Ready-to-teach lesson
TUMBLETA - ELA SKILL LESSON
Coriander the Contrary Hen - Make Inferences
Grade 1 | California teacher-facing edition REGIONAL STANDARD
L.1.4a
Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or
phrase.
WHY THIS LESSON QUALIFIES
Students determine four unfamiliar word meanings from nearby language and identify the contextual clue supporting each meaning.
Source
California Department of Education - California Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts
Production status
APPROVED - HIGH confidence. Canonical lesson pages follow unchanged. The standard is printed only on this regional edition.
Verified for production 2026-09-07
Coriander the Contrary Hen
Make Inferences
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.
page 1
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
Make Inferences · 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.
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.
page 2
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
Make Inferences · 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 contrary sass flippant discourteous
Your answer What does it mean?
What does it mean?
What does it mean?
What does it mean?
Your evidence / place in story What on the page proves it?
What on the page proves it?
What on the page proves it?
What on the page proves it?
Near the end, the book uses contrary again. What does that repeated word tell you about Coriander?
Coriander the Contrary Hen
Make Inferences · 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.
page 3
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.
page 4