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 six, our final episode of the Lemonade War series. Before we begin, make sure that you've read the entire book. This episode will focus on chapter 14. If you're not quite there yet, you can pause the episode, read the ending, and come right back. It might be helpful to have your book and some paper handy for this episode. If you're using the companion pack, now is a great time to grab that too. Take a moment to gather everything you need, and then we'll get started. Ready? Let's check in. They work together to try to solve the money problem and they end the lemonade war. By the end of the story, Jesse and Evan have learned important lessons about honesty, forgiveness, and the importance of family. Let's pause for a vocabulary check-in. In today's reading, we hear the word shriek. Shriek is a verb that means to scream loudly, usually because of fear, surprise, or excitement. You might shriek if the power goes off unexpectedly, or if your family throws you a surprise party. Or if an unknown dog is chasing you throughout your neighborhood. Now let's take a moment to check your understanding. You'll hear three questions about the word shriek. Listen to each one and answer yes or no. You can answer out loud or in your head. Are you ready? Would someone shriek if they found out they were going on a surprise vacation? Would someone shriek inside a haunted house? Is shrieking the same as whispering? If you said yes, yes, no, great thinking. It's time for our reading focus. Today we're going to explore context clues. Context clues are hints that the author includes in and around a sentence that helped us to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words. As a reader, it can be really frustrating and confusing to read a book with lots of words that we don't know. When that happens, we don't have to give up. Instead, we can use the text and those clues the author sprinkles in to help us to figure out those unfamiliar words. Here's a strategy that can help us. When we see an unfamiliar word, we want to look at the entire sentence or sometimes the entire paragraph where we see that word. Then we want to follow these four simple steps. First, we want to read the whole sentence or the whole paragraph again. Second, we want to look for clues around that word. What other words did the author include in that sentence or in that paragraph that might give us some hints about that unknown word? Third, we want to use those clues to make a really smart guess. And then fourth, we want to keep reading. We want to reread that sentence or even that entire paragraph to make sure that our smart guess makes sense. Let's try one together. If you have your book handy, open it to page 164. Find the word gouging. Chances are gouging is a word that you're unfamiliar with. But don't worry, context clues can help us. When you have your finger on that word gouging, let's work together to follow this four-step process. First, we're going to read the entire sentence where we see the word gouging. It sounds like this. He kept his hands in front of his face to keep Jesse from gouging out his eyes. Our second step is to look for clues around that word. When I look back into that sentence and then back into that paragraph, I see that Jesse and Evan are fighting. And I notice that Evan is protecting his eyes. So that gives me a pretty big clue that gouging is probably talking about something to do with poking or digging. Because when you have to protect your eyes, you're protecting them from someone touching them or poking them, digging at them. Once I've checked for those clues, I'm ready for step three, which is to make my really smart guess. My smart guess here is that gouging means to poke or to dig. Now for step four, I'm going to make sure that that guess makes sense. To do that, I'm going to reread this sentence, but instead of using the word gouging, I'm going to use the word poking or digging. It might sound like this. He kept his hands in front of his face to keep Jesse from poking out his eyes. Does that make sense? Yes. Now you try it. Choose a word that you're unfamiliar with and practice the four-step process to determine the meaning. If you're looking for a word to choose, you might want to consider the word solemnly on page 166. I'll read each step of the process again while you practice. Remember, if I'm going too fast, just pause the podcast between each step. Ready? The first step is to read the whole sentence or maybe even the whole paragraph again. Step two is to look for clues around the word. What are some words that the author gives you that might help you to figure out that unknown word? Step three is to make a really smart guess. Based on those clues, what do you think that word might mean? And step four is to keep reading, really to reread that sentence or that paragraph to see if your word makes sense. You did it. Remember, you don't always need a dictionary to figure out an unknown word. If you'd like to explore this process even more, check out the Choose Your Own Check-in episode called Word Detectives. 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 now that the lemonade war is over, Jesse and Evan have decided to work together and create a lemonade business together. I want you to design their new lemonade stand and include ideas that will help them to succeed. Think about ideas like what would the creative stand design look like? What type of sign or slogan would they need at their stand? What kind of prices might they set for their lemonade? And what are some creative ways you might want to attract customers to their stand? You can sketch this out, you could write about it, or you could talk about it with someone nearby. Pause the podcast here and start creating. At the end of the story, we hear that Jessie has a plan to get Megan's money back, but she never really tells us what she plans to do. What do you think Jessie's plan is to get this money back? And how do you know? Think about this 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. What lesson do you think the author was trying to teach you throughout this story? Keep this question in mind as you choose your next book to read. I will see you back here soon for a brand new novel. 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.