feet and one yard are three names for the length of tape lying under the children's hands.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Lay twelve inch tiles in a row (5 min)
Lay one-inch tiles end to end along a one-foot ruler, starting hard against the zero end, until the last tile lands on the far end. Count them out loud by ones with a finger on each tile. Then count them again starting from the other end, and say the number both times.
Word preview: inch, foot
One foot equals 12 inches.
One foot is 12 inches.
2. Add a second foot and count again (6 min)
Lay a second row of twelve tiles beginning where the first row stopped, with no gap at the join. Count every tile in the line, and say the number. Then say it the short way, by starting at twelve and counting on the second row of twelve. Find the sentence in the book that adds the same way and read it aloud.
Word preview: equals
Two feet equals 24 inches.
Add 12 inches for each new foot. 12 plus 12 equals 24.
Two feet is 24 inches.
3. Reach the third foot and name it a yard (5 min)
Lay a third row of twelve tiles at the end of the second. Count the whole line and say the number, then lay a yard tape beside the tiles and check that the tape and the last tile finish together. Say the name the book gives that length once the third row is down.
Word preview: yard
Three feet is 36 inches. That's one yard.
One yard equals thirty-six inches.
4. Say the same length two ways (4 min)
Keep a hand on each end of the yard tape so the length cannot change. Say that length as thirty-six inches with a finger sliding along the tiles, then as three feet with a finger stopping at each foot mark, then as one yard with a hand at each end. Put the three floor cards under the part of the line each name counts.
Word preview: yard, foot, inch
One yard equals three feet. One yard equals thirty-six inches.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Lay twelve inch tiles in a row (5 min)
Lay one-inch tiles end to end along a one-foot ruler from the zero end until the last tile lands on the far end. Count them by ones with a finger on each tile, then count them again from the other end.
Word preview: inch, foot
One foot equals 12 inches.
2. Reach the third foot and name it a yard (4 min)
Lay two more rows of twelve tiles after the first, with no gap at either join. Count the whole line, then lay a yard tape beside it and check that the tape and the last tile finish together. Say the name the book gives that length.
Word preview: yard
Three feet is 36 inches. That's one yard.
One yard equals thirty-six inches.

Three levels

Support: Stay with one foot. Lay the twelve tiles against the ruler, count them by ones with a finger on each, and say twelve inches make one foot. A partner holds the ruler still. Count the same twelve from the other end so the number comes out the same either way, and go on to a second row only when it does.
At Grade: Three rows of twelve tiles laid end to end and checked against a yard tape, counted to twelve, twenty-four and thirty-six, and the one length named all three ways with a finger on the part of the line each name counts.
Extension: Hand the child thirty-six tiles already in a row with no ruler, and have them find the foot marks by breaking the row into equal groups, saying how many groups and how many in each. Then ask what a fourth foot would make, and have the child name the sentence in the book that licenses adding it.

English learners

English stacks the number in front of the unit and pluralises the unit, and the one unit in this book that does not follow the rule is the one the lesson is built on: foot becomes feet, while inch, yard and mile all take an s. The book prints one foot and two feet twenty-seven characters apart, which is the cleanest place to hear it. The book also says the same relation two ways, with equals in the story and with is in the chart, so a child who has learned one may not recognise the other as the same claim. Rehearse the frame one ___ equals ___ ___ and accept a child who says only the two numbers with a hand on both ends of the tape. Ask what unit the child's strongest language uses for a hand's length or an arm's length, teach it to the class, and let the child measure the tiles in it once.

Materials

One-inch square tiles, thirty-six per pair
A one-foot ruler per pair
A paper strip three feet long marked off in inches, one per pair
A one-yard tape or ribbon per pair
Three floor cards reading one yard, three feet, thirty-six inches
Word cards: inch, foot, feet, yard, equals

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

2. Measure Jen's Line Application · Measuring a two-foot distance with a tape measure and checking it in inches

One thing in this book actually gets measured, and the book says so in two short sentences: Jen fetches a tape measure and measures two feet. That is the act children repeat. A partner stands still, the tape runs from their toes, and a strip of floor tape goes down at two feet. Then the line gets checked twice over, once by laying two one-foot rulers from the same toes and once by counting inch tiles along it, and the tile count has to come to the number the book prints. The measuring is the point rather than the answer: where the tape starts, whether it lies flat, and whether the reading is taken at the mark or near it. Children who mark the line from the wrong end get a line in the wrong place, and the tiles say so.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Get the tape measure out (4 min)
Pull the tape out and find the two-foot mark. Put a thumb on it and hold it there. Read out the inch number printed at the very same place, and say both readings for that one mark before letting the tape go.
Word preview: tape measure, measure
I get a tape measure. I measure two feet.
2. Mark the line on the floor (6 min)
One of you stands still with both heels together. A partner lays the tape flat on the floor with the end at your toes and sticks a strip of tape down at two feet. Check it by laying two one-foot rulers end to end from the same toes: the second ruler has to finish on the strip. Move the strip if it does not.
Word preview: feet
If you can't stay on your side of the room, I say, at least stay this far away from me.
Don't come any closer.
3. Count the line in inches (6 min)
Lay inch tiles from the standing child's toes to the strip on the floor, tight against each other. Count them aloud and say the number. Then read the book's sentence about two feet in inches and say whether your count and the book agree. If they do not, find the gap in your row of tiles.
Word preview: inches
Two feet equals 24 inches.
4. Try the rule on a partner (4 min)
Swap places. One of you stands somewhere near the strip and the other runs the tape from the first child's toes and reads how far away the partner's toes actually are. Say the reading, then say whether that is on the line, inside it or past it.
Word preview: measure
Lucy doesn't come closer, but she's mad.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Mark the line on the floor (5 min)
One of you stands still with heels together. A partner lays the tape flat with the end at your toes and sticks a strip of tape down at two feet. Check it with two one-foot rulers laid end to end from the same toes.
Word preview: feet
I get a tape measure. I measure two feet.
2. Count the line in inches (4 min)
Lay inch tiles from the toes to the strip, tight against each other, and count them aloud. Say the number, then read the book's sentence about two feet in inches and say whether the two agree.
Word preview: inches
Two feet equals 24 inches.

Three levels

Support: Measure along the edge of a table rather than across the floor, so the tape has something to lie against and cannot wander. A partner holds the tape end on the mark while the child reads. Two feet is the only distance to mark, and the child checks it with the two rulers rather than with twenty-four tiles.
At Grade: Two feet marked on the floor from a standing partner's toes with the tape laid flat, checked once with two rulers end to end and once by counting twenty-four inch tiles along it, and a partner's actual distance read off the tape and said aloud.
Extension: Mark the line from a partner who is facing away, so the measurer has to decide where the distance starts and say the decision out loud. Then mark a second line at one yard from the same toes, and say how much floor lies between the two lines and how you know.

English learners

Measure is a verb and a tape measure is a thing, and the same word does both jobs in the two sentences this lesson rests on, twenty-two characters apart. Many languages use different words for the act and the instrument, so a child can follow the instruction perfectly and still not hear that the two sentences share a word. The tape itself carries no English, which is why the reading can be given as a number and a point. Rehearse I measure ___ feet before the tape comes out, and accept a thumb on the mark and the number alone from a child who is not ready for the frame. Ask what a tape measure is called in the child's strongest language, whether the numbers on it at home run in inches or in centimetres, and let the class hear both.

Materials

A tape measure per pair, marked in feet and inches
Masking tape for marking a line on the floor
Two one-foot rulers per pair
One-inch square tiles, thirty-six per pair
A lolly stick to mark where a partner's toes land
Word cards: tape measure, measure, inches, feet

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

3. Add Three Feet for Each New Yard Fluency · Skip counting by threes to eighteen along the yards-and-feet rows

The book hands over its own procedure in the back matter and then names the step: add three feet for each new yard. Its rows run one yard to six yards, and the last row is the number the story already used, because Jack's house next door is six yards away and the book gives that as 18 feet. Children lay six one-yard ribbons end to end and walk them, touching one ribbon per number word and saying three, six, nine, twelve, fifteen, eighteen. One touch, one number. What they are getting quick at is the count itself, said without stopping and said out of order when a partner calls a yard number, with the ribbons underfoot as the check. Every number they say is printed in the book, so a wrong count is caught by a row rather than by a teacher.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Lay six yard ribbons end to end (5 min)
Lay six one-yard ribbons in a straight line down the room, heel to heel with no gaps, and set a card by each one reading one yard through six yards. Walk the line once and read the six cards aloud. Say how many ribbons long the line is before anybody says a single number about feet.
Word preview: yard, add
Add three feet for each new yard.
One yard is three feet.
2. Count the feet by threes (6 min)
Walk the line again and say the feet as you go: three, six, nine, twelve, fifteen, eighteen. Touch one ribbon for each number word, and if your voice gets ahead of your foot, start over at the first ribbon. Lay the matching number card down on each ribbon as you say it, then walk back the other way and read the six numbers in reverse.
Word preview: feet
Three plus three equals six.
Two yards is six feet.
Six yards is 18 feet.
3. Check Jack's house (5 min)
Jen says Jack's house is six yards away, and the book turns that into feet on the next line. Walk to the sixth ribbon, say the number you land on, then find the sentence that says the same thing and read it out. Lay the two sentence strips at the end of the ribbons so the last ribbon and the number sit together.
Word preview: yard, feet
Six yards.
Six yards equals 18 feet.
4. Answer out of order (4 min)
A partner draws a yard card face down and calls it out. Say the feet before you move, then walk the ribbons to check yourself. Keep going until every card has been called. If you have to walk it to answer, that card goes back in the pile.
Word preview: yard
Four yards is 12 feet.
Five yards is 15 feet.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Count the feet by threes (5 min)
Lay six one-yard ribbons end to end with no gaps, then walk the line and say the feet as you go: three, six, nine, twelve, fifteen, eighteen. One touch on a ribbon for each number word. Start over at the first ribbon if your voice gets ahead of your foot.
Word preview: feet
Three plus three equals six.
Six yards is 18 feet.
2. Check Jack's house (4 min)
Walk to the sixth ribbon and say the number you land on. Then find the sentence in the book that says the same thing about Jack's house and read it aloud.
Word preview: yard, feet
Six yards.
Six yards equals 18 feet.

Three levels

Support: Stay on three ribbons and count three, six, nine, with a partner holding each ribbon flat. Say the three numbers walking forward and again walking back, and add the fourth ribbon only once the three come without a pause. The child may say the number while pointing rather than while walking.
At Grade: Six ribbons walked in both directions, three through eighteen said at walking pace with one touch per number word, and any yard from one to six answered from a called card before the walking check.
Extension: Take the ribbons away and count the same sequence on fingers, then keep going past six yards and say where the count is after seven and after eight. Say which sentence in the book gave you permission to keep going. Then find the one row where the chart leaps a very long way ahead, read it out, and say whether counting by threes could ever get you there.

English learners

English puts the number in front of the unit and then makes the unit plural, so the count runs one yard, two yards while the feet run three feet, six feet. Foot and feet break the pattern that inches, yards and miles keep, and this book puts both forms of it within a line of each other. A child who has only ever measured in metres has no picture for a yard at all, so the ribbon is doing double duty: it is the unit and it is the picture. Rehearse the frame ___ yards is ___ feet before anybody counts, and accept the two numbers with a point at the ribbon if the frame is not ready. Ask children for the word their strongest language uses for a long step or a pace and teach it to the class beside yard, and listen for whether that language puts the number before or after the unit.

Materials

Six one-yard ribbons per group
Six floor cards reading one yard through six yards
Six number cards reading three, six, nine, twelve, fifteen, eighteen
Two sentence strips reading six yards and 18 feet
A set of six yard cards to draw from, face down
Word cards: yard, feet, add

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

4. Same Distance, Bigger Number Reasoning · Arguing that two feet and 24 inches are one distance, and saying which pairs differ

The book prints four sentences of the form one distance equals another distance, and in every one of them the second number is larger than the first: two feet is 24 inches, one yard is thirty-six inches, six yards is 18 feet. It also prints one comparison where the second distance really is farther, when Jen says her parents' room is farther away than her two-foot line and then gives it as one yard. So the book supplies both cases, and children have to tell them apart. They sort the pairs into the same distance and one is farther, settle the two they can reach on the floor with a tape and tiles, and then say why a bigger number can mean the same length: it takes more inches than feet to cover one piece of floor, because an inch is shorter. The argument is the work, and the tiles are what makes it settleable.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Sort four pairs into same or farther (5 min)
Read the four pair cards and put each one under the same distance or under one is farther. Do not measure anything yet. Say which sentence in the book made you put each card where you put it, and set aside any card the group cannot agree on.
Word preview: equals, farther
Two feet equals 24 inches.
One yard equals thirty-six inches.
Six yards equals 18 feet.
2. Settle the cards you can reach (6 min)
Two of the cards can be settled on this floor. Run the tape out to two feet and mark it, then lay inch tiles from the same starting point and say where the twenty-fourth tile lands. Do the same for the yard card with the yard tape and thirty-six tiles. The six yards card will not fit in the room, so find the sentence that settles that one and read it out instead.
Word preview: inch, foot
I measure two feet.
Two feet equals 24 inches.
Six yards equals 18 feet.
3. Say the rule about small units (5 min)
Each of you says, with a hand on the tiles, why the inch number is the bigger number when the distance has not changed. Use the sentence frame on the card and fill in the missing word. Then say the same thing about the yard, where the book gives thirty-six for one.
Word preview: inch
One foot equals 12 inches.
4. Test the rule on the odd pair (4 min)
Go back to the card that puts two feet against one yard, wherever it ended up. Say which of the two is farther and how much floor lies between them, then settle it by marking both distances from one starting point on the three-foot tape. Read the leftover and say it in feet and again in inches.
Word preview: farther
It's farther away than two feet. It's one yard away.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Sort four pairs into same or farther (5 min)
Read the four pair cards and put each under the same distance or under one is farther, without measuring. Say which sentence in the book decided each card, and set aside any card you cannot agree on.
Word preview: equals, farther
Two feet equals 24 inches.
Six yards equals 18 feet.
2. Settle the cards you can reach (4 min)
Mark two feet with the tape, then lay inch tiles from the same starting point and say where the twenty-fourth tile lands. Do the same for the yard card with the yard tape and thirty-six tiles. Say what the two results prove about those cards.
Word preview: inch, foot
I measure two feet.
Two feet equals 24 inches.

Three levels

Support: Work one pair only, two feet against 24 inches, and settle it on the floor before saying anything about it. The child lays the tiles while a partner holds the tape, and the sentence may be said as the tape and the tiles stop in the same place, with a hand on each. Keep the sorting labels in front of the child so the answer has somewhere to go.
At Grade: Four pairs sorted before any measuring, the two feet card and the yard card both settled with tape and tiles from one starting point, the six yards card settled by finding the sentence instead, the reason for the bigger number said aloud by each child with a hand on the tiles, and the one genuinely farther pair picked out and its leftover named in feet and in inches.
Extension: Write a fifth pair card that is true and a sixth that is false, using only distances the book prints, and hand them to another group to sort. Then say what a child would have to believe about inches to put the two feet card under one is farther, and say what would settle it on the floor in one move.

English learners

Equals here means covers the same floor, not comes to the same number, and that is the whole difficulty. English also runs two constructions for it in this book, equals in the story and is in the chart, and a child may take them for two different claims. The comparison words the lesson needs are not in the book at all: it never says more, less, longer or shorter anywhere, so the words children reach for in the sorting are ones they have to supply. Rehearse the same distance and one is farther as spoken labels before the cards go down, and let a child answer by putting the card on a label and pointing at the tiles. Ask how the child's strongest language says that two lengths are equal, and whether it uses the same word it would use for two numbers being equal.

Materials

Four pair cards, each printing two of the distances the book gives
Two floor labels reading the same distance and one is farther
A tape measure per pair, marked in feet and inches
One-inch square tiles, thirty-six per pair
A one-yard tape or ribbon per pair
A sentence frame card reading the smaller the unit, the ___ of them it takes
A three-foot tape marked at every foot
Word cards: equals, farther, inch, foot, yard

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

5. Nine Places on One Line Representation · Ordering the book's stated distances and showing which of them fit on a measured line

Jen names nine distances and the book puts a number on every one of them, from the one inch Lucy stands at to the 240,000 miles of the moon. Children get the nine on cards and build the picture the book never draws: the four short ones go on a line of six yard ribbons at their own places, and the five mile-sized ones will not fit, so they go in order on the floor past the end of it. Deciding which cards can go on the ribbons and which cannot is the mathematics, and it is settled by the units rather than by the numbers, because 240,000 is a bigger numeral than 5,280 and one mile is longer than either line. The book's own last line makes the claim the picture tests: inches, feet and yards can take you miles.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the nine place cards (4 min)
Spread the nine cards face up and read each one aloud. Say which unit each card uses, then put the cards in four piles, one for each unit the book uses, and say how many cards landed in each pile. One card names two units, so decide which pile it belongs in and say which of its two units you went by.
Word preview: inch, yard, mile
One inch.
It's one yard away.
I'll be 240,000 miles away!
2. Put the four short ones on the ribbons (6 min)
Lay six one-yard ribbons end to end and stand at the near end. Put the four cards that use inches, feet and yards on the ribbon line at their own places. Measure the three short ones with the tape from where you are standing and say the reading as each card goes down; find the six yards card's place by counting ribbons instead, because the tape will not reach. Two cards land inside the first ribbon and a third lands exactly at its end, so say what that tells you about a ribbon.
Word preview: inch, foot, yard
And she's always right there, one inch away from me. One inch.
I measure two feet.
Six yards.
3. Order the mile cards off the end (6 min)
The five mile-sized cards will not go on the ribbons, so lay them in order on the floor tape past the last ribbon. Put them down one at a time and say why each new card goes after the one before it. Read the numbers out in the order you finished with, and say which card is nearest the ribbons and which is farthest away.
Word preview: mile, farther
Amy lives 20 blocks away, almost a mile.
That's 10 miles away.
That's about 3,000 miles from here.
That's about 4,000 miles.
4. Say why the line has to break (4 min)
Stand at the join between the ribbons and the floor tape and say why the mile cards had to leave the ribbons. Read the sentence that gives your six ribbons in feet and the sentence that gives one mile in feet, and say both numbers out loud one after the other. Then read the book's last line and say whether your picture agrees with it.
Word preview: mile, feet
Six yards equals 18 feet.
One mile equals 5,280 feet.
Inches, feet and yards can take you miles.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Put the four short ones on the ribbons (5 min)
Lay six one-yard ribbons end to end and stand at the near end. Put the four cards using inches, feet and yards at their own places on the line. Measure the three short ones with the tape from where you stand and say each reading; count ribbons for the six yards card, because the tape will not reach.
Word preview: inch, foot, yard
And she's always right there, one inch away from me. One inch.
Six yards.
2. Order the mile cards off the end (4 min)
Lay the five mile-sized cards in order on the floor tape past the last ribbon, one at a time, saying why each goes after the one before it. Say which is nearest the ribbons and which is farthest away.
Word preview: mile, farther
Amy lives 20 blocks away, almost a mile.
That's 10 miles away.

Three levels

Support: Work the four short cards only, on three ribbons rather than six, and let the child place them by holding the card against the tape while a partner reads. The mile cards are handed over as a bundle to put past the end without ordering them. Say near and far about the placed cards rather than a reading, if the reading is not ready.
At Grade: Nine cards sorted by unit, the four short ones measured onto the ribbon line from one standing place, the five mile-sized ones ordered along the floor tape with a reason given for each placement, and the break between the two parts of the picture explained with the book's own figure for a mile in feet.
Extension: Say which of the five mile cards the book's own comparing sentences would still hold in order if every number were taken away, and which two would be left loose. Then read the last two of those sentences again and say what is keeping those two cards in place.

English learners

Every card on the floor is a number followed by a unit, and English gives the unit an s once the number passes one, with foot changing to feet instead. The words that carry the ordering are not in the book: it says farther and closer and never says longer, shorter, more or less, so the sentences children need for the mile cards are theirs to supply. Two of the cards also carry hedges, almost and about, which soften a number without changing where the card goes; a child new to English can easily read those as uncertainty about the order. Rehearse ___ goes after ___ because it is farther before any card is placed, and accept a placement with two points and no sentence. Ask which unit the child's strongest language would use for the walk to the next town, and put that word on the card beside miles.

Materials

Nine place cards, each printing one distance the book gives
Six one-yard ribbons per group
A tape measure per pair, marked in feet and inches
A long strip of floor tape running past the end of the ribbons
Two cards, one printing six yards equals 18 feet and one printing one mile equals 5,280 feet
Word cards: inch, foot, yard, mile, farther

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.