Jack and The Beanstalk Tall and Short Stories

_____________________________

 1. If the escalator could carry fifty people, how many trips did it have to make to carry 300 people upto the top of the skyscraper building ?

 2. If the escalator took 3 minutes, including the doors opening and closing, to go up one floor of a skyscraper, how long did it take to go up 50 ? Give your answer in minutes and hours.

 3. Travelling at this speed, how many floors did the escalator pas in 30 minutes ?

 4. If the escalator dropped off 20 % of 50 passengers on floor two, 30% on floor three, 10 % on floor four and the remainder on floor five of the skyscraper, how many people on each floor is that ?

 5. If the escalator dropped off 0.1 of 150 passengers on floor two, 0.2 on floor three, 0.5 on floor four and the remainder on floor five of the skyscraper, how many people on each floor is that ?

 6. If the escalator dropped off one quarter of 100 passengers on floor two, four - tenths on floor three, 15 % on floor four and the remainder on floor five of the skyscraper, how many people on each floor is that ?

 7. If the escalator dropped off 30 % of the 50 passengers on floor two, 30% on floor three, 20 % on floor four and the remainder on floor five of the skyscraper, how many people on each floor is that ?

 8. The escalator could carry 500 kg weight in total. If, on average, each of the passengers weighed 70 kg, how many people maximum could the escalator hold ? Round off your answer to the nearest whole number.

 9. On the first floor, the escalator picked up the canteen lady who dropped 30% of the 1000 cups that she was carrying. How many were left on her tea trolley ?

 10. On the second floor, the escalator picked up three of the office cleaners.

a) The first cleaner was carrying a feather duster that got 4 of it’s 30 feathers trapped in the escalator door. What fraction, decimal and percentage of the total number of feathers is this ? 

b) The second cleaner was carrying 10 tins of polish and dropped 2 of them. What fraction, decimal and percentage of the total number of polish tins is this ?

c) The third cleaner was carrying a vacuum cleaner that dropped one of it’s wheels in the escalator. What fraction, decimal and percentage of the total number of wheels is this ?

 11. On the third floor, the escalator picked up the Managing Director of the company who was carrying a briefcase with 200 important documents inside it. If he dropped 10%. How many and what fraction and decimal of the total number of documents is this ?

 12. On the fourth floor, the escalator picked up 6 of the office secretaries. Two of them were wearing glasses. What fraction, decimal and percentage of the total number of secretaries is this ?

 13. On the fifth floor, the escalator picked up the postman who dropped 0.4 of the 600 letters that he was carrying. How many did he a) drop ? b) have left in his sack ?

 14. On the sixth floor, the escalator picked up the office boy who had a terrible cold and was sneezing almost continuously. If he sneezed 4 times every minute - how many times did he sneeze in the 20 minute escalator ride ?

 15. Back on the ground floor, once more, the escalator attendant found : an umbrella accidentally left by the M.D., three letters, 2 hats. What proportion of the things he found a) as a fraction were umbrellas ? b) as a decimal were letters ? c) as a percentage were hats ?

 16. Imagine an esclator in a skyscraper building with 20 floors. On the first ten floors, the doors open and close twice on each floor. On the next 5 floors, the doors open and close three times on each floor. On the remaining floors, the doors open four times on each floor. a) Write an algebraic equation to show how many times the doors opened and closed in total and on each floor.

__ __ __ opette

__ __ __ utcheon

__ __ __ ulent

d __ __ __

__ __ __ ort

__ __ __ ribe

__ __ __ alade

d __ __ __ top

__ __ __ alop

__ __ __ apee

__ __ __ heat

__ __ __ argot

__ __ __ landreGame 1 - Answers :1. 300 / 50 = 6

3. 30 / 3 = 10 floors

4. floor 2 - 10 ; floor 3 - 15; floor 4 - 5; floor 5 - 205. floor 2 - 15; floor 3 - 30; floor 4 - 75; floor 5 - 306. floor 2 - 25; floor 3 - 40; floor 4 - 15; floor 5 - 207. floor 2 - 15; floor 3 - 15; floor 4 - 10; floor 5 - 108. 500 / 70 = 7.14 = 79. 1000 - (1000 / 100 x 30 = 300) = 700 10. a) 4 / 30 = 2 / 15 ths 0.13r; 13%; b) 2 / 10 = 1 / 5 th; 0.2; 20%; c) 1/4; 0.25; 25%11. a) 200 / 100 x 10 = 20 b) 20 / 200 = 1/ 10th c) 0.112. a) 2 / 6 = 1/ 3 b) 0.33r c) 33%;

The three little piglets couldn’t find a home, It had been snowing all day and in the pig shed there was no room. First he asked a hen … if he could share his pen, But then he found that all that cluckin’ meant he got no sleep… So he went to count sheep … numbering one to ten. “Move over !”, he said to the frog on the lillypad, Thinking a home by the water might not be so bad. Next he asked the cow, if there was room for him in the hay, But the cow said that there wasn’t … And he would have to pay. The duck said that he had a spare bed, Where perhaps he could lay down and rest his head. But when the piglet put down his quilt for the night, He found it was too dark … and there was no light. It seemed that no - one cared at all, Perhaps he’d have to sleep on the wall. The piglets started to build a house of hay … It took him forever and a day. Then he built one of brick and wood (Though everyone knows only brick houses are any good). The first piglet bought a hundred bales of hay, It took him forever and a day … He added some windows and a door … And tried to straighten the wobbly floor.

Write a mathematical equation to show your working out to the following maths problems.

1. Work out the volume of one bale of hay that measured 1 m long x 0.5 m wide x 0.75 m high bought by the first piglet.

2. The piglet bought 200 planks of wood for his house. If one plank measured 1.5 m and wood cost £2 per m, how much did he pay ?

3. The third piglet bought 1 500 bricks but he could only carry three bricks at once. How many trips did he have to make to carry them all ?

4. The third piglet made cement with 2 000 kg and 3 000 kg of sand. Each kg required 0.5 of water - how much water is that in total ?

5. The third piglet’s house was twice as big as the second piglets, which was three times as big as the first made of hay. If the hay house was 5 m high, how high was the house made of wood and bricks ?

6. As soon as it rained, of course, the roof leaked ! If it rained at a rate of 2 cm per hour, how long did a bucket 50 cm high take to fill ?

7. The piglet kicked over the 5 litre bucket and out spilled 30% - how much was left ? Give your answer in ml and litres.

8. The piglet refilled the bucket from the water hose … if it spurted water at a rate of 0.5 litres / minute, how long did it take to refill the 5 litre bucket ?

9. The third piglet bought a saw for £19.99, a hammer for £5.99 and twenty nails for £0.25 each - how much change did he receive from £100.00 ?

10. The piglets employed four workmen to help build their house. They charged £15.00 per hour. If he paid them £1000 between the four of them, how long did they work ?

11. The house of bricks had a roof that measured 50 m x 20 m. In one square metre, there were 8 roof tiles - how many tiles were on the entire roof ?

12. The piglet burned 12 logs on the fire every day. How many logs did he burn in one year ?

13. The second piglet put a grandfather clock in his house. It chimed twice every hour - on the hour and at half past the hour. How many times is that per day ?

14. On the television aerial, on the roof, there were 16 blackbirds … 4 flew away - what fraction, decimal and percentage is this ?

15. The number twelve bus stopped outside the piglet’s house 14 times every day. How many times is that per week ?

16. The three piglets cleaned the windows of the house. If there were 18 windows, how many did they clean each ?

17. The three piglets sat down for dinner … One piglet ate 18 biscuits, the second 12, the third 24. How many biscuits did they eat in total ?

18. Whilst making the house, the first piglet hammered 20% of the 300 nails, the second 30% and the third, the remainder. How many nails did each piglet hammer ?

19. The second piglet oinked that the third piglet hadn’t done his share of the house keeping. He spent 2.1 hours vacuum cleaning, 1.8 hours washing, 2.1 hours ironing and 2.7 hours polishing - how many minutes is that in total ?

20. The second piglet spilt milk on the rug ! When he went to clean it up, he rubbed a hole 7 cm wide in the rug. Work out the surface area of the hole using the formula 2 ii r.

21. House prices rocketed with inflation ! The house made of bricks was worth £75 000 - but increased in value by 25% - how much was it then worth ?

22. The house made of wood soon dell down. If it fell at a rate of 2 planks a day, how many of the 200 planks were left after three weeks ?

23. If one of the 1 500 bricks weighed 2.4 kg, one of the six windows weighed 70 kg and one of the two doors weighed 58 kg, work out the weight of the brick house.

24. The hay house was put on the market, but there was a price slump … and the price reduced by 10%. If it’s value was originally £2 500 - how much was it then worth ?

25. The wood house was sold for £3 000 with 17.5 % VAT - how much did it then cost ?

House To Let Quiz

One of the piglets fell through the roof ! He made a hole in these words … Add “let” to complete the spelling.

* * * ters

de* * * e

toi * * *

* * * tering

gob * * *

in * * *

* * * down

* * * fall

* * * slip

* * * off the hook

* * * it be

* * * ’s do this

* * * ter headed

* * * in

* * * up

* * * well alone

out * * *

* * * hargy

* * * hal

* * * ter board

* * * ter clip

* * * ter weight

note * * *

plate * * *

© Jacqueline Richards 2007

Game 1 Answers : 1.0.375 cubic m 2. 200 x 1.5 x 2 = £ 600 3. 1500 / 3 = 500 4. 5000 x0.5 = 2500 litres 5. house 2 - 5 x 3 = 15 m; house 3 - 5 x 3 x 2 = 30 m 6. 25 hours 7. 5000 - (5000 / 100 x 30) = 1500) = 3 500 ml = 3.5 l 8. 5 / 0.2 = 10 mins 9. 100 - (19.99 + 5.99 + (20 x 0.25) = 30.9 £69.02 10. 1000 / 4 / 15 = 16.6 hours 11. 50 x 20 / 8 =125 12. 12 x 365 = 4380 13. 24 x 2 = 48 14. 4/ 16 = 1 / 4; 0.25; 25% 15. 14 x 7 = 98 16. 18 / 3 = 6 17. 18 + 12 + 24 = 54 18. pig 1 - 300 / 100 x 20 = 60; pig 2 - 300 / 100 x 30 = 90; pig 3 - 300 / 100 x 50 = 150 19. 2.1 + 1.8 + 2.1 + 2.7 = 8.7 hours = (8 x 60) + (60 / 10 x 7) = 480 + 42 = 522 mins 20. 2 x 3.14 x 3.5 = 21.98 sq cm 21. 75 000 + (75 000 / 100 x 25 = 18750) = £93 , 750 22. 200 - (2 x 21) = 158 planks 23. (1 500 x 2.4) + (6 x 70) + (2 x 5 = 3600 + 420 + 116 = 4 136 kg 24. 2 500 - (2 500 / 100 x 10 = 250) = £2 250 25. 3 000 + (3 000 / 100 x 17.5) = £3 525

Game 2 Answers : letters; delete; toilet; lettering; goblet; inlet; let down; let fall; let slip; let off the hook; let it be; let’s do this; letter headed; let in; let up; let well alone; outlet; lethargy; lethal; letter board; letter clip; letter weight; notelet; platelet

Tin Can Alley was just off Twenty - Second Street,
It was where all the best policemen had their beat.
You could hear tin cans, as they kicked them with their feet !
There were hotdog stands and taxis, too,
As well as tin cans, that rattled as they flew !

Write a mathematical equation to show your working out to the following math problems.

1/ Tin Can Alley was 55 metres long … if a policeman walked 3 / 5 ths down it, how much further did he have to walk ?

2/ Tin Can Alley had 15 tall sky - scraper buildings … each with 40 windows. If one tin can was placed on each of the windows, and 78 % fell off … how many tin cans were left on the windows ?

3/ Tin Can Alley had one litter bin every 8 metres. How many litter bins were there in 880 m ?

4/ A tin can was kicked 4 m down Tin Can Alley, 6 m West along 22nd Street, 34 m East across 21st Street, 67 m North to the Boulevard. How far in total did the tin can travel ?

5/ Tin Can Alley had 90 lamp lights, each 25 m apart - how long does that make Tin Can Alley ? 15% of the lamplights were switched off - how many were on ?

6/ Tin Can Alley had traffic lights that flashed red, amber, green 8 times in 5 minutes - how often is that in one day ?

7/ Tin Can Alley had a pelican crossing with 15 stripes, each 1.25 metres wide. How wide ws Tin Can Alley, therefore ?

8/ In Tin Can Alley, lived 3 tramps … Jack slept for 5 hours a day, Fred for 15 hours and another, Bob, for 10 hours. Express this as a ratio. What fraction of the total hours slept did Jack sleep ? What decimal of the total hours slept did Fred sleep ? What percentage of the total hours slept did Bob sleep ?

9/ The hotdog stand on Tin Can Alley sold 500 hotdogs a day for $1.20 - how much revenue did it make in one week ?

10/ Tin Can Alley had a newspaper stand which sold 600 newspapers. 6% of them blew away in the wind. How many does that leave ?

11/ Along Tin Can Alley, in one hour, drove 15 cyclists, 25 pedestrians, 35 cars and 5 trucks. How many things in total travelled down Tin Can Alley ? What fraction of the total vehicles were cyclists ? What decimal of the total vehicles were cars ? What percentage were pedestrians ? What fraction were trucks ?

12/ On Tin Can Alley, there were 150 taxis - 45% of them parked - how many is this ?

The Tin Can Can Can

The tin can has been kicked from out of these words. Can you put it back ? Add “can” to complete the spellings. Can you think of an example in a sentence where this “can” word “can” be used ?

____ ____ ____ dy

____ ____ ____ did

____ ____ ____ tonese

____ ____ ____ ary

____ ____ ____ celled

____ ____ ____ dlelight

____ ____ ____ dle

____ ____ ____ didate

____ ____ ____ dour

hurri____ ____ ____ e

____ ____ ____ tering

s____ ____ ____ner

walking ____ ____ ____e

____ ____ ____ ine

____ ____ ____ nibal

____ ____ ____ nonball

____ ____ ____ neloni

____ ____ ____ ister

____ ____ ____ nula

____ ____ ____ cerous

Tin Man “Tin” - “Can” Spelling Activity

The tin can has been kicked from out of these words. Can you put it back ? Add “tin” to complete the spellings. Can you think of an example in a sentence where be used ?

____ ____ ____ foil

____ ____ ____ ker

____ ____ ____ ted

s____ ____ ____ king

____ ____ ____ hat

____ ____ ____ cture

____ ____ ____ god

____ ____ ____ ful

____ ____ ____ gle

____ ____ ____ plate

____ ____ ____ whistle

____ ____ ____ soldier

____ ____ ____ ned peaches

s____ ____ ____ g

____ ____ ____ opener

____ ____ ____ sel

____ ____ ____ nitus

 ____ _____ ____ der

 ____ _____ ____cture

 ____ _____ ____ea

 ____ _____ ____ ted

Fifth Avenue

Add the letters A - V - E to complete the words :

h ____ _____ ____

gr ____ _____ ____

br ____ _____ ____

r ____ _____ ____

r ____ _____ ____ n

p ____ _____ ____

p ____ _____ ____ ment

depr ____ _____ ____ d

kn ____ _____ ____

g ____ _____ ____

sl ____ _____ ____

sl ____ _____ ____ ry

concl ____ _____ ____

 autocl ____ _____ ____

sh ____ _____ ____

sh ____ _____ ____ r

w ____ _____ ____

w ____ _____ ____ length

s ____ _____ ____

n ____ _____ ____ l

© Jacqueline Richards 2007

Answers : candy ; candid ; Cantonese ; canary ; cancelled ; candlelight ; candle ; candidate ; candour ; hurricane ; cantering ; scanner ; walking cane ; canine ; cannibal ; cannonball ; canneloni ; canister ; cannula ; cancerous

Answers :
1/ 55 - (55 / 5 x 3 = 33) = 22
2/ (15 x 40 = 600) - (600 / 100 x 7 = 600 - 468 = 132 tin cans
3/ 880 / 8 = 110
4/ 4 + 6 + 34 + 67 = 111 m
5/ a) 90 x 25 = 2250 m b) 90 - (90 / 100 x 15 = 13.5 = 14) = 76
6/ 24 x 60 / 5 x 8 = 2304
7/ 15 x 1.25 = 18.75 m
8/ a) Jack : Bob : Fred = 5 : 10 : 15 = 1 : 2 : 3
b) 5 / 30 = 1 / 6 th
c) 15 / 30 = 1 / 2 = 0.5
d) 10 / 30 = 1 / 3 = 33 %
9/ 500 x 1.20 x 7 = $4200
10/ 600 - (600 / 100 x 6 = 36) = 564 newspapers
11/ a) 15 + 25 + 35 + 5 = 80 ; b) 15 / 80 = 3 / 16 ; c) 25 / 80 = 31.25 % ; d) 5 / 80 = 1 / 16th
12/ 150 / 100 x 45 = 67.5 taxis

Answers : tinfoil ; tinker ; tinted ; stinking ; tin hat ; tincture ; tin god ; tinful ; tingle ; tin plate ; tin whistle ; tin soldier ; tinned peaches ; sting ; tin opener ; tinsel ; tinnitus ; tinder ; tincture ; tinea; tinted

Some Oam ? Omb ? or Ome ? Homophones
Which is the correct one to use ?

s ____ ____ ____

h ____ ____ ____

c ____ ____ ____ ed

wholes____ ____ ____

threes____ ____ ____

s ____ ____ ____ body

gn ____ ____ ____

hair - c____ ____ ____

twos____ ____ ____

S____ ____ ____ rset

f____ ____ ____

chr____ ____ ____

s____ ____ ____ day

t ____ ____ ____

beach - c ____ ____ ____ er

s ____ ____ ____ times

R ____ ____ ____

s ____ ____ ____ rsault

d ____ ____ ____

honeyc ____ ____ ____

s ____ ____ ____ where

chromos ____ ____ ____

s ____ ____ ____ one

pl ____ ____ ____

r ____ ____ ____ ing

w ____ ____ ____

s ____ ____ ____ what

r ____ ____ ____ ed

fours ____ ____ ____

s ____ ____ ____ thing

Write a mathematical equation to show your working out to the following maths problems.

 1/ The gnome’s home was three times bigger than the mushroom, which was five times bigger than the ant, which was 0.3 cm high. How high was the gnome’s home ?

 2/ The gnome’s home had six windows. The gnome spent 30 minutes cleaning and 10 minutes polishing each one - how long did it take him in total to clean his windows ? Give your answer in minutes and hours.

 3/ The gnome’s home had a garden which was 5 m wide x 7.5 m long. Work out the surface area.

 4/ The gnome planted 14 daffodil bulbs, 21 crocus and 28 snowdrop bulbs.

a) Express this as a ratio.
b) What fraction of the bulbs planted were daffodils ?
c) What decimal were crocus ?
d) What percentage were snowdrop bulbs ?

 5/ The gnome painted his door with 2.5 litres of red paint and the windows with 1.5 litres of yellow paint.

a) Express this as a fraction.
b) If one square m required 0.5 mls of paint, what was the surface area that he painted ?

 6/ The tiles were always falling off the gnome’s roof … one roof tile fell off every three days. In how many days did 30 roof tiles fall off ?

 7/ The gnome bought a new table and chairs for his home which cost £199.00. How much change did he receive from £500 ?

 8/ The gnome spent 15 minutes fixing things, 30 minutes vacuum cleaning, 45 minutes polishing and 1 hour 15 minutes ironing every week.

a) Express this as a ratio.
b) Work out the total time that he spent housekeeping.
c) What fraction of his housekeeping time did he spend fixing things ?
d) What decimal did he spend vacuum cleaning ?
e) What percentage did he spend polishing ?
f) What percentage did he spend ironing ?

 9/ The gnome had 6 mice, 18 cockroaches, 24 spiders and 36 ants who shared his home.

a) Express this as a ratio.
b) What fraction of the insects in the gnome’s home were mice ?
c) What decimal were cockroaches ?
d) What percentage were spiders ?
e) What decimal were ants ?

 10/ The gnome asked a number of handymen to come and help fix his home. The carpenter spent three times as long as the electrician. The electrician spent twice as long doing jobs as the maid. The maid took five times as long as the window cleaner, who took 25 minutes. Work out how long each of the odd job men took doing their work.

 11/ The gnome needed new floorboards for his home. If he had 8 rooms, each 4.5 m wide x 6 m long - what was the surface area that he had to cover ? If one floorboard was 50 cm wide - how many floorboards did he need ?

 12/ The gnome made curtains for each window of his home. If he needed 30 square metres of fabric (costing £2.99 per metre), one reel of cotton (costing £0.75) and three new needles for his sewing machine (costing £0.60 each), how much did the new curtains take to make ?

 13/ If the gnome bought 50 square m of fabric, how many 75 cm x 75 cm cushions could he make from the spare material ?

 14/ The gnome filled the vegetable rack in his home with one cauliflower (£1.20), 10 kg of potatoes (£0.95 per kilo), 4 kg of apples (£0.45 per kilo), 2 kg of onions (£0.60 per kilo), 6 oranges (£0.25 each), 5 kilo of carrots (£1.20 per kilo) and one kilo of mushrooms (£1.99). How much did his weekly shop cost ?

 15/ The gnome wasn’t that tall at all, of course. If it took him 1.3 minutes to climb one step, how long did it take him to reach the top of the stairs with 50 steps ?

© Jacqueline Richards 2007

Answers : some; home; combed; wholesome; threesome; somebody; gnome; hair - comb; twosome; Somerset; foam; chrome; some day; tomb; beach - comber; sometimes; Rome; somersault; dome
honeycomb; somewhere; chromosome; someone; plomb; roaming; womb; somewhat; roamed; foursome; something

Answers :
1/ 0.3 x 5 x 3 = 2.25 cm
2/ (30 + 10) x 6 = 240 minutes / 60 = 4 hours
3/ 5 x 7.5 = 37.5 square m
4/ a) daffodils : crocuses : snowdrops = 14 : 21 : 28 = 2 : 3 : 4 b) 14 / (14 + 21 + 2 = 14 / 63 = 2 / 9 ths c) 21 / 63 0.33 r d) 28 / 63 = 4/ 9 ths
5/ a) yellow : red 1.5 / 2.5 = 3 / 5 ths b) Total paint / paint requirement per square m = 2.5 + 1.5 / 0.5 = 8 square metres
6/ 30 /3 = 10 tiles
7/ 500 - 199.99 = £301
8/ a) fixing : cleaning : polishing : ironing 15 : 30 : 45 : 75 = 1 : 2 : 3 : 5 b) 165 mins c) 15 / 165 = 1 / 11 ths d) 30 / 165 = 6 / 33 e) 0.18 f) 45 / 165 = 27.27 / 100 = 27.27 % g) 75 / 165 = 45.454 / 100 = 45%
9/ a) 1 : 3 : 4 : 6 b) 6 / (6 + 18 + 24 + 36 = 84) = 1 / 14 th c) 18 / 84 = 0.214 d) 24 / 84 = 28.57 % e) 36 / 84 = 0.4285
10/ c = 3 x 250 = 750 mins; e = 2 x 125 = 250 mins; m = 25 x 5 = 125 mins; wc = 25 mins
11/ a) 8 x 4.5 x 6 = 216 square m b) 4.5 / 0.5 = 9 x 8 = 72 floorboards
12/ (30 x 2.99 = 89.70) + 0.75 + (3 x 0.6 = 1. = £92.20
13/ (50 - 30 = 20 square metres) / (0.75 x 0.75 = 0.5625) = 35.55 r = 35 cushions
14/ 1.2 + (0.95 x 10) + (4 x 0.45) + (2 x 0.6) + (6 x 0.25) + (5 x 1.2) + 1.99 = £23.19
15/ 1.3 x 50 = 65 mins

The furniture beetle was only an eigth of an inch tall. In fact, he was so small, he could hardly be seen at all. But if a table needed moving in the hall, you’d be amazed at how he could make the furniture free fall. Really, he liked his home underneath the chair by the wall - it was certainly better than living upstairs, which he didn’t much care for at all. The lamp threw shadows on the wall. It was just far enough from the windy door and he never once got swept up in the dusty floor. In the evenings, when dusk came, the fire flies lit the fireplace flames. Although compared to the furniture beetle, the table had two less legs, it was a great place to take a breakfast of buttered toast and eat fried lava eggs. And when he fancied a bit of tea to sup, the furniture beetle went for a swim in the cup. The furniture beetle’s friend, the flea, sometimes came to join him for tea. Except one day, he couldn’t find the way … he got lost by the gate and almost became a stray, they say. He asked a fellow flea on the cat’s tail, if he knew how to get there, avoiding the bannister rail. The flea showed him a path that wouldn’t fail - he said to, “Go through the letterbox and follow the mail. That way would be quicker than if you were a snail”. The furniture beetle launched off the cushion - he was late, so had to be rushing. Luckily he landed on the bed … but it still wasn’t enough to stop him banging his head. When the furniture beetle found his great mate, he was at least an hour and a half late. The furniture beetle wasn’t at all pleased, he feared his friend had been swept away on the breeze. Straight away, he put the kettle on and made sure the dinner was done. Very soon, they were having lots of fun. They played beetle drive - and of course, the beetle won. The furniture beetle invited his pal, to his new house, to get away from the mouse, where he would be moving soon. He said he had been packing all afternoon. The furniture beetle said he knew of a friendly worm firm, who would help him move called “Removals & Squirm”. Although they came on the wrong day and dropped a flowerpot, they helped the furniture beetle rather a lot with his dry rot. Generally, the furniture beetle was impressed with the service. When they lifted the rug, out fell a bug. The mites packed the beetle’s socks and put the beetle’s belongings into a box. The ants also came to lend a hand, although three of them bumped into the hatstand. Very soon, across the living room, an insect trail began … avoiding the broom. The cockroach moved the coach. As the bees flew overhead, carrying everything from the garden shed, the spider helped catapult the kitchen pots and pans, heading towards the furniture removals van. Next, with all their might, the sofa was lifted by the mites - no wonder the removals men got wasps stings and insect bites ! The insects piled everything up high on the truck, trying very hard not to get their wheels in the mud, stuck. Then they had to look for the map book ! The furniture beetle’s moving house was fast becoming a saga … in fact, they were so exhausted, that two wasps stopped off, for a packet of crisps and half a lager. Along came a ladybird, who could plainly see, what a pickle was being made removing furniture by the furniture beetle and the flea. After about a week, the furniture beetle arrived in his new home on the lillypad with an “Eek !”. His new neighbours, the frog and the dragonfly unloaded the removals van which waved goodbye. The stickleback helped the furniture beetle unpack. They took the cups and saucers from out of his sack and dusted off his duvet with a bit of a “WHACK !”. Out popped two other fleas, who’d been snoozing in the covers, away from the freeze. The moth polished everything with a cloth and the louse approved of his house. An earwig sat on a nearby twig, showed the furniture beetle how to dig with a jig. His new lillypad home was great for a trip … and ever better if he wanted a dip. The first thing the furniture beetle wanted to do was to go for a swim, degrees celcius minus, two with all his friends who’d helped him, from the insect zoo.

Activity - Draw a picture of a hosue for any kind of animals you can think of. It may be a koala bear, or a kangeroo - what do you think they would put inside ? how would a kangeroo or a koala bear like their ideal home to be ?

© Jacqueline Richards 2007

If you could create paradise - what would you put there ?” asked the poor and distraught fisherman to his sea - faring pals - who didn’t have a bed for the night nor anything to eat for supper, their bellies rumbling. In their imagination and wildest dreams, they fantasised about tasty pot roasts, toasted on a spit over an open fire on the beach and sweet sundaes, melting coconut ice - cream in the hot midday sun. Perhaps a palm tree under which to take shade from the heat and pools of salty water in which to bathe. Treasure Island, the fishermen pondered would have fish of every variety - cod and roach, plaice and prawns (with lots of salt and vinegar, naturally).

“Treasure Island for me would be full of fun and frolicks” said the magician to the clown, flipping on a trapeze and waving his magic wand at the elephant. Of course, there would be ice cream cornets and chocolate sundaes, responded the sellers from the ice - cream parlour.

“If you could create paradise - what would you put there ?” asked the Robin Redbreast to Father Christmas, imagining Christmas presents of every variety, size and shape with ribbons and bows, patterned paper and parcels under the tree. Perfumes and scents, potions and lotions, everything wonderous in Pandora’s box.

“If you could create paradise - what would you put there ?” asked the Easter Bunny to the spring lamb - chocolate surprises and sweets, buttons and biscuits. Tremendous teas and titbit cakes crumbling into the sand, cooking up something special.

The Librarian’s idea of paradise would be full of books, literary texts and manuscripts - with pictures and postcards, indexed, catalogued and ordered from A to Z. “If you could create paradise - what would you put there ?” asked the Poet Laureat to the Artist - paintbrushes and paint pots, of every colour of the rainbow and all different shades. Pens and papers, chalks and colouring crayons.

“If you could create paradise - what would you put there ?” asked the caterpillar to the bug - lettuce leaves and cabbages, strawberries and raspberries - jams and marmalades.

“If you could create paradise - what would you put there ?” asked the jewelry thief to the vagabond cat burglar - pearls and diamonds, of course, rubies and sapphires, emeralds and gold - just like the crown jewels.

“If you could create paradise - what would you put there ?” asked the mathematician to the statician - calculus and calulators, algebraic formula and additions, divisions and multiplications. That’s what paradise is. A true heaven of sums and statistics.

“If you could create paradise - what would you put there ?” asked the PE teacher to the Headmaster - badminton racquets and shuttlecocks - bouncing balls and frizbies.

“If you could create paradise - what would you put there ?” asked the Roman God, Zeus to Diana. Goddess of Love - of course, lots of cupids, shooting arrows and chariots galore. There ought to be roman legions and batallions of centurions - gladiators and Olympic medallions, picking up his gold medal.

“If you could create paradise - what would you put there ?” asked the hairdresser to the beautician - scissors and clippers, shampoos and sets, curlers and coils - with lots of luscious, lovely lipsticks and rosy rouges. Of course, everybody would arrive on time for their appointment - and the taps would run hot water.

Para - dice

Add either - ice, - ise or - ies in place of the dice.

conc

franch

ent
v

cr
n  

sp
tr

surpr

n  r
tw

apprent

desp

fr

para

recipe
Banana Tree Stumps
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups butterscotch pieces
6 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
4 medium bananas
1 1/2 cups finely chopped peanuts or almond brickle pieces

In a small saucepan, combine the butterscotch pieces and peanut butter. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until butterscotch pieces are melted. Remove from heat. Peel the banana. With a knife, cut the banana into 1-inch pieces. Dip each piece of banana into the butterscotch mixture. Lift out with a fork. Roll in the chopped peanuts or almond brickle pieces to coat. Place on a wax paper-lined plate. Chill for 2 hours.
© Jacqueline Richards 2005

Answers : Para - dice
concise; franchise; entice; vice; cries; nice; spice; tries; surprise; nicer; twice; apprentice; despise; fries; paradise

When the world turned upside down, gravity disappeared.

When the world turned upside down, gravity disappeared and the continents were swallowed up by the seas.

When the world turned upside down, gravity disappeared, the continents were swallowed up by the seas … trees floated off into the sky … and the rainclouds rained leaves, green, brown and yellow.

When the world turned upside down, gravity disappeared, the continents were swallowed up by the seas … trees floated off into the sky … the rainclouds rained leaves, green, brown and yellow and the snow fell upwards.

When the world turned upside down, gravity disappeared, the continents were swallowed up by the seas … trees floated off into the sky … the rainclouds rained leaves, green, brown and yellow and the snow fell upwards and the flowers all sprouted from the soil and landed up somewhere between Mars and Venus.

When the world turned upside down, gravity disappeared … trees floated off into the sky … the rainclouds rained leaves, green, brown and yellow, the snow fell upwards, the flowers all sprouted from the soil and landed up somewhere between Mars and Venus … and even the Moon travelled between the stars and landed on the Sun, with a splatter of moondust.

When the world turned upside down, gravity disappeared, … trees floated off into the sky … the rainclouds rained leaves, green, brown and yellow, the snow fell upwards, the flowers all sprouted from the soil and landed up somewhere between Mars and Venus … even the Moon travelled between the stars and landed on the Sun, with a splatter of moondust … and electric lamposts became satelites and rocketed around in orbit.

When the world turned upside down, gravity disappeared, … trees floated off into the sky … the rainclouds rained leaves, green, brown and yellow, the snow fell upwards, the flowers all sprouted from the soil and landed up somewhere between Mars and Venus … even the Moon travelled between the stars and landed on the Sun, with a splatter of moondust … electric lamposts became satelites and rocketed around in orbit and the garden shed ended up on the roof and the garden tools on the chimney stack.

When the world turned upside down, gravity disappeared … trees floated off into the sky … the rainclouds rained leaves, green, brown and yellow, the snow fell upwards, the flowers all sprouted from the soil and landed up somewhere between Mars and Venus … even the Moon travelled between the stars and landed on the Sun, with a splatter of moondust … electric lamposts became satelites and rocketed around in orbit and the garden shed ended up on the roof and the garden tools on the chimney stack and cars skidded around the rainbow.

When the world turned upside down, gravity disappeared, … trees floated off into the sky … the rainclouds rained leaves, green, brown and yellow, the snow fell upwards, the flowers all sprouted from the soil and landed up somewhere between Mars and Venus … even the Moon travelled between the stars and landed on the Sun, with a splatter of moondust … electric lamposts became satelites and rocketed around in orbit and the garden shed ended up on the roof and the garden tools on the chimney stack, people, crossing zebra crossings, landed up on traffic lights and the dogs they were walking found a place to sit on the bollards in the middle of the road.

When the world turned upside down, gravity disappeared, … trees floated off into the sky … the rainclouds rained leaves, green, brown and yellow, the snow fell upwards, the flowers all sprouted from the soil and landed up somewhere between Mars and Venus … even the Moon travelled between the stars and landed on the Sun, with a splatter of moondust … electric lamposts became satelites and rocketed around in orbit and the garden shed ended up on the roof and the garden tools on the chimney stack, people, crossing zebra crossings, landed up on traffic lights and the dogs they were walking found a place to sit on the bollards in the middle of the road and the pages of books flapped over and whole libraries were never seen again.

When the world turned upside down, gravity disappeared, … trees floated off into the sky … the rainclouds rained leaves, green, brown and yellow, the snow fell upwards, the flowers all sprouted from the soil and landed up somewhere between Mars and Venus … even the Moon travelled between the stars and landed on the Sun, with a splatter of moondust … electric lamposts became satelites and rocketed around in orbit … the garden shed ended up on the roof and the garden tools on the chimney stack, people, crossing zebra crossings, landed up on traffic lights … the dogs they were walking found a place to sit on the bollards in the middle of the road and tables and chairs toppled over and the rug in front of the fireplace became magic and skirted off.

When the world turned upside down, gravity disappeared, … trees floated off into the sky … the rainclouds rained leaves, green, brown and yellow, the snow fell upwards, the flowers all sprouted from the soil and landed up somewhere between Mars and Venus … even the Moon travelled between the stars and landed on the Sun, with a splatter of moondust … electric lamposts became satelites and rocketed around in orbit … the garden shed ended up on the roof and the garden tools on the chimney stack, people, crossing zebra crossings, landed up on traffic lights … the dogs they were walking found a place to sit on the bollards in the middle of the road and tables and chairs toppled over and the rug in front of the fireplace became magic and skirted off … the clock ticked backwards and the alarm bell rang on the hour, every hour.

© Jacqueline Richards 2005

The upside – down town had no sky – scrapers at all – the bricklayers made houses with upside – down walls. Chimney pots were in the gutter … and all the toast had upside down jam and butter. In the gardens of the upside – down town, the flowers grew upside down too – the sky was green and the grass was blue. No wonder the birds dropped their crumbs, when they flew upside – down, they went instead of come. The people walked upon their heads, they slept all day and at night went back to bed. The traffic lights flashed green, amber red – in the upside – down town, the zebra crossings were all tigers instead. The cars all reversed instead of driving straight – no wonder everyone was always late ! In the upside – down town, the chickens drank milk and the cows laid eggs … the dogs meiouwed and the cats had two legs. People talked gobble – de – gook and started reading at the last page of the books. Upside down and around about – the people wore their clothes inside out. They wore their socks on their hands, their hats on their feet and their shirts buttoned at the back … everything was the wrong way around. In the upside – down town, everything upside – down abound. Because the doors were upside down too, the postman had to jump, no wonder he always looked such a grump. It took a step ladder to post a letter, no wonder the Upside Down Town never got any better. The lights switched off instead of on and everything went up instead of down. The kettle was always cold and the fridge was hot … the clothes in the washing machine got dirty quite a lot. The moon came out in the day and the Sun came out at night, no wonder the Upside – Down Town didn’t look quite right.

Up &           Spelling Activity
         Down

FIll in the gap with either UP or DOWN to complete the English words, phrase or sentence. Which is the correct one to use ?

_____ cast
_____ beat
_____ cast
_____ wards
_____ fall
_____ to
_____ grade
_____ pour
_____ right
_____ market
_____ set
_____ and out
_____ shot
_____ rising
_____ root
_____ - to - date equipment
_____ at heel
_____ standing member of the community
_____ - hearted
_____ turn

Greater and Lesser Than Mathematics Activity

Fill in the gaps between the numbers below - should they be greater than (&gt of less than (&lt ? Example = 56 < 546

56    364

264    376

33    28

682    840

97    431

843    100

796    87

437    69

84    37

976    94

376    98

43    76

67    90

34   12

45   89

102  47

209  4

© Jacqueline Richards 2005

Answers : downcast
downbeat
down cast
upwards
downfall
upto
downgrade
downpour
downright
up market
upset
down and out
upshot uprising
uproot
up - to - date equipment
down at heel
upstanding member of the community
down - hearted
upturn

© Jacqueline Richards 2007

The bug’s rug was warm and snug. It was a great place to sleep and the bug usually snoozed all morning and all afternoon - the bug didn’t even notice, if it was breakfast, dinner or noon. That is until one day, a noisy vacuum cleaner disturbed the peace .. and sucked up the bug in a gust of dusty wind. The bug was blasted into the air … if he would land, the bug didn’t know where and the other bugs didn’t really seem to care. The bug wailed as through the room he sailed, over the sofa and towards the door, the bug suddenly landed with a bump on the floor. He slid down a picture frame and almost bumped his head, but luckily he had landed in a soft, warm, quilted bed instead. The bug jumped up … and saw a great light, it was, of course, the lamp bulb, shining out quite bright in the night. He hung on one of the tassles, and dangled from the shade, you wouldn’t believe the “HOOHAA !” that the swinging bug made. For all that he flapped his wings, the bug started to get stuck on things. From the heights of the lampshade, the bug could see a clock and of course he heard the sound of the clock’s very loud tick tock. Of course, the bug knew he needed a map to see his way out of this mess, but his eyesight was quite poor and he suffered short - sightedness. Aladdin may have a magic carpet, but for a bug, a rug is easier to find in the supermarket. He missed the rug’s warmth where he snuggled inside - when the maid got her dustpan out, it was a great place to hide. Thinking it was left, the bug took a right turn at the table and leapt over the vacuum cleaner cable. He edged under the newspaper rack, but there was nothing interesting in the Daily gazette, so he jumped right back. Hoping to find the door, the bug flew some more, he promptly bumped into a cup, placed on the living room floor. After a refreshing sip of tea with the flea, off he set again … by now his adventure was becoming exciting, but getting lost was quite a pain. “GADZOOKS ! What was that ?!”, the bug cried out with a start as he was hit on the bum with a feather duster - it was the maid pulling the curtains apart. He bunjee - jumped down the pole of the broom and carried on his way around the room. The bug took a deep breath in … slid down the window blind and landed in the bin. He was enjoying his rollercoaster ride until, he suddenly landed with a SPLASH in a flower vase placed on the windowsill. After spending a minute or two chatting, with the spiders and ladybirds (also napping), the bug sprang off a spider’s web - which made a great trampoline … and skidded on a bit of furniture polish that the maid was using to keep the windows clean. By now, the bug felt like an astronaut rocketing through outer space … all he wanted was to get back to his warm, snug rug … by the side of the fireplace. Suddenly the weather took a turn for the worse and snowflakes started to rain down all around - it was crumbs from the childrens’ biscuits of course. The bug’s rug seemed so far away, but the bug kept on searching as night turned to day. Suddenly, the bug started to giggle as he was brushed by the cat’s tail that tickled his middle. He would have to be quick, to dodge his heavy paws or avoid being snatched by her even sharper claws. The bug asked the cat if it knew the way back to his rug … and the cat replied with a meiouw and a shrug, “That she didn’t know, which way the bug was meant to go” but advised the bug that the weather was bad and to go slow. She headed off through the catflap towards the kitchen for a nap. The bug asked the cat if it could hitch a ride since the rug seemed so hopeless to find and the rug was unlikely to be outside. Over the roar of the cat’s purr, next he asked one of the fleas clinging onto his fur since the bug was tired and wanted to go home, but the flea was too busy dodging a flea comb. All the flea did was keep jumping about … he didn’t know either, the bug heard him shout. Eventually, despite, the bug’s long trip … he reached his destination and suddenly flipped … Tired and weary after his journey, he snuggled up back into his rug bed, with one of the woollen tassles as a pillow to rest his head. Very soon, all you could hear, was the sound of a bug snoring after drinking a pint of beer.

As Snug As A Bug In A Rug Writing

If you were a bug, describe our day. What would you be doing ? Where would you sleep ? What would you eat ?

© Jacqueline Richards 2007

Swamps are warm and wet, heavily forested, and full of animal and plant life where frogs and toads breed in swamps. Many people think swamps and marshes are the same thing. They are not. Marshes have reeds, rushes, cattails, are treeless, and are open. Swamps, however, are either completely or partially overgrown with trees and have mucky soil. Swamps are natural habitats to alligators, crocodiles, beaver, black bear, cougars, earthworms, fish, flies, frogs, mosquitos, newts, raccoons, red wolves, snapping turtles (strong jawed, long tailed turtles), spiders, toads, whitetailed deer, zooplankton (tiny animals that float along in the water), and snails.
But our story today is about a Monarch Butterfly and the creatures he met on his marshland journey. The Monarch Butterfly was flying over the swampy marsh, looking for somewhere to rest his weary wings - where better than the swampy marsh - for a paddle in the pondside and swing on the ivy branches. He wanted to freshen up on something fizzy - what better than ginny green teeth swamp water. Mossland and marshland was the Monarch Butterfly’s favourite habitat holiday, every March - so many other dragonflies were there enjoying themselves, too, among the reedbeds, though drenched wet through in dew and damp because of the water draining from the land. His friends in the fens were also waterlogged and adapted well to the watery conditions. The Monarch Butterfly loved to trampoline on the peaty sponge - drying off on the vegetation fens after his swim in the springs arising from the glaciers.
Like most fen - holiday makers, the Monarch Butterfly always enjoyed watching wild animals in the wilderness and birds in flight . . . The Monarch Butterfly played golf in the prairie potholes, flipping on flood plains and forests. Fish and other aquatic creatures were abundant, and the banks of the gushing streams and rivers were overgrown with vegetation. Pools, created by boulders and dead logs, provided spawning grounds for trout and salmon - the Monarch Butterfly watched the swimming championship - cheering for the winning side. Forested with cedars and spruces, the Monarch Butterfly floated from firs to evergreens, hiding under trees to shelter from surges of hurricanes and tropical storms, though he had to hustle and bustle a bit with nesting and wintering, migrating waterfowl. The Monarch Butterfly nibbled on sweet, scented pollen and chewed a bit of cyprus - gum and cordgrass. Treefrogs and leopard frogs bounced around - the Monarch Butterfly played leapfrog with them all. Muskrats, minks and otters were some other frequent wetlands that the Monarch Butterfly met on his way. Raccoons, opossums, even moose could also be found foraging around marshes, particularly when the water levels dropped.
The Monarch Butterfly could hear them rustling in the grass beneath the trees. A wide variety of birds such as ducks, swans, terns, geese, herons and songbirds are found in marshes and swamps. The Monarch Butterfly enjoyed a right royal singalong with them. Watersnakes and gartersnakes living on the fringes of ponds, lakes, and creeks, feeding on fishes and amphibians, were only too happy to share their delightful dinner with the Monarch Butterfly. The Monarch Butterfly snapped photographs of alligators and slid along with snakes. He hitched a ride on the back of a turtles (though he was quite slow moving).

© Jacqueline Richards 2005