21. The Bee

The lesson, step by step

1. Warm up

   Have your child reread a few lines of Lesson XX, for example:

   Under a great tree in the woods, two boys saw a fine, large nut, and both ran to get it.

   Praise smooth reading and help with any word that sticks.

2. New words

   Point to the new words at the top of the lesson:

   creatures drones inside hive idle defense driven killed cells size workers queen stings shape wax

   Say each word and have your child say it after you. Clap the parts of long words. Then point to words in any order and let your child read them.

3. Read it aloud

   Look at the picture together first, if there is one. Then your child reads the lesson aloud, one paragraph at a time. Help with any word by pointing to it in the word list.

   Here are a few lines from it:

   Bees live in a house that is called a hive.

   They are of three kinds,--workers, drones, and queens.

   If it is long, stop at a good place and finish tomorrow.

4. Talk about it

   SayWhat are the three kinds of bees?

   SayHow many queens can live in one hive?

   SayWhich bees do the work? Which bees do not?

   SayWhat do the worker bees make?

   Let your child look back at the page to find answers.

5. Tell it back

   Close the book.

   SayTell me three things you learned about bees.

   Let your child talk without stopping them. Afterward, help with anything left out by asking "What happened next?"

6. Slate work

   At the end of the lesson there is a short verse in script, marked for slate work. Read it together, then your child copies these lines onto the slate or paper:

   How doth the little busy bee

   Improve each shining hour.

   Check capital letters and the marks at the ends of the lines.

7. Spelling

   Say each word, use it in a short sentence, and have your child spell it aloud, then write it: hive, wax, queen, size, cells.

   Check together and fix any mistakes right away.