66. Alice's Supper

The lesson, step by step

1. Warm up

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

   It was recess time at the village school.

   Praise smooth reading and help with any word that sticks.

2. New words

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

   deep flour dough miller whether cook afar dusty cradles grinding glow doth valley reapers a-kneading

   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 page together first. Then your child reads the poem aloud, a line at a time. Pause a little at the end of each line.

   Here are a few lines from it:

   Far down in the valley the wheat grows deep,

   And the reapers are making the cradles sweep;

   Read it a second time, more smoothly.

4. Talk about it

   SayWho works in the wheat field? At the mill? In the kitchen?

   SayWhat does each one make?

   SayWhat does Alice get for supper at the end?

   SayListen for rhymes: deep and sweep, stands and hands. Can you find more?

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

5. Tell it back

   Close the book.

   SayTell me how Alice's supper was made, from wheat to bread.

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

6. Copywork

   Write this line from the lesson for your child to copy, or let them copy it straight from the book:

   Far down by the river the old mill stands,

   Check capital letters, commas and the mark at the end.

7. Spelling

   Say each word, use it in a short sentence, and have your child spell it aloud, then write it: flour, dough, cook, deep.

   Check together and fix any mistakes right away.