Play Date

$Play Date book cover$

Grade 1
4 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.

1What Comes After Tuesday?
2Six Tries, Seven Days
3Where May 10th Sits
4The Day the Quiz Leaves Out

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.

No math-through-reading lessons for this book yet.

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.

No reading and language lessons for this book yet.

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Skill lessons

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

1. What Comes After Tuesday? Fluency · Naming the day that comes after a named day

The book heads its seven pages Monday through Sunday and pushes the play date forward one day at a time, so the day names arrive already in order and six of the seven are spoken as somebody's tomorrow. Students lay seven day cards in a ring, then answer with the next day's name each time one of the book's own tomorrow sentences is read, touching the card they land on. By the end the naming has to run with the ring face down, which is the point: a child who restarts at Monday for every answer cannot keep up with the question Dr. March asks in the middle of a conversation.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Lay the seven day cards in a ring (4 min)
Each pair spreads seven day cards face up and puts them in order, starting at Monday and closing the ring so Sunday touches Monday again. Say the seven names round the ring twice, touching one card per name. Count the cards to check there are seven and that no name is used twice.
Word preview: week
How many days are in a week? Seven days.
2. Answer the book's tomorrow sentences (6 min)
One partner reads a strip and says which day that scene happens on; the other names tomorrow and moves a counter one card round the ring. Say the answer as a whole day name, never as next. Swap jobs after every strip.
Word preview: tomorrow
Tomorrow is Wednesday
That means you'll be better tomorrow
3. Run the week from any day (6 min)
Spin for a starting day, name it, then name the next three days with the ring face down. If a name stalls, turn the ring back over, find the day and start that run again. Each partner takes four turns.
Word preview: day
4. Say it back in Dr. March's words (4 min)
Partners take turns finishing the book's question, tomorrow is ___, isn't it, naming a day that may be right or wrong. The listener answers that's right, or names the day that should have been there instead. Every pair asks and answers at least three times.
Word preview: tomorrow
That's right, said Dr. March, all day.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Answer the book's tomorrow sentences (6 min)
One partner reads a strip and says which day the scene happens on; the other names tomorrow and moves the counter one card round the ring. Swap jobs after every strip.
Word preview: tomorrow
Tomorrow is Wednesday
That means you'll be better tomorrow
2. Run the week from any day (3 min)
Spin for a starting day and name the next three days with the ring face down. Turn the ring back over only if a name stalls.
Word preview: day

Three levels

Support: Keep the ring face up for every answer and leave the counter parked on the day the scene happens, so the only move left is the one step round to tomorrow. Students still read the book's sentence, still say the whole day name and still take a turn asking; only the run of three days from a spun start comes off the table.
At Grade: Answer each of the book's tomorrow sentences with the whole day name, then run three more days from a spun start with the ring face down, and ask and answer the book's own question form at least three times.
Extension: Start the runs from Saturday and Sunday, where the count has to carry over the end of the week, and name the day two tomorrows on from each of the book's sentences. Then lay out every strip in the set, answer them all, and find the one day of the week no strip ever lands on.

English learners

Day names are learned words in every language, and a child who can already recite them in a first language owns the order this lesson needs; the ring works the same whatever the seven names are. The part that does not carry is tomorrow itself, which several languages build out of the word for morning and which can therefore sound like a time of day rather than a whole day on. Rehearse one frame until it runs by itself: today is ___, so tomorrow is ___. Invite students to say the seven names in their strongest language first, pointing at each card, then run the frame in English over the same ring.

Materials

Seven day-name cards per pair, one for each day from Monday to Sunday
Sentence strips carrying the book's tomorrow sentences, one set per pair
A counter for marking the day on the ring, one per pair
A spinner marked with the seven day names, one per pair
Word cards: day, tomorrow, week

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

2. Six Tries, Seven Days Reasoning · Counting the days of a week and telling how many are left over

Ivy leaves a message on the sixth day and prices the whole story in one line: six tries, almost a week. The book never counts the tries for her, because each page carries one attempt and no running number, so the six is a total a reader has to build before it can be checked. Students drop a counter on every day the girls tried, count the counters, match that count one to one against the seven days a week holds, and name the day left with no partner.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Put a counter on every day they tried (5 min)
Each pair hears the book's seven pages read in order and drops one counter on the strip for every day the girls tried to meet. Leave any day with no attempt empty. Do not say a number yet.
Word preview: day
I have my tuba lesson today, Jessica said. How about tomorrow?
On Saturday, Ivy felt fine, so she called Jessica.
2. Count the counters and check the book (5 min)
Count the counters aloud, touching each one once, and say the total. Then hear Ivy's message and say whether your count and her number agree. If they do not, walk back along the strip together and find the day you missed.
Word preview: tries
This makes six tries almost a week.
3. Set the count beside the whole week (6 min)
Lay the full strip under your own and match the counters one to one, left to right. Name the day that carries a counter on the full strip and none on yours. Say both numbers out loud, yours first.
Word preview: week
How many days are in a week? Seven days.
4. Say why she said almost (4 min)
Each pair finishes one sentence out loud for the class: we tried on ___ days, a week has ___ days, so ___ is almost a week. Then say which day was still to come when Ivy left her message.
Word preview: almost

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Count the counters and check the book (5 min)
Count the counters aloud, touching each one once, and say the total. Then hear Ivy's message and say whether your count and her number agree.
Word preview: tries
This makes six tries almost a week.
2. Set the count beside the whole week (4 min)
Match your counters one to one against the full strip and name the day left with no partner. Say both numbers out loud, yours first.
Word preview: week
How many days are in a week? Seven days.

Three levels

Support: Hand the pair the strip with the six counters already placed and read Ivy's message before they count. Students still count the six themselves, still match it against the full week and still name the empty day; only building the strip out of the story comes off the table.
At Grade: Build the strip from the story, count the tries, check the count against Ivy's message, match it one to one against the full week, and name both numbers and the day with no partner.
Extension: Count the days from the first attempt to the play date itself, Monday through to Sunday, and say why that count fills a week when the attempts only came close to one. Then say what Ivy would have had to change in her sentence if she had left the message a day later.

English learners

Counting and one-to-one matching read the same in every classroom language, so the strip is usable from the first minute and a child can count it in whichever language the counting runs fastest. The words that need work are almost, which many languages carry with a verb rather than an adverb, and try used as a countable thing: a try is something you can put a counter on, which is not how the word behaves in most languages. Rehearse one frame twice before pairs start: we tried on ___ days, a week has ___ days. Invite students to count the strip aloud in their strongest language, then give the two numbers in English with the frame.

Materials

A seven-day strip headed Monday to Sunday, one per pair
Seven counters per pair
A second seven-day strip with a counter already on every day, one per pair
Word cards: almost, day, tries, week

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

3. Where May 10th Sits Representation · Building a calendar row from one dated day

The back pages set three children a calendar quiz and give away exactly one anchor: the 10th of May is a Tuesday. No calendar is ever drawn for the reader, so the grid is the thing students have to make. Each pair heads seven columns with the day names in the book's own order, writes 10 under Tuesday in the middle row, then counts out along that row and on into the rows either side until every date the quiz names has a square of its own.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Head the seven columns (4 min)
Each pair writes the seven day names across the top of the grid in the book's own order, starting at Monday, one name to a column. Check by reading the row left to right and counting seven. Leave every square below empty.
Word preview: calendar
How many days are in a week? Seven days.
2. Anchor the tenth on its Tuesday (5 min)
Write 10 in the Tuesday column of the middle row. Say the date and the day together, the tenth of May is a Tuesday. Put a finger on that square and write nothing else yet.
Word preview: date
Jessica, Ivy and Otto are taking the calendar quiz for May.
Today is May 10th. What day is it? Tuesday.
3. Fill the row the tenth sits in (6 min)
Count back from 10 across the row, one number to a column, until the Monday square is filled, then count on to the right to the end of the row. Read the finished row out loud as date and day together. Check that no column holds two numbers.
Word preview: row
4. Carry the count to the dates the quiz names (5 min)
Fill the row above and the row below, seven squares to a row, until both 7 and 21 have squares. Then find 7, 10 and 21 on your grid and write the day each one sits under on the recording strip, saying each pair out loud before you write it.
Word preview: calendar
Today is May 7th. What day is tomorrow? Sunday.
The next day will be May 21st. What day is today? Friday.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Anchor the tenth on its Tuesday (5 min)
On a grid already headed with the seven day names, write 10 in the Tuesday column of the middle row and say the date and the day together.
Word preview: date
Today is May 10th. What day is it? Tuesday.
2. Carry the count to the dates the quiz names (4 min)
Count the row out from the tenth, then fill enough of the rows either side for 7 and 21 to have squares. Write the day each of the three dates sits under.
Word preview: calendar
The next day will be May 21st. What day is today? Friday.

Three levels

Support: Give the pair a grid with the seven names already printed and 10 already in its square, and let them work the middle row only. Students still count the row out from the tenth in both directions, still read every square aloud as date and day, and still record the day the 10th sits under; only the rows either side, and the two dates that need them, come off the table.
At Grade: Head the seven columns from Monday, anchor 10 under Tuesday in the middle row, count that row out both ways, then fill the rows either side and record the day for the 7th, the 10th and the 21st.
Extension: Say how far your grid could honestly run. The book gives one dated day and never says which date May starts or ends on, so add the rows you can fill from the tenth, stop where the counting stops being certain, and say out loud what the book would have to tell you before another row could be written.

English learners

Written numerals are the same symbol in every classroom, so the filling and the counting are available before any English is. The part that needs work is the English order of a date said aloud: this book says May 10th and May 21st, month first with a tail on the number, where many languages put the number first and add nothing to it. Rehearse one frame until it runs: May ___ is a ___. Invite pairs to count the row aloud in their strongest language, then read each finished square in English with the frame.

Materials

A blank grid of seven columns and three rows, one per pair
Seven day-name cards per pair, one for each day from Monday to Sunday
A recording strip headed with the three dates the quiz names, one per pair
Word cards: calendar, date, row

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

4. The Day the Quiz Leaves Out Application · Finding a date the calendar quiz does not print

The quiz's last question gives a day name and the date of the day after it, and never gives the date of the day it is asking about. Students take the grid they built, find the 21st, step back one square and read off the date of Groucho's birthday. Then they read the day name standing above the square they landed on and count back along the grid to the tenth of May, which the quiz puts on a Tuesday, to check that the columns stand where the book put them.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the question and name what is missing (4 min)
Each pair reads the quiz's last question twice and says out loud what it tells them and what it does not. Point at the two things the book gives, the day name and the next day's date, then say the one thing it never gives. Do not answer yet.
Word preview: date
The next day will be May 21st. What day is today? Friday.
2. Step back one square (6 min)
Find 21 on your grid and put a finger on it. Move one square to the left, say the date you land on and write it down. Then say the whole answer out loud, the birthday is May ___.
Word preview: date
3. Count back to the tenth to check (6 min)
Read the day name at the top of the column your finger is in and say it out loud. Then count back along the grid from that square to 10 under Tuesday, saying every date as you pass it, so you know the column heads stand where the book put them. Say whether the day you read is the Friday the quiz prints.
Word preview: date
Today is May 10th. What day is it? Tuesday.
4. Say the answer with both its parts (4 min)
Each pair says the finished answer once for the class with both parts in it: the birthday is May ___, and that day is a ___. Then say which of the book's questions gave you the answer and which one checked it.
Word preview: next day

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Step back one square (6 min)
Find 21 on the grid, move one square to the left and say the date you land on. Say the whole answer out loud, the birthday is May ___.
Word preview: date
2. Count back to the tenth to check (3 min)
Read the day name above the square you landed on, then count back to 10 under Tuesday, saying each date, and say whether the day you read is the Friday the quiz prints.
Word preview: date
Today is May 10th. What day is it? Tuesday.

Three levels

Support: Give the pair the grid with 21 already circled and read the question aloud twice before they start. Students still make the step back, still say the date and still count back to the tenth to check the column; only finding the 21st on a grid of their own comes off the table.
At Grade: Read the question, name the date it withholds, step back one square from the 21st to get it, then read the day above that square, count back to the tenth to check the columns, and say whether the day matches the one the quiz prints.
Extension: Name the day of the week the 21st itself falls on, which the book prints nowhere, and say how the grid tells you. Then say what the answer would have been if the question had read the day before was May 21st, and how far the birthday moves.

English learners

The grid carries the counting without English, so a child can point at the answer before naming it. Two English pieces need rehearsing: the next day, which names the day after the one being asked about rather than the day after now, and the ordinal tail on a spoken date, the twenty-first rather than twenty-one. Rehearse one frame twice: the next day is May ___, so today is May ___. Invite students to talk the step back through in their strongest language with a finger on each square, then give both dates in English with the frame.

Materials

The finished seven-column grid from the calendar lesson, one per pair
A counter for marking the square being counted from, one per pair
A recording card headed birthday date and birthday day, one per pair
Word cards: date, next day

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.