Origami

$Origami book cover$

Grade 4
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.

1Testing paper folds for right angles
2Counting the right angles in one tower section
3Counting the frog's right angles and saying where

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.

4Two folds, two figures: the words that decide which
5The number the tower never prints
6Counting the frog, and saying where you looked

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.

7May Have, Probably, However: How Sure Is This Writer?
8The Word Origami Comes From: Naming a Word Rather Than a Thing
9Fold, Turn, Keep: How an Instruction Is Written
10This Way: The Sentence That Says Why You Were Told To
11At First, Then, Last Year: The Part of the Book About One Person

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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. Testing paper folds for right angles Concept · Identifying right angles and classifying figures by them

The book defines a right angle by its measure and then hands students a figure that is nothing but folded paper. Students fold origami paper the two ways the book names, build a right-angle tester from a scrap, and test every corner and crease of what their fold produced. They record which figure each fold made and how many right angles it carries. A right angle is a fixed thing a tester either fits or does not, not a corner that merely looks square, and a figure can be described by counting them.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Build the tester (4 min)
Fold a scrap of paper in half, then fold it in half again so the second crease lands on the first. The corner you just made is a right angle, and you will use it all lesson. Slide that corner into the corner of your desk and into the corner of a book cover, and keep only the ones it fits exactly with no gap and no overlap.
Word preview: right angle, degrees
A right angle is an angle that measures 90 degrees
Right angles are often marked with a tiny square, like the right angles in this picture.
2. Fold edge to edge (5 min)
Fold one square sheet in half so one edge lands exactly on the opposite edge, and press the crease flat. Test all four corners of the shape in your hand with your tester and count how many corners it fits. Write the shape's name and your count in the first row of the chart, and say the count aloud to your partner before you write it.
Word preview: rectangle
When you fold the square from edge to edge, it forms a rectangle.
The rectangle has four right angles.
3. Fold corner to corner (6 min)
Take a fresh square and fold it so one corner lands exactly on the corner diagonally across from it. Test all three corners of the triangle you made and count only the ones your tester fits. Find the corner that sits opposite the fold line and check it last. Enter the shape and the count in the second row of the chart.
Word preview: right triangle
When you fold the square from corner to corner, it forms a right triangle.
The angle opposite the fold line is a right angle.
4. Sort the figures by their count (5 min)
Put your rectangle and your right triangle side by side with the square sheet you started from. Test the untouched square and add it to the chart. Then sort all three figures from most right angles to fewest, and tell your partner which two tie and how your tester proved it.
Word preview: square
A square has four right angles and four equal sides.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Build the tester (4 min)
Fold a scrap in half and in half again so the second crease lands on the first. That corner is a right angle. Check it against a book corner and keep it in front of you.
Word preview: right angle
A right angle is an angle that measures 90 degrees
2. Fold corner to corner (5 min)
Fold a square so one corner lands exactly on the corner diagonally across from it. Test all three corners of the triangle and count only the ones the tester fits, checking the corner opposite the fold line last. Say the count aloud to your partner and enter it on the chart.
Word preview: right triangle
When you fold the square from corner to corner, it forms a right triangle.
The angle opposite the fold line is a right angle.

Three levels

Support: Work with the rectangle fold only. Test its four corners one at a time with the tester and put a counter on each corner the tester fits, then count the counters instead of holding the running count in your head. Keep the paper flat on the desk so a corner cannot be tested twice.
At Grade: Fold both ways, test every corner of both figures, and record two counts on the chart. Say which corner of the triangle is the right angle and where it sits relative to the fold line before you write the count down.
Extension: After both folds, fold a fresh square corner to corner twice and test the smaller triangle it makes. Report how its right-angle count compares with the first triangle's, and say what the second fold did to the corner the book calls opposite the fold line.

English learners

Angle and degree both name measured things here and neither transfers from everyday speech, where an angle is often a view or a slant. Right does not mean correct in this lesson and does not mean the opposite of left, which is the transfer that will mislead first; the book's own instruction to fold the right edge sits a few lines from its right angles. Rehearse this frame: This corner is a right angle because my tester fits it exactly. Invite a student to say the count in their strongest language first and then in English, since the count is the mathematics and the sentence is the language.

Materials

Square origami paper, six inches by six inches, several sheets per student
A paper right-angle tester made by folding a scrap twice, one per student
Class chart headed Fold, Shape Formed, Right Angles
Sentence strips of the book's two shape rules, cut apart
Word cards: angle, right angle, rectangle, right triangle

Standards & curriculum

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

2. Counting the right angles in one tower section Application · Multiplying a per-part count by a number of parts

The book says a tower section takes eight square pieces, tells students to make four rectangles from four of them, and states that each rectangle carries four right angles. It never says how many right angles the rectangles of one section carry altogether. Students build the four rectangles, verify the count on one of them, and then reach the total for four. The application is that a count stated once per part becomes a total by multiplying, and that the book supplied every number the total needs without ever printing the total.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read what one section takes (4 min)
Read the two sentences about how a section is built and underline every number in them. On your recording sheet write how many pieces a whole section takes and how many of those pieces become rectangles. Tell your partner which number the book gives for one rectangle and which number it never gives at all.
Word preview: section
Each section is made with eight square pieces of paper.
Three, make four rectangles by folding four pieces of paper in half.
2. Fold and verify one rectangle (5 min)
Fold one square sheet in half to make a rectangle and test its four corners with a right-angle tester. Count the corners the tester fits and check your count against the book's sentence about a rectangle. Do not move on until your paper and the book agree.
Word preview: rectangle
Each rectangle has four right angles.
3. Build the other three and total them (7 min)
Fold three more squares into rectangles so four sit in front of you. Put four counters on each rectangle, one per right angle, then find the total number of counters without picking them all up one at a time. Write the total on your sheet and write beside it the multiplication that produced it.
Word preview: total
One, make four triangles by folding four pieces of paper from corner to corner.
4. Say what the book did and did not give (4 min)
Point at the sentence that gave you four right angles and the sentence that gave you four rectangles. Then say aloud the number you found that appears in neither sentence. Finish by telling your partner why the book could leave that number out and still have told you enough.
Word preview: altogether
Fit each rectangle between two triangles to form a square shape.
You have made one tower section.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Fold and verify one rectangle (4 min)
Fold a square in half to make a rectangle and test its corners with your tester. Count the right angles and check the count against the book's sentence about one rectangle.
Word preview: rectangle
Each rectangle has four right angles.
2. Build the other three and total them (5 min)
Fold three more so four rectangles sit in front of you. Put four counters on each and find the total without counting every counter singly. Say the multiplication that gave you the total.
Word preview: total
Three, make four rectangles by folding four pieces of paper in half.

Three levels

Support: Keep the four folded rectangles and the counters, and skip the written multiplication. Count the counters by fours along the row, touching one rectangle per number word, and say the total aloud. The paper stays in front of you the whole time so the four groups never have to be imagined.
At Grade: Fold all four rectangles, verify one against the book, and reach the total for four by multiplying rather than by counting every counter. Write the multiplication beside the total and name which factor came from which sentence of the book.
Extension: After totalling the four rectangles, work out the same total for two whole sections and say what you multiplied and in what order. Then say which of your numbers the book prints and which you produced, and explain why doubling the sections does not double the eight pieces per section.

English learners

Each carries the mathematics in this lesson and is the word most likely to be read as merely pointing at one object; each rectangle has four right angles means every one of them does, which is what makes the total reachable. Section here is a part of a built thing, not a part of a book or a part of a road. Rehearse this frame: Each rectangle has four right angles, so four rectangles have sixteen. Let students give the total in their strongest language before producing the English sentence, and accept a gesture at the four papers as proof the grouping is understood.

Materials

Recording sheet with a column for a count and a column for where it was found
Square origami paper, six inches by six inches, several sheets per student
A paper right-angle tester made by folding a scrap twice, one per student
Counters or unit cubes, sixteen per pair
A finished tower section built ahead of time by the teacher
Word cards: each, section, altogether

Standards & curriculum

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

3. Counting the frog's right angles and saying where Reasoning · Counting right angles in a figure and justifying where they were found

The book asks how many right angles a half-built frog shows, answers ten, and then at the end of the section tells students to count again on the finished frog and warns them to include the edges as well as the places where folded paper meets. Students count the right angles on a finished frog, record where each one was found, and defend a count against a partner who found a different one. The reasoning is that a count of a physical figure is only as good as the account of where the things counted were, and that two honest counts differ because they searched different places.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the book's own count (4 min)
Read the book's question about step four and the answer it gives right after. Write that number at the top of your recording sheet and label it as the book's count. Tell your partner one place on a folded paper where a right angle could hide that a quick look would miss.
Word preview: count
How many right angles do you see after finishing step 4?
There are 10 right angles.
2. Count the finished frog (6 min)
Take the finished frog and test it with your right-angle tester, recording every right angle you find with a short note saying where it was. Work around the outside edges first and then the places where folded paper meets. Write your total only after every line of your sheet is filled in.
Word preview: edges
Look at your finished origami frog and see how many right angles you can find.
Don't forget to count right angles on the edges of the paper as well as right angles where the folded paper meets.
3. Compare two counts (6 min)
Trade sheets with a partner whose total is different from yours. Find the first row where the two sheets disagree and put the frog between you with a finger on that spot. Decide together whether the tester fits there, and say which of you had counted a place the other had not searched.
Word preview: disagree
None of the lines meet at a 90 degree angle.
4. Defend a final count (4 min)
Agree on one count for the frog and be ready to say how you got it. Name the two places you searched and one place you decided did not hold a right angle after testing. Give your number and your reason to another pair, and let them test the one place you rejected.
Word preview: because
Megan is glad she knows about right angles and geometric shapes.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Count the finished frog (5 min)
Test the finished frog with your tester and write down every right angle you find with a note saying where it was. Search the outside edges and then the places where folded paper meets, and total your sheet at the end.
Word preview: edges
Look at your finished origami frog and see how many right angles you can find.
2. Compare two counts (4 min)
Trade sheets with a partner whose total differs. Put a finger on the first spot the two sheets disagree about and test it together. Say which of you searched a place the other had not.
Word preview: disagree
Don't forget to count right angles on the edges of the paper as well as right angles where the folded paper meets.

Three levels

Support: Count only the outside edges of the frog and leave the folded meetings out. Work with a partner who marks each right angle with a small sticky dot as you find it, so the count is the dots rather than a number carried in the head. Say where one dot sits before giving the total.
At Grade: Search both the edges and the places where folded paper meets, record where each right angle was found, and settle a disagreement with a partner by testing the disputed spot rather than by recounting from the start.
Extension: After settling a count, say why the book's ten and your number for the finished frog can both be right, naming what changed between step four and the finished figure. Then find one corner on the frog that looks square and fails the tester, and say what that shows about counting by eye.

English learners

Where is doing mathematical work here and is easy to hear as a loose word; a count with no where behind it cannot be defended or checked. Meet in the book's phrase about folded paper meeting is not the everyday meeting of people, and edge is the boundary of the paper rather than a rim or a verge. Rehearse this frame: I found a right angle here, at the edge, because my tester fits. Let partners argue the disputed spot in their strongest shared language and then give the agreed count in English, since the count is what the other pair receives.

Materials

Recording sheet with a column for a count and a column for where it was found
A finished origami frog per pair
A paper right-angle tester made by folding a scrap twice, one per student
Word cards: count, edge, because

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. Two folds, two figures: the words that decide which Integrated · Students fold one square two different ways, test the corners of each figure, and show that changing the fold phrase changes both the figure and its right-angle count.

Students fold one square two different ways, test the corners of each figure, and show that changing the fold phrase changes both the figure and its right-angle count.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Build a right-angle tester (4 min)
Students fold a scrap twice to make a right-angle corner and check it against a book corner and a desk corner, keeping only the fits that leave no gap.
2. Fold both ways and count (6 min)
Each pair folds one square in half edge to edge and a second square corner to corner, tests every corner of both figures, and says the two counts aloud.
3. Read the two instructions apart (4 min)
Students match the book's two fold instructions to the two figures on their desk and say which words in the sentences differ, underlining only the phrase that changed.
4. Swap the phrase and predict (6 min)
Students hear one instruction with its fold phrase swapped, say what figure and how many right angles it predicts, then fold it and report whether the paper agreed with the sentence.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Fold both ways and count (6 min)
Each pair folds one square in half edge to edge and a second square corner to corner, tests every corner of both figures, and says the two counts aloud.
2. Swap the phrase and predict (6 min)
Students hear one instruction with its fold phrase swapped, say what figure and how many right angles it predicts, then fold it and report whether the paper agreed with the sentence.

Three levels

Support: Stay with the two figures already folded and do not fold a third. Lay the rectangle and the triangle side by side and point to the one a read-aloud sentence describes, then test its corners with the tester and say the count. The choice is between two papers on the desk rather than a figure imagined from a sentence.
At grade: Fold both figures, count both, and then predict from the swapped sentence before folding it. Say the predicted figure and the predicted count as one sentence, and after folding say whether the paper agreed and which word caused the difference.
Extension: After the swap, write a third instruction of your own that would produce a figure with four right angles, using neither of the book's two phrases, and hand it to another pair to fold. Judge your sentence by whether their paper came out as you intended, and say which word did the work.

English learners

The phrase in half will be read by many students as a fraction word about amount, and here it does not name a share at all; it names where a fold goes. The same is true of corner to corner, which sounds like a direction of travel rather than a line. Neither phrase transfers from everyday speech intact and both decide the figure. Right in right angle does not mean correct and does not mean the opposite of left, which is the transfer most likely to mislead, since the book also instructs students to fold the right edge. Rehearse this frame: I folded it in half, so I made a rectangle with four right angles. Students may predict aloud in their strongest language first, then give the prediction in English before folding, since the prediction is what the class checks.

Materials

Square origami paper, six inches by six inches, several sheets per student
A paper right-angle tester made by folding a scrap twice, one per student
Instruction cards reading fold in half edge to edge and fold from corner to corner
The book's two fold instructions enlarged side by side with the differing phrase left unmarked
A swapped instruction card written out where the class can see it

Standards & curriculum

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

5. The number the tower never prints Integrated · Students establish from three sentences how many rectangles a tower section has and how many right angles each carries, then produce the total the book leaves out and say which sentence gave them each factor.

Students establish from three sentences how many rectangles a tower section has and how many right angles each carries, then produce the total the book leaves out and say which sentence gave them each factor.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the section apart (5 min)
Students underline every number in the three sentences about a section and write on their sheet how many pieces a section takes, how many become rectangles and how many become triangles.
2. Fold the four rectangles (5 min)
Each pair folds four squares in half and tests one rectangle's corners with a right-angle tester, checking the count of four against the book's sentence before continuing.
3. Reach the total and name its factors (7 min)
Students place four counters on each rectangle, find the total without counting singly, write the multiplication beside it, and say aloud which sentence gave each factor.
4. Say why it is not in the book (3 min)
Pairs state in one sentence why the book could leave the total out and still have said enough, pointing at the two sentences as they speak.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Fold the four rectangles (5 min)
Each pair folds four squares in half and tests one rectangle's corners with a right-angle tester, checking the count of four against the book's sentence before continuing.
2. Reach the total and name its factors (7 min)
Students place four counters on each rectangle, find the total without counting singly, write the multiplication beside it, and say aloud which sentence gave each factor.

Three levels

Support: Keep the four folded rectangles and the counters in front of you and skip the written multiplication. Count the counters by fours along the row, touching one rectangle for each number word, and say the total aloud. The four groups stay on the desk so none of them has to be held in the head.
At grade: Fold all four rectangles, verify one against the book's sentence, reach the total by multiplying rather than by counting every counter, and name the sentence that supplied each factor before writing the product down.
Extension: After reaching sixteen, work out the total for the rectangles of two whole sections and say what you multiplied and in what order. Then say why the eight pieces per section do not become sixteen pieces of the same kind, using the book's own split between triangles and rectangles as your reason.

English learners

Each is the word the mathematics turns on and it is easy to hear as a pointer at one object rather than a claim about every one. Each rectangle has four right angles means all four rectangles do, and a student who hears it as this rectangle gets four instead of sixteen. Section names a part of a built thing here, not a part of a text or a road. Rehearse this frame: Each rectangle has four right angles, so four rectangles have sixteen. Students may reason to the total in their strongest language and then give the sentence in English; pointing at the four papers while saying so is accepted as showing the grouping, since the grouping rather than the English is what the lesson is checking.

Materials

Square origami paper, six inches by six inches, four sheets per pair
A paper right-angle tester made by folding a scrap twice, one per student
Counters or unit cubes, sixteen per pair
Recording sheet with a column for a count and a column for where it was found
The three constraining sentences of the tower section shown together
A finished tower section built ahead of time by the teacher

Standards & curriculum

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

6. Counting the frog, and saying where you looked Integrated · Students count the right angles on a finished origami frog, record where each was found, and defend their total to a partner and to the book's own crafter by naming the places they searched.

Students count the right angles on a finished origami frog, record where each was found, and defend their total to a partner and to the book's own crafter by naming the places they searched.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the count the book gives back (3 min)
Students read the book's question at step four and its answer, then read the closing instruction and note that no number follows it.
2. Count the finished frog (6 min)
Each pair tests the finished frog with a right-angle tester and writes every right angle found on the recording sheet with a note of where it sat, edges first and folded meetings second.
3. Settle a disagreement (7 min)
Pairs trade sheets with a pair whose total differs, put a finger on the first disputed spot, test it together, and say which of them had searched a place the other had not.
4. Give the count to Megan (4 min)
Each pair states their agreed total aloud as if reporting to the crafter the book introduces, naming both places they searched and one corner they tested and rejected.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Count the finished frog (6 min)
Each pair tests the finished frog with a right-angle tester and writes every right angle found on the recording sheet with a note of where it sat, edges first and folded meetings second.
2. Settle a disagreement (7 min)
Pairs trade sheets with a pair whose total differs, put a finger on the first disputed spot, test it together, and say which of them had searched a place the other had not.

Three levels

Support: Count only the outside edges of the frog and leave the folded meetings for later. A partner puts a small sticky dot on each right angle as you confirm it, so the total is the dots on the paper rather than a number carried in the head. Say where one dot sits before you give the total, using the frame provided.
At grade: Search both places the book names, record where each right angle was found, and settle a disagreement by testing the disputed spot rather than by recounting from the beginning. Give the total with both search places named.
Extension: Take the position that the count should include only what the tester confirms, then argue the strongest case against your own position: find a corner another pair counted that yours rejected, and say what a crafter would lose by following your rule. Then say why the book's ten and your different total can both be honest.

English learners

Where carries the mathematics in this lesson and is easy to treat as optional politeness; a total with no where behind it cannot be checked by the partner who has to accept or reject it. Meet in the book's phrase about folded paper meeting is not people meeting, and edge is the boundary of the paper rather than a rim or a verge. Because must introduce evidence here and not a preference. Rehearse this frame: I counted eleven, because I found right angles on the edges and where the folded paper meets, and I left out this corner because my tester did not fit. Partners may argue the disputed corner in their strongest shared language and then give the agreed total in English, since the total is what the other pair and the named audience receive.

Materials

A finished origami frog per pair
A paper right-angle tester made by folding a scrap twice, one per student
Recording sheet with a column for a count and a column for where it was found
Small sticky dots for marking confirmed right angles
The book's closing frog instruction, with the two search places it names underlined
The book's step-four question and its printed answer, shown apart from the closing instruction

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. May Have, Probably, However: How Sure Is This Writer? Comprehension · Reading the Words a Writer Uses to Show How Sure They Are

The history section of this book almost never states a bare fact; it hedges with may have, probably and many historians believe, and puts one flat claim among them for contrast. Students sort sentences by certainty, strip a hedge out and say what the sentence then claims, and trace the However that sets two accounts against each other without deciding. The work is reading a writer's confidence, which is carried entirely by word choice.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Sort the sentences by how sure the writer is (6 min)
Read the passage below. Copy its four sentences into two columns headed The writer is sure and The writer is not sure. Underline the exact words that put each sentence in its column. Be ready to defend any sentence you found hard to place.
Word preview: certain, hedge, may have, believe
The history of origami. We are not sure where or when origami was invented. Paper was invented in China about 2000 years ago. The art of paper folding may have started there around the same time. However, many historians believe the art of paper folding started in Japan.
2. Rewrite a hedged sentence as a flat claim and say what is lost (5 min)
Read the passage below again. Take the sentence containing the word probably and rewrite it with that word removed. Read both versions aloud to a partner. Say what your version now claims that the book's version does not, and say whether the book could honestly have written yours.
Word preview: probably, claim
In the 600s, the Japanese learned about paper from the Chinese. The Japanese started to make origami figures of things they saw in nature. Arabic explorers probably brought origami to the Arabic countries and to Europe. The Arabs studied the geometric shapes in the folded paper.
3. Find the word that signals a turn away from what was just said (5 min)
Read the passage below. One sentence opens with a word that tells a reader the sentence before it is about to be pushed back against. Circle that word. Say aloud what the two sentences on either side of it each claim, and say whether the passage decides between them.
Word preview: however, attributes
The history of origami. We are not sure where or when origami was invented. Paper was invented in China about 2000 years ago. The art of paper folding may have started there around the same time. However, many historians believe the art of paper folding started in Japan.
4. Write two sentences about the same fact at two levels of certainty (4 min)
Read the passage below one more time for its two most confident sentences. Then write two sentences of your own about something you half-know: one stated flatly, one hedged with a word this book uses. Read both to a partner and have them name which is which.
Word preview: hedge, flat
In the 600s, the Japanese learned about paper from the Chinese. The Japanese started to make origami figures of things they saw in nature. Arabic explorers probably brought origami to the Arabic countries and to Europe. The Arabs studied the geometric shapes in the folded paper.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Sort the sentences by how sure the writer is (5 min)
Read the passage below and sort its four sentences into two groups, sure and not sure, underlining the exact words that decide each one.
Word preview: certain, hedge
The history of origami. We are not sure where or when origami was invented. Paper was invented in China about 2000 years ago. The art of paper folding may have started there around the same time. However, many historians believe the art of paper folding started in Japan.
2. Rewrite a hedged sentence as a flat claim and say what is lost (4 min)
Read the passage below, rewrite its probably sentence without that word, and say what your version now claims that the book's does not.
Word preview: probably
In the 600s, the Japanese learned about paper from the Chinese. The Japanese started to make origami figures of things they saw in nature. Arabic explorers probably brought origami to the Arabic countries and to Europe. The Arabs studied the geometric shapes in the folded paper.

Three levels

Support: In the printed passage in step 1, find and read aloud the sentence beginning We are not sure. Then find one sentence that states something flatly and read that too. Say which of the two the writer is more certain about.
At Grade: Sort all four sentences of the printed passage in step 1 into sure and not sure, and name the word that decides each one.
Extension: The printed passage in step 3 sets two accounts of origami's origin side by side without choosing. Write two sentences on why a careful writer would leave that undecided.

English learners

English hedges with small words tucked inside the verb group, may have started, and they carry the whole difference between a guess and a fact while being easy to hear past. Read each pair aloud, hedged then flat, and mark the hedge with a hand gesture. Invite students to say how their strongest language marks a claim as uncertain. Rehearsable frame: The book says ___. It does not say ___, because it uses the word ___.

Materials

Origami, the passage printed in this step
two-column chart
pencils
partner
Word cards: certain, hedge, may have, probably, however, believe, claim

Standards & curriculum

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

8. The Word Origami Comes From: Naming a Word Rather Than a Thing Vocabulary · Reading a Text's Account of Where a Word Came From and What Else It Means

Twice this book turns from talking about paper folding to talking about the words for it, and the second time it hands one word an extra meaning that reframes the sentence before. Students separate a sentence about a thing from a sentence about its name, follow one word into its second meaning, work out what In fact is doing between the two, and write a two-meaning sentence of their own. Nothing is folded, angled or measured.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read what the book says about where its title word came from (6 min)
Read the passage below with a partner. Its second sentence tells you where the word origami came from. Say aloud what kind of information that sentence gives about the word, as opposed to what the first sentence gives about the thing. Underline the words that mark it as being about the word itself.
Word preview: the word, comes from, origin
Origami is the art of paper folding. The word origami comes from two Japanese words.
2. Follow one of those words into a second meaning (5 min)
Read the passage below. It returns to one of the Japanese words much later in the book and adds a meaning that has nothing to do with paper. Underline that word and both of its meanings. Say aloud what the sentence before it lets a reader understand about why the second meaning matters here.
Word preview: also means, in fact
The Japanese and the Arabs both use the art of paper folding to honor their religions. In fact, the Japanese word for paper, Kami also means spirit or God.
3. Say what In fact is doing between the two sentences (5 min)
Read the passage below again. Cover the words In fact and read the two sentences straight through. Say aloud what changes. Then say what In fact tells a reader about the relationship between the sentence before it and the sentence it opens.
Word preview: in fact, connects
The Japanese and the Arabs both use the art of paper folding to honor their religions. In fact, the Japanese word for paper, Kami also means spirit or God.
4. Look up a second meaning of your own and write it in the book's shape (4 min)
Read the passage below one more time for its shape. Then choose any everyday English word you know that has more than one meaning, and write one sentence about it using the book's own construction: the word ___ also means ___. Read it to a partner and have them say both meanings back.
Word preview: also means
The Japanese and the Arabs both use the art of paper folding to honor their religions. In fact, the Japanese word for paper, Kami also means spirit or God.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read what the book says about where its title word came from (5 min)
Read the passage below and say what its second sentence tells you about the word origami that the first sentence does not tell you about the thing.
Word preview: the word, comes from
Origami is the art of paper folding. The word origami comes from two Japanese words.
2. Follow one of those words into a second meaning (4 min)
Read the passage below, underline the word that carries two meanings, and say both of them.
Word preview: also means
The Japanese and the Arabs both use the art of paper folding to honor their religions. In fact, the Japanese word for paper, Kami also means spirit or God.

Three levels

Support: In the printed passage in step 1, find the two words The word and read the sentence they begin. Say what language origami came from.
At Grade: Read the printed passage in step 1 and say what its two sentences each tell you, one about the practice and one about the name.
Extension: The printed passage in step 2 gives one word two meanings. Write two sentences on how the second meaning changes what the sentence before it was saying.

English learners

The construction The word X comes from marks a sentence as being about language rather than about the world, and students who read straight past it will take a claim about a word as a claim about paper. Read the two sentences aloud with a hand on the page for the thing and a hand in the air for the word. Invite students to give a word borrowed into their strongest language from another. Rehearsable frame: The word ___ comes from ___. It also means ___.

Materials

Origami, the passage printed in this step
pencils
partner
Word cards: the word, comes from, origin, also means, in fact

Standards & curriculum

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

9. Fold, Turn, Keep: How an Instruction Is Written Comprehension · Recognising the Sentence Types and Order Words That Build a Set of Instructions

A procedure is written in a distinct grammar: bare commanding verbs with no named subject, broken by occasional sentences that state a result instead. Students underline the opening verb of every instruction in a printed run, sort commands from results, collect the order words that would survive the removal of the step numbers, and write one of each themselves. This book's step numbers are damaged in places, so the lesson deliberately rests on the words rather than the numbering.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Name the kind of sentence every instruction uses (6 min)
Read the passage below. Every numbered instruction in it begins with the same kind of word. Underline the first word of each instruction. Say aloud what those words have in common and who the sentences are addressed to, given that none of them names anybody.
Word preview: instruction, command, addressed to
1. Fold the paper in half to make a triangle. 2. Fold the left corner in the middle of the bottom edge. 3. Turn the paper over so that the folded corners are turned away from you. Keep the folded parts at the bottom.
2. Find the sentences that are not instructions at all (5 min)
Read the passage below with a partner. Some of its sentences tell a reader to do something and some tell a reader what will happen or what they now have. Sort them into those two kinds. Say aloud what tells you which kind a sentence is, using the first word of each as your evidence.
Word preview: result, sort
5. Unfold the two corners from the side of the paper that is turned away from you. 6. Fold the bottom edge of the shape up as shown in the drawing. 7. Now take the top edge of the part you just folded up and fold it down so it is even with the bottom edge. Turn the paper over. You have made an origami frog.
3. Find the words that hold the order together (5 min)
Read the two passages below. Besides their numbers, the instructions carry words that say when one thing happens relative to another. Underline every such word you find, including inside the instructions themselves. Say aloud which of them would still tell you the order if the numbers were taken away.
Word preview: now, once, order
5. Unfold the two corners from the side of the paper that is turned away from you. 6. Fold the bottom edge of the shape up as shown in the drawing. 7. Now take the top edge of the part you just folded up and fold it down so it is even with the bottom edge. Turn the paper over. You have made an origami frog.
Once you have finished your frog, you can use it to play a game. Put your fingers in the center of the bottom edge along the fold line. Press down quickly and remove your finger. The frog will jump.
4. Write one instruction and one result sentence of your own (4 min)
Read the passage below one more time for its two kinds of sentence. Then write two sentences telling a partner how to do something simple with a sheet of paper: one that commands and one that says what they now have. Have them read yours aloud and name which is which.
Word preview: command, result
Once you have finished your frog, you can use it to play a game. Put your fingers in the center of the bottom edge along the fold line. Press down quickly and remove your finger. The frog will jump.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Name the kind of sentence every instruction uses (5 min)
Read the passage below, underline the first word of each numbered instruction, and say what those words have in common and who they are addressed to.
Word preview: instruction, command
1. Fold the paper in half to make a triangle. 2. Fold the left corner in the middle of the bottom edge. 3. Turn the paper over so that the folded corners are turned away from you. Keep the folded parts at the bottom.
2. Find the sentences that are not instructions at all (4 min)
Read the passage below and sort its sentences into ones that command and ones that state a result, giving the first word of each as your evidence.
Word preview: result
5. Unfold the two corners from the side of the paper that is turned away from you. 6. Fold the bottom edge of the shape up as shown in the drawing. 7. Now take the top edge of the part you just folded up and fold it down so it is even with the bottom edge. Turn the paper over. You have made an origami frog.

Three levels

Support: In the printed passage in step 1, read the first word of each instruction aloud: Fold, Fold, Turn, Keep. Then say who is being told to do these things.
At Grade: Read the printed passage in step 1, underline every opening verb, and say what those sentences have in common that ordinary sentences do not.
Extension: The printed passages in step 3 carry order words inside the sentences as well as step numbers. Write two sentences on which of the two a reader could better do without.

English learners

An instruction in English has no visible subject, which can read as an unfinished sentence to a student whose strongest language marks the addressee on the verb. Say the full form once, You fold the paper, then the printed form, so the hidden you is heard. Invite students to give a classmate a two-step instruction in their strongest language, then in English. Rehearsable frame: First, ___ the paper. Now you have ___.

Materials

Origami, the passage printed in this step
pencils
partner
scrap paper
Word cards: instruction, command, result, now, once, order

Standards & curriculum

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

10. This Way: The Sentence That Says Why You Were Told To Comprehension · Reading the Reason and the Condition a Writer Attaches to an Instruction

Most of this book's instructions simply command, but a few carry a reason and a condition, and each is joined by a different small word. Students underline instruction, reason and the phrase this way that ties them together, find the When clause that fences the instruction in, compare a reason joined with but, and then write a reason for a bare instruction of the book's. The work is how a writer links an action to a purpose.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Find the instruction that comes with a reason (6 min)
Read the passage below. It gives an instruction and then, unlike the numbered steps, tells you why. Underline the instruction and then underline the reason. Say aloud which words at the end of the second sentence point back at the first one.
Word preview: reason, this way, why
When you use two pieces of origami paper at the same time, keep the papers together. You will get sharp, correct creases this way.
2. Find the condition the instruction only applies inside (5 min)
Read the passage below again with a partner. The instruction does not always apply; the first half of the sentence says when it does. Underline that half. Say aloud what word opens it, and say one situation in which a reader would be right to ignore this instruction.
Word preview: when, condition
When you use two pieces of origami paper at the same time, keep the papers together. You will get sharp, correct creases this way.
3. Find a second reason sentence and compare how it is joined (5 min)
Read the passage below. It also gives an instruction with a reason, but the reason is joined by a different small word. Underline the instruction, the reason and the joining word. Say aloud how this joining is different from the one you found in step 1, where the link came at the end.
Word preview: but, joining word
This airplane does not look exactly like a real airplane, but it still flies. Try it out.
4. Add a reason to an instruction that has none (4 min)
Read the passage below. Its sentences command without ever saying why. Choose one of them and write a reason sentence to follow it, ending your sentence with the book's own phrase, this way. Read the pair to a partner and have them say whether your reason would actually persuade them.
Word preview: persuade, this way
1. Fold the paper in half to make a triangle. 2. Fold the left corner in the middle of the bottom edge. 3. Turn the paper over so that the folded corners are turned away from you. Keep the folded parts at the bottom.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Find the instruction that comes with a reason (5 min)
Read the passage below, underline the instruction and then the reason, and say which words at the end point back at the instruction.
Word preview: reason, this way
When you use two pieces of origami paper at the same time, keep the papers together. You will get sharp, correct creases this way.
2. Add a reason to an instruction that has none (4 min)
Read the passage below, choose one instruction, and write a reason sentence to follow it that ends with the phrase this way.
Word preview: persuade
1. Fold the paper in half to make a triangle. 2. Fold the left corner in the middle of the bottom edge. 3. Turn the paper over so that the folded corners are turned away from you. Keep the folded parts at the bottom.

Three levels

Support: In the printed passage in step 1, read the second sentence aloud and find the two words this way at the end. Say what those two words are pointing back at.
At Grade: Read the printed passage in step 1, underline the instruction and the reason separately, and name the words that link them.
Extension: The printed passage in step 3 joins its two halves with but rather than with a pointing phrase. Write two sentences on what each way of joining does that the other does not.

English learners

The phrase this way at the end of a sentence points backwards to a whole instruction rather than to any single noun, and that long reach is hard to hear. Read the pair of sentences aloud and sweep a hand back to the instruction as you say this way. Invite students to give an instruction and its reason in their strongest language and name the joining word. Rehearsable frame: ___. You will get ___ this way.

Materials

Origami, the passage printed in this step
pencils
partner
Word cards: reason, this way, when, condition, but, persuade

Standards & curriculum

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

11. At First, Then, Last Year: The Part of the Book About One Person Comprehension · Reading a Profile Section and Saying How It Differs From the Explaining Text Around It

Near the end this book stops explaining and follows a named person through several years, using time phrases the rest of the book never needs. Students hold the profile beside an explaining passage, trace the change in how Megan works, find the sentence whose This reaches back to tie the profile to the book's subject, and rewrite one sentence in the book's other voice. The work is telling two kinds of writing apart and saying what each is for.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read a part of the book that tells a story instead of explaining (6 min)
Read the two passages below. One explains something to any reader; the other follows one named person through time. Say aloud which is which. Then underline every word or phrase in the second passage that places an event in time, and say in what order the events happened.
Word preview: at first, then, last year, profile
A fish. For your next creation, you can make a fish. Use two squares of paper that are the same size. You can use one color for the fins and a different color for the body of the fish.
an origami crafter. Megan Furymore has been doing origami for about four years. At first, Megan followed the directions in origami books. Then, she made her own origami creations. Last year, Megan created some Japanese dolls.
2. Say what changed about her over the story (5 min)
Read the passage below with a partner. Two of its sentences describe the same activity done in two different ways. Underline both. Say aloud, in one sentence, what changed about how Megan works, and say which words carried the change.
Word preview: followed, her own, changed
an origami crafter. Megan Furymore has been doing origami for about four years. At first, Megan followed the directions in origami books. Then, she made her own origami creations. Last year, Megan created some Japanese dolls.
3. Find the sentence that ties this part back to the rest of the book (5 min)
Read the passage below. Its last two sentences leave Megan's story and reach back to what the whole book has been about. Underline them. Say aloud what word in the second of them points back at the sentence before it, and say why a writer would end a profile this way rather than with the dolls.
Word preview: this, points back, ties back
She used pipe cleaners for the bodies and tissue paper for the heads. She made origami kimonos and hats. Megan and her mom took the dolls to an art museum gift shop. Visitors bought all of them. Megan is glad she knows about right angles and geometric shapes. This helps her with her origami creations.
4. Write the same person's story in the book's other voice (4 min)
Read the passage below one more time. Then rewrite one of its sentences as this book's explaining voice would put it, addressed to any reader rather than about Megan. Read both versions to a partner and say what the profile version gives a reader that yours does not.
Word preview: voice, rewrite
an origami crafter. Megan Furymore has been doing origami for about four years. At first, Megan followed the directions in origami books. Then, she made her own origami creations. Last year, Megan created some Japanese dolls.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read a part of the book that tells a story instead of explaining (5 min)
Read the two passages below, say which one explains and which one follows a named person, and underline the time phrases in the second.
Word preview: at first, then, profile
A fish. For your next creation, you can make a fish. Use two squares of paper that are the same size. You can use one color for the fins and a different color for the body of the fish.
an origami crafter. Megan Furymore has been doing origami for about four years. At first, Megan followed the directions in origami books. Then, she made her own origami creations. Last year, Megan created some Japanese dolls.
2. Find the sentence that ties this part back to the rest of the book (4 min)
Read the passage below and underline the last two sentences, then say what the word This at the start of the final sentence points back at.
Word preview: this, ties back
She used pipe cleaners for the bodies and tissue paper for the heads. She made origami kimonos and hats. Megan and her mom took the dolls to an art museum gift shop. Visitors bought all of them. Megan is glad she knows about right angles and geometric shapes. This helps her with her origami creations.

Three levels

Support: In the second printed passage in step 1, find the phrases At first, Then and Last year, and read the sentence each one begins. Say which event happened earliest.
At Grade: Read both printed passages in step 1 and say what each is doing, then put Megan's events in order using the time phrases as evidence.
Extension: The final sentence of the printed passage in step 3 begins with This, pointing back at a whole sentence. Write two sentences on what that link does for the book as a whole.

English learners

Time phrases like At first and Last year sit at the front of the sentence here and are the only thing carrying order, since the verbs give no further clue. Read the three sentences in order, then out of order, so the phrases are heard doing the work. Invite students to tell three stages of something they learned, in their strongest language, then in English. Rehearsable frame: At first she ___. Then she ___. Last year she ___.

Materials

Origami, the passage printed in this step
pencils
partner
Word cards: profile, at first, then, last year, this, points back, voice

Standards & curriculum

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