Let's Go, Snow!

$Let's Go, Snow! book cover$

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

Math

Skill lessons

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

1Above the Blue Line, Below the Blue Line
2A Month of Readings, Counted Two Ways
3Seventy and Thirty-Two on the Same Strip

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.

4The Line at Thirty-Two
5Tell Eli Why
6Two Numbers, One Line, Two Sentences

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.

7From Father's Day to St. Patrick's Day: holidays that mark the waiting
8Where's the pillow? Two jokes made out of one word
9One boy wants snow, the other wants it warm
10Tucking a sister in, then tucking the plants in
11Wake up sleepyhead, said twice, with one thing changed

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Skill lessons

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

1. Above the Blue Line, Below the Blue Line Concept · Reading a thermometer and deciding whether the reading is above or below 32

The book hands a child one number that does a job no other number in it does: the air has to be freezing around 32 degrees. Everything Jamie hopes for and everything Eli fears sits on one side of that number or the other, and Jamie spends a night at the window watching a thermometer climb down toward it. Students read a real thermometer against four cups of water, clip a peg at each reading on a strip where only 32 is marked, and say above 32 or below 32 for each one. What matters is the benchmark, not the arithmetic: a child who can find 32 on a scale and say which side a reading falls on has the idea, whether or not they can say how far away it is.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Find the one number that matters (4 min)
Hold the strip so it stands up like a thermometer and run a finger from the bottom to the top, saying the tens aloud. Find the blue 32 and put a thumb on it. Say what the book says happens at that number, and say which way is colder on your strip.
Word preview: freezing, degrees
The air has to be freezing around 32 degrees.
2. Read the four cups (7 min)
Stand the thermometer in each cup in turn and wait until the liquid stops moving before reading it. Say the number aloud to your partner and let them say it back before you write nothing down and move on. Read all four cups, keeping them in the order they were set out.
Word preview: thermometer, read
Come on, I tell the thermometer.
3. Clip the peg and say the side (6 min)
For each cup, clip the peg on your strip at the number you read, then slide a finger from the peg to the blue 32. Say above 32 or below 32 out loud, and say which cup would freeze Eli's plants. Do this for all four before you unclip anything.
Word preview: above, below
If it gets too cold, my strawberry seedlings could freeze to death.
4. Sort the day cards without a thermometer (3 min)
Take the twelve day cards, read each number, and lay it on the above 32 mat or the below 32 mat. Say the whole sentence for each card, this day was above 32 or this day was below 32. Two cards will be close to 32 and you must say which side each one is on rather than putting it at the join.
At the end of each month, record how many days were above the freezing point, of 32 degrees and how many were below.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Find the one number that matters (3 min)
Stand the strip up and run a finger from the bottom saying the tens aloud. Find the blue 32, put a thumb on it, and say what happens at that number.
Word preview: freezing, degrees
The air has to be freezing around 32 degrees.
2. Read the four cups (6 min)
Stand the thermometer in each cup and wait until the liquid stops before reading it. Say each number aloud and have your partner say it back.
Word preview: thermometer, read
Come on, I tell the thermometer.

Three levels

Support: Work with two cups instead of four, the ice water and the warm tap, so the two readings land far apart and the blue 32 sits plainly between them. The child still reads the real thermometer, still clips the peg, and still says above 32 or below 32 in full. Only the number of readings competing for attention comes down; nothing about the sentence is reduced.
At Grade: Read all four cups, clip the peg at each reading, and say above 32 or below 32 for every one, then sort the twelve day cards by the same rule and say the sentence for each card.
Extension: Take the two day cards that land nearest 32 and say which one is closer to the blue line and how you can tell from the strip without counting every mark. Then find a reading that would be neither above nor below and say what number it must be, and why that one card cannot go on either mat.

English learners

Above and below are the whole lesson and they are spatial before they are numerical, which helps: a child can point up the strip and down the strip while saying them, and be understood without a full sentence. Many languages express these with a verb or a case ending rather than a preposition, and English puts the benchmark after the word, above 32, where other languages put it first. Rehearse the frame this one is ___ 32 with both fillers before the cups come out, and let a child say the reading in their strongest language and then supply only above or below in English. A child who clips the peg correctly and points up or down at the blue line has met the demand of this step. The word freezing is worth previewing separately, because it names a temperature here rather than a feeling, and a child who knows it only as very cold will not hear it as a number.

Materials

Vertical number-line strip 0 to 100 per pair, marked every ten, with 32 printed in blue and no other number highlighted
One demonstration thermometer per pair, alcohol or dial, marked in twos from 0 to 100
Four labelled cups of water per pair: ice water, cold tap, room, warm tap, set out before the lesson
A clothes peg per pair to clip on the strip at the reading
A set of twelve day cards per pair, each printed with one whole-number reading between 10 and 80
Two sorting mats per pair, one headed above 32 and one headed below 32, with 32 written at the join
Word cards: freezing, degrees, thermometer, read, above, below

Standards & curriculum

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

2. A Month of Readings, Counted Two Ways Application · Recording daily readings on a chart and counting how many fall in each of two groups

The book's closing pages set the class a job in the book's own words: read a thermometer each day, record it, and at the end of the month count how many days were above freezing and how many below. Students fill a thirty-box month grid from a prepared set of readings, mark each box against the blue line at 32, then count the two groups and say both counts aloud. Application means the counting has somewhere to go: the two counts answer Jamie's question about whether winter is over, and a child who reaches them has done what the book asked rather than an exercise that resembles it.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the job the book sets (3 min)
Listen to the book's own instructions read twice and say back, in your own words, the two things you have to do: one thing every day, and one thing at the end of the month. Point at the blue line on the grid when you say the number that decides which group a day goes in.
Word preview: record, month
Place an all-weather thermometer outside a window and read it each day.
At the end of each month, record how many days were above the freezing point, of 32 degrees and how many were below.
2. Fill the month grid (6 min)
Take the day cards one at a time in order and write nothing; instead place a cube in the day box, a light cube if the reading is above 32 and a dark cube if it is below. Say the number and the colour aloud for each day so your partner can check you. Work straight through without going back.
Record your findings on a copy of this temperature chart.
3. Count the two groups (7 min)
Slide all the light cubes off the grid into one line and all the dark cubes into another line beside it. Count each line aloud, touching one cube per number, and say the two counts as whole sentences. Do not count the boxes that are still empty.
Word preview: count
What observations can you make as the days get colder or warmer?
4. Answer Jamie's question (4 min)
Look at your two lines of cubes and say which group has more days in it. Then say whether this month was a month when Jamie could expect snow, and point at the lines as your reason. Say the two counts again inside your answer.
Word preview: more
Winter isn't over yet.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Fill the month grid (5 min)
Take the day cards in order and place a cube in each day box, light if the reading is above 32 and dark if below. Say the number and the colour aloud for each day.
Record your findings on a copy of this temperature chart.
2. Count the two groups (4 min)
Slide the light cubes into one line and the dark cubes into another. Count each line aloud, touching one cube per number, and say both counts as whole sentences.
Word preview: count
What observations can you make as the days get colder or warmer?

Three levels

Support: Work a grid of ten day boxes rather than thirty, with readings that sit well clear of 32 on either side. Every part of the job stays whole: the child still decides each day against the blue line, still places a cube, still separates the two colours and counts both lines aloud, and still says which group has more. Only the length of the run comes down, so the counting stays inside a range the child can hold while the deciding is still new.
At Grade: Fill all thirty boxes from the day cards, separate the two colours, count both lines aloud with one touch per cube, and say which group has more days with both counts inside the answer.
Extension: Before counting the second line, say how many days you expect it to hold and say why, using the number of boxes on the grid and the count you already have. Then count it and say whether you were right. Naming the expectation before the count is harder than counting, because it means holding the whole month while looking at one line.

English learners

The counting words themselves usually transfer, and a child who counts confidently in another language can count these cubes with no help at all; do not slow that down. The sentence that reports a count is the hard part, because English needs a number, a noun and often a plural ending all at once, and days above 32 stacks a preposition phrase behind the noun where many languages would not put one. Rehearse ___ days were above 32 and ___ days were below 32 as two fixed frames before the cubes are separated, so the child fills only the number slot. A child who holds up the two lines of cubes and says the two numbers has met the demand of this step, and the frame can come later. Above and below carry over from the first lesson and are worth saying once with the grid in hand before this one starts.

Materials

A month grid of thirty day boxes per pair, one box per day, with a blue line drawn across it at 32
Thirty snap cubes per pair in two colours
A set of twelve day cards per pair, each printed with one whole-number reading between 10 and 80
Word cards: record, month, count, more

Standards & curriculum

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

3. Seventy and Thirty-Two on the Same Strip Representation · Comparing two stated two-digit temperatures on one scale and saying which is warmer

The book prints exactly two temperatures and it prints them a long way apart in the story: Eli says it is nearly 70 degrees on the March morning Jamie is wearing a woolly scarf, and the snow machine website says the air has to be freezing around 32. Students put both numbers on one number line built from tiles, walk the distance between them, and say which is warmer and which is colder while standing on the line. Representation is the point: the two numbers mean nothing side by side on cards, and mean a great deal once a child has walked from one to the other and can see how much of the line lies between.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Put the two numbers on the floor (5 min)
Take the card printed 70 and the card printed 32 and walk the floor number line until you find where each one goes, then lay the card down on its tile. Read the book's two sentences aloud as you place each card so you know whose number it is. Do not step over the tiles you are counting.
Word preview: degrees
Jamie, it's nearly 70 degrees out, Eli says.
The air has to be freezing around 32 degrees.
2. Stand on one and look at the other (5 min)
Stand on the 70 tile and point at the 32 tile, then swap and stand on the 32 tile and point at the 70. Each time you stand somewhere, say warmer or colder about the tile you are pointing at. Say it about the tile, not about yourself.
Word preview: warmer, colder
Aren't you hot, he asks?
It's definitely getting colder.
3. Walk the gap and count the tens (6 min)
Start on the 32 tile and walk toward 70, saying the number on every tenth tile out loud as you pass it. Stop when you reach the card. Say how many whole tens you walked past and whether you had to finish with a few more tiles after the last ten.
It's definitely getting colder.
4. Say the two sentences (4 min)
Standing beside the line, say seventy is warmer than thirty-two, then say thirty-two is colder than seventy. Point at the right tile as you say each number. Then say which of the two numbers is the one the plants have to worry about, and point at it.
Word preview: warmer, colder
If it gets too cold, my strawberry seedlings could freeze to death.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Put the two numbers on the floor (4 min)
Take the 70 card and the 32 card and walk the line until you find where each goes, then lay the card on its tile. Read the book's sentence for each as you place it.
Word preview: degrees
Jamie, it's nearly 70 degrees out, Eli says.
2. Say the two sentences (5 min)
Standing beside the line, say seventy is warmer than thirty-two, then say thirty-two is colder than seventy, pointing at the right tile for each number.
Word preview: warmer, colder
It's definitely getting colder.

Three levels

Support: Work on a shorter line running from 30 to 50 with a second card printed 40 in place of the 70, so the two numbers are close enough to walk in one go and both fit in view. The child still places both cards, still stands on one and points at the other, and still says the two sentences in full. The book's 70 comes back in at the end as a card the child places on the long line with the class watching.
At Grade: Place both of the book's numbers on the long line, stand on each in turn and say warmer or colder about the other, walk the gap counting the tens aloud, and say both comparison sentences pointing at the tiles.
Extension: Stand on the 32 tile and find the tile that is ten degrees warmer, then the one that is twenty degrees warmer, laying a marker at each. Say whether either of them would still freeze Eli's plants, and say how you know from where the markers sit rather than from the numbers alone.

English learners

Warmer and colder are comparatives, and the -er ending is the part that goes missing first: a child may produce warm than thirty-two and mean exactly the right thing. That is not a mathematical error and should not be corrected as one. What genuinely does not transfer is the word than and its position, because many languages mark comparison with a separate particle before the second thing or with no word at all, so the second half of the English sentence has nowhere obvious to attach. Rehearse ___ is warmer than ___ and ___ is colder than ___ as two whole frames with the tiles in front of the child before any comparing starts, and accept a child who walks from the colder tile to the warmer one while saying only the two numbers. Let a child say the whole comparison in their strongest language first; the walking is the same in every language and it is what proves they have the relation.

Materials

A shared floor number line from 30 to 75, one tile per degree, tiles marked every ten
One card printed 70 and one card printed 32 per pair, no other numbers
Word cards: degrees, warmer, colder

Standards & curriculum

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

Math through the reading

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

4. The Line at Thirty-Two Integrated · Children sort the same day readings twice, once under the book's words above and below and once under near and far, and say which pair of words lets them settle an argument.

Children sort the same day readings twice, once under the book's words above and below and once under near and far, and say which pair of words lets them settle an argument.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Hear the job the book sets (4 min)
Children hear the book's closing instruction read twice and find the number inside it. They say back the two things the job asks for and put a finger on the 32 written at the join of the two mats, saying what happens to water at that number.
2. Sort the cards the book's way (5 min)
Each pair takes twelve day cards and lays every one on the above 32 mat or the below 32 mat, saying the number and then the word aloud. No card may sit on the line. Two of the cards are close to 32 and must still be given a side.
3. Sort the same cards the other way (5 min)
The mats are relabelled near the freezing point and far from it, the cards are gathered up, and each pair sorts the same twelve again. Pairs will place cards differently from each other and are told to carry on rather than agree.
4. Check another pair's piles (6 min)
Pairs walk to another pair's two sets of mats. On the above and below mats they check every card and say this day was ___ 32 for any card they think is wrong. On the near and far mats they try to do the same and say out loud what stops them.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Sort the cards the book's way (5 min)
Each pair takes twelve day cards and lays every one on the above 32 mat or the below 32 mat, saying the number and then the word aloud. No card may sit on the line. Two of the cards are close to 32 and must still be given a side.
2. Sort the same cards the other way (5 min)
The mats are relabelled near the freezing point and far from it, the cards are gathered up, and each pair sorts the same twelve again. Pairs will place cards differently from each other and are told to carry on rather than agree.

Three levels

Support: Work with six day cards rather than twelve and with every reading at least ten away from 32, so the side of the line each card belongs on is never in doubt and the child's attention stays on saying the word. The sorting, the checking and the sentence are all kept whole, and the child still handles another pair's mats and still says what goes wrong on the near and far pile.
At grade: Sort all twelve cards under the book's two words including the two that sit close to 32, sort the same cards again under near and far, then check another pair's work and say this day was ___ 32 about any card that is on the wrong mat.
Extension: Take the near and far mats and find a rule that would let two children agree about every card, then say what number that rule needs in it. Children who arrive at a number have rebuilt the thing the book's sentence already had, and saying so is the point of the tier.

English learners

Above and below are spatial words doing numerical work, which is a help: a child can point up or down at the mats while saying them and be understood without a sentence. The position of the benchmark is what differs, because English puts it after the word, above 32, where many languages put the reference point first or attach it with a case ending, so a child may produce 32 above and mean exactly the right thing. Do not correct that as a mathematical error. Rehearse this day was ___ 32 with both fillers before any card is touched, so only one slot has to be filled while the deciding is happening. Freezing needs previewing on its own, because a child who knows it as a feeling will not hear a number in it; say it once beside the thermometer and once beside the 32 on the mat. A child who places a card on the correct mat and points up or down has met the demand of this lesson, and the frame can follow.

Materials

Twelve day cards per pair, each printed with one whole-number reading between 10 and 80, two of them within three of 32
Two sorting mats per pair with 32 written large at the join, and a second pair of mat headings that can be laid over the first
A sentence card carrying the book's closing instruction, with above and below underlined and 32 circled
A demonstration thermometer with a blue mark at 32

Standards & curriculum

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

5. Tell Eli Why Integrated · Children take a position on whether Eli's seedlings are in danger at 32 degrees and say it to a partner playing Eli, with the number in the sentence.

Children take a position on whether Eli's seedlings are in danger at 32 degrees and say it to a partner playing Eli, with the number in the sentence.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Put the numbers where the book puts them (5 min)
Children hear the three sentences that carry a number and place a marker for each on the vertical strip: nearly 70 for the March morning, 32 for freezing, and the peg at 32 for the night reading. They say aloud what they notice about the last two markers landing in the same place.
2. Take a side and find your sentence (5 min)
Each child decides whether Eli's plants are in danger and picks up the one card carrying the book sentence they are leaning on. They may not pick a card until they have said their position aloud to themselves with the number in it.
3. Say it to Eli (6 min)
Partners take turns playing Eli at the door. Each child says I think your plants are ___ because the thermometer said ___, then reads or says the book sentence they chose. The child playing Eli says back the number they were given before answering with their own position.
4. Hear the other side and decide again (4 min)
Pairs who took different positions swap once more, and every child says whether they are keeping their position or changing it, and which sentence made the difference. Changing is stated as a good outcome and children who change say what they had not noticed before.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Put the numbers where the book puts them (5 min)
Children hear the three sentences that carry a number and place a marker for each on the vertical strip: nearly 70 for the March morning, 32 for freezing, and the peg at 32 for the night reading. They say aloud what they notice about the last two markers landing in the same place.
2. Say it to Eli (6 min)
Partners take turns playing Eli at the door. Each child says I think your plants are ___ because the thermometer said ___, then reads or says the book sentence they chose. The child playing Eli says back the number they were given before answering with their own position.

Three levels

Support: Give the child the strip with 32 already marked in blue and the night reading already pegged, so both numbers are in front of them before the deciding starts, and offer the frame on a card with the two blanks visible. The child still chooses their own position, still picks the book sentence behind it, and still says the whole sentence to a partner playing Eli with the number in it. Nothing about the argument is reduced; only the setting up of the two numbers is done for them.
At grade: Place all three of the book's numbers on the strip, take a position, choose the book sentence that funds it, and say the position to a partner playing Eli with the number and the sentence inside the answer.
Extension: Take the position you did not choose and make the best case you can for it to your partner, with a number in it. Then say which of the two cases you now think is stronger and why. Arguing the side you rejected is harder than defending your own, and a child who can do it has understood that both positions were reading the same two numbers.

English learners

This lesson asks for a because sentence, which is the hardest thing in it for a child new to English and the easiest to mistake for a mathematical difficulty. Causal connectors sit differently across languages: many put the reason first, so a child may say the thermometer said 32, your plants are cold and have produced a complete and correct argument in a shape English does not use. Accept it and recast it once rather than marking it. Rehearse I think your plants are ___ because the thermometer said ___ as one whole frame before any deciding happens, and let the child fill only the two slots. Danger and safe are worth putting on cards with a picture, since both are abstract and neither can be pointed at. A child may take their position and give their reason in their strongest language to a partner who shares it, and then say only the number and one of the two position words in English; the mathematics is in which number they chose, and that is visible either way. A child who pegs the strip correctly and says a number to the partner playing Eli has met the demand of this lesson.

Materials

A vertical strip 0 to 100 per child, marked every ten, with a blue mark at 32 and a peg
Six sentence cards per pair carrying the book sentences that fund the three positions
A frame card reading I think your plants are ___ because the thermometer said ___
A large copy of the freezing sentence and the night reading, side by side
Two position words, safe and in danger, on cards with a picture beside each

Standards & curriculum

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

6. Two Numbers, One Line, Two Sentences Integrated · Children place the book's only two temperatures on one floor number line and say the relation between them both ways round without moving either card.

Children place the book's only two temperatures on one floor number line and say the relation between them both ways round without moving either card.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Put the two numbers on the line (5 min)
Children hear the two book sentences and walk the floor line to find where each number goes, laying the 70 card and the 32 card on their tiles. They read the sentence for each card aloud as they lay it down, so each number keeps the person who said it.
2. Walk the gap (5 min)
Each child starts on the 32 tile and walks to the 70 card, saying every marked tenth tile aloud as they pass it, then walks back the other way doing the same. They say how many whole tens they passed and whether the two walks passed the same ones.
3. Say it both ways without moving the cards (6 min)
Standing beside the line, each child says seventy is warmer than thirty-two while pointing at the two cards, then says thirty-two is colder than seventy pointing at the same two cards. A partner watches the cards and says out loud whether either one moved.
4. Change one card and say both again (4 min)
The 70 card is replaced with a 40 card and each child says both sentences again about the new arrangement. The comparison words stay the same but the stretch between the cards is much shorter, and children say what changed and what did not.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Put the two numbers on the line (5 min)
Children hear the two book sentences and walk the floor line to find where each number goes, laying the 70 card and the 32 card on their tiles. They read the sentence for each card aloud as they lay it down, so each number keeps the person who said it.
2. Say it both ways without moving the cards (6 min)
Standing beside the line, each child says seventy is warmer than thirty-two while pointing at the two cards, then says thirty-two is colder than seventy pointing at the same two cards. A partner watches the cards and says out loud whether either one moved.

Three levels

Support: Work a shorter line from 30 to 50 with a 40 card standing in for the book's 70, so both cards are in view at once and the walk between them is a few steps. The child still places both cards, still walks the gap both ways, and still produces both sentences about an arrangement that does not move. The book's 70 comes back at the end as a card the child places on the long line while the class watches, and the child says one of the two sentences about it.
At grade: Place both book numbers on the long line, walk the gap in each direction counting the marked tens aloud, then say both directions of the relation about the unmoved cards and confirm with a partner that neither card shifted.
Extension: Put a third card, the 32 the thermometer reaches that night, on the line and say what happens when a card lands on a tile that already has one. Then say both sentences about that pair and explain why neither warmer nor colder is the right word for it, and what word is.

English learners

The language work is hardest and least visible here, because a child whose mathematics is completely secure can be stopped by the syntax alone. Two things do not transfer. The comparative ending, the -er in warmer, is absent or formed with a separate word in many languages, so a child may say more warm than or warm than and be entirely correct mathematically; treat it as a form to recast, never as an error about the numbers. And than has no reliable equivalent, since some languages mark the second thing with a case ending, some with a preposition meaning from, and some by simple word order, so the back half of the English sentence has no obvious place to attach. Rehearse both whole frames, ___ is warmer than ___ and ___ is colder than ___, with the two cards on the floor before any comparing begins, so the child fills only the number slots. A child may say the relation in their strongest language while walking the line and then supply only warmer or colder in English; the walk is the same in every language and it is the walk that proves the relation. Watch particularly for a child who produces the second sentence with the correct grammar and the wrong word, thirty-two is warmer than seventy, since that is the error this lesson exists for and it is invisible unless the child is pointing at the cards while they say it.

Materials

A floor number line from 30 to 75, one tile per degree, every tenth tile marked
One card printed 70, one card printed 32 and one card printed 40 per pair, with no other numbers on them
The two book sentences on large cards, each with its number underlined
The two comparison frames written where every child can see them, with the blanks empty

Standards & curriculum

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

Reading and language lessons

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

7. From Father's Day to St. Patrick's Day: holidays that mark the waiting Application · Reading holiday names as words that tell you when

Two printed spans walk a whole year of waiting by naming holidays instead of months. Students read both spans, list the holidays in the order the book gives them, and say what the list is doing: showing how long the boy has waited. The holidays are read as time words, and nothing is counted or added.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the first waiting passage and find the holidays (5 min)
Read the passage below aloud with your teacher. Point to each holiday name as you hear it. Say the three holiday names to your partner in the order the passage gives them.
Word preview: waxed, picnic
I've been waiting the whole year for snow. Last Father's Day, I waxed my snowboard with my dad. At the Fourth of July picnic, I scoped out the best route down Sled Hill. By Thanksgiving, I was checking the weather every chance I got.
2. Read the second waiting passage and find more holidays (5 min)
Read this passage aloud. Point to each holiday name here. Tell your partner what happened at every one of them, using the words of the first sentence.
Word preview: snowflake, corner
But New Year's came and went without a single snowflake. So did Martin Luther King Day, even Groundhog Day. Now St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, but Spring can't be on its way already, not until it snows.
3. Put all the holidays in one line (4 min)
Both passages are printed here. Write all the holiday names on your slate in the order the two passages give them, first passage first. Read your list aloud to your partner.
I've been waiting the whole year for snow. Last Father's Day, I waxed my snowboard with my dad. At the Fourth of July picnic, I scoped out the best route down Sled Hill. By Thanksgiving, I was checking the weather every chance I got.
But New Year's came and went without a single snowflake. So did Martin Luther King Day, even Groundhog Day. Now St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, but Spring can't be on its way already, not until it snows.
4. Say why the writer used holidays and not months (6 min)
Both passages are printed here again. Tell your partner why naming holidays makes the waiting feel long. Read aloud one holiday sentence from each passage as your proof.
I've been waiting the whole year for snow. Last Father's Day, I waxed my snowboard with my dad. At the Fourth of July picnic, I scoped out the best route down Sled Hill. By Thanksgiving, I was checking the weather every chance I got.
But New Year's came and went without a single snowflake. So did Martin Luther King Day, even Groundhog Day. Now St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, but Spring can't be on its way already, not until it snows.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read the first waiting passage and find the holidays (4 min)
Read the passage aloud with your teacher, pointing to each holiday name, and say the three names in the order the passage gives them.
Word preview: waxed, picnic
I've been waiting the whole year for snow. Last Father's Day, I waxed my snowboard with my dad. At the Fourth of July picnic, I scoped out the best route down Sled Hill. By Thanksgiving, I was checking the weather every chance I got.
2. Read the second waiting passage and find more holidays (5 min)
Read this passage aloud, point to each holiday name, and say what happened at every one of them using the words of the first sentence.
Word preview: snowflake, corner
But New Year's came and went without a single snowflake. So did Martin Luther King Day, even Groundhog Day. Now St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner, but Spring can't be on its way already, not until it snows.

Three levels

Support: Find the holidays in the first passage only. The teacher reads it one sentence at a time and the student says the holiday name in each sentence before the next one is read.
At Grade: Find the holidays in both passages and list them in the book's order.
Extension: Say which holiday in the two printed passages tells a reader that the waiting has gone on too long, and read the words in that sentence that show it.

English learners

These holiday names are cultural knowledge rather than language, and a student who does not know them cannot infer the season from the words, so name the season for each one before reading. Rehearse By ______, it still had not snowed. Invite the list first in the strongest language, and let students add a holiday from their own year alongside the book's.

Materials

Printed passage: waiting all year
Printed passage: no snow at any of them
Slates
Word cards: waxed, picnic, snowflake, corner

Standards & curriculum

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

8. Where's the pillow? Two jokes made out of one word Concept · Hearing a joke that works because one word means two things

The narrator makes two jokes in this book and the text says so both times: a strawberry bed that should have a pillow, and digging that means looking things up. Students read both short spans, say the two meanings of the joke word, and say which meaning the speaker pretended to hear. The book itself supplies the reaction that marks each one as a joke.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the strawberry bed joke (5 min)
Read the short passage below aloud with your teacher. Say the two things a bed can be. Then say which one the boy pretended Eli meant.
Word preview: bed, pillow
Strawberry bed, I say? Where's the pillow? Eli rolls his eyes at my bad joke.
2. Find the sentence that shows it was a joke (5 min)
The passage is printed here again. Point to the last sentence and read it aloud. Tell your partner how you can tell from that sentence that the boy was joking on purpose.
Word preview: rolls his eyes, joke
Strawberry bed, I say? Where's the pillow? Eli rolls his eyes at my bad joke.
3. Read the digging joke (4 min)
Read this short passage aloud. Say the two things digging can mean. Say which meaning the boy is doing here and which one he wants you to think of.
Word preview: digging
Time to do some digging. Get it? Digging?
4. Tell both jokes to your partner (6 min)
Both short passages are printed here. Read each one aloud to your partner and then explain the joke in your own words: say the word, say its two meanings, and say which one is the surprise.
Strawberry bed, I say? Where's the pillow? Eli rolls his eyes at my bad joke.
Time to do some digging. Get it? Digging?

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read the strawberry bed joke (4 min)
Read the short passage aloud with your teacher, say the two things a bed can be, and say which one the boy pretended Eli meant.
Word preview: bed, pillow
Strawberry bed, I say? Where's the pillow? Eli rolls his eyes at my bad joke.
2. Read the digging joke (5 min)
Read this short passage aloud, say the two things digging can mean, and say which meaning the boy is doing here.
Word preview: digging, joke
Time to do some digging. Get it? Digging?

Three levels

Support: Work the bed joke only. Draw a bed for sleeping and a garden bed on your slate, and say which one Eli meant and which one the boy pretended to hear.
At Grade: Explain both jokes, naming the word and both of its meanings.
Extension: Say which of the two jokes needs the listener to know a second meaning and which one the boy has to explain himself, using the last sentence of each printed passage.

English learners

Both jokes rest on one English word carrying two meanings, and the pair almost never carries over into another language, so each joke has to be rebuilt rather than translated. Show a sleeping bed and a garden bed as pictures before reading. Rehearse Bed can mean ______ or ______. Invite a same-sound joke from the student's strongest language too.

Materials

Printed passage: the strawberry bed joke
Printed passage: the digging joke
Word cards: bed, pillow, rolls his eyes, joke, digging

Standards & curriculum

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

9. One boy wants snow, the other wants it warm Reasoning · Saying how two friends want opposite things

Two printed spans put the friends side by side: one dressed for snow in a garden, and one worrying his seedlings will freeze. Students read both, say what each boy wants, and say the two wants as one sentence that shows they clash. The lesson compares wants, not temperatures.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read what the boy is wearing and say what he wants (5 min)
Read the passage below aloud with your teacher. Name the three things the boy is wearing. Say what he is hoping for.
Word preview: mittens, woolly
I find my friend Eli outside digging in his garden. He looks at my snow-proof mittens, my ski jacket, my woolly scarf.
2. Read what Eli says about his plants (5 min)
Read this passage aloud. Say what Eli is growing and what he is worried about. Read aloud the sentence that shows why he does not want it cold.
Word preview: plants, inside
I offer to help dig them up and bring them inside. But he says plants don't like moving around a lot. I guess that's why they don't have legs.
3. Say both wants in one sentence (4 min)
Both passages are printed here. Say the two wants as one sentence: the boy wants ______, but Eli wants ______. Point at the passage each half came from.
I find my friend Eli outside digging in his garden. He looks at my snow-proof mittens, my ski jacket, my woolly scarf.
I offer to help dig them up and bring them inside. But he says plants don't like moving around a lot. I guess that's why they don't have legs.
4. Read the ending and say whether both got what they wanted (6 min)
Read this passage aloud. Tell your partner whether the boy got what he wanted, whether Eli got what he wanted, and read aloud the words from this passage that show each answer.
Word preview: snug, fist
Eli is already out checking on his plants. How are the babies I ask? He smiles, snug in their nice warm bed. I pump my fist. We did it!

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read what the boy is wearing and say what he wants (4 min)
Read the passage aloud with your teacher, name the three things the boy is wearing, and say what he is hoping for.
Word preview: mittens, woolly
I find my friend Eli outside digging in his garden. He looks at my snow-proof mittens, my ski jacket, my woolly scarf.
2. Read the ending and say whether both got what they wanted (5 min)
Read this passage aloud. Say whether each friend got what he wanted, and read aloud the words here that show it.
Word preview: snug, fist
Eli is already out checking on his plants. How are the babies I ask? He smiles, snug in their nice warm bed. I pump my fist. We did it!

Three levels

Support: Say what one boy wants. Read the clothing passage with the teacher and name the three snow things he is wearing, then say what he is hoping for in three words.
At Grade: Say both wants and put them in one sentence that shows they clash.
Extension: Say how both friends could end up happy at the same time, and read the sentence in the last printed passage that shows they did.

English learners

The clash is carried by but, which sits between the two halves in English, and the sentence works only if both halves are said before it is joined. Rehearse He wants ______, but Eli wants ______ empty first. Snow-proof and woolly are compound describing words and are best mimed. Invite both wants in the strongest language first.

Materials

Printed passage: Eli in his garden
Printed passage: Eli says no to moving them
Printed passage: the morning after
Word cards: mittens, woolly, plants, inside, snug, fist

Standards & curriculum

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

10. Tucking a sister in, then tucking the plants in Reasoning · Reading how a character gets an idea from something nearby

One printed span shows the boy tucking his sister into bed and, in the same breath, thinking about plants in a bed. Students read the span, find the sentence where the idea arrives, and say what one thing reminded him of the other. A second span lists what he then finds out, so the idea can be followed to what he does with it.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the bedtime passage and find the idea (5 min)
Read the passage below aloud with your teacher. Point to the sentence where the boy gets his idea. Read that sentence and the one before it aloud.
Word preview: tuck, blanket
It's bedtime for my little sister. As I tuck her fuzzy blanket in, I think about the baby's strawberry plants freezing in their bed. We have so many ways to keep ourselves warm. Why can't we keep Eli's plants warm too? Hey, wait! Maybe we can!
2. Say what reminded him of what (5 min)
The passage is printed here again. Tell your partner the word that is used for both his sister's place and the plants' place. Say the idea in one sentence starting with He thought of it because.
Word preview: freezing
It's bedtime for my little sister. As I tuck her fuzzy blanket in, I think about the baby's strawberry plants freezing in their bed. We have so many ways to keep ourselves warm. Why can't we keep Eli's plants warm too? Hey, wait! Maybe we can!
3. Read what he finds out and pick one way (4 min)
Read this passage aloud. It lists ways to keep plants warm. Say the three ways to your partner and pick the one you would try.
Word preview: protect, soil, heat
It turns out there are lots of ways to protect plants from the cold. Hot water bottles to warm up the soil. Covers to hold in the heat. Some people even string up Christmas lights as teeny space heaters.
4. Say the whole idea from start to plan (6 min)
Both passages are printed here. Say the whole thing in one turn: what he was doing, what it reminded him of, and what he found out. Read aloud one sentence from each passage as you go.
It's bedtime for my little sister. As I tuck her fuzzy blanket in, I think about the baby's strawberry plants freezing in their bed. We have so many ways to keep ourselves warm. Why can't we keep Eli's plants warm too? Hey, wait! Maybe we can!
It turns out there are lots of ways to protect plants from the cold. Hot water bottles to warm up the soil. Covers to hold in the heat. Some people even string up Christmas lights as teeny space heaters.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read the bedtime passage and find the idea (4 min)
Read the passage aloud with your teacher, point to the sentence where the idea arrives, and read that sentence and the one before it aloud.
Word preview: tuck, blanket
It's bedtime for my little sister. As I tuck her fuzzy blanket in, I think about the baby's strawberry plants freezing in their bed. We have so many ways to keep ourselves warm. Why can't we keep Eli's plants warm too? Hey, wait! Maybe we can!
2. Say what reminded him of what (5 min)
The passage is printed here again. Say the word used for both his sister's place and the plants' place, then say He thought of it because, filling in the rest.
Word preview: freezing
It's bedtime for my little sister. As I tuck her fuzzy blanket in, I think about the baby's strawberry plants freezing in their bed. We have so many ways to keep ourselves warm. Why can't we keep Eli's plants warm too? Hey, wait! Maybe we can!

Three levels

Support: Find the idea sentence only. The teacher reads the passage and stops just before Hey, wait, and the student says what the boy is about to think of.
At Grade: Say what reminded him of what, using the shared word.
Extension: Say why the idea would not have come to him anywhere else in the house, using the words of the printed passage that name where he is and what he is doing.

English learners

Tuck in is an idiom for wrapping someone up for sleep and will not carry over, so mime it with a blanket before reading. Bed appears here for both a sleeping bed and a garden bed, and that shared word is the whole hinge of the lesson. Rehearse He thought of it because ______ and invite the connection in the strongest language first.

Materials

Printed passage: bedtime and the idea
Printed passage: ways to keep plants warm
Word cards: tuck, blanket, freezing, protect, soil, heat

Standards & curriculum

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

11. Wake up sleepyhead, said twice, with one thing changed Concept · Noticing when a writer says almost the same thing twice

Near the end the mother wakes the boy with almost the words she used at the start, and the same sun and birds follow, but this time snow is on the ground. The closing span carries the whole repetition inside itself and can be read on its own. Students read it, find the sentences that could have come from the first morning, and find the one that could not.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the last morning aloud (5 min)
Read the passage below aloud with your teacher, twice. The second time, use a sleepy voice for the mother and a loud voice for the boy at the end.
Word preview: sleepyhead, fling
I'm positive that I won't sleep a wink. But the next thing I know my mother is saying, wake up sleepyhead. It's a beautiful day. I leap out of my bed and race over to the window. The sun is shining. Birds are singing. And the whole world is covered in snow, I yell and fling the window open.
2. Find the sentences that sound like any ordinary morning (5 min)
The passage is printed here again. Point to the sentences that could happen on any morning at all. Read those sentences aloud to your partner.
Word preview: ordinary
I'm positive that I won't sleep a wink. But the next thing I know my mother is saying, wake up sleepyhead. It's a beautiful day. I leap out of my bed and race over to the window. The sun is shining. Birds are singing. And the whole world is covered in snow, I yell and fling the window open.
3. Find the one sentence that could only happen today (4 min)
The passage is printed here once more. Point to the one part that could not have happened on an ordinary morning in this story. Read it aloud and say what makes it different.
Word preview: covered
I'm positive that I won't sleep a wink. But the next thing I know my mother is saying, wake up sleepyhead. It's a beautiful day. I leap out of my bed and race over to the window. The sun is shining. Birds are singing. And the whole world is covered in snow, I yell and fling the window open.
4. Read it so a listener hears the change coming (6 min)
Read the passage printed here to your partner. Keep your voice flat and ordinary through the sun and the birds, then let it jump on the last part. Ask your partner where they heard the change.
I'm positive that I won't sleep a wink. But the next thing I know my mother is saying, wake up sleepyhead. It's a beautiful day. I leap out of my bed and race over to the window. The sun is shining. Birds are singing. And the whole world is covered in snow, I yell and fling the window open.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read the last morning aloud (4 min)
Read the passage aloud with your teacher twice, using a sleepy voice for the mother and a loud voice for the boy at the end.
Word preview: sleepyhead, fling
I'm positive that I won't sleep a wink. But the next thing I know my mother is saying, wake up sleepyhead. It's a beautiful day. I leap out of my bed and race over to the window. The sun is shining. Birds are singing. And the whole world is covered in snow, I yell and fling the window open.
2. Find the one sentence that could only happen today (5 min)
The passage is printed here again. Point to the one part that could not have happened on an ordinary morning, read it aloud, and say what makes it different.
Word preview: ordinary, covered
I'm positive that I won't sleep a wink. But the next thing I know my mother is saying, wake up sleepyhead. It's a beautiful day. I leap out of my bed and race over to the window. The sun is shining. Birds are singing. And the whole world is covered in snow, I yell and fling the window open.

Three levels

Support: Read the passage with the teacher and answer one question, is there snow in this passage, pointing at the words that answer it.
At Grade: Sort the ordinary sentences from the one that could only happen today.
Extension: Say why the writer put the ordinary sentences in before the snow one instead of starting with the snow, using the order of the sentences in the printed passage.

English learners

Sleepyhead is a compound nickname and fling is a strong verb, and both are best mimed before reading rather than defined. The passage moves from calm to loud, and reading it aloud twice with that change is the surest way in. Rehearse This sentence could happen any morning, but this one could not.

Materials

Printed passage: the last morning
Word cards: sleepyhead, fling, ordinary, covered

Standards & curriculum

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