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Lesson 09 Guide
Phase 1

Lesson 09 — Ch. 9 'Mud Is Banished'

The Rescue at Fragment Crag · pp. 91-100 · VT: Making Connections · 50 min total

Lesson context

Phase position: Phase 1 of 3 — establishment posture; foundational stems and dispositions land here.

Cross-phase notes:

  • The Music of the Hemispheres' Similes and Metaphors unit returns in Phase 3 as Produce — introduce here; produce later.

Program Adjustment Notes:

  • Sound unit trimmed; Act 3 deferred to Phase 2. Sustain sound-foundation arc here.
  • Building Language DE stem deferred to Phase 2; RE and SUB sustained in Phase 1.
  • Master-poet sound bridge deferred to Phase 2; foundational sound work sustained here.

Spark · 5 min

Routine: Connect-Extend-Challenge · Disposition: Making Connections
Opening hook: Clack banishes Mud from Sentence Island despite Click's eeeeting defense.
  1. Connect: how does this connect to what you already knew — from earlier chapters, other texts, or your own experience?
  2. Extend: what new ideas extended or pushed your thinking in new directions?
  3. Challenge: what's still confusing or surprising — what doesn't quite fit yet?

Navigator note: First full 3-step CEC at G3-4. The Challenge step is the band's growth edge — at G1-3 it was softened to 'wonder'; at G3-4 it begins to name actual confusion or surprise. Navigator may ask 'what's something the chapter said that didn't match what you expected?' as a Challenge-step scaffold. Accept light Challenges — at this level, naming any genuine friction is success. Connect step often produces broad connections at first ('this is like another book about animals'); navigator may push lightly for specificity ('what's similar about how the animals act?') without forcing it.

Students may Connect to earlier friendship moments — push toward the Challenge of Clack's refusal to listen.

Guided Reading · 12–15 min

Required Reading: The Rescue at Fragment Crag, pp. 91-100 · Suggested passage: pp. 94-96 — Clack's banishment speech and the friends' silence.

These questions are entry points to deeper discussion.

Comprehension Questions
  1. What does Clack accuse Mud of doing on Fragment Crag? 94 — ""But on Fragment Crag, you took your own track, Mack. Your own attack. You were slack. You left the pack after I asked everyone to stack together. You deserted, tacked off on your own, hacked your own path, exactly. And now you want to come back?""
  2. Which friend tries to defend Mud, and what happens? 96 — "At this, Click began to eeeet and eeep in Mud's defense. He remembered the danger he had been in at Fragment Crag. He knew that Mud had gotten there just in time and had attacked the rat. If not for Mud, Baldwin would have been too late. "Eeeeeeet!" said Click. "Stay back, Click," said Clack. "Stay out of this. Tack off, Mack, exactly. Don't come back.""
Discussion Questions
  1. Why does Clack refuse to listen to Mud's explanation, even though Mud tried to tell him on Fragment Crag? 96 — "Mud was flabbergasted. He could not believe what he was hearing, but he looked at Clack's face and knew there was no point trying to explain. Clack was not listening. On Fragment Crag he had tried, twice, to tell Clack that he could hear Click, but Clack was as unwilling to listen then as he was now."
  2. What does the chapter's final line — 'Rats swim' — suggest about what might happen next? 98 — "As he wandered off to somewhere, dropping a trail of scales onto the sand, he was forgetting one important fact that all of the other animals were also forgetting. Rats swim."
Students may want to argue Clack is wrong — let them, then push toward why Clack feels insulted.

The Workshop · 15–18 min

Music of the Hemispheres — Similes and Metaphors primary
pp. 147-161

This unit introduces similes and metaphors as figures of speech — indirect comparisons that express meaning through surprising connections. The Music of the Hemispheres positions these as sound-adjacent devices (Burns's 'like a red, red rose,' Dickinson's 'quiet as a flake') where the comparison itself creates sonic and semantic resonance. Students encounter Aristotle's definition, examine poet-examples from Burns to Shakespeare, and practice constructing their own comparisons.

Suggested Exercises
analytical

Application: Find three similes or metaphors in the unit's poet-examples (Burns, Byron, Dickinson, Shakespeare). For each, name the two things being compared and explain what the comparison reveals.

Extension: Choose one metaphor from the unit and rewrite it as a simile, or vice versa. How does the change affect the comparison's force?

creative

Application: Write two sentences about today's chapter using one simile and one metaphor. Use the unit's examples as models — be surprising in your comparison.

Extension: Write a four-line poem about Mud's banishment that includes at least one simile or metaphor. Use the unit's 'Dawn' poem as a structural guide.

discussion

Application: In pairs, discuss which unit example (Burns, Byron, Dickinson, Shakespeare, Brooke) uses the most surprising comparison. What makes it surprising?

Extension: As a small group, create a simile or metaphor for friendship or betrayal. Share your comparison and explain the connection you're making.

First figures-of-speech encounter — students may default to literal comparisons; push toward Aristotle's 'far apart' criterion.

Student-Formed Conclusion · 7 min

Routine: Connect-Extend-Challenge · Disposition: Making Connections

Student leads. Navigator holds space without prompting repeatedly. The Challenge step often surfaces what the student is still working through — capture it for next-lesson planning; it may inform the next Spark.

  1. Connect: how does today's lesson connect to what you already knew — from earlier chapters, prior units, or your own experience?
  2. Extend: what new idea extended your thinking today?
  3. Challenge: what's still confusing or surprising from today — what doesn't quite fit yet?
Students may Challenge the 'rats swim' ending — hold space for their uncertainty about what happens next.

Wrap-Up & Preview · 5 min

Workshop recap: Students identified poet-comparisons across Burns, Byron, Dickinson, and Shakespeare, then composed their own similes and metaphors about Mud's banishment.

Next lesson preview: Next chapter: Mud is alone, the friends are silent, and rats swim.

Next lesson required reading: The Rescue at Fragment Crag, pp. 101-119
Leave students with the 'rats swim' question — it primes the next chapter's danger.
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