Lesson 26: "Feeding the Hen" — Teacher Guide
Core Linguistic Concepts & Pedagogy
• Syntactic Transformation: Transforming yes/no interrogatives ("Is he scattering...") into complete declarative statements ("He is scattering...") reinforces subject-verb inversion reversal.
• Relative Clause Handling: Item 4 guides students to retain the restrictive relative clause ("...which he scatters") without fragmenting the predicate.
• Spatial Observation: Items 3 & 5 evaluate spatial prepositions ("in front of", "beyond") by translating visual details into precise descriptive sentences.
| # |
Question Prompt |
Complete Statement (Master Answer Key) |
Concord & Grammatical Transformation Notes |
| 1. |
Is this a picture of Frank feeding his hen? |
This is a picture of Frank feeding his hen. |
Direct textbook model sentence. Declarative order. Proper noun Frank capitalized. Ends with (.). (Also acceptable: Yes, this is a picture of Frank feeding his hen.) |
| 2. |
Is he scattering some corn on the ground? |
He is scattering some corn on the ground. |
Inverts auxiliary and subject ("Is he" → "He is"). Present progressive verb phrase ("is scattering"). (Also acceptable: Yes, he is scattering some corn on the ground.) |
| 3. |
Is the hen in front of Frank? |
The hen is in front of Frank. |
Locative prepositional phrase ("in front of Frank"). Reinforces capitalization of proper noun Frank. (Also acceptable: Yes, the hen is in front of Frank.) |
| 4. |
Is she picking up the corn which he scatters? |
She is picking up the corn which he scatters. |
Preserves relative clause ("which he scatters"). Subject pronoun She refers back to the hen. (Also acceptable: Yes, she is picking up the corn which he scatters.) |
| 5. |
What is beyond the hen? |
A nest with four white eggs is beyond the hen. |
Information question ("What..."). Replaces interrogative pronoun with complete noun phrase. Also acceptable: Beyond the hen is a nest with four white eggs. / There is a nest with four white eggs beyond the hen. |
| 6. |
Can you see four white eggs in the nest? |
I can see four white eggs in the nest. |
Shifts 2nd person "you" to 1st person "I". Modal auxiliary "can" with base verb "see". (Also acceptable: Yes, I can see four white eggs in the nest.) |
🖼 Visual Observation & Zoom Detail
Point students to the enlarged picture and the close-up callout box: Frank holds a wooden bowl of grain in his sailor suit, and nestled directly in the straw mound behind the hen lie
four white eggs.
🔄 The Question-to-Statement Bridge
Highlight how the question contains almost all the words needed for the answer. Show students that by removing "Is" from the start and placing it after the subject, the question transforms into a statement!
✍️ Capital Letters & Periods
Check that students capitalize proper name
Frank every time it occurs, use an initial capital for each sentence, and place a crisp period (.) at the end rather than a question mark.
🗣 Oral Rehearsal Routine
Have students read each question aloud and respond orally in a full sentence before writing. Oral mastery drastically reduces handwriting hesitation and punctuation errors.
Pedagogical Standard
Aligned with Classical Trivium Grammar Stage & CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1.J, L.1.2.B, W.1.2