The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 26–27 · Part 1: Part First
9. The Wonderful Cradle: telling a story and writing statements
Goal: Your child retells a short story in order and writes statements that end with periods.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- Paper and pencil (a notebook kept just for this book works well)
What's in the book
Section 26, "The Wonderful Cradle": a caterpillar on a grapevine spins a silk cradle, sleeps all winter, and comes out a butterfly in May. Section 27 asks for a fact about each of twelve words from the story and names the kind of sentence that tells a fact: a statement.
The lesson, step by step
Read the story
Read "The Wonderful Cradle" aloud together.
Soon there was no caterpillar to be seen, — nothing but this curious silken cradle.
Tell it back
The book says: close your book and tell the story, everything in its proper order, so well that your hearers are interested. Prompts if needed:
- What did the caterpillar eat?
- What did he do after a very large dinner?
- What happened to the cradle all winter?
- What came out in May?
What we know now
A small note: caterpillars that become moths spin silk cocoons. Butterfly caterpillars usually make a hard case called a chrysalis instead, held on by a little silk. The story calls the case a silk cradle, which is close enough for a story.
Write statements
Your child writes one true fact about each of six or more words from the list in Section 27 (caterpillar, silk thread, green leaves, May sunshine, grapevine, cranny, silken cradle, velvety wings, bitter winds, butterfly).
Every written Statement should end with a Period.
Check it gently
Read the statements aloud together. Is each one a true fact? Does each end with a period? Your child fixes one or two at most.
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
A caterpillar eats green leaves.
The bitter winds of winter did not rock the cradle.
The butterfly had soft, velvety wings.
Afterwards
Your child tells the story of the Wonderful Cradle to someone else in the family.
Tip
If you can, look for a caterpillar or a chrysalis outdoors. Look, don't take it home.