Lesson flow
A Reason for Everything
Stand tall and announce, "I am Father Crab, and I have a reason for everything." Two pupils ask, "Why is the sea wet?" and "Why does it rain?" Answer each at once with a long, grand, made-up reason, and keep going after they have heard enough. Ask, "How does it feel when someone tells you more than you asked for? Would you take his advice?" Hear two or three answers.
Beach Words
Draw waves coming in and going out to show tide. Pupils step sideways and say "dreadful" in a grand voice. Ask a pupil about their lunch, then start talking about the weather and say, "I have just changed the subject." Pupils click their fingers for clicked and shake their heads for foolish.
Read to the Question
Read the story aloud for Grades 2 and 3. In Grade 4, partners read it, taking a paragraph each. Stop after "Why don't you walk straight ahead yourself?" Say, "Father Crab has a reason for everything. What will he say?" Pairs invent his answer. Read on, and pause after the last word so that pupils can catch it.
Rock and Sand Theatre
In pairs, Father Crab sits on a chair as the rock and the little crab stands on the sand. They read the talk from "Stop there" to "you are changing the subject." At "Nothing moved on the rock" both freeze while the class says softly, "A wave came in and a wave went out." Father Crab climbs down and walks away sideways. Swap.
Who Changed the Subject?
Write on the board, "The subject was ____." Ask, "What were they talking about? Did the son's question change that?" Pupils write the frame "Father Crab says ____, but he ____." Then write the moral on the board and ask which fault the two crabs share. Pupils write one sentence about it that uses the word sideways.
Wave Retell
Partners retell the story like waves, one giving the first event, the other the next, in and out. Each pair says the moral in their own words. Grade 3 adds one detail that proves the moral. Grade 4 writes a three-sentence summary and one sentence on what the last word shows.
STORY OVERVIEW
- Title and Moral: The Crab and His Son - "People who point at your faults often have the same ones."
- Plot Summary: Father Crab, who has a reason for everything, tells his son that going sideways looks dreadful. When his son asks why he does not walk straight ahead himself, Father Crab calls him foolish and walks away, sideways.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Retell the talk between Father Crab and his son in order.
- Identify the moment the little crab's question catches Father Crab out.
- Explain why the story's last word, sideways, shows what is wrong with Father Crab's advice.
WORDS TO TEACH FIRST
- tide: the rise and fall of the sea each day.
- sideways: toward one side instead of forward.
- dreadful: very bad.
- foolish: silly, not sensible.
- subject: the thing people are talking about.
- clicked: made short, sharp sounds.
TEXT QUESTIONS
- What do the first lines tell us about Father Crab? Sample answer: "Father Crab had a reason for everything." He would tell you why the sea was wet "whether you asked him or not."
- What did Father Crab say was wrong with the way his son walked? Sample answer: He asked, "Why do you not walk straight ahead?" and said, "All that going sideways looks dreadful."
- Why does the story end on the word sideways? Sample answer: It shows Father Crab doing the very thing he told his son off for, straight after being asked about it.
EXIT TICKET
On a slip of paper, pupils finish this sentence: Father Crab told his son off for ____, but he ____ too.
SUPPORT AND STRETCH
- Support: Read the Easier version and have pupils tap "Click, click, click" on the desk each time it comes. Ask them to show with their fingers which way the little legs go, and which way Father Crab goes at the end.
- On level: Pupils finish the frame and retell the story with a partner.
- Stretch: Father Crab has a reason for everything. Pupils write the reason he could have given for walking sideways himself, then explain why he does not give it, using two details from the story.
ENGLISH LEARNERS
Walk sideways and then straight ahead, saying each word as you move, and have pupils copy you. Give the frame "Father Crab says ____, but he ____." for partner talk.
Answer key
Comprehension
- He could tell you why the sea was wet.
- He was sitting on a rock.
- He did not like his son going sideways, and he said it looked dreadful.
- He looked down at his own legs and then up at his father's.
- He climbed down and walked away, sideways.
Vocabulary
- B
- E
- F
- A
- D
- C
Writing Task
A good answer points out that Father Crab walks sideways too and tells him to look at his own walk first.