Albert's Amazing Snail

$Albert's Amazing Snail book cover$

Grade K
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.

1Put the Snail Where the Words Say
2The Two Places at Every Thing
3Match the Trail to the Tricks
4Count the Slime Marks

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.

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. Put the Snail Where the Words Say Concept · Placing an object at a named position and saying the position word

Albert and Leo spend an afternoon showing a snail what a trick looks like, and every trick they pick is a place. Albert crawls in one end of the hollow log and out the other end, stands on top of the pile of pine cones and then at the bottom of it; Leo climbs on the sunflower and jumps off, goes under the branch and over the top, and stands in front of the rock Albert is hiding behind. Ten places, five things, and not one number in any of it. Students set the five models out on a tray, take a snail counter, and put it exactly where each sentence says while saying the position word out loud. A child has this when the word arrives before the hand does, so that hearing under sends the counter below the twig with no glance at the teacher's face.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Set the five things out (4 min)
Lay the five models along the tray in the order the yard has them: the tube for the hollow log, the heap of pine cones, the sunflower, the twig branch, the stone. Touch each one and name it aloud to your partner. Leave the snail counter beside the tray until the first sentence is read.
Word preview: yard, tricks
Albert said, We're showing flash some tricks.
2. Put the snail where Albert says (6 min)
Listen to the sentence, move the snail counter to the place it names, and freeze. Say the position word out loud before you let go of the counter. Do the log first, then the pile of pine cones, and do not move on until your partner agrees the counter is where the words put it.
Word preview: in, out, on top, bottom
Albert said, I crawl in one end of the hollow log and out the other end.
Albert said, I'm on top of this pile of pine cones!
Oops, now I'm at the bottom of the pile!
3. Say the word first, then move (5 min)
Swap jobs with your partner. One of you turns over a place card and says out loud where it puts the snail; the other moves the counter there without looking at the card. If the counter lands somewhere else, say the word again and point at the thing, not at the place. Take five turns each so all five things get used.
Word preview: under, behind
I go under this branch!
I can hide behind this rock.
4. Walk the whole route (5 min)
Move the counter through all ten places in the order the book goes: the log, the pine cones, the sunflower, the branch, the rock. Say the position word at every stop, and say both words at a thing before you travel on to the next thing.
Word preview: over, in front of
Flash went under the branch and over the top.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Put the snail where Albert says (5 min)
Move the snail counter to the place each sentence names and freeze. Say the position word out loud before you let go. Do the log, then the pile of pine cones.
Word preview: in, out, on top, bottom
Albert said, I crawl in one end of the hollow log and out the other end.
Albert said, I'm on top of this pile of pine cones!
Oops, now I'm at the bottom of the pile!
2. Walk the whole route (4 min)
Move the counter through all ten places in the book's order: log, pine cones, sunflower, branch, rock. Say the position word at every stop.
Word preview: over, in front of
Flash went under the branch and over the top.

Three levels

Support: Keep three things on the tray rather than five, the tube, the pine cones and the stone, and keep both places at every one of them. The teacher says the word and shows the place once, then says the word alone and waits with a hand out of sight. The child still moves the counter, still says the word aloud, and still does both places before travelling on.
At Grade: Work with all five things, move the counter to each of the ten places as the sentence is read, say the position word before letting go, then take turns naming a place from a card for a partner to find, and finish by walking the counter through the whole route in the book's order.
Extension: Take the counter to a place and do not name it. Your partner has to say the position word that puts it there, and then say the word for the other place at the same thing without the counter moving. If two different words would both be true of where the counter is, say both and say which thing each one is measured from.

English learners

Position words are the most transferable mathematics in this lesson and the least transferable English in it. Every child in the room already knows where under is; what differs is how the sentence carries it. English puts the position word before the thing, under the branch, where many languages put it after the thing or fold it into the ending of the word, so a child may say branch under and have placed the counter perfectly. Take the placement as the answer. Rehearse the frame the snail is ___ the ___ twice with the counter already sitting in place before any child is asked to move it, so only one slot is being filled while the hand is busy. Invite children to say the place in their strongest language first and then in English; the counter on the tray shows the class whether they agree, and it does that before anybody has said an English word.

Materials

A yard tray per pair with five models set out in a row: a cardboard tube for the hollow log, a small heap of pine cones, a paper sunflower stuck in a lump of clay, a twig laid across two blocks for the branch, and a smooth stone for the rock
One snail counter per pair, a shell or a marked cube small enough to pass through the tube
Ten place cards per pair, each picturing the snail at one place with the words printed under it for the teacher: in one end, out the other end, on top, at the bottom, on, off, under, over the top, behind, in front of
Word cards: under, over, behind, in front of

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

2. The Two Places at Every Thing Reasoning · Matching each position word with the opposite place at the same thing

Nothing in this yard is visited once. Albert goes in one end of the hollow log and out the other end; he is on top of the pile of pine cones and then at the bottom; Leo climbs on the sunflower and jumps off; he goes under the branch and over the top; Albert hides behind the rock and Leo stands in front of it. Five things, two places at each, and the book says both halves every single time, once in the yard and again the next morning when the slime is read. Students take ten place cards, find the card naming the other place at the same thing, and lay the two together on the model until five matched sets are made and no card is left homeless. A child who can hand you the partner for over the top without touching the tray has understood that the words come two to a thing.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the ten cards onto the tray (4 min)
The teacher reads each place card aloud once. Lay every card beside the thing on the tray it belongs to, so the log ends up with cards near it and so does the stone. Do not sort them yet; just get every card to its own thing.
Word preview: in one end, out the other end
The slime goes in one end of the log.
Wanda said, and out the other end.
2. Find the partner for each card (6 min)
Pick up any card and hunt for the one card that names the other place at the same thing. Lay the two side by side and leave them there. Keep going until every card is in a set of two, then count how many sets you made and say the number aloud.
Word preview: on top, at the bottom
Flash was on top of the pine cones!
And at the bottom, Wanda said.
3. Put two counters at one thing (6 min)
Take a matched set of cards and put one snail counter at each of its two places on the model, so that for the branch set one counter goes under the twig and the other over the top of it. Say both position words aloud while your fingers are still on the counters. Do this for every one of your five sets.
Word preview: under, over the top
Flash went under the branch and over the top.
4. Say the partner with the tray covered (4 min)
Turn the tray away or cover it with a cloth. The teacher holds up one card and reads it, and you say the word for the other place at the same thing. Say the thing as well as the word, so behind the rock is answered with in front of the rock and not just in front.
Word preview: behind, in front of
Then he went behind the rock.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Find the partner for each card (5 min)
Take the ten place cards. Pick up any one and hunt for the card naming the other place at the same thing, and lay the two side by side. Keep going until every card is in a set of two, then say how many sets you made.
Word preview: on top, at the bottom
Flash was on top of the pine cones!
And at the bottom, Wanda said.
2. Put two counters at one thing (4 min)
Take a matched set and put a snail counter at each of its two places on the model. Say both position words aloud while your fingers are on the counters.
Word preview: under, over the top
Flash went under the branch and over the top.

Three levels

Support: Work with three matched sets rather than five, the log, the pine cones and the rock, and start each hunt with one card already lying at its thing so the search is for a partner rather than for both halves at once. The child still puts two counters out, still says both words aloud, and still answers with the thing named as well as the word.
At Grade: Lay all ten cards at their things, hunt out the five matched sets, place two counters at every set and say both words while touching them, then answer a held-up card with the word for the other place, naming the thing each time.
Extension: Take the two counters to a thing that is not on your tray, a chair or a shoe, and make a matched set of your own for it: two places, opposite ends of the same thing, said in the same shape the book uses. Then say which of the book's five sets yours is most like and why the two words in your set could not both be true of one counter at one moment.

English learners

The words in a matched set are opposites in every language a child brings, and knowing that is most of the work; the pairing itself is not what has to be taught. What differs is the shape of the phrase. English needs a thing named after the position word, in front of the rock, and drops it constantly in speech, in front, which leaves a child guessing which thing was meant. Ask for the thing every time, and accept rock in front as a right answer while modelling the English order back. Rehearse on top and at the bottom together as one breath before any card is turned over, because those two are the pair whose English gives no clue that they belong to each other. A child may sort the ten cards into five correct sets in silence; that is the reasoning, and the words can be added to sets that are already right.

Materials

A yard tray per pair with five models set out in a row: a cardboard tube for the hollow log, a small heap of pine cones, a paper sunflower stuck in a lump of clay, a twig laid across two blocks for the branch, and a smooth stone for the rock
Ten place cards per pair, each picturing the snail at one place with the words printed under it for the teacher: in one end, out the other end, on top, at the bottom, on, off, under, over the top, behind, in front of
One snail counter per pair, a shell or a marked cube small enough to pass through the tube
A second snail counter per pair in a different colour
Word cards: on top, at the bottom, under, over the top

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

3. Match the Trail to the Tricks Representation · Matching two rows one to one and saying whether either row has a card left over

Albert spends an afternoon showing a snail ten places and wakes up certain that nothing happened. What changes his mind is a match: every place he and Leo showed Flash turns up again in the slime the next morning, in the same order, and Albert and Wanda go through them one at a time. Students build that match with their hands. Ten trick cards go in a top row, the ten shuffled trail cards are dealt underneath so each one sits below the card naming the same place, and then both rows are hunted for a card with nobody above or below it. There is none, and that is the finding: the two rows are the same size and nothing is left over. No one counts to discover it, and no one needs to; the answer is read straight down the columns.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Lay the trick row out (5 min)
Put the ten trick cards in a row along the tape in the order Albert and Leo showed them, log first and rock last. Say each place aloud as the card goes down. Push them up against each other so the row has no gaps in it before the second row starts.
Word preview: trick, row
Albert said, We're showing flash some tricks.
Albert said, I crawl in one end of the hollow log and out the other end.
2. Deal the trail cards underneath (6 min)
Take the shuffled trail cards one at a time. For each one, find the trick card that names the same place and put the trail card directly underneath it. Do not slide any card along to close a gap. Keep going until your hand is empty.
Word preview: same, underneath
The slime goes in one end of the log.
Flash went under the branch and over the top.
3. Hunt for a card with no partner (5 min)
Run a finger down every column from the top card to the bottom one. Stop at any column that has a card in only one row and say so out loud. Then say whether either row has more cards in it than the other, and say how you can tell without counting either row.
Word preview: left over, match
Flash hasn't learned a single trick.
It means flash did a trick.
4. Say what the two rows show (4 min)
Point along the bottom row and tell your partner what the slime went to, place by place, using the position word on each card. Then say the whole finding in one sentence: whether the trail missed any place they showed Flash, and how the two rows say so.
Word preview: missed, every
Albert exclaimed, Wanda, do you know what this means?

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Deal the trail cards underneath (5 min)
The ten trick cards are already laid out in a row. Take the shuffled trail cards one at a time, find the trick card naming the same place, and put the trail card directly underneath it. Do not close any gaps.
Word preview: same, underneath
The slime goes in one end of the log.
Flash went under the branch and over the top.
2. Hunt for a card with no partner (4 min)
Run a finger down every column. Stop at any column with a card in only one row and say so. Then say whether either row has more cards than the other, and how you can tell without counting.
Word preview: left over, match
Flash hasn't learned a single trick.
It means flash did a trick.

Three levels

Support: Deal five trail cards against five trick cards, one for each thing in the yard rather than one for each place, and hand them out already the right way up. The child still deals the second row underneath the first, still runs a finger down each column, and still says out loud whether a card has nobody with it.
At Grade: Lay ten trick cards in a gap-free row, deal all ten shuffled trail cards into the columns beneath them, run a finger down every column looking for a card on its own, and say whether either row is the longer and how the columns show it.
Extension: Take one trail card out of the set before you begin and do not say which. Deal the nine that are left, find the column with a card missing from the bottom row, and say what the empty space proves about the two rows. Then say what Albert could have concluded if that space had been real, and what he could not have concluded from it.

English learners

Matching one thing to one thing is a move a child can make with no English at all, and a child who deals the ten cards into the right columns has done the mathematics of this lesson whatever they say afterwards. The talking is where the help is needed. Left over is an English phrase whose two words give away nothing, and same as is easy to hear as the same thing; a child may deal every card correctly and then say the wrong sentence about it. Rehearse nothing is left over with a deliberately short row on the table, so the phrase is first heard when there is something left over and the difference can be pointed at. Invite children to explain the columns in their strongest language first and then say the one English sentence, and take a finger run down the columns as evidence in either language.

Materials

A pocket chart or a length of masking tape on the table to hold two rows of ten cards
Ten trick cards per pair, one picture each, in the order Albert and Leo showed them: log in, log out, pine cones top, pine cones bottom, sunflower on, sunflower off, branch under, branch over, rock behind, rock in front
Ten trail cards per pair, the same ten pictures with a green slime mark drawn on each, shuffled before they are handed out
Word cards: match, left over, row

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.

4. Count the Slime Marks Fluency · Counting to ten by ones, one mark for each place the book names

Leo supplies the rule the whole story runs on, that wherever snails go they leave a trail of slime, and the next morning the yard is written all over. The book never counts the marks; nobody in it says a number at all. Students do the counting: a green dot goes down at each place the trail names, two at the hollow log, two at the pile of pine cones, two at the sunflower, two at the branch and two at the rock, and then the count runs one to ten with one touch for each dot. What matters is the touch, not the speed. No dot may take two number words and no number word may cover two dots, and the last word said is how many there are.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Put the first two marks down (4 min)
Listen to the rule about snails and slime, then put one green dot at the end of the tube the slime goes into and one at the end it comes out of. Touch the first dot and say one, touch the second and say two. Leave both dots where they are.
Word preview: slime, trail
Leo told Albert it said that wherever snails go, they leave a trail of slime.
The slime goes in one end of the log.
2. Mark the rest of the route (7 min)
Carry on along the tray in the book's order and put a dot at every place the trail names: two at the pine cones, two at the sunflower, two at the branch, two at the rock. Say the next number each time a dot goes down, carrying on from two rather than starting again. Stop when there is nowhere left that the book names, and say the last number you said.
Word preview: mark, place
I see slime here too!
3. Count them all again, touching each one (5 min)
Go back to the tube and count every dot on the tray from the beginning, touching one dot for each number word. Your finger may not leave a dot until its number has been said, and it may not come back to a dot it has already counted. Say the last number to your partner and let them count the same dots and say theirs.
Word preview: count, each
Albert followed the trail of slime.
4. Count the things instead of the marks (4 min)
Now count the things rather than the dots. Put a hand flat on the tube and say one, on the pine cones and say two, and carry on to the stone. Say that number aloud, then say the dot number aloud, and say which of the two is the bigger without working out how much bigger.
Word preview: things, how many
Flash was on top of the pine cones!

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Mark the rest of the route (5 min)
Put a dot at every place the trail names, working along the tray from the tube to the stone, two at each of the five things. Say the next number each time a dot goes down, so the count runs on to ten without starting again at any thing.
Word preview: mark, place
I see slime here too!
2. Count them all again, touching each one (4 min)
Count every dot on the tray from the beginning, touching one dot for each number word. Do not leave a dot before its number is said and do not go back to one already counted.
Word preview: count, each
Albert followed the trail of slime.

Three levels

Support: Use three things rather than five so the count runs to six, and lay the dots on a strip of card beside each thing rather than on the model, where they cannot be nudged out of place. The child still puts every dot down, still counts on rather than restarting, and still recounts the whole line touching one dot for each word.
At Grade: Put ten dots down two at a time along the five things, counting on to ten as they go, then recount the whole line from one with a touch for each dot, and finish by counting the five things and saying which number is the bigger.
Extension: Count the dots two at a time instead of one at a time, saying two, four, six, eight, ten with a hand covering each pair as it is counted, and say how many times the hand went down. Then say what the last number would have been if one of the things in the yard had not been visited, and take those dots off to check rather than saying a number from memory.

English learners

Number words are among the first things a child learns in any language and they do not need retranslating for this work; a child counting the dots in their home language is counting correctly and should be told so. Let the count be said in the strongest language first and then in English, with the finger doing the same job both times, because the touch is what shows the class the counting is sound. The English that has to be rehearsed is the question, not the count: how many dots is a shape a child may never have met, and it sounds nothing like the words for the numbers themselves. Say it twice pointing at the dots before anyone is asked it, and accept a bare number as a full answer. The words trail and mark also want a preview beside the actual dots, since both have ordinary meanings in English that will not help here.

Materials

A yard tray per pair with five models set out in a row: a cardboard tube for the hollow log, a small heap of pine cones, a paper sunflower stuck in a lump of clay, a twig laid across two blocks for the branch, and a smooth stone for the rock
Twelve green sticky dots per pair for the slime marks, more than the route needs
Word cards: count, how many, trail

Standards & curriculum

These lessons are being matched against curricula now.