Interpret Intended Meaning in Questions

Ready-to-teach lesson

TumbleTA - ELA skill lesson

Illinois

Standard winner: CC.2.L.4.a

Song of Middle C

Grade 2 - Interpret Intended Meaning in Questions

Instructional skill

Figurative language / idiomatic expressions

Audit status

CLEAR WINNER - strict exact-match pass; partial matches excluded.

Regional standards cover added to the approved canonical skill lesson. Lesson content is unchanged.

Assessment

Look for:

Names the forgotten piece as the problem.

Says what she played instead.

Notices the brother and the parents say different things.

• 2.What Her Big Brother Asks

Full lesson

TIME

30 minutes

OBJECTIVE

Work out what the big brother's questions actually mean, and whether his sister answers them.

STUDENT PRODUCT

Rows for each question the brother asks, with a box for what it means and a box for her answer

FOCUS

Questions asked in sayings, and answered without being understood

Essential question

Does she ever answer what her brother is really asking?

page 1

Materials

2

Materials

The book The car pages copied in order

Text to mark before teaching Passage 3 — the girl in her hat in a car, her brother beside her Passage 4 — the same car, the brother with his eyes shut Passage 5 — the same car again, the girl looking straight ahead Passage 7 — the same row of children, one biting her lip Passage 8 — the girl at a grand piano, an audience behind her Passage 10 — the family crowding round the girl, who holds roses

Lesson sequence

1

The first question · 6 min

Focus:

A question in a saying

Teacher model:

Read this page and ask what the brother means, then read her answer on the next page.

Prepared text:

Passage 3, Passage 4

2

Fill the rows · 11 min

Teacher direction:

For each question and answer, write what the saying means and how much of it she answers.

Expected answer:

She says of course she is - and later says she is not nervous at all because she is cool as a cucumber, which is the brother's own phrase. She has borrowed his words rather than answered him.

Prepared text:

Passage 5, Passage 7

3 Was he right · 8 min 2 3 Was he right · 8 min

Teacher direction:

Read what happens at the recital and say whose view the book backs.

Expected answer:

Her fingers stop and she cannot remember how the piece starts. The brother's doubt was justified, even though he was being annoying about it.

page 2

Prepared text:

Passage 8

4 Afterwards · 5 min

Focus:

A brother who turns out to have been right

Teacher direction:

Read what the brother whispers at the end and ask whether he is being unkind.

Prepared text:

Passage 10

Teacher guidance

Why this text works: Each question is printed as a saying and each reply is printed on its own page as two or three words, so the class can see exactly how much of the question the reply engages with.

Expected answer:

He asks whether she can take the heat, which means whether she can cope when it gets hard. Her whole answer is of course she can. He asks whether she is cool as a cucumber, which means calm, and her whole answer is of course she is. She never says how she knows, and at the recital she forgets her piece, so the brother's question was the right one.

Model: Can you take the heat. That is not about being hot - it is about whether she will cope. And her answer is three words long, so she has not really answered it.

Support and extension

Above: Say why the author gives the brother sayings to ask rather than plain questions.

2 questions.

Below: Read one of the brother's questions and her answer, and say whether she explains herself.

Assessment

Look for:

Gives the everyday meaning of at least one saying.

Notices how short each reply is.

Connects the questions to what happens at the recital.

Short version

page 3

TIME

15 minutes

OBJECTIVE

Work out what the big brother's questions actually mean, and whether his sister answers them.

STUDENT PRODUCT

Rows for each question the brother asks, with a box for what it means and a box for her answer

FOCUS

Questions asked in sayings, and answered without being understood

Essential question

Does she ever answer what her brother is really asking?

Materials

2

Materials

The book The car pages copied in order

Text to mark before teaching Passage 3 — the girl in her hat in a car, her brother beside her Passage 4 — the same car, the brother with his eyes shut Passage 5 — the same car again, the girl looking straight ahead Passage 7 — the same row of children, one biting her lip Passage 8 — the girl at a grand piano, an audience behind her Passage 10 — the family crowding round the girl, who holds roses

Lesson sequence

1

The first question · 4 min

Focus:

A question in a saying

Teacher model:

Read the brother's question and her answer, and ask what the saying means.

Prepared text:

Passage 3, Passage 4

2

Fill the rows · 7 min

Teacher direction:

Write what each saying means and how much of it she answers.

page 4

Teacher guidance

Why this text works: Each question is printed as a saying and each reply is printed on its own page as two or three words, so the class can see exactly how much of the question the reply engages with.

Expected answer:

He asks whether she can take the heat, which means whether she can cope when it gets hard. Her whole answer is of course she can. He asks whether she is cool as a cucumber, which means calm, and her whole answer is of course she is. She never says how she knows, and at the recital she forgets her piece, so the brother's question was the right one.

Model: Can you take the heat. That is not about being hot - it is about whether she will cope. And her answer is three words long, so she has not really answered it.

Support and extension

Above: Say why the author gives the brother sayings to ask rather than plain questions.

Below: Read one of the brother's questions and her answer, and say whether she explains herself.

Assessment

Look for:

Gives the everyday meaning of at least one saying.

Notices how short each reply is.

2

page 5