Welcome to Kids Chapter Check-Ins, a space where we pause, think, talk, and write about great books together. Books are better together. So grab your book and let's check in. Hey readers, welcome! Today we're checking in on The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies. This is episode four of the Lemonade War series. Before we get started, make sure that you've read chapters 10 and 11. If not, you can pause the episode, read those chapters, and come right back. It might be helpful to have your book and some paper handy for this episode. If you're using a companion pack, now is a great time to grab that too. Take a moment to gather all of your materials and then we'll get started. Ready? Let's check in. It's the last day of the lemonade war, and the competition between Jesse and Evan has reached a whole new level. Evan decides to move his lemonade stand to a busy road, and Jesse decides to go to the beach with Megan instead. But before she leaves, Jesse secretly fills Evan's lemonade container with dirt and fruit flies, which of course ruins his lemonade. When Evan finds out about this, he is furious, and he tries to get revenge by sneaking into Jesse's room and taking all of her lemonade money. Let's pause for a vocabulary check-in. In today's reading, we hear the word pulverize. Pulverize is a verb that means to crush or break something into very tiny pieces. If you wanted to pulverize a cookie, you might squeeze it in your hand or bang on it with something heavy. If you built a sandcastle at the beach, you'd be really sad if the ocean suddenly pulverized it with a big wave. Now let's take a moment to check your understanding. You'll hear three questions about the word pulverize. Listen to each one and answer yes or no. You can answer out loud or in your head. Are you ready? If you fold a piece of paper in half, did you pulverize it? If you accidentally step on a cracker, would you pulverize it? If you carefully split your cookie in half to share it with someone else, did you pulverize it? If you said no, yes, no, great thinking. It's time for our reading focus. Today we're going to explore problem and solution. In a story, there is always a problem. In fact, a story without a problem would be very boring. Most problems have a solution, but that doesn't always mean that the solution works out the way the characters hoped. Let's think about this in a situation that you might experience in your own life. Maybe you have a problem because you're planning a pool party for Saturday morning, but the weather report is calling for a big rainstorm. There are a few solutions to this problem. One solution could be to move the party to another weekend. With this solution, you would still get the pool party that you were hoping for, just on a different day. Another solution might be to move the party indoors. This solution would solve your problem, but it's most likely not what you were hoping for, because it changes the activities that you had planned. Just like in our real life, characters in the books that we're reading are always experiencing problems and their possible solutions. And just like us, sometimes a solution is not always the best case scenario. Now let's shift our thinking to the lemonade war. Take a moment to think about a problem that's happening right now in the lemonade war. I bet you could even think of more than one. Now think about the solutions to those problems. You might ask yourself questions like, does this problem have a solution yet? Did the solution make the characters happy? Did the solution cause further problems for the characters? Pause your episode here and jot down your ideas or talk about them with someone nearby. It's your turn to jump into the story. Grab your companion pack or a piece of paper. If you're listening with someone else, invite them to be your thinking partner. Imagine that Jesse and Evan need your help. Choose one character and give them three pieces of advice for a problem that they are currently experiencing. Explain how your advice would help them to solve their problem. Pause your podcast here and give them your best advice. It's time to talk about it. Let's try a would you rather question. Would you rather lose a competition or would you rather lose a friendship? Think about your answer in your head or talk it out with someone nearby. Before we end today's check-in, here's something to think about as you keep reading. Keep this question in mind as you keep reading the next section of the story. Thanks for checking in with me today. I'll see you back here soon for episode 5, where we check in on chapters 12 and 13 of the Lemonade War. That's it for today's chapter check-in. If you'd like additional support, check out the link to our companion packs in the show notes below. If you're enjoying Kids Chapter Check-Ins, make sure to follow and subscribe so you don't miss an episode. New chapter check-ins are released weekly. I'll see you back here soon. Until then, keep reading, keep thinking, and be sure to share this episode with a friend because books are better together.