Pounds, Feet, and Inches

$Pounds, Feet, and Inches book cover$

Grade 1
3 skill lessons · 1 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.

1Heavier Than the Loaf
2Twelve Clips Make a Foot
3The Two Questions the Book Leaves Open

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.

4About a Pound, About a Foot

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.

5What Is a Pound? How a Book Asks Its Own Question and Answers It
6Name It, Say What It Does, Give an Everyday Example
7About a Pound: The Little Word That Means Close, Not Exact
8A 6 Inch Measuring Tape: Words That Label a Picture
9How Tall Are You? Reading a Question Aimed at the Reader

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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. Heavier Than the Loaf Concept · Sorting objects as lighter or heavier than a one-pound benchmark

The book gives one pound a body and then drops it: a loaf of bread is about a pound, and nothing in the text is ever weighed against it. Students take the loaf the book named, hold it against eight classroom objects one at a time, and split the basket into lighter and heavier by what their two hands report. A pan balance settles the arguments the hands cannot. The lesson ends with each side counted, so a pair leaves with two numbers they produced and a sentence each object earned. The benchmark does the work: no object gets a weight, and a pound stops being a word and becomes a pull that a child can recognise again tomorrow.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Hold the loaf (4 min)
Each pair takes the wrapped loaf in two hands and passes it back and forth until both children have felt it. Read the book's sentence about the loaf aloud and say what it tells you: this much pull on your hands is about one pound. Put the loaf down on the table where it will stay all lesson as the thing everything else is judged against.
Word preview: pound, weight
A loaf of bread is about a pound.
A pound measures weight.
2. Sort by hand (6 min)
Take one object at a time from the basket. Hold the loaf in one hand and the object in the other, and decide which hand is pulled down harder. Put the object on the lighter side or the heavier side of the record sheet and say the sentence out loud as you place it: the stapler is heavier than the loaf. Every object in the basket gets placed before the pair stops.
Word preview: heavier, lighter
It tells us how heavy something is.
3. Check on the balance (6 min)
Put the loaf in one pan and an object in the other and watch which pan goes down. Start with the two objects the pair argued hardest about. If the pan disagrees with where the object was placed, move the object and say what the pans showed. Do the same for four more objects, one pair of hands on the pans at a time.
Word preview: balance, heavier
4. Count the two groups (4 min)
Count the objects on the lighter side aloud, one number word per object, and write the number at the top of the column. Count the heavier side the same way and write that number. Say both numbers to the pair beside you and name which group got more objects, pointing at the two written numbers as you say it.
Word preview: how many, more

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Hold the loaf (3 min)
Pass the wrapped loaf between both children until each has felt it. Read the book's sentence about the loaf and say what one pound pulls like in your hands.
Word preview: pound, weight
A loaf of bread is about a pound.
2. Sort by hand (6 min)
Take each object from the basket, hold it against the loaf one hand each, and place it on the lighter side or the heavier side of the sheet. Say the sentence aloud as you place it.
Word preview: heavier, lighter
It tells us how heavy something is.

Three levels

Support: Cut the basket to four objects and choose the four that are plainly far from the loaf, a pencil and a book rather than two near-misses. The sentence may be shortened to the two words heavier or lighter with a finger on the object, and the pan balance is used for every one of the four rather than only the disputed ones.
At Grade: All eight objects sorted by hand first, the disputed ones settled on the balance, a full spoken sentence for each object, and both columns counted and written.
Extension: After the basket is sorted, hand the pair one object that sits close enough to the loaf that hands cannot settle it. They must use the balance, then say what the balance told them that their hands could not, and name one other object in the room they would expect to be this hard to call and why.

English learners

Heavy and light are felt before they are named, so the judgement transfers whole and only the English words are new. Two frames are worth rehearsing aloud with the loaf in hand before the pairs start, because the comparative ending is where the error lands rather than in the weighing: the ___ is heavier than the loaf, and the ___ is lighter than the loaf. A child may sort the whole basket correctly while the sentence is still arriving, and that sorting is the evidence. A student who has words for weight in their strongest language should say the two piles in that language first, then take the loaf and say the two English frames over the objects already placed.

Materials

One-pound benchmark object per pair: a wrapped loaf of bread
Basket of eight classroom objects per pair, some clearly under and some clearly over a pound
Two-column record sheet per pair, headed lighter than the loaf and heavier than the loaf
Simple pan balance per pair
Word cards: pound, weight, heavier, lighter

Standards & curriculum

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

2. Twelve Clips Make a Foot Representation · Filling one foot with inch-long units and counting them, and choosing between the two units

The book prints the question and its own answer in the same breath, so the number twelve is given and nothing about it is done. Students do it instead: paperclips laid end to end along a tape until one foot is full, counted aloud one number word per clip. What the count produces is the relation the book only asserted, and pairs who land on eleven or thirteen go looking for the gap that caused it, which is where the no-gap-no-overlap rule stops being a rule and becomes a reason. The lesson closes on choosing which of the two units to speak in for three strips, judged against the football rather than against a number.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Meet the two lengths (5 min)
Each student lays a paperclip along their finger and then holds the football at both ends. Read the book's two sentences aloud and say which object stands for which unit. Put the paperclip beside the football on the table and say aloud which is the smaller unit, pointing at each as you name it.
Word preview: inch, foot
A paperclip is about an inch long.
A football is about a foot long.
They are smaller than a foot.
2. Lay the clips along the tape (6 min)
Line paperclips end to end along the measuring tape, starting at the very beginning of the tape and letting each clip touch the one before with no gap and no overlap. Count each clip aloud as it lands. Stop when the clips reach the end of one foot and say the number you counted.
Word preview: inch, twelve
How many inches are in a foot?
12.
3. Say what the count showed (4 min)
Say the number of clips aloud to your partner, then read the book's answer and say whether your count landed on the same number. Where a pair counted eleven or thirteen, look for the gap or the overlap that did it, close it, and count again. Each pair says one sentence naming their number and what they had to fix.
Word preview: count, same
One foot.
4. Choose the unit (5 min)
Take the three paper strips one at a time. For each strip decide out loud whether you would tell someone its length in inches or in feet, and say why using the strip in your hands: this one is shorter than the football, so inches. Lay the strip against the football to check before you commit, then place it in the inches pile or the feet pile.
Word preview: shorter, longer
inches also measure length.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Meet the two lengths (3 min)
Lay a paperclip along one finger and hold the football at both ends. Read the book's two sentences and say aloud which object stands for the inch and which for the foot, and which unit is smaller.
Word preview: inch, foot
A paperclip is about an inch long.
They are smaller than a foot.
2. Lay the clips along the tape (6 min)
Line paperclips end to end from the start of the tape, each touching the last with no gap and no overlap, counting aloud as they land. Stop at one foot and say your number, then read the book's answer and say whether the two agree.
Word preview: inch, twelve
How many inches are in a foot?
12.

Three levels

Support: Work on the tape with the inch marks left visible and let the child match each paperclip to one printed inch space rather than judging the joins by eye. The count stays the full twelve; it is the placing that is supported, not the counting, and the child still says the number aloud at the end.
At Grade: Clips laid along a plain tape edge with the joins judged by the child, counted aloud to twelve, the count checked against the book's answer, and all three strips sorted into inches or feet with a spoken reason.
Extension: Ask the pair to lay the clips along the football instead of the tape and count what it takes to cover it end to end. They must then say why their number is near twelve but not exactly it, using the word about from the book's own sentence, and what that word is doing there.

English learners

Inch and foot are English unit names with no equivalent in most of the languages these children bring, so unlike heavy and long they do not transfer and must simply be learned as labels attached to two objects on the table. That attachment is the scaffold: the paperclip and the football stay in reach all lesson so the word always has its object beside it. The frame worth rehearsing before the sorting step is I would use ___ for this one, because it is shorter than the football. Counting aloud to twelve may be done in the child's strongest language while the clips are being laid, and the English number said once at the end when the count is reported.

Materials

Paperclip per student
One-foot benchmark object per pair: a football, or a card cut to the length of one
Twelve-inch measuring tape or ruler per pair
Three paper strips per pair, cut well under, near and well over one foot
Word cards: inch, foot, smaller, longer

Standards & curriculum

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

3. The Two Questions the Book Leaves Open Application · Reading and reporting one's own height in feet and inches and weight in pounds

Every other number in this book arrives with its answer attached. These two do not: the book asks how many pounds you weigh and how tall you are in feet and inches, and then it ends. Students answer them with a wall tape and a scale, reading a numeral off a tool rather than being told one, and each reading is checked by a partner who says it back. The two answers go on a class chart and are spoken aloud in full sentences with the unit named, which is where the units stop being definitions and start being something a child says about their own body. Nothing is combined, ordered or subtracted here; the work is reading a measure correctly and saying it in the unit it was measured in.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read the two questions (3 min)
Read the book's two closing questions aloud together and notice what the book does with them: it asks and stops. Say which of the two is about weight and which is about length, and name the unit each answer will need. Each student says aloud which one they think they already know the answer to.
Word preview: pounds, tall
How many pounds do you weigh?
How tall are you in feet and inches?
2. Stand at the wall (6 min)
Stand with heels against the wall tape and let a partner read the mark at the top of your head. Read the feet first and then the inches left over, and say the two numbers aloud in that order before anybody writes. The reader says the numbers back to the person measured to check they heard them the same way.
Word preview: feet, inches
A foot measures length.
It can tell us how long, how deep, or how tall something is.
3. Step on the scale (5 min)
Step onto the scale, wait for the number to settle, and read it aloud. The partner reads it too and both say whether they got the same number. Say your number in a full sentence naming the unit: I weigh forty-nine pounds.
Word preview: pounds, weigh
How many pounds do you weigh?
4. Fill the class chart (6 min)
Write your two answers on your own row of the class chart, the height in the feet-and-inches column and the weight in the pounds column. Then say your row aloud to the class as two full sentences answering the book's two questions, with the unit named in each. Point at your row while you say it so the class can follow.
Word preview: chart, row
How tall are you in feet and inches?

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Stand at the wall (4 min)
Heels against the wall tape, a partner reads the mark at the top of your head, feet first and then the inches left over. Say the two numbers aloud and have the partner say them back.
Word preview: feet, inches
How tall are you in feet and inches?
2. Fill the class chart (5 min)
Write your height on your own row of the class chart, then say it to the class as one full sentence answering the book's question, with both units named.
Word preview: chart, row
A foot measures length.

Three levels

Support: Take the height only and leave the scale out, so the child reads one tool rather than two. The partner reads the wall tape and the child says the two numbers after them, and the spoken sentence may be the two numbers with the unit words supplied on a card rather than recalled.
At Grade: Both tools read, both numbers checked by a partner saying them back, both written on the chart and both spoken as full sentences with the unit named.
Extension: Ask the child to say their height in inches alone rather than in feet and inches, and to say how they would get that number from what they read on the wall. They should reach the method by counting on from the foot mark along the tape and naming what they counted, and say plainly if the tape does not let them finish it.

English learners

The measuring itself is language-free and a child with no English at all can stand at the tape and read a numeral, so this lesson gives the mathematics away immediately and the language work is entirely in the reporting. Two frames carry the whole spoken task and should be rehearsed before the tools come out: I am ___ feet ___ inches tall, and I weigh ___ pounds. The partner check is the most useful English in the lesson because both children say the same two numbers, so the frame is heard twice per turn. Numbers may be read aloud in the child's strongest language at the tape and said again in English at the chart. No child is required to say a weight aloud that they would rather not; writing the row and pointing at it satisfies this lesson.

Materials

Wall tape or height chart marked in feet and inches
Bathroom scale with a numeral display
Class chart with one row per student and two headed columns, one for feet and inches and one for pounds
Word cards: pound, foot, inch, tall

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. About a Pound, About a Foot Integrated · Students test the book's three benchmark objects against real ones and discover that the word about is what makes the book's sentences true.

Students test the book's three benchmark objects against real ones and discover that the word about is what makes the book's sentences true.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Test the loaf (5 min)
Pairs put the wrapped loaf in one pan and a one-pound weight in the other and watch what the pans do. They say aloud whether the pans balanced exactly or tipped, and then read the book's sentence about the loaf and say whether the sentence is still true. The point they must reach and say is that the pans tipped and the sentence is true anyway, because of one word in it.
2. Strike out the word (4 min)
The teacher shows the book's sentence with about removed and reads the shortened version aloud. Each pair says whether that sentence is true of the loaf they just weighed, and what on the pans proves it is not. They then say the sentence back with about restored and say what the word gave back.
3. Sort into the three areas (7 min)
Each pair takes six objects one at a time, holds each against the loaf and then puts the pair on the balance, and places the object in one of three labelled areas: about a pound, more than a pound, less than a pound. As each object lands the pair says the whole sentence aloud with the object's name in it. An object may be moved only if the pair says what changed their mind.
4. Argue one object (4 min)
Each pair chooses the one object they found hardest to place and says to another pair why it went where it did, naming what the pans did. The listening pair says whether they would have put it in the same area, and the two pairs settle it on the balance rather than by talking.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Test the loaf (5 min)
Pairs put the wrapped loaf in one pan and a one-pound weight in the other and watch what the pans do. They say aloud whether the pans balanced exactly or tipped, and then read the book's sentence about the loaf and say whether the sentence is still true. The point they must reach and say is that the pans tipped and the sentence is true anyway, because of one word in it.
2. Sort into the three areas (7 min)
Each pair takes six objects one at a time, holds each against the loaf and then puts the pair on the balance, and places the object in one of three labelled areas: about a pound, more than a pound, less than a pound. As each object lands the pair says the whole sentence aloud with the object's name in it. An object may be moved only if the pair says what changed their mind.

Three levels

Support: Give the pair two areas rather than three, about a pound and not a pound, and choose objects that sit far from the loaf so the pans move decisively. The spoken sentence may be shortened to the object's name and the area's name while the child points at the pans, and the frame stays visible on the area label the whole time.
At grade: All three areas, six objects, the pans consulted for every object, a full spoken sentence as each object lands, and one object argued to another pair with the pans as the settlement.
Extension: Hand the pair an object that genuinely sits on the edge and ask them to decide whether about a pound is true of it. They must then say what would have to change about the object for their answer to flip, and say whether two careful pairs could honestly disagree about this one and still both be right.

English learners

The hedging word is the whole difficulty here and it is exactly the kind of word that gets skipped by a reader working hard on the content words. About has no reliable one-word partner in most languages and is often carried by a whole construction rather than a word, so it will not transfer and must be attached to the pans: about is what you say when the pans tipped a little, and more than is what you say when they went right down. Rehearse all three frames aloud with the loaf in hand before the sorting starts, since the comparative ending rather than the vocabulary is where the error lands. A child may reason and argue in their strongest language at the balance and say the English frame once as the object is placed.

Materials

Simple pan balance per pair
One-pound weight per pair
Wrapped loaf of bread per pair
Six classroom objects per pair, spread across clearly under, near and clearly over a pound
Three area labels reading about a pound, more than a pound and less than a pound
The book's benchmark sentence written out twice, once whole and once with the hedging word removed

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.

5. What Is a Pound? How a Book Asks Its Own Question and Answers It Language · A Question That Opens a Section

Two of this book's sections open with a question and then answer it in the sentences that follow. Students find the question mark, read the question aloud in a questioning voice, and then point to the sentence that answers it. They finish by asking a question of their own in the same shape. The skill is recognising a question-and-answer structure in writing; no measuring or converting is done.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Find the question mark (6 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. Point with your finger to the mark at the end of the first sentence. Say its name aloud: question mark. Then read that first sentence in a questioning voice, letting your voice go up at the end.
Word preview: question
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.
2. Point to the sentence that answers it (5 min)
Here is the passage from step 1 printed again. The question is answered right after it is asked. Put your finger on the sentence that gives the answer. Read it aloud to a partner and say: that sentence answers the question.
Word preview: answer
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.
3. Find the same shape in another section (5 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. It is built the same way as the last one. Point to the question, then to the sentence that answers it. Say aloud which word changed between the two sections.
Word preview: same
What is a foot? A foot measures length. It can tell us how long, how deep, or how tall something is. A football is about a foot long.
4. Ask a question in the same shape (4 min)
Both passages are printed below. Each begins What is a ___? Say aloud a question of your own that starts with those same three words, about anything in the room. Then say one sentence that answers your own question, the way the book does.
Word preview: ask
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.
What is a foot? A foot measures length. It can tell us how long, how deep, or how tall something is. A football is about a foot long.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Find the question mark (5 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. Point to the question mark, name it aloud, and read the first sentence in a questioning voice.
Word preview: question
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.
2. Point to the sentence that answers it (4 min)
Read the passage below again. Put your finger on the sentence that answers the question and read it aloud.
Word preview: answer
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.

Three levels

Support: With the teacher, read only the first sentence of the passage in step 1. Trace the question mark in the air. Say the words What is a pound? in a questioning voice twice.
At Grade: Read both printed passages, find the question and the answering sentence in each, and say which word changed between the two sections.
Extension: Both printed sections ask a question the writer already knows the answer to. Say two sentences about why a writer would do that instead of just telling the reader.

English learners

English marks a written question with word order, What is a pound?, rather than with a spoken particle, and the rising voice is a habit rather than a rule. Read the question and its answer as a pair so the shape is heard. Invite students to ask a What is a ___? question about an object they name in their strongest language first. Rehearsable frame: What is a ___? A ___ is ___.

Materials

Pounds, Feet, and Inches, the passage printed in this step
Question mark card
Word cards: question, answer, same, ask

Standards & curriculum

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

6. Name It, Say What It Does, Give an Everyday Example Language · A Repeated Pattern Across Sections

Each section of this book does the same three jobs in the same order: it names the unit, says what the unit is for, and then gives one familiar thing to picture. Students colour-code the three jobs in one printed section, check the pattern holds in the next, and then say the pattern back in their own words. The work is seeing how an informational text repeats a shape; nothing is measured, weighed or converted.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Find the three jobs in one section (6 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. It does three jobs. Point to the sentence that says what a pound is for. Then point to the sentence that gives you something you already know to picture. Say aloud which of the two helped you more.
Word preview: example
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.
2. Check the pattern in the next section (5 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. Lay your three colour strips on it in the same places you used last time. Tell a partner whether this section does the same three jobs in the same order.
Word preview: pattern
What is a foot? A foot measures length. It can tell us how long, how deep, or how tall something is. A football is about a foot long.
3. Say what the everyday example is for (5 min)
Both passages are printed below. Each one ends with an ordinary thing: a loaf of bread, a football. Tell a partner why a writer would end with something you already know instead of a number. Say your reason in one sentence.
Word preview: everyday
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.
What is a foot? A foot measures length. It can tell us how long, how deep, or how tall something is. A football is about a foot long.
4. Say the pattern back (4 min)
Here are both passages printed again. Say the three jobs aloud in order, in your own words, while a partner points to where each one happens in the passages. Then swap and let your partner say them.
Word preview: order
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.
What is a foot? A foot measures length. It can tell us how long, how deep, or how tall something is. A football is about a foot long.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Find the three jobs in one section (5 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. Point to the sentence that says what a pound is for, then to the sentence that gives you something to picture.
Word preview: example
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.
2. Check the pattern in the next section (4 min)
Read the passage below and lay your colour strips on it in the same places. Say whether it does the same three jobs.
Word preview: pattern
What is a foot? A foot measures length. It can tell us how long, how deep, or how tall something is. A football is about a foot long.

Three levels

Support: With the teacher, read only the last sentence of the passage in step 1. Say the everyday thing it names. Then draw it. Say aloud: this helps me picture a pound.
At Grade: Read both printed passages, mark the three jobs in each with colour strips, and say whether the second section keeps the same order.
Extension: Both printed sections end on an everyday object rather than on a number. Say two sentences about what a reader gains from that choice and what a reader loses.

English learners

The example sentences use about, a loaf of and is ___ long, which are three separate English habits stacked in one short line. Read the example sentence slowly and act it out with a real object before discussing it. Invite students to name an everyday object from home that would work as an example, in their strongest language. Rehearsable frame: A ___ measures ___. A ___ is about a ___.

Materials

Pounds, Feet, and Inches, the passage printed in this step
Three colour strips
Word cards: example, pattern, everyday, order

Standards & curriculum

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

7. About a Pound: The Little Word That Means Close, Not Exact Language · A Word That Says Not Exactly

The word about turns up in every example sentence in this book, and it changes what the sentence is claiming. Students read the sentences with about in them, then hear the same sentence said without it, and say which one the book could honestly print. The lesson is what one word does to a sentence's meaning; students are never asked to weigh, measure or check an amount.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Hunt for one little word (6 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. There is a small word hiding in the last sentence: about. Put your finger on it. Read the sentence aloud with the word in, then read it aloud again leaving the word out. Say which one sounds more careful.
Word preview: about
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.
2. Find it again somewhere else (5 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. The same little word is here too. Point to it. Tell a partner what the sentence would be promising if the word about were taken away.
Word preview: exact
What is a foot? A foot measures length. It can tell us how long, how deep, or how tall something is. A football is about a foot long.
3. Decide which sentence a writer could print (5 min)
Both passages are printed below. Your teacher will read each example sentence twice, once as it is printed and once with about swapped for exactly. Hold up the about card or the exactly card for the one the book could honestly print. Say why in one sentence.
Word preview: careful
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.
What is a foot? A foot measures length. It can tell us how long, how deep, or how tall something is. A football is about a foot long.
4. Use the word yourself (4 min)
Here are both passages printed again. Point at something in the room and say one sentence about it using the word about, the way the book does. A partner says whether your sentence is a promise you could keep.
Word preview: say
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.
What is a foot? A foot measures length. It can tell us how long, how deep, or how tall something is. A football is about a foot long.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Hunt for one little word (5 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. Point to the word about in the last sentence. Read the sentence with it and then without it, and say which sounds more careful.
Word preview: about
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.
2. Decide which sentence a writer could print (4 min)
Read the passage below. Your teacher will say the example sentence with about and then with exactly. Say which one the book could honestly print, and why.
Word preview: careful
What is a foot? A foot measures length. It can tell us how long, how deep, or how tall something is. A football is about a foot long.

Three levels

Support: With the teacher, read only the last sentence of the passage in step 1. Say the word about out loud three times. Then say the whole sentence with the teacher.
At Grade: Find about in both printed passages, hear each example sentence with and without it, and say which version the book could honestly print.
Extension: Every example sentence in the printed passages uses about. Say two sentences about what would go wrong if the writer had left the word out of all of them.

English learners

About here is a hedge, not the about of talking about something, and the two meanings share a spelling. Contrast the two uses out loud in short sentences so the difference is heard. Invite students to give the hedging word from their strongest language and say it beside the English one. Rehearsable frame: It is about a ___. That means nearly, not exactly.

Materials

Pounds, Feet, and Inches, the passage printed in this step
About / exactly cards
Word cards: about, exact, careful, say

Standards & curriculum

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

8. A 6 Inch Measuring Tape: Words That Label a Picture Language · Telling a Caption From a Sentence

One printed passage in this book runs two kinds of writing straight together: sentences that tell the reader something, and short labels that only describe a picture. Students read the passage aloud, sort each line into tells me or labels a picture, and say what is missing from the label lines. The skill is recognising a text feature; the lesson never asks how long anything is.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Read a passage that mixes two kinds of lines (6 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher, one line at a time. Some of these lines tell you something. Some of them only describe a picture. Read them all aloud and notice that two of them do not say anything about the world at all.
Word preview: label
inches also measure length. They are smaller than a foot. A 6 inch measuring tape. A paperclip is about an inch long. A paperclip with a measuring tape 1 inch long.
2. Sort the lines (5 min)
Here is the passage from step 1 printed again. For each line, hold up the tells me card or the labels a picture card. Do it with a partner and say aloud why you chose the card you chose.
Word preview: sort
inches also measure length. They are smaller than a foot. A 6 inch measuring tape. A paperclip is about an inch long. A paperclip with a measuring tape 1 inch long.
3. Say what a label is missing (5 min)
Read the passage below again. Look at the line that names a measuring tape. Tell a partner what that line does not have that a telling sentence has. Say your answer in one sentence starting with the words It does not.
Word preview: missing
inches also measure length. They are smaller than a foot. A 6 inch measuring tape. A paperclip is about an inch long. A paperclip with a measuring tape 1 inch long.
4. Say what the picture must show (4 min)
Here is the passage printed one more time. The label lines were written for pictures a reader cannot see here. Tell a partner what the picture beside the paperclip line must have shown. Say how you knew, using words from the printed lines.
Word preview: picture
inches also measure length. They are smaller than a foot. A 6 inch measuring tape. A paperclip is about an inch long. A paperclip with a measuring tape 1 inch long.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Read a passage that mixes two kinds of lines (5 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher, one line at a time. Notice that some lines tell you something and some only describe a picture.
Word preview: label
inches also measure length. They are smaller than a foot. A 6 inch measuring tape. A paperclip is about an inch long. A paperclip with a measuring tape 1 inch long.
2. Sort the lines (4 min)
Read the passage below again and hold up the tells me card or the labels a picture card for each line. Say why for one of them.
Word preview: sort
inches also measure length. They are smaller than a foot. A 6 inch measuring tape. A paperclip is about an inch long. A paperclip with a measuring tape 1 inch long.

Three levels

Support: With the teacher, read the first two lines of the passage in step 1. Hold up the tells me card for each. Then read the measuring tape line and hold up the other card. Say the word label aloud.
At Grade: Read the printed passage line by line, sort every line into tells me or labels a picture, and say what the label lines are missing.
Extension: Two lines in the printed passage were written to sit under a picture and now sit inside the text. Say two sentences about the trouble that causes a reader who cannot see the picture.

English learners

A caption in English is written as a noun phrase with no verb, A 6 inch measuring tape, which reads as an unfinished sentence to a learner expecting one. Read a caption line and then the full sentence it stands for so the missing verb is heard. Invite students to describe a labelled picture from a book in their strongest language. Rehearsable frame: This line tells me ___. This line only names ___.

Materials

Pounds, Feet, and Inches, the passage printed in this step
Tells me / labels a picture cards
Word cards: label, sort, missing, picture

Standards & curriculum

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

9. How Tall Are You? Reading a Question Aimed at the Reader Language · When a Book Talks to You

Most of this book talks about pounds and feet, but two printed lines turn and ask the reader directly, using the word you. Students find that word, notice who the book is now speaking to, and compare the aimed-at-you lines with a line that just tells. They finish by saying one thing they would have to do before they could answer. The work is noticing who a text addresses; no student is asked to weigh or measure themselves.

Full lesson — 20 minutes

1. Find the word that means you (6 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. Two questions are printed here, and both use one small word that means the person reading. Point to that word each time it appears. Say aloud who the book is asking.
Word preview: you
How many pounds do you weigh? How tall are you in feet and inches?
2. Hold it beside a line that just tells (5 min)
Both passages are printed below. One asks you something. One tells you something and never says you at all. Read them one after the other with a partner and say which one wants an answer back from you.
Word preview: tell
How many pounds do you weigh? How tall are you in feet and inches?
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.
3. Say what you would need first (5 min)
Here is the passage from step 1 printed again. You cannot answer either question just by reading. Tell a partner one thing you would have to go and do first before you could answer. Say it in one sentence.
Word preview: answer
How many pounds do you weigh? How tall are you in feet and inches?
4. Turn a telling line into a you line (4 min)
Here is the telling passage printed again. Choose one sentence from it and say it aloud as a question aimed at a partner, using the word you. Your partner says whether your version is asking or telling.
Word preview: ask
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.

Short version — 9 minutes

1. Find the word that means you (5 min)
Read the passage below with the teacher. Point to the word that means the person reading, each time it appears, and say who the book is asking.
Word preview: you
How many pounds do you weigh? How tall are you in feet and inches?
2. Hold it beside a line that just tells (4 min)
Read both passages below one after the other. Say which one wants an answer back from you, and how you knew.
Word preview: tell
How many pounds do you weigh? How tall are you in feet and inches?
What is a pound? A pound measures weight. It tells us how heavy something is. A loaf of bread is about a pound.

Three levels

Support: With the teacher, read the first question in the passage in step 1. Point to the word you. Then point to yourself. Say the word you aloud twice.
At Grade: Read both printed passages, say which one is aimed at the reader and which only tells, and name the word that gave it away.
Extension: The printed questions arrive after several sections that only tell. Say two sentences about why a writer might turn and ask the reader at that point.

English learners

English you covers one person and many people and stays the same in both, so a learner whose language marks that difference cannot tell from the word whether the class or one child is meant. Read the question to one child and then to the whole class, using the same words both times. Invite students to say the equivalent word in their strongest language and whether it changes. Rehearsable frame: The book is asking ___. It uses the word you.

Materials

Pounds, Feet, and Inches, the passage printed in this step
Asks me / tells me cards
Word cards: you, tell, answer, ask

Standards & curriculum

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