AnyOneCanRead®
Module B – Lessons 41 to 50
Click here for Lesson 41
Click here for Lesson 42
Click here for Lesson 43
Click here for Lesson 44
Click here for Lesson 45
Click here for Lesson 46
Click here for Lesson 47
Click here for Lesson 48
Click here for Lesson 49
Click here for Lesson 50
Core Knowledge (R) Independent Reading
(Review guidelines for publishing Core Knowledge (R) materials at the bottom of this page-view. This lesson is a “READ-ALOUD” Core Knowledge (R) passage that has been rewritten to be at a lower-grade independent reading level complexity than the original, largely by shortening and simplifying sentence structures while maintaining the richness of the text content.)
Classic Tales (“Session 1”)
Lesson 41 – Part One
NEW WORDS: changed, classic, cousin’s, followed, furry, grand, hornet, impressed, later, lion’s, mansion, meant, pleasant, promise, ropes, sleeping, trapped
The Lion and the Mouse
It was quite a pleasant day. A wee mouse was running around. He was in the woods. Uh-oh! He was on top of a giant paw. He did not mean to be there. It was a lion’s paw! The lion had been sleeping. The lion woke up, and he was as mad as a hornet! He picked up the mouse. He had great big, furry paws.
The lion meant to eat the mouse. But the wee mouse cried out. “Please set me free. One day I will be nice back to you.” The lion laughed. But he DID let the mouse go.
It was later in the day. The mouse heard loud roars. What could it be? He followed the sounds. He found the lion trapped! The big cat was in a net made of ropes. The mouse was scared. But he had to keep his promise.
He used his sharp little teeth. He made a hole in the net. The great lion was set free by the tiny mouse.
The story tells us this. Little friends in size can still be great friends! 
The City Mouse and the Country Mouse
It was a warm spring day. The City Mouse went to his cousin’s. They were not like each other. The cousin was a Country Mouse, so he did not know anything about the city. The Country Mouse had a small home. He ate plain food. He liked just corn and peas. The City Mouse was not impressed. No, Sir!
He talked to his cousin. “Come with me to the big city.” The Country Mouse said, “yes.” So, they set off on their trip. They got to the city. The Country Mouse saw his cousin’s grand mansion. He cried, “Oh, my!”
The City Mouse had a proud look on his face. “We’ll have a feast!” he said. They began to eat. They ate great food like ham and cake. Then, they heard a noise. Uh-oh! A cat with sharp claws showed up. The mice got away just in time. They left through a small hole in the wall.
The Country Mouse changed his mind. He knew that the city was not for him, so, he made his way back to his own small home. There, he was safe and happy.
The story tells us this. There’s no place like home!
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Core Knowledge (R) Independent Reading
(Review guidelines for publishing Core Knowledge (R) materials at the bottom of this page-view. This lesson is a “READ-ALOUD” Core Knowledge (R) passage that has been rewritten to be at a lower-grade independent reading level complexity than the original, largely by shortening and simplifying sentence structures while maintaining the richness of the text content.)
Classic Tales (“Session 1”)
Lesson 42 – Part Two
NEW WORDS: also, bowls, brisk, chomp, clever, cookie, cookies, cozy, either, family, ginger, gingerbread, grazing, husband, lips, lumpy, mama’s, mood, nervous, oatmeal, outran, oven, pieces, sank, sized, sniffed, someone, steaming, stepped, surprise, tasted, tasty, treat, waiting
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
It was a clear, brisk morning. Papa Bear was in the mood to cook. He made some oatmeal. It was steaming-hot. He made enough for the whole family. He poured his into a big bowl. He poured Mama’s into a middle-sized bowl. He poured Baby’s into a small bowl.
It was still too hot to eat, and the Bears wanted it to cool off. So, the Three Bears went for a walk in the woods.
Not so far from them was a little girl. She was named Goldilocks. She had also gone for a walk in the woods. But, she got lost. She came to the Bears’ cozy house.
She stepped inside their home. She was really hungry. There, she found the three bowls of oatmeal. She tasted the oatmeal in the big bowl. It was too hot! Then she tried the middle-sized bowl. It was too cold! Then she tried the small bowl. It was just right. So, she ate it all up.
Goldilocks began to feel tired. She looked around. She saw three chairs. She tried to sit in the big chair. It was too hard. Ouch!
She tried the middle-sized chair. It was too soft. Plop! She sat in the small chair. It was just right. But, the chair broke! She fell to the floor! Crash!
Now she could not sit. But maybe she could lie down. She went upstairs. She found three beds. First, she tried the big bed. It was way too smooth. She tried the middle-sized bed. It was way too lumpy. She tried the small bed. It was just right. Now she went right to sleep.
It was now just after Goldilocks had gone to sleep. The Bears came back home. Who had eaten their oatmeal? Who had been sitting in their chairs? Baby Bear cried out. “Someone has broken my chair to pieces!”
The Bears went upstairs. Who had been sleeping in their beds? Baby Bear said, “Someone has been sleeping in my bed. And here she is!” Goldilocks woke up. She saw the Bears. She was scared to death! She ran out of their house. She ran as fast as she could! The Three Bears never saw or heard from her again!
The Gingerbread Man
It was a fine day to cook. A little old woman was in her kitchen. “What shall I bake? Cookies, maybe? Oh, a tasty gingerbread man! That would hit the spot.” She made the cookie dough. She put it on a cookie sheet. She baked it in the oven. But what a surprise was waiting for her. She opened the oven. The Gingerbread Man jumped out!
He ran out of the house. The woman called for her husband. Both of them went after the cookie. They ran as fast as they could. But they could not catch it.
A cow was grazing down the road. It was in a large field. It sniffed the air. It caught the smell of ginger. The cow wanted to eat the cookie. But the cow could not catch it, either.
The cookie went near a cat. It was a warm, sunny day. The cat was sleeping. Then the cat smelled the ginger. It woke up. It said, “What a tasty treat.” But the cat was too slow. The cookie outran the cat!
Soon, the cookie met a smart fox. The fox played pretend. “I am not hungry,” he said. “So, I don’t want to catch you.” Well, that was a lie! The cookie wanted to cross a lake. The fox was clever. He said, “I will help you. That would make me happy. I can swim. Just get on my back. We will cross the lake.”
What a sneaky fox! The lake got deep. The fox sank a bit. He said, “Now you should ride on my head.” He sank a bit more. This made the cookie nervous! “Now you should ride on my nose.”
The cookie moved. So, the fox threw the Gingerbread Man into the air. He opened his mouth. The cookie fell right in. The fox chewed the cookie up. He ate every last bite! “Chomp! Smack!” What a clever fox! He licked his lips. “Yum! That was a tasty snack!”
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Core Knowledge (R) Independent Reading
(Review guidelines for publishing Core Knowledge (R) materials at the bottom of this page-view. This lesson is a “READ-ALOUD” Core Knowledge (R) passage that has been rewritten to be at a lower-grade independent reading level complexity than the original, largely by shortening and simplifying sentence structures while maintaining the richness of the text content.)
Classic Tales (“Session 1”)
Lesson 43 – Part Three
NEW WORDS: admired, amazing, animals, awful, complained, customer, decision, double, fancy, forward, freezing, grain, grains, grind, handsome, harder, harvested, hen’s, herself, knead, kneaded, perfectly, planted, puzzled, ragged, scolded, sew, shocked, shoemaker, sorry, sparse, tattered, toed, wheat, worried
The Shoemaker and the Elves
Once, there was a shoemaker. He and his wife were poor. He was worried. He complained to his wife. “We have only enough leather left to make one pair of shoes.”
The shoemaker left the leather on his work bench. They ate a sparse dinner that night. Then he went to bed. He made a decision. He would make his last pair of shoes in the morning.
It was the next day. The shoemaker woke up. He was shocked! There was a nice pair of shoes. They were on his work bench. He was quite puzzled. Who could have made such fine shoes?
It was later that day. A customer came into the shoe shop. He quite admired the new shoes. They fit his feet perfectly. He was very happy. He even paid double the money for them!
The shoemaker ran to his wife. “We now have some money. We can buy a good dinner. AND, we can buy more leather. That will be good for two more pairs of shoes.” He was very happy.
That night, he cut the new leather. It was just right for two pairs of shoes. He left it on his work bench. The next morning, what he saw was amazing! There were two pairs of new, fancy shoes.
This magic happened again. He bought more leather. This would be good for four pairs this time. The next day, four pairs of shoes had been made! They sold all four! They made even more money.
The shoemaker talked to his wife. “I must find out! Who is making these shoes?” So, they decided to stay up all night. They would watch the work bench. Who knows what they might see?
It was late that night. Two tiny elves tip-toed into the work shop. They had on tattered clothes. They began to sew the leather. They made them into beautiful shoes.
The wife felt sorry for the poor elves. “They must be freezing! They have such ragged clothes. Let’s help them, like they’ve helped us!” So, she sewed new clothes for them. And he made new shoes for them. They left these gifts on the work bench. They knew the elves would find them.
The elves came back. They saw the handsome clothes and shoes. They were so happy! They danced out of the work shop. And they were never seen again.
From that day forward, the shoemaker and his wife lived a happy life. And they always had plenty to eat.
The Little Red Hen
There once was a little red hen. She lived with her friends on a farm. She was not a lazy hen. She worked harder than all of the other animals. She wanted to plant some grains of wheat. She asked for help. But her friends said, “no.” Maybe they weren’t such great friends! So, she planted the grains herself.
Summer came. The gold wheat was ready. The hen asked for help. No one would help her. She did all the work. She harvested the grain by herself.
Now, she had to grind the wheat. That would turn it into flour. Did her friends help out? Nope! They would not do any hard work. So, the Little Red Hen ground the flour herself.
She used the flour, now. She made bread dough with it. It’s hard work to knead dough! Again, she got no help. She kneaded the dough by herself. It made her very tired! The Little Red Hen’s friends had been awful! They had not helped her with anything! So, she baked the bread by herself.
The bread baked perfectly. And fresh-baked bread smells so good! The air took the nice smell to her friends. NOW they showed up. They wanted to eat some of the bread!
The hen scolded them. “You’ll eat my bread. But you didn’t help me make it! Sorry! You are out of luck.” The Little Red Hen ate it all by herself. After all, she had done all the work!
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Core Knowledge (R) Independent Reading
(Review guidelines for publishing Core Knowledge (R) materials at the bottom of this page-view. This lesson is a “READ-ALOUD” Core Knowledge (R) passage that has been rewritten to be at a lower-grade independent reading level complexity than the original, largely by shortening and simplifying sentence structures while maintaining the richness of the text content.)
Classic Tales (“Session 1”)
Lesson 44 – Part Four
NEW WORDS: Thumbelina, ached, attention, autumn, bloomed, burrow, cracked, crawled, crisp, dizzy, ended, escape, everything, finally, floated, flowering, frustrated, grip, happily, healed, lily, lose, magical, patience, petals, pity, placed, pleaded, polished, tightly, turtle’s, walnut, warmer, wedding, wondered
Thumbelina
It was once upon a time. There was a very sad woman. She wished she had a child. One day, she planted a magical seed. That night, the seed grew. It became a flowering plant. “What a pretty flower,” said the woman. She kissed the petals. Right then, the flower opened. In the flower sat a girl!
The girl was tiny. She was no bigger than a thumb. Her name was Thumbelina. At night, she slept in a polished walnut shell.
One night, a mother toad came. She stole Thumbelina away. The mother toad wanted her to marry her son. They placed Thumbelina on a water lily leaf. It was in the river. She could not swim. It was like being in a cage. Then they planned the wedding. Thumbelina was very sad. She cried huge tears.
A fish heard the sobs. It chewed on the stem of the lily pad. The leaf broke free. Thumbelina floated down the river.
Summer ended. Winter came. Thumbelina was cold. A field mouse took pity on her. “My dear. You must come home with me.” Thumbelina spent all winter with the mouse. Her burrow was warm and snug. They were now good friends.
In a burrow near them lived Mr. Mole. He liked to visit in the evening. Thumbelina had a pretty singing voice.
One night, Thumbelina found a swallow. The bird was cold and hurt. She cared for the swallow. She brought him food each day.
Mr. Mole was now in love with Thumbelina. He wanted to marry her. But she did not want to marry him. Once again, she was very sad.
One day, the swallow had healed. She came to Thumbelina. She said, “I can help you escape. Fly on my back. We will get away.” So, they flew south. They went to warmer lands. It was a new land filled with flowers. Thumbelina met a king. He was small, too!
Thumbelina became the queen. She and the king lived happily ever after.
How Turtle Cracked His Shell
It was a crisp autumn day. Turtle was talking with two birds. They said, “Winter is coming. Soon it’s going to be very cold here. We’re getting ready to fly south. It will be warm there.”
“Can I come with you?” asked Turtle. At first, the birds said, “No!” Turtle pleaded with them. “There must be some way I can go with you!” Finally, the birds agreed.
“Use your mouth. Bite tightly on this stick. Hold on!” said the birds. Turtle did just that. Then the birds grabbed the ends of the stick. Soon, they were all high in the sky. Turtle was biting the stick hard! Turtle had never been so high off the ground. He could look down. He saw how small everything looked.
He wondered how far they had come. And he wanted to know how far they had to go. But he could not ask the birds. If he talked to them, his mouth would lose its grip! He would fall to the Earth!
Turtle tried to get the birds’ attention. He rolled his eyes at them. But they did not notice. He waved his legs, too. Turtle was now frustrated. He lost his patience. And he did just what he should NOT do. He opened his mouth to speak!
Of course, now he had let go of the stick. He began to fall! “Aah!” he yelled. He fell down from the sky. He hit the ground hard.
Turtle’s body ached. He was dizzy. So, he did not notice that his shell had cracked all over. He crawled into a pond. He swam down to the bottom. There he dug a hole in the mud. He slept there all winter long.
Spring came. It was warm now. Flowers bloomed. Turtle woke up. He was very proud of the cracks on his shell. Now, every turtle’s shell looks like it has cracks all over it.
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Core Knowledge (R) Independent Reading
(Review guidelines for publishing Core Knowledge (R) materials at the bottom of this page-view. This lesson is a “READ-ALOUD” Core Knowledge (R) passage that has been rewritten to be at a lower-grade independent reading level complexity than the original, largely by shortening and simplifying sentence structures while maintaining the richness of the text content.)
Classic Tales (“Session 1”)
Lesson 45 – Part Five
NEW WORDS: accident, angry, annoying, answer, attacked, bellowed, blamed, bushfowl, bushfowl’s, caused, coconut, coconuts, crocodile’s, daily, delicious, fault, flitted, fly’s, hippo, juicy, jungle, kark, mango, mistake, needed, nights, panic, peeling, power, punish, punished, reached, refuse, soared, squawked, startled, swack, swat, trampled, trouble, wailed
Why Flies Buzz
It was a bright, sunny day. A man and his wife went into the jungle. They were going to gather food. They reached a coconut tree. The man took out his knife. Then he climbed up the tree. He planned to cut down some delicious coconuts.
The man reached for a coconut. But then, a black fly flitted around his face. He tried to swat the fly. But he dropped his knife by mistake. “Watch out, Wife!” he cried. The wife jumped out of the way. But as she jumped, she kicked a crocodile. It had been sleeping by that tree.
The crocodile was mad. Its tail went, “swack! swack! swack!” Near there was a jungle bird. It was looking for bugs to eat. The crocodile’s tail came down. It scared the bird. The bird squawked, “scree! scree! scree!”
The bird soared up into the air. It went to a branch in a tree. It landed right next to a monkey. The monkey was peeling a juicy mango.
The monkey was startled by the bird. So, it dropped its mango. The fruit fell on the head of a hippo. It went, “splat! splat! splat!” The hippo went into a panic. It thought it was being attacked by hunters. It tried to escape, going, “stomp! stomp! stomp!”
The hippo was not careful. He trampled on a bushfowl’s nest. The nest was full of eggs. “You broke all of my eggs!” wailed the bushfowl. She cried, “sob! sob! sob!” And there she stayed, by her nest. She stayed there for many days and nights.
All of the animals needed the bushfowl. She would wake the sun each day. But now, she did not wake up the sun. No one heard her daily call, “kark! kark! kark!” She was too sad now. So, the sky stayed dark for many days. The jungle animals were worried. They went to talk to the wise lion. The lion brought all of the animals together. He wanted to find out what had happened.
Everyone blamed each other. The last to speak was the man. He said, “Wise Lion, I dropped my knife. It was an accident. A black fly was annoying me.”
“Oh!” said the lion. “Then it is the black fly’s fault!” But the black fly answered back. “Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!” “Have you nothing else to say?” asked the lion. The fly ignored the lion. It went on saying, “Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!”
The lion was angry with the fly. He decided to punish him. “Black Fly!” he bellowed. “You refuse to answer me. Then I shall take away your power to talk.” The fly tried to speak. Now, all he could say was, “Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!” Things are the same today. Flies all around the world can only say, “Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!”
The bushfowl was happy now. The fly that had caused all the trouble had been punished. So, she agreed to once again call the sun to begin the day.
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Core Knowledge (R) Independent Reading
(Review guidelines for publishing Core Knowledge (R) materials at the bottom of this page-view. This lesson is a “READ-ALOUD” Core Knowledge (R) passage that has been rewritten to be at a lower-grade independent reading level complexity than the original, largely by shortening and simplifying sentence structures while maintaining the richness of the text content.)
Classic Tales (“Session 1”)
Lesson 46 – Part Six
NEW WORDS: apart, brother’s, brothers, chinny, confident, danger, evil, finish, houses, napping, replied, slammed, threatened, weak, wolf
The Three Little Pigs
It was once upon a time. There were three little pigs. They lived with their mother. One day, Mama Pig talked to them. “You are all grown now. It’s time for you to go out into the world. You should now live on your own.” The pigs said good-bye. They went on their way.
The First Little Pig wanted to build a house. He made it out of straw. Before long, he was done. It was not very hard work. He now had time to relax in the shade.
The Second Little Pig built a house, too. He made his out of sticks. He worked a little harder. But he still had time to relax in the shade.
The Third Little Pig built his house out of bricks. It would be a much stronger house. He worked very, very hard. It took him a long time to finish it. He did not have time to rest in the shade. But he knew that his house was stronger than his brothers‘ houses.
It was soon after. A big, bad wolf came along. He saw the First Little Pig napping in the shade. The wolf thought evil things. “That little pig would make a tasty bite to eat.”
The little pig saw the wolf coming. He ran inside his straw house. He slammed and locked the door. The wolf called out to him. “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” The little pig replied, “Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin.”
The Big Bad Wolf got mad. “Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff. And I’ll blow your straw house down.” And that is just what he did! The straw blew everywhere. The First Little Pig was in danger now. He ran away fast. He wished that he had built a stronger house.
The Big Bad Wolf kept walking. He was mad that he did not get his snack. He soon came to the Second Little Pig’s home. He talked to himself. “This weak house is made of just sticks.” The Big Bad Wolf knocked on the door. Like before, he asked to come in.
The Second Little Pig yelled back at him. “Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin.”
The wolf threatened him. “Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff. And I’ll blow down your house of sticks.” This house blew apart, too. The Second pig wished that he had built a stronger house.
The two little pigs ran fast. They headed to their brother’s brick house. Right behind them was the wolf! Once again, the wolf asked to come inside. The Third little Pig was confident. He knew that his house was strong. “Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin,” he yelled.
The wolf could not blow down the brick house. The wolf was red in the face. He had missed two snacks, now. He was hungry. He was really angry. So, the wolf did not give up.
He climbed up onto the roof. He jumped down the chimney. But the Third Little Pig was ready for the wolf. The wolf fell right into a pot of water. The pig had put it there to get boiling hot on the fire. That water was so hot that the wolf jumped out and ran away. “OUCH!” he screamed!
The Three Little Pigs lived happily ever after. They never saw the wolf again.
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Lesson 47 – Stories Misc
NEW WORDS: Glorp, Mars, Martian, TV, York, bombs, brushing, buddy, cabinet, check, creeping, cussing, damage, drool, drove, dude, force, hardware, human, lizard’s, medicine, mirror, name’s, outer, puffy, removed, screaming, smoked, spitting, starting, stinks, thinking, truly
A Martian In The Mirror
I was in my bath room last night. I was brushing my teeth. I took a look in the mirror. I saw a little green man behind me! But then I would turn around. He was not there! It was only when I was looking into the mirror that I could see him.
His skin was like a lizard’s. He had puffy red eyes. He had six fingers on each hand. And he even had a tail! I am NOT making this up!
He began to talk to me. “Tom, please get me out of this mirror! I can’t get out of here. And I need to get back to Mars!” I don’t know how he knew my name.
Well, I did not trust this little man, at all. He had a bad look about him. I did not like that. And the way he talked was odd. It was like he was lying. Or up to something. I thought about helping him. But would he do something bad to me?
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“My name’s Glorp,” he said. His voice had a “hiss” to it.
“That’s a funny name!”
“Back at you, human. Tom is a dumb name, too.”
“How do I know that I can trust you?” I asked.
“Why would you NOT trust me?” he said back. “I’ve just come to Earth for a little vacation.”
His eyes then got really big. It was like they might pop out. And I could see drool come out of the side of his mouth. It was like he was thinking about making me into a tasty meal.
This dude was creeping me out! “No way, buddy,” I said. “You got stuck in there on your own. You’ll now have to find a way to get out of there on your own.”
That smoked him out! Now I found out what he was truly like. He began to yell at me. Blue spit flew out of his mouth. He said every bad word that I had ever heard!
The next day, things were more clear. Now I knew that I’d done the right thing. There was big news on the TV. A space ship from Mars had landed in New York! It was trying to take people away, back to Mars.
The Air Force dropped bombs near the space ship. But they didn’t need to damage it. It must have scared the little green men a lot. They took right off. Their ship was super-fast. They were back to outer space in a flash.
I had my Dad come into the bath room. He had to see Glorp! Dad agreed that he was a creep. He said this to me. “He can’t get out. So, he can’t hurt you. But he’d be a real pain to you each time you came in here. And I could never sell the house! We can’t have that!”
I asked Dad, “What can we do?”
Dad went down the stairs. He came back in a bit. He had his tool box. Before I knew it, he had removed the medicine cabinet from its hole in the wall. Mirror and all! That Glorp was spitting and cussing! And I mean the whole time!
Dad picked up the cabinet. He said, “Come with me.” He put it in the trunk of the car. That way we couldn’t hear old Glorp screaming. We drove for quite a while. We got to a huge dump site. I guess that’s where they bring all the city trash. Dad left the cabinet behind a big pile of trash. Then he said, “Let’s go to the hardware store. We need to buy a new cabinet. And we’ll check to make sure there’s not a Martian in it!” We both laughed hard at that.
By the way, the trash dump where we left Glorp was really bad. I heard one last screech from Glorp. This was just as Dad was starting the car. From out of the mirror, he bellowed, “Man, it really stinks here!!”
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Lesson 48 – Poems And Rhymes
NEW WORDS: Harrow, Piper, announce, arm, candles, carried, cobwebs, dee, garbage, giggle, goodies, hippopotamus, hydrants, lobster, monster, mortal, peck, peppers, pickled, police, presents, quarrel, ringing, rooftops, seventeen, sidewalks, signs, twas, visited, wriggle, yonder
Peter Piper
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?
Fun
I love to hear a lobster laugh, or see a turtle wiggle,
Or poke a hippopotamus, and see the monster giggle,
Or even stand around at night, and watch the mountains wriggle.
Poem by Leroy F. Jackson
Old Woman, Old Woman
There was an old woman flying a basket, seventeen times as high as the moon.
But where she was going, no mortal could tell, for under her arm, she carried a broom.
“Old woman, old woman, old woman,” said I, “Whither, oh why, oh why, so high?”
“To sweep the cobwebs from the sky, and I’ll be with you by-and-by.”
A Christmas Tree
Hark, the Christmas bells are ringing, and the children all are singing,
Dancing round the Christmas tree, all as happy as can be!
See the candles shining bright, shining bright as stars of light,
And the goodies there to eat, little cakes and apples sweet!
All the pretty presents, see? Lying there around the tree!
One To Ten
One, two, three, four, five, I caught a hare alive! Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, I let her go again!
The Old Woman Of Harrow
There was an old woman of Harrow, who visited in a wheelbarrow,
And her servant before, knocked loud at each door,
To announce the old woman of Harrow.
It Fell In The City
It fell in the city, it fell through the night, and the black rooftops all turned white.
Red fire hydrants all turned white. Blue police cars all turned white.
Green garbage cans all turned white. Gray sidewalks all turned white.
Yellow NO PARKING signs all turned white, when it fell in the city all through the night.
Poem by Eve Merriam
The Quarrel
My little old man and I fell out, I’ll tell you what ‘twas all about.
I had money, and he had none, and that’s the way the noise begun.
What Are Little Boys Made Of?
What are little boys made of, made of? What are little boys made of?
“Snaps and snails, and puppy-dogs’ tails, and that’s what little boys are made of.”
What are little girls made of, made of? What are little girls made of?
“Sugar and spice, and all that’s nice, and that’s what little girls are made of.”
The Barnyard
I had a cat and the cat pleased me,
I fed my cat under yonder tree,
And my little cat went fiddle-dee-dee.
I had a hen and the hen pleased me,
I fed my hen under yonder tree,
And my little hen went cluck-cluck-cluck,
And the cat went fiddle-dee-dee.
I had a duck and the duck pleased me,
I fed my duck under yonder tree,
And my little duck went quack-quack-quack,
And my little hen went cluck-cluck-cluck,
And the cat went fiddle-dee-dee.
I had a pig and the pig pleased me,
I fed my pig under yonder tree,
And my little pig went grunt-grunt-grunt,
And my little duck went quack-quack-quack,
And my little hen went cluck-cluck-cluck,
And the cat went fiddle-dee-dee.
I had a cow and the cow pleased me,
I fed my cow under yonder tree,
And my little cow went moo-moo-moo,
And my little pig went grunt-grunt-grunt,
And my little duck went quack-quack-quack,
And my little hen went cluck-cluck-cluck,
And the cat went fiddle-dee-dee.
I had a dog and the dog pleased me,
I fed my dog under yonder tree,
And my little dog went bow-wow-wow,
And my little cow went moo-moo-moo,
And my little pig went grunt-grunt-grunt,
And my little duck went quack-quack-quack,
And my little hen went cluck-cluck-cluck.
And the cat went fiddle-dee-dee.
I had a baby and the baby pleased me,
I fed my baby under yonder tree,
And my little baby went ma-ma-ma,
And my little dog went bow-wow-wow,
And my little cow went moo-moo-moo,
And my little pig went grunt-grunt-grunt,
And my little duck went quack-quack-quack,
And my little hen went cluck-cluck-cluck,
And the cat went fiddle-dee-dee.
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Lesson 49 – Poems And Rhymes
NEW WORDS: Bobby, Cuma, Shaftoe, Shaftoe’s, airplane, alert, amid, aspen, beech, blunders, buckles, burr, buttercups, caring, churches, climbs, combing, courted, crocus, daisies, daisy, delight, dire, disaster, doeth, droops, ere, evermore, fearing, gentleman, gypsy, hardship, hardy, health, hours, leafless, likewise, opens, paly, patient, peepeth, pony, poplar, primrose, quivers, sisters, snowdrop, speaking, spirit, springtime, stormy, strength, sturdy, sycamore, tallow, timber, topsy, turvy, useful, visioned, watery, wick, wonders, ye, zzz
Bobby Shaftoe
Bobby Shaftoe’s gone to sea, with silver buckles, on his knee.
He’ll come back and marry me, handsome Bobby Shaftoe!
Bobby Shaftoe’s strong and fair, combing down his yellow hair.
He’s my love for evermore, handsome Bobby Shaftoe.
Trees
The Oak is called the king of trees,
The Aspen quivers in the breeze,
The Poplar grows up straight and tall,
The Peach tree spreads along the wall,
The Sycamore gives pleasant shade,
The Willow droops in watery glade,
The Fir tree useful in timber gives,
The Beech amid the forest lives.
Poem by Sarah Coleridge
The Airplane
Airplane, airplane, up in the sky, how I wish that I could fly!
Zzz, zzz, zzz! And burr, burr, burr! Airplane, I hear you, purr, purr, purr!
If I were a bird, I know what I’d do, I’d fly on my wings along with you!
Poem by Olive Beaupre Miller
Buttercups and Daisies
Buttercups and daisies,
Oh, the pretty flowers,
Coming ere the springtime,
To tell of sunny hours.
While the trees are leafless,
While the fields are bare,
Buttercups and daisies,
Spring up here and there.
Before the snowdrop peepeth,
Before the crocus bold,
Before the early primrose,
Opens its paly gold.
Somewhere on a sunny bank,
Buttercups are bright.
Somewhere among the frozen grass,
Peeps the daisy white.
Little hardy flowers,
Like to children poor,
Playing in their sturdy health,
By their mother’s door.
Purple with the north wind,
Yet alert and bold,
Fearing not and caring not,
Though they be so cold.
What to them is weather!
What are stormy showers!
Buttercups and daisies,
Are these human flowers!
He who gave them hardship,
And a life of care,
Gave them likewise hardy strength,
And patient hearts, to bear.
Welcome yellow buttercups,
Welcome daisies white,
Ye are in my spirit,
Visioned, a delight!
Coming before the springtime,
Of sunny hours to tell,
Speaking to our hearts of Him,
Who doeth all things well.
Poem by Mary Howitt
Off And Away
Child, I must sweep the hut today. Sisters, grind the meal, I pray!
To hunt the elephants, Father’s gone, on the elephant hunt, the Chief has gone!
Little Cuma climbs a tree, watching the road he sings, sings he,
“It’s far where my father’s gone today, away, way off, away and away!”
The Candlestick Mouse
The mouse climbed up the candlestick, to steal the tallow from the wick.
When he got up, he couldn’t get down, he called so loud, he woke the town.
He called for the cat, but the cat wouldn’t come, so he called for his mother, to take him home.
Topsy–Turvy World
If the butterfly courted the bee,
And the owl the porcupine,
If the churches were built in the sea,
And three times one was nine,
If the pony rode his master,
If the buttercups ate the cows,
If the cat had the dire disaster,
To be worried, sir, by the mouse,
If mama, sir, sold the baby,
To a gypsy for half-a-crown,
If a gentleman, sir, was a lady,
The world would be, Upside Down!
If any or all of these wonders,
Should ever come about,
I should not consider them blunders,
For I should be Inside Out!
Poem by William Brighty Rands
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Lesson 50 – Stories Misc
NEW WORDS: Matt, ahoy, bartender, bomb, change, checked, glasses, goop, growled, inn, limbs, mac, maid, mateys, mug, needs, piece, pirate, pour, pretending, puddle, rim, seats, stamped, treasure, witch
Max The Mess
It was like a bomb. It was a loud “wham!” We all jumped out of our seats. What a noise! It was not fun! My mom, Meg, yelled. Her face turned red. She stamped her foot. She put her hands on her head.
“Max, why did you slam your mug on the table? That makes me so mad! Must you be such a mess? Look! Food is all over. It’s on your place-mat. It got on the map that Matt needs to read. And I see crumbs all over the place. And there are chunks of ham, mint jam, and lamb. And mac-and-cheese. And your half-eaten yam! Gross! Now I just want to gag! Grr!” There was spit on Mom’s lips.
Mom checked out the room. “And look! It’s on every one’s clothes! Pam, Tom, Kim? You have to go up and change. Right now. And Matt? There’s food on the rim of your glasses! Clean that up.”
“And oh, no! Look at Tom-Cat. Poor cat! A piece of yam flew into his milk bowl. So goop is now on each one of his four limbs. And, now the floor is a mix of mess. It looks like a mud puddle full of goop. I bet Tom-Cat could swim in it! Good grief! Now I’ve got to go get the mop. I have to walk up the stairs to get it. Then come back down. Then clean all of this up. Guys, I’m not your maid!”
“Max, you give me no rest! I’m so fed up with you. I’ve never met a boy who can make such a mess! Why do you do it? Do you just hate me? Do you think I’m a witch?”
Max spoke up. “Yum, mom. Great food! I was pretending to be a pirate at an old-time inn. Time to pour me one more glass of milk, bartender! Max then growled, “Ahoy, mateys! Time to go find the treasure!”
He walked out. He stepped in the goop. And he left foot-prints. Mom was fit to be tied! But that’s Max for you!
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Click on this link to move forward to Module B, Lessons 51 – 60
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