The next week, I drove to the library. A bag of clothes and snacks sat next to me in the car. I didn't know what the kids would eat, since many kids are picky eaters. Why do you think kids are picky eaters? I found out that Tiana and her kids liked to eat rice and macaroni and cheese, but no vegetables that would help them stay healthy.
When they drove up in that old car, I was glad she had kept her promise. She stuck to her plan and pulled out her list. The car windows were clean. Goldie had gotten a bath!
Across the parking lot, the same teens were in the cemetery smoking. I wondered if they ate vegetables or mac and cheese and knew how bad their health would be if they continued smoking? Tiana smiled when she saw me. Her kids looked happy, too.
We said hello and went into the library. The kids ran in one direction and Tiana and I sat next to a big window overlooking a garden. She liked flowers I could tell. She pulled out the cookbook and paper where she had written recipes. "This is how the book said to make the rice," she said.
"I added some ingredients that I use too." She gave me her list. "I can make 12 rice dishes because rice feeds a lot of people."
"Wow!" I said. "Cooking is not my best skill, but everyone loves a good cook!"
"I'll teach you sometime," she said.
We opened the cookbook and Tiana looked at the pictures. She could read "rice," "pot," "stir," "bake," but she could not read the words "until," "supper," or "sugar." We talked about the English vowels – A, E, I, O and U and sometimes Y.
"Try to sound the word "sugar" out," I said.
We talked about the sounds of the letter "u." The long "u" sounds like the word "union" and the short "u" sounds like the word "up." Tiana had never been taught phonics or how to sound a word out. If you sound out the word "phonics" it looks like "fon-iks".
That day in the library, we sounded out a lot of cooking terms. "Let's make a list of vocabulary words you have trouble with to add to your plan," I said. Tiana liked that idea. It was smart thinking!
Chapter Questions
1) Why is it smart to make a list of words you do not know?
2) Can you use a dictionary to find the meaning?
3) Can you sound out words?