Ready-to-teach lesson
TUMBLETA | ELA SKILL LESSON | REGIONAL STANDARDS EDITION
WASHINGTON | GRADE 1
Coriander the Contrary Hen - Words The Book
Teaches You
TEACHES - COMPLETE STANDARD MATCH
L.1.4a
Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
Why this is a full match
Students infer the meanings of unfamiliar words from sentence and story context and justify those meanings from the book.
Source
Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction - current ELA standards used in 2026-27 (2011 Common Core-based set; 2026 revision required beginning 2027-28) https:/ / ospi.k12.wa.us/ student -success/ resources -subject -area/ english -language -arts/ english -language -arts -learning -standards Verified September 2026. Canonical TumbleTA pages follow unchanged.
TumbleTA - Tumbleweed Press Inc.
Regional standards page 1
page 1
Coriander the Contrary Hen
Words The Book Teaches You
GRADE / TIME
Grade 1 · 34 minutes full · 18 minutes short
PRIMARY SKILL
Work out an unfamiliar word's meaning from context and name the clue that supports it.
OBJECTIVE
Use nearby examples, actions, and repeated language to infer the meanings of contrary, sass, flippant, and discourteous, then identify the clue used for each.
PREPARE
Read or play the complete book before the timed lesson. Have pages 1, 2, 8, 12, and 30 ready to revisit.
1 · Launch · 4 min
Read page 1. Ask what contrary means, then ask which part of the page helped. Do not supply a dictionary definition; the two examples are the clue.
2 · Teacher model · 7 min
Model sass: Farmer Bucket uses the word immediately after Coriander gives him a rude answer.
Think aloud that the sentence before it and his angry reaction point to 'answering back cheekily.'
3 · Four words from the pages · 13 min
Students complete a four-row table for contrary, sass, flippant, discourteous: meaning + the clue on the page. Insist on the clue, not just a guessed synonym.
4 · The word that comes back · 10 min
Revisit the later use of contrary. Ask what the repeated word tells readers about Coriander near the end and why the author can use the word without re-explaining it.
Coriander the Contrary Hen
Words The Book Teaches You · Teacher Support
What students must do
A successful response gives a reasonable meaning for the word and points to the sentence, action, or repeated pattern that supports it. A synonym alone is not enough.
page 2
Access routes
Solo: Student rereads the marked pages and fills one row at a time.
Supported: Read each target page aloud and ask, 'What happened just before this word?'
Listening: Replay the target passage, pause at the word, and let the student point to the action or sentence that gives the clue.
- Extend:
- Compare sass and flippant. Explain how their placement in two similar tellings-off suggests related meanings.
Keep the skill narrow
The access route may change how the student reaches the text, but not the evidence the student must produce. Do not replace the target task with retelling, opinion, or a general discussion of the story.
Teacher note
Do not supply dictionary definitions first. The source lesson is built around the page functioning as the dictionary: the student must connect the inferred meaning to a visible or verbal clue.
Assessment checkpoint
Meaning + clue. If the student writes only a synonym, ask: 'What on this page made you think that?'
Coriander the Contrary Hen
Words The Book Teaches You · Student Evidence
Use the page around each word as your dictionary. Write what the word means, then name the clue that helped you work it out.
| Item | Your answer | Your evidence / place in story |
| contrary | What does it mean? | What on the page proves it? |
| sass | What does it mean? | What on the page proves it? |
| flippant | What does it mean? | What on the page proves it? |
| discourteous | What does it mean? | What on the page proves it? |
Near the end, the book uses contrary again. What does that repeated word tell you about Coriander?
page 3
Coriander the Contrary Hen
Words The Book Teaches You · Teacher Key
These are supported responses, not scripts. Accept equivalent answers when the student uses the required evidence.
contrary
Doing the opposite of what one is told. The opening examples show her told to go and staying, then told to stay and going.
sass
Answering back cheekily or rudely. Farmer Bucket uses it immediately after Coriander's rude cackle.
flippant
Not taking somebody seriously / answering in a disrespectful way. It appears in the same kind of telling-off as sass.
discourteous
Rude or impolite. The book repeatedly uses it to describe Coriander's replies.
Repeated word
Using contrary again signals that Coriander has not changed; readers can carry the meaning they established earlier into the later scene.
Pass check
A successful response gives a reasonable meaning for the word and points to the sentence, action, or repeated pattern that supports it. A synonym alone is not enough.
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