13. The Wolf

The lesson, step by step

1. Warm up

   SayHave you ever heard the story of the boy who cried wolf? What do you remember?

2. Words and meanings

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

   wolf axes grieved clubs sleeve neighbors single earnest order destroy

   Read them together a few at a time. Clap the syllables of the long ones. The book prints these words without meanings.

   Explain in your own words: grieved means felt very sad; in earnest means truly serious, not joking.

3. Read it aloud

   Your child reads. Let them shout the boy's cry with real alarm, then read the ending slowly and sadly.

   Here is a line from it:

   The wolf is coming! the wolf is coming!

   Then let your child reread a favorite part, more smoothly.

4. Talk about it

   SayWhy did the neighbors come running the first times?

   SayWhy did nobody come when the wolf really came?

   SayWhat did the boy lose?

   Then talk about the lesson of the reading:

   The moral at the end: "The truth itself is not believed, From one who often has deceived."

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

5. Tell it back

   Close the book.

   SayTell me the story of the boy and the wolf, and what it teaches.

6. Copywork

   Your child copies this from the book in their best handwriting:

   The truth itself is not believed,

   From one who often has deceived.

   Talk about what deceived means: made someone believe something false.

   Check capitals and marks together.

7. Spelling

   Say each word, use it in a sentence, and have your child spell it aloud, then write it: wolf, neighbors, single, order, destroy.

   Check together and fix any mistakes right away. Keep missed words for tomorrow's warm-up.