During the unit on "Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type," students will learn to identify every word in the story, understand the main concepts, and study several dimensions of the target vocabulary.

Main Concepts in the Story

"Click Clack Moo" is a silly story about cows and hens who negotiate with a farmer for electric blankets, communicating by typing notes on an old typewriter. They go on strike, refusing to give milk and eggs, until Duck mediates a solution that both parties can be happy with.

The main concepts in the story are:

• Farmer Brown
• cows
• hens
• Duck, the neutral party

• A farm

• The cows go on strike and refuse to give milk until Farmer Brown gives them electric blankets. The hens decide to join the strike, too, and refuse to give eggs. The cows communicate their demands throughout the story by writing notes on a typewriter.

• At first, the farmer refuses to give the cows and hens electric blankets and demands obedience. When that approach doesn't work, Duck, who is the neutral party, comes in to mediate. The cows finally agree to swap their typewriter for electric blankets.

• Both parties are satisfied with the trade. But before returning the typewriter to Farmer Brown, Duck uses it to make his own demand: he wants a diving board for the pond.

Target Word Dimensions

Good readers have a depth of knowledge about words. When they read, they determine which meaning of a word is appropriate within the context of the text, and they make associations to prior knowledge about that word. These thinking processes help good readers make sense of the text overall. Learning multiple dimensions of words is a key aspect of the Cornerstones approach.

There are three categories of understanding for each word:

• Recognition of the word in print
• Basic understanding of the primary meaning

• Other forms of the word (plurals, verb tenses, compound words)
• Multiple meanings
• Attributes, features, and characteristics of the word
• Categories

• Synonyms and antonyms
• Compound words
• Idioms and figurative usage
• Other nuances

Target Words

Lesson 1: farm/farmer, barn, type/typewriter
Lesson 2: note, sincerely
Lesson 3: problem, believe, impossible, electric blankets, to go on strike, closed
Lesson 4: busy, to grow impatient, to run a farm, furious, demand
Lesson 5: neutral, party, ultimatum, emergency meeting
Lesson 6: gather, snoop, knock, hand, exchange
Lesson 7: decide, a good deal, pond, boring, diving board