(cheerful music) - Hi everyone and welcome back to Room 9, our region's largest classroom.

My name is Mrs. St. Louis and I'm a teacher at Rogers Elementary School in the Mehlville School District.

And we are located in South St. Louis County.

Today, I'm here to teach a reading lesson that's geared towards students who are in the third grade.

But, all learners are more than welcome to join and explore along with us.

So, let's get started.

This week, we are gonna be diving in to the genre of dramas.

Now, dramas are like plays or reader's theaters.

You may have done some in school before.

What we're gonna be doing this week is we're going to be looking at two different plays and then kind of digging in deeper to analyze those plays and what's going on.

So today, we're going to read our very first drama.

Now, dramas are plays so we know that we have different characters speaking.

So, one of the characters that we will have is a narrator.

And a narrator is someone who's not actually in the story, they're kind of outside, and they can tell us about what's going on, what's happening in this setting.

And so in our drama today, we're actually going to have two different narrators, narrator one and narrator two.

And their job is to give us some of that background information that we might not get from our characters.

Narrators can help to set up the scene, right, to help tell us as time has passed.

Maybe if we've gone from one day to the next, a narrator can be that person who helps to navigate us through our drama.

So the other people in the plays are going to be our characters.

So today we are going to be reading the play "Anansi and the Talking Watermelon."

So we have a few different characters today.

We have, Anansi.

We have King Bear, Raccoon, Gopher, and Possum.

Now, normally when we do dramas or reader's theaters, you might do them as a class or in a small group where each person has a different role that they play.

So for example, your friend Katie might be the possum, and your friend Emil might be the gopher.

So each different person would have a role and they would only read the lines for that role.

Now today, because it's only me, I'm going to help us identify who's speaking by holding up a character card so we can kind of follow along, okay?

When we read dramas by ourselves, sometimes it can get a little bit confusing as to who is talking.

So it's really important that we pay attention to who says what.

So, all right, are you ready?

Okay, so I'm gonna give you a little background to our story today.

So it says, Anansi is a clever spider who often tricks his friends with his clever tongue.

In this retelling, while Anansi is trapped inside a watermelon, he tricks Possum into believing that the watermelon can talk.

Oh, so we're gonna read to find out when sees that the watermelon can talk.

Nope.

You guys probably have seen a watermelon before.

Can watermelon actually talk?

No.

So we can see that this is a little bit of the trick that is being played.

All right, so let's begin.

So early one morning, Anansi the spider woke up to the sound of Possum hoeing his watermelon patch.

Anansi peered down from the peach tree to watch Possum's slow progress.

"Watermelon is my favorite juicy red fruit.

Maybe I should sneak down the tree for a snack."

"Phew, hoeing is a lot of work and I've been doing it all morning.

I think it's time for my mid-day nap."

While Possum napped, Anansi shimmied down his fine silk web to the ripest watermelon in the garden.

Using a small sharp rock, Anansi made a hole in the rind he could just squeeze in to.

He gorged himself as the juices slid down his eight spider legs.

Just when Anansi had had his fill, he heard Possum stir.

"Possum will punish me if I am discovered.

I have to escape."

He waddled into the hole in the rind, and one leg at a time he tried to pull himself free.

"I'm too slippery.

I can't keep my footing.

And I'm so full that I can't fit through the hole.

Oh no, I am stuck.

Now I have to wait until I can shrink back to a normal size."

I almost lost one of my cards.

Anansi laid his head upon a watermelon seed in an attempt to sleep.

He tossed and turned relentlessly.

"This is so boring.

What should I do while I wait?

Hm, I know.

I will trick Possum into thinking that this melon talks."

Possum came scratching around with his hoe.

As he neared Anansi's melon, he heard a sound quiet as a mouse.

"Who is making that noise?

I can hear you!"

"It is I, the watermelon."

"Is that watermelon talking to me?

How absurd.

Watermelons can't talk."

"Possum, you have never been a good listener.

Watermelons have been talking since before you were born."

"I can't believe my ears.

Eureka!

I must show King Bear the discovery I have made."

Off Possum went, carrying the watermelon with Anansi bouncing to and fro inside.

He met Raccoon rolling in the dust beside the road.

"Where are you going in such a hurry, Possum?"

"I am bringing King Bear a talking watermelon."

"That's just plain silly.

Now I've heard everything."

"You haven't heard me talk."

"Huh, what?

Who said that?"

"I did.

You are silly, Raccoon, for not realizing that more than animals have speech.

Watermelons are more intelligent than you."

"Do you believe me now?"

"Yes, I do.

You are right to take it to the King.

This watermelon is something he would want to see."

Along the path to King Bear's grand den, Possum and Raccoon came upon Gopher.

"Hi, Possum.

"Hi, raccoon.

Where are you going in such a hurry?

And why are you carrying that big watermelon?"

"Hi, Gopher.

We are going to King Bear's grand den to show him this talking watermelon."

"Ah, you're very funny.

I know watermelons don't talk."

"They do, at least this one does.

It started talking this very morning."

"Watermelons have been talking for a long time.

You just never listen."

"Where did that voice come from?

Who said that?"

"Who do you think?

The watermelon said it."

"Now do you believe us?"

"I don't understand."

"There's nothing to understand.

I'm a talking watermelon."

"You should come with us to see King Bear."

"Of course I will.

I want to see what the King will say about this melon."

They arrived at King Bear's grand den.

The King had just woken up from his morning slumber and was a bit grumpy.

"What is it?

What's going on?

You should all be bowing before me."

"I put a very special watermelon on the tree stump."

"It's a very special watermelon indeed."

"Yes, yes, indeed."

"What am I to do with this?

I don't need any watermelons.

I have acres of my own."

"This one talks!"

"I don't believe that I have subjects from a garden patch.

If you all speak the truth, this melon should pay its respects to me.

Well watermelon, are you going to pay your respects to the King?"

The watermelon just sat there, mum for the first time all day.

"What kind of joke is this?

You animals should not play jokes on your King."

The watermelon remained silent.

"The watermelon talked, I promise you.

It's been talking all day."

"I heard the watermelon talk myself just a little while ago.

It said watermelons could always talk but we just don't listen."

"It's true, the watermelon can talk.

We've all heard it."

"I would be a fool to waste more time waiting to see your treacherous trickery.

I have more important kingly things to do."

"You would be a fool not to wait.

Only a fool thinks watermelons can't talk."

"Fool, fool?

How dare you call the King foul names?

I'll teach you to call King Bear a fool!"

King Bear picked up the watermelon in his paws and chucked it as hard and as far as he could.

The melon flew through the air and landed with a crack and thud, splitting wide open.

"I'm free!

I'm going back to the peach tree.

What a great day.

All of this fun has made me hungry again.

I'm going to nibble on a large ripe peach."

Possum returned later that day with a sour look on his face.

He picked up his hoe and started digging furiously.

"Melons, next year I will grow something else in this patch.

You watermelons are nothing but trouble."

"Perhaps you should grow more peaches.

The King is sure to listen to a peach."

The end.

So today, we began by reading our very first drama.

And today, we read "Anansi and the Talking Watermelon."

So join us back tomorrow as we really break down this drama to see what was going on with our characters and what we noticed throughout the drama.

Until then, I hope you guys have a great rest of your day.

I think it's time we do a little bit of math to finish things off.

What do you say?

Off we go!

- Why, thank you so much Mrs. St. Louis.

What an honor to be here after your amazing reading lesson.

Boys and girls, what's one thing you learned today from Mrs. St. Louis?

Wow, that is really an important skill that I am sure you are gonna use when you get back into that classroom if you're not there already.

Thank you so much, Mrs. St. Louis.

Well boys and girls, as you know, or if you don't know, my name is Mrs.

Brewer.

I am a third grade teacher at Gordon Bush Elementary School in the East St. Louis School District.

And today I am here to teach you a third grade math lesson.

All right, who's ready for math?

Give me high-fives all around if you're ready for math.

Who isn't ready for math?

I am always, always, always ready for math.

So if you've been joining us last week, we know that this is new week again and we are still talking about multiplication and addition.

We've been talking about how they share a lot of the same properties, how they're similar in a lot of ways, although sometimes you can't always use one in place of another.

And we do know that repeated addition is used as a strategy to help us solve multiplication problems, okay?

So another property that both multiplication and addition share is called the associative property.

Boys and girls, can I hear you say the associative property?

So the associative property, once again, sounds like a really hard, complicated property, doesn't it?

Yeah, when I would hear the associative property, I would think, "Oh man, Mrs.

Brewer, this sounds like it's going to be pretty hard."

But just like the commutative property that we learned last week, the associative property, boys and girls, is a piece of cake, okay?

Maybe some chocolate cake with some, what kind of frosting?

Oh, some more chocolate frosting, maybe with some Oreos?

Oh, I like the way you think.

Okay, so we can make this whatever kind of piece of cake you like, boys and girls.

Okay, so are you ready to know what the associative property means?

Okay, so now remember, I'm gonna go over what it means but then we're gonna, I'm gonna show you some examples of the associative property.

And it's a lot simpler than what this sounds like, okay?

So the associative property, let me bring you a little closer so you can see it.

This is the way add-ins or factors are grouped does not change the sum or the product.

Okay, so the way add-ins, what are add-ins, boys and girls?

Do you remember?

Add-ins are the two numbers we add together in an addition problem, okay?

So the way the add-ins or factors, do you remember what factors are, boys and girls?

They're the two numbers we multiply in a multiplication problem.

It does not affect the sum.

What's the sum again?

Do you remember what the sum is?

The answer to an addition problem or the product, which is what?

I heard someone say, the answer to a multiplication problem.

Brings tears to my eyes when you know that math vocabulary, boys and girls.

I just love, love, love hearing you guys use that math vocabulary.

I had another marker here I was gonna use.

But you know what?

We'll roll with blue today.

How does that sound?

Sounds amazing to me.

All right, so are you ready to see what we mean by the associative property?

All right, and as promised it is not nearly as bad as it sounds, okay?

So let's look at first what we mean by group.

Hey, you, you over there, I want to group you with this number.

Well kind of, I guess, but not really, okay?

So when we talk about grouping numbers, this is all we're gonna do.

We're gonna use parentheses.

Okay, so if I have this problem.

I have two plus three, plus four equals, okay?

You can't see that, can you?

Plus three, plus four equals what?

We need to find the sum.

Since we're adding all these numbers, we need to find the sum, okay?

Have you ever worked a problem before, boys and girls, with parentheses?

Okay, some of you have and some of you haven't.

Every time we see parentheses in a problem it just means solve this first.

Whatever is inside those parentheses we need to solve first, okay?

So, I look at my parentheses here.

I have what two add-in, what two numbers?

I have two plus three.

What is two plus three, boys and girls?

Two plus three is five.

So now it's left with five plus four.

Okay, once we solve for these parentheses, I just put them in here to show you that that's where our five came from.

But, I could have just written five because I've already solved what was in parentheses, correct?

Okay, so now the parentheses are here.

I don't have anything to solve in here, do I?

It's just five.

So now I can take five plus four.

What is five plus four, boys and girls?

Heard someone say nine.

Woo-woo!

You're the boss of these problems!

All right, so 5 + 4 = 9.

Do you agree with that?

I should for sure see thumbs up and we should all be agreeing because five plus four does equal nine.

Okay, so now this is what the associative property means.

So if you look at my first equation here, okay, I have grouped what two numbers?

And I grouped them by parentheses.

Which two numbers do you see inside my parentheses?

We have what?

Two plus three.

Now according to my associative property, the way that these add-ins are grouped has no effect on my answer.

So with that being said, I could now take two plus, now I am gonna group three plus four.

And we're gonna see what this equals, boys and girls, okay?

So where do I have to start in my problem?

To solve this equation, I have to start where?

See, we learned something already.

I heard someone say the parentheses.

Absolutely, any time we see parentheses they mean what?

Solve me first, okay?

So now I have two plus what is three plus four?

Three plus four is seven.

So now I can solve this.

Remember, since I don't have anything else I can do on my parentheses, I now just have seven, right?

So, two plus seven equals what?

Absolutely right.

2 + 7 = 9.

Okay, so it didn't matter if I had the two and three in my parenthesis or if I grouped the three and four, my answer is still what?

You're right, my answer is still nine.

Okay, so this was one way.

This was two ways.

There's one more way I can group this equation.

Do you know?

I grouped two and three, three and four.

And now this one I can group what?

Two plus four, plus three, okay?

So now, according to the associative property, do you know what my answer should be for this problem?

It should be what?

Let's see if you're right.

I hear some people saying it should be nine.

Where do we get nine?

Well, I know that was the answer to my first one, right?

It was the sum of our second problem.

Have my numbers changed at all?

I still have what?

Two, three and four.

Here I have two, three and four still, right?

What's two plus four?

Six plus three, it is nine.

And why is it nine, because of the what?

Because of the associative property, okay?

Let's try another one to see if this always rings true.

Okay, let's try this one.

We've really been sticking with a lot of one-digit numbers by talking about, or learning the properties.

And that's just so we don't get caught up in the math.

Okay, I'd like to try 10, plus 11, plus 12 equals, okay?

Where do I have to start?

I have to start where?

In my parentheses.

Now I have 10 plus, what's one plus two?

Right, it's three.

One 10 plus one 10, 10 plus 10, two tens or 20.

So now I have 10 plus 23 equals.

What is zero plus three?

Right, it's three.

One ten plus two tens?

Three tens, okay?

So knowing this, boys and girls, what do you think my answer to this would be?

What do you think (10+11) + 12 would be?

I heard someone say 33 and you are exactly right.

Now my question is why?

Because of the what?

Because of the associative property.

Awesome job, boys and girls.

So remember, the commutative property says we can swap the order of our add-ins.

The associative property tells me I can change the way we have them grouped.

And when we group them, we're talking about using what?

Parentheses, great job boys and girls.

So, I hope you join us here tomorrow while we still continue working with the associative property to see how it works in multiplication.

All right, 'till then have a great night, boys and girls.

Keep on mathing.

Bye.

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