The unit in one line
The monsters do the same thing on every page of this book, and what actually changes is what the child decides to call them.
Where you can see it:
- One — One monster prancing, laughing, squealing. The child calls it a silly little monster and is watching it like a show.
- Four — Four monsters hiding and crooked. The child's own words turn: now I'm getting feared, eyes are growing wide, this is getting weird.
- Seven — Seven monsters scowling and prowling. The child is in the sheets with eyes shut, calling it a really scary rut.
- Nine — Nine monsters panting and snarking. The child is curled up like a pill and says the room is getting filled — but also, for the first time, I'll even out the score.
- Ten — Ten monsters, and the child says goodnight. Silly willies, you really weren't a fright. The same word the book started on comes back, and the monsters float away.
Reading schedule
Where the class is in the book
| Session | Reading | Minutes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | First reading, whole book, read aloud straight through | 30 |
| 2 | Second reading, the doing words only, from one through to nine | 30 |
| 3 | Third reading, the last stanza, then one stanza each to rehearse | 30 |
The thing students build
The Monster Meter
One row per number: how many monsters, what they are doing, and what the child says to them in the last line of that stanza.
Created in Session 1. Used by The Session 3 performance, where students read a stanza with the feeling its closing line carries.
The column that carries all three levels. The what-the-child-says column. A Support answer copies the closing line straight off the page — Yikes, Scat, Sleep tight. An Extension answer copies the same line and says what kind of thing it is: a description, a noise, an order, or a goodnight. Both are about the same stanza and can be read side by side.
One sheet, one row per session. Print it once at the start of the unit. A student who has lost it has lost the unit, not one lesson.
What it all builds to
Session 3
One stanza read aloud with the feeling its closing line carries, followed by one sentence saying where in the book the child stops being frightened.
What a Support student hands in. The same stanza read aloud with the same feeling, chosen from three the class has already charted and rehearsed with a partner first, and the turning point shown by pointing at the row on the meter while saying which number it is.
Draws on sessions 1, 2.
The sessions
1Count the Monsters, Count the Words
30 minutes · First reading, whole book, read aloud straight through
First reading with the count on fingers, then straight to the last line of each stanza — the bit where the child speaks to the monsters. Those lines are the meter.
Where everyone ends up
Every stanza ends with the child speaking to the monsters, and those endings run from silly through get out to sleep tight.
The one question the three levels answer
What does the child say to the monsters at the end of each stanza?
Three ways into the book
Solo
Supported
Listening
This session runs in all three. How a student takes the book in is not the same question as how hard their work is.
Opening move
Read the first stanza and the last stanza only, back to back, before anything else. Then ask what happened in between to make those two so different.
What this session inherits and leaves
- Inherits: nothing — this is the opener
- Leaves: The Monster Meter, created, with five rows filled through the what-the-child-says column.
Standard for the selected region
Steps — 30 minutes in total
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| Read it once, all the way | Read aloud without stopping, keeping the beat. Students hold up fingers for the count as it climbs to ten. |
| One and ten | Go back to the first stanza and the last. Read only those. Ask which word turns up in both — silly — and let that sit. |
| Build the meter | Rule up three columns. Fill the row for one together: how many, what they are doing, what the child says at the end. Say the fourth column is coming tomorrow. |
| Four more rows | Students fill rows for four, seven, nine and ten, copying the child's closing words off the page. |
| Anchor and out | Collect the anchor answer at the door. |
What to expect them to get wrong
Students fill the last column with what the monsters are doing, because that is the noisiest part of every stanza, and the child's own line disappears.
The very last thing in each stanza is the child talking to them. Put your finger on it. That is the column.
The very last thing in each stanza is the child talking to them. Put your finger on it. That is the column.
Closing check
Every meter has five rows in number order, and the last column holds the child's own words rather than the monsters' actions.
Three levels of the one lesson
SupportThe five closing lines are printed on a strip and students match each to its number, then copy it into the column. The doing-words column is filled in already.
At gradeBuild all five rows, copying both the doing words and the child's closing line from the page.
ExtensionPut all ten closing lines in order and mark the two places where the child's words change most sharply.
The question everyone answers
What does the child say to the monsters at the end of each stanza?
Word for word on all three worksheets, so one closing discussion covers the room. If a Support answer and an Extension answer would not belong in the same conversation, the session needs rewriting.
English learners
Holding up fingers for the count needs no English and keeps every student inside the reading. The closing lines are two or three words each — Yikes, Scat, Sleep tight — so the column is copiable rather than composable. Say each closing line aloud with the feeling it carries as you write it up; the tone does more teaching here than the words do.
Materials
Comes with the lesson
- The Monster Meter, four columns, five ruled rows
- The five closing lines printed on a strip for the support tier
- Anchor slips
Or use instead
- The meter rules up in an exercise book
- A single read-aloud copy is enough; the closing lines can be written on the board
Student worksheets
Support
What the Child Says (Helper Version)
Where to look: First reading, whole book. The doing words are filled in for you.
- Match each ending to its number: Silly little monster / Yikes! / Leave ya little monsters / Scram, ya little monsters / Sleep tight, little monsters.
- One monster — the child says ______ .
- Four monsters — the child says ______ .
- Seven monsters — the child says ______ .
- Nine monsters — the child says ______ .
- Ten monsters — the child says ______ .
- Anchor question — everyone answers this one. What does the child say to the monsters at the end of each stanza? At one ______ . At ten ______ .
- Check — five endings, each on the right row.
At grade
The Monster Meter
Where to look: First reading, whole book.
- Where is all of this happening? ______
- One monster — doing: ______ The child says: ______
- Four monsters — doing: ______ The child says: ______
- Seven monsters — doing: ______ The child says: ______
- Nine monsters — doing: ______ The child says: ______
- Ten monsters — doing: ______ The child says: ______
- Anchor question — everyone answers this one. What does the child say to the monsters at the end of each stanza? ______
- Check — five rows in number order, and the last column is the child's words.
Extension
All Ten Endings
Where to look: First reading, whole book — every stanza, not just five.
- All ten closing lines, in order: ______
- Where do the child's words change most sharply? Mark two places.
- What kind of word is the ending at one? What kind is it at eight? ______
- Which ending is the odd one out, and why? ______
- Anchor question — everyone answers this one. What does the child say to the monsters at the end of each stanza? ______
- Check — ten endings in order and two change points marked.
Exit ticket
At the end of the first stanza the child says one thing. At the end of the last, something else. Write both.
Vocabulary
May be pre-taught
- prancing — bouncing about in a showy, cheerful way (The first stanza, what the one monster is doing)
- scowling — making an angry face (The seventh stanza)
- fie — an old-fashioned word for get away from me (The eighth stanza, what the child shouts)
Teacher key
- The ten closing addresses, in order: Silly little monster, one. Oh, you little monsters two. Ekk! You little monsters three. Yikes! You little monsters! Four. Go, you little monsters! Five. Scat, ya little monster, six. Leave ya little monsters, seven. Fie, ya little monsters, eight. Scram, ya little monsters, nine. Sleep tight, little monsters, ten.
- The shape: it starts as a description (silly), turns into noises of fright (Ekk, Yikes), becomes a string of orders to get out (Go, Scat, Leave, Fie, Scram), and then ends on a goodnight. Five different kinds of thing to say to the same monsters.
- The two sharpest change points, for the extension: between three and five, where noises become commands, and between nine and ten, where commands become a goodnight. A student who marks either has found something real.
- The odd one out is ten. It is the only ending that is kind, and it is the only one that uses the book's opening word again.
- For the doing column, accept any of the book's own words: prancing, grinning, sneaking, hiding, jeering, crouching, scowling, bouncing, panting.
- Watch for a student who notices the child stops saying you and starts saying ya around stanza six. That is the child getting rattled, and it is entirely in the spelling.
Common wrong turn. The last column fills with monster actions instead of the child's words. Ask them to put a finger on the very last line of the stanza and read only that.
Formative checklist
| Part of the standard | Practised in | Visible in |
|---|---|---|
| Identify plot structure — the same stanza shape ten times over | Step 1, fingers held up for the count; Step 3 names the parts every stanza has | Five meter rows built on the same three columns |
| Describe the sequence of events — the count climbing one at a time | Steps 3 and 4, rows are built in number order | The how-many column, running one, four, seven, nine, ten |
| Describe the setting — one room, all night | Step 3, the room is named as the place every stanza happens in | The meter header, where students write where all of this is happening |
| Describe characters' feelings — what the child says at the end of each stanza | Step 2 finds the last line of the first and last stanzas; Step 4 collects three more | The what-the-child-says column on all five rows |
Noted by the writer
- Catalogue access facts (text_on_screen, narration, illustrations_displayed) were not supplied for this title, so all three are assumed true and every mode is available.
- Built from the words only; no spreads were supplied. The whole session sits on the closing line of each stanza, which is text, so nothing here needs the pictures — though a class with them would have more to say about the doing column.
2Did the Monsters Change?
30 minutes · Second reading, the doing words only, from one through to nine
The doing words read on their own, one after another, with no numbers and no shouting in between. The monsters turn out to be doing the same kind of thing all the way through.
Where everyone ends up
The monsters are prancing at one and panting at nine, and neither is worse than the other — it is the child in the bed who changes.
The one question the three levels answer
Did the monsters get scarier, or did the child?
Three ways into the book
Solo
Supported
Listening
This session runs in all three. How a student takes the book in is not the same question as how hard their work is.
Opening move
Read the doing words on their own — prancing, grinning, sneaking, hiding, jeering, crouching, scowling, bouncing, panting — with no numbers and no shouting, and ask which of those is the frightening one.
What this session inherits and leaves
- Inherits: The Monster Meter with five rows from Session 1.
- Leaves: The fourth column filled on every row, and one sentence about the child.
Standard for the selected region
Steps — 30 minutes in total
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| Doing words only | Read aloud only the doing words from each stanza, in order, with nothing else. Prancing, grinning, sneaking, hiding, jeering, crouching, scowling, bouncing, panting. |
| Are they worse | Ask whether the monsters are doing anything worse at nine than at one. Take answers and let the room argue — the list is short enough to check against. |
| Fill the fourth column | Students answer did the monsters change on every row, with a doing word beside each answer as the reason. Most rows will say no. |
| So who changed | One sentence about the child. Not that the child is scared — what the child does that shows it. Send back any sentence that is only a feeling. |
| Anchor and out | Collect. |
What to expect them to get wrong
Students say the monsters got scarier because there are more of them, treating the count as the danger.
More is not worse. Nine puppies is not scarier than one puppy. Look at what they are doing at nine and tell me what is worse about it.
More is not worse. Nine puppies is not scarier than one puppy. Look at what they are doing at nine and tell me what is worse about it.
Closing check
Every meter has the fourth column filled on all five rows with a doing word beside each answer, and every about-the-child sentence names something the child does.
Three levels of the one lesson
SupportThe fourth column is a yes-or-no circle per row, with the two doing words for that row printed beside it to compare. The about-the-child sentence is built from a frame.
At gradeFill the fourth column on all five rows with a doing word as the reason, then write the about-the-child sentence unaided.
ExtensionFind the one stanza where the child does something instead of only reacting, and say what changes from there on.
The question everyone answers
Did the monsters get scarier, or did the child?
Word for word on all three worksheets, so one closing discussion covers the room. If a Support answer and an Extension answer would not belong in the same conversation, the session needs rewriting.
English learners
Hearing nine doing words in a row with nothing around them makes the point before any reading happens — the words are all the same kind of busy. Give the doing-word strip printed so students can point rather than recall. The fourth column is a yes or no, which is reachable for anyone. For the sentence, offer the frame: at first the child ______ , but by nine the child ______ .
Materials
Comes with the lesson
- The Monster Meter from Session 1, fourth column ruled
- Doing-word strip, printed in order
- Sentence frame for the support tier
Or use instead
- The doing words can be written on the board as a list
- The meter continues on the same sheet; no new copy is needed
Student worksheets
Support
Did They Change? (Helper Version)
Where to look: Second reading. Only the doing words, from one through to nine.
- One — prancing, laughing. Four — hiding, crooked. Did the monsters get worse? yes / no
- Four — hiding, crooked. Seven — scowling, prowling. Did the monsters get worse? yes / no
- Seven — scowling, prowling. Nine — panting, snarking. Did the monsters get worse? yes / no
- How many times did you circle no? ___
- Finish this: At first the child ______ , but by nine the child ______ .
- Anchor question — everyone answers this one. Did the monsters get scarier, or did the child? The ______ changed.
- Check — every row circled, and the sentence finished.
At grade
Did the Monsters Change?
Where to look: Second reading. The doing words only, one through to nine.
- Row 1 — did the monsters change? ______ The doing word that tells me: ______
- Row 4 — did the monsters change? ______ The doing word that tells me: ______
- Row 7 — did the monsters change? ______ The doing word that tells me: ______
- Row 9 — did the monsters change? ______ The doing word that tells me: ______
- If the monsters stayed the same, what got worse? ______
- One sentence about the child — what the child DOES, not how the child feels: ______
- Anchor question — everyone answers this one. Did the monsters get scarier, or did the child? ______
- Check — a doing word beside every answer, and a sentence about doing.
Extension
The Stanza Where the Child Acts
Where to look: Second reading. The doing words one through nine, and then look hard at eight and nine.
- The fourth column on all rows, with a doing word beside each: ______
- Up to seven, the child only reacts. Find the stanza where the child does something instead. ______
- What does the child do there? ______
- What changes from that stanza onward? ______
- Does the book give a reason for the change? ______
- Anchor question — everyone answers this one. Did the monsters get scarier, or did the child? ______
- Check — the acting stanza is named and the words for it are from the book.
Exit ticket
Write one thing the monsters are doing at nine. Is it worse than what they were doing at one?
Vocabulary
May be pre-taught
- jeering — shouting rude things to make fun of someone (The fifth stanza)
- prowling — moving around quietly like an animal that is hunting (The seventh stanza)
- scourge — something horrible that keeps causing trouble (The eighth stanza, what the child wants to rid the room of)
Teacher key
- The doing words in order: prancing, grinning, sneaking, hiding, jeering, crouching, scowling, bouncing, panting. Not one of them is dangerous, and several are things a puppy does.
- The honest answer to did they change: no. They are noisy and busy on every page and they never touch the child, never threaten, never do anything worse at nine than at one. Accept a student who argues that scowling and prowling sound worse than prancing — that is a real reading — but push them to say whether the monster is doing more, or whether the word is just uglier.
- What got worse: the child's own words for it, and the child's position in the room — watching, then looking to the sides, then in the sheets, then curled up like a pill.
- About-the-child sentences to accept: the child hides more each time; the child stops watching and starts covering up; the child goes from laughing to shouting at them to get out. All name behaviour.
- Sentences to send back: the child is scared, the child is brave at the end. Feelings and verdicts. Ask what the child does.
- For the extension: stanza eight is where it turns — I'm gathering my courage to rid my room of scourge — and nine follows it with I can't hide anymore, I'll even out the score. That is the first time the child plans instead of reacting, and the monsters are gone one stanza later. The book gives no reason, and a student who says so has read it right.
Common wrong turn. More monsters gets treated as more danger. The puppy question fixes it in one move — nine puppies is not scarier than one puppy — and then the doing words carry the rest.
Formative checklist
| Part of the standard | Practised in | Visible in |
|---|---|---|
| Identify the child's perspective — how the child regards the monsters, page by page | Step 4, one sentence about the child built from the closing lines rather than from impression | The about-the-child line, sent back if it only says scared |
| Distinguish that perspective from what is actually happening | Steps 1 and 2, the doing words heard on their own with no reaction attached | The fourth column, where most rows say the monsters did not change |
| Perspective as attitude, kept apart from who is telling the story | Step 4 asks what the child does that shows the attitude, not who the narrator is | The about-the-child line, which must name an action from the page |
| Ground the judgement in the text | Step 3, each fourth-column answer must point at a doing word | The fourth column with a doing word beside each yes or no |
Noted by the writer
- Catalogue access facts were not supplied for this title, so all three are assumed true and every mode is available.
- Step 1 works better by ear than on the page, which is unusual — hearing nine doing words with nothing around them is what makes them sound alike. Read it aloud whatever mode the class is otherwise using.
3Read It Like You Mean It
30 minutes · Third reading, the last stanza, then one stanza each to rehearse
Each student takes one stanza and reads it the way its closing line demands. Then they say where in the book the fear turns round.
Where everyone ends up
You cannot read the eighth stanza the way you read the first, because the child is not saying the same kind of thing.
The one question the three levels answer
Where does the child stop being frightened?
Three ways into the book
Solo
Supported
Listening
This session runs in all three. How a student takes the book in is not the same question as how hard their work is.
Opening move
Read the first stanza in a terrified voice and the eighth in a delighted one, both wrong on purpose, and ask the room what is off.
What this session inherits and leaves
- Inherits: The complete Monster Meter from Session 2.
- Leaves: nothing — this is the closer
Standard for the selected region
Steps — 30 minutes in total
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| Read the last one | Read the tenth stanza aloud. Ask what the child says about how frightening they turned out to be, and where that changed. |
| Pick a stanza, pick a voice | Each student takes one stanza and finds its closing line on the meter. That line decides the reading. Mark the one word that must land. |
| Rehearse in pairs | Partners hear each other once and say which closing line the reading sounded like. If the guess is wrong, try again. The partner also notes whether it reached them. |
| Perform and place | Students read their stanza to the class, then say in one sentence where in the book the child stops being frightened. |
| Collect | Take in every meter and every turning-point sentence. |
What to expect them to get wrong
Every stanza gets read loud and spooky, because monsters, and the difference between stanza one and stanza eight disappears.
Look at your closing line. Silly is not a scared word. Read the line first on its own, then read the stanza to match it.
Look at your closing line. Silly is not a scared word. Read the line first on its own, then read the stanza to match it.
Closing check
Every student has read a stanza whose delivery matches its closing line, and every turning-point sentence names a number.
Three levels of the one lesson
SupportThe stanza is chosen from three the class has already charted, and the closing line is marked on it already. Rehearsed twice with the same partner before the room hears it.
At gradeChoose any stanza, work out its delivery from the closing line, mark the word that must land, and read it to the class.
ExtensionRead two stanzas from either side of the turn, back to back, so the room can hear the change in one go.
The question everyone answers
Where does the child stop being frightened?
Word for word on all three worksheets, so one closing discussion covers the room. If a Support answer and an Extension answer would not belong in the same conversation, the session needs rewriting.
English learners
Reading a stanza aloud is repetition of text that has already been heard three times, which makes it one of the safest speaking tasks there is. Let the student choose a short stanza. The one-word target in Step 2 should be their choice, not an assigned one. A partner who guesses the closing line correctly is evidence the delivery worked, whatever the accent — say so in front of the class.
Materials
Comes with the lesson
- The completed Monster Meter
- Stanza cards, one per student
- Partner note slips with two boxes: which line it sounded like, and did it reach me
Or use instead
- Stanzas can be read from the book itself with a finger on the place
- The partner note can be given aloud if slips are short
Student worksheets
Support
My Stanza (Helper Version)
Where to look: Third reading. Choose from stanza one, stanza seven or stanza ten — all three are on your meter.
- My stanza number: ___
- The closing line of my stanza: ______
- Is that a silly line, a scared line, a get-out line, or a goodnight line? Circle one.
- The one word I want everyone to hear: ______
- My partner guessed my line was: ______ Did they get it right? yes / no
- Anchor question — everyone answers this one. Where does the child stop being frightened? At number ___ , because ______ .
- Check — read twice with my partner before the class.
At grade
Read It Like You Mean It
Where to look: Third reading. The last stanza first, then the stanza you have chosen.
- My stanza number: ___ Its closing line: ______
- What kind of line is it — a description, a noise, an order, or a goodnight? ______
- How will I read it because of that? ______
- The one word that must land: ______
- Partner check — which line did it sound like? ______ Did it reach me? yes / no
- Where does the child stop being frightened? Write it as a whole sentence: ______
- Anchor question — everyone answers this one. Where does the child stop being frightened? ______
- Check — the delivery matches the closing line, and the turning point is a sentence with a number in it.
Extension
Both Sides of the Turn
Where to look: Third reading. Two stanzas, one from each side of where you think the change happens.
- My two stanza numbers: ___ and ___ Why those two: ______
- The closing line of each: ______
- What has to change in my voice between them? ______
- The one word in each that must land: ______
- Partner check — could they hear the change? yes / no What gave it away? ______
- Where does the child stop being frightened, and what makes you put it there rather than one stanza earlier? ______
- Anchor question — everyone answers this one. Where does the child stop being frightened? ______
- Check — two stanzas read back to back, and the turning point defended.
Exit ticket
At which number does the child stop being frightened? Write the number and one reason.
Teacher key
- The four kinds of closing line: a description at one (silly little monster), noises at three and four (Ekk, Yikes), orders from five to nine (Go, Scat, Leave, Fie, Scram), and a goodnight at ten (Sleep tight).
- The turning point — this is the real question and there are two defensible answers. Eight is where the child first plans something: I'm gathering my courage to rid my room of scourge. Ten is where the fear is actually gone and the monsters are called silly again. Nine sits between, still frightened but now scoring points.
- Accept eight, nine or ten with a reason. Send back an answer with no number in it. A student who says eight because that is where the child stops hiding and starts planning has read the book more closely than one who says ten because that is the end.
- For delivery: the test is whether the partner can guess the closing line from the reading alone. That is a better check than any rubric line, and it is the reason Step 3 exists.
- The commonest failure is one voice for all ten stanzas. Ask them to read only the closing line first, then the whole stanza, and the voice usually sorts itself out.
- The extension pairing that works best is seven and ten, because the distance is largest. Eight and nine is the harder and more interesting choice, and a student who takes it should be told so.
Common wrong turn. Every stanza gets the same spooky voice. Catch it at the partner guess in Step 3 — if the partner cannot tell which line it was, the delivery has not done anything yet.
Formative checklist
| Part of the standard | Practised in | Visible in |
|---|---|---|
| Present information orally | Step 4, every student reads a stanza to the class and then says where the turn happens | The performance itself, and the partner's note from Step 3 |
| Using complete sentences | Step 4, the sentence about where the fear turns must be a whole sentence, not a number called out | The written turning-point sentence, collected |
| Appropriate volume | Step 3, the partner says whether it reached them; Step 4 requires the room to hear it | The partner note, which records heard or not heard |
| Clear pronunciation | Step 2, each student names the one word in their stanza that must land, and practises it in Step 3 | The named word marked on the meter, and whether the class caught it |
Noted by the writer
- Catalogue access facts were not supplied for this title, so all three are assumed true and every mode is available. This is the one session in the unit whose evidence type is prosody, so if narration were ever switched off for a title, this is the session the exclusion table would act on.
- Built from the words only; no spreads were supplied. Performance and turning point both rest on the closing lines, which are text.
Before Session 1
Entry diagnostic — 10 minutes
The opening stanza
One little monster prancing all around, laughing, squealing like a goblin clown. Twirling dervish really makes me squirmish. Silly little monster, one.
One little monster prancing all around, laughing, squealing like a goblin clown. Twirling dervish really makes me squirmish. Silly little monster, one.
Can they read it
- How many are there in this part?
- Write down two words that say what it is doing.
- What word does the speaker use for it right at the end?
What they bring
- What sounds do you hear at night in your house?
- Tell me about a noise that used to worry you but does not any more.
One skill probe
If I shout GO AWAY and then I whisper goodnight, which one sounds friendly? How do you know?
What it tells you. The three access items measure whether a student can hold detail from dense rhyming verse. This is harder than it looks — the stanza is four lines of invented words and internal rhyme, and a student can enjoy the sound of it without holding a single fact. Anyone who misses two of the three will need the read-aloud in Session 1 rather than the page. The two background questions have no right answer; the second is the useful one, because it tells you who already knows the feeling this whole book is about, which is a fear you grow out of. The skill probe is Session 1's work stripped to its bones: can this student hear that the words someone chooses carry a feeling, and say how they know. A student who answers which one is friendly but cannot say how has the ear and not yet the reason.
If results are weak. If the access items are weak across the class, treat the whole unit as read-aloud and put the closing lines on the board rather than expecting students to find them on the page. The verse is dense and that is not a reading problem worth fighting during this unit. If only the skill probe is weak, spend the first three minutes of Session 1 saying one ordinary sentence four ways — pleased, bored, cross, sleepy — and asking which is which, taking the time from Step 4. That game is the entire unit in miniature and it costs almost nothing.
Teacher packet only
Culminating rubric
One stanza read aloud with the feeling its closing line carries, followed by one sentence saying where in the book the child stops being frightened.
| What is judged | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The reading matches the closing line | A listener who did not know which stanza it was could name the kind of closing line from the delivery alone. | The partner guessed the closing line correctly. | The delivery has some feeling in it but does not match this stanza's line. | One flat or one spooky voice regardless of the stanza. |
| The turning point is named | Names a number and gives a reason from the text, and can say why not the stanza before it. | Names a number and gives a reason. | Names a number with no reason. | No number given. |
| Complete sentences | The turning-point statement is a whole sentence and holds together without a restart. | The turning-point statement is a whole sentence. | A number is called out rather than stated in a sentence. | Neither the stanza nor the statement is delivered as connected speech. |
| Volume | Reaches the far side of the room, including on a quiet closing line where the temptation is to drop away. | Reaches most of the room. | Reaches the partner but not the room. | A repeat has to be asked for. |
| Clear pronunciation | Every word lands, including the invented ones, and the marked target word is unmistakable. | Every word lands. | Most words land; the marked target word is swallowed. | The invented words defeat the reading and the sense is lost. |
| Both sides of the turn, read back to back beyond grade | The room can hear the difference between the two stanzas without being told which is which. | Two stanzas read back to back with a difference in delivery. | Two stanzas read with no audible difference. | One stanza only. |
After the culminating task
Student reflection — 5 minutes
- Which stanza did you choose, and what made you choose that one?
- Did your partner guess your closing line first try? What would you do differently?
- Name one word you would say louder or slower next time.
- Somebody read a stanza in a way you had not expected. Whose, and what did they do?
Said plainly
What this plan does not do
- There is no writing outcome at all. Everything is charted in single words and performed aloud.
- The plan uses five of the ten stanzas. The rest are read and left, and a class that wants all ten on the meter will need longer for Session 1.
- The invented words are half the fun of the book and the plan does nothing with them, because they cannot be worked out — only enjoyed.
- The turn at ten is sudden and the book gives no reason for it. The plan asks students to find where it happens, not why, because the book does not say why.
Teacher packet only
Considered and left out
Everything below was weighed against the book and refused. It is here so you can see where the line was drawn.
| Skill | Why not | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Theme (ELA.2.R.1.2) | MERGED | What the book is saying arrives in Session 2 through the fourth column and is stated aloud in Session 3. A separate theme session would ask the same question a third time. |
| Retell in order (ELA.2.R.3.2) | MERGED | The meter holds the order and holds it for a reason. A retell would be counting to ten. |
| Compare two texts (ELA.2.R.3.3) | EVIDENCE | Needs a second text this unit does not have. |
| Context clues (ELA.2.V.1.3) | SWAP | The invented words — squirmish, kookie, brothless, snarking — cannot be worked out from context because they are nonsense on purpose. A context-clue session would teach students a strategy on words the strategy does not work on. |
| Counting and number order | SWAP | The book counts to ten, and a maths link is obvious and easy. It would run unchanged with any counting book and would miss everything this one is doing. |
| Rhyme and rhyming pairs | WEEKLY | The book rhymes hard and it would be a reasonable rhyme lesson. It is also a lesson that runs with any rhyming text at this grade. |
| Fluency practice | WEEKLY | Runs with any book. The Session 3 performance does read aloud, but for the naming word rather than for rate. |