Introduction: Sam and Sue are a brother and sister spy team. They help characters solve problems. Cicily lost three cents. Since cents begins with the soft C sound, Sam and Sue call in their good friend Cecil Centipede to help them solve the case.
Cicely entered the building and found the office of Sam and Sue, the brother and sister spy team. She knocked on their office door. KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Come in," invited Sue.
"May we help you," inquired Sam.
"I'm Cicely."
"I'm Sam and this is my sister Sue. How may we help you, Cicely?"
Cicily said, "I've lost three cents.”
"I don't need to be rude, but what is so important about three little pennies?" Sue asked.
"These are not just any three cents," Cicely explained. "These three pennies belonged to my great, great, great grandfather. They are very old and very valuable. My grandfather fought in the Civil War in a previous century."
Sam asked, "How did you come to lose them, Cicely?"
Cicily said, "Well, my mother keeps them in a very special box. I wanted to play with them even though my mother told me not to. I took the box outside. I lifted up the lid of the box. The sun made those pennies shine in such a special way that I couldn't resist. I took them out of the box and was simply holding them in my hand. Then I heard my mother coming. I knew she would be very angry if she saw what I had done."
"What happened next, Cicely?" Sue asked gently.
Cicily said, "I lost my balance as I was trying to race them back into the box. I tripped and fell. The three valuable cents flew out of my hand and disappeared. I managed to hide the box before my mother saw. But I just have to find those pennies before my mother discovers what I've done. Can you help me? Please?" Cicely begged.
"Of course we will help you, Cicely. We are spies. That is what we do. We help people find things and discover great secrets. Therefore, we will hunt without ceasing until we find your valuable three cents," Sam said.
Sue said, "Well, since cent begins with the second sound of C, the soft C sound, we will call in our special friend, Cecil Centipede."
Cicely gasped, "Yuk! A centipede is an ugly arthropod. How can that leggy worm-like creature possibly help us?"
Sam instructed, "My dear Cicely. Don't underestimate the abilities of a centipede. It lives under cinder blocks and stones and wood. It usually only comes out at night, but I think Cecil Centipede will make a special exception for us. It can crawl in crevices and places that we human beings could not. It can see in the dark. Every segment of its body has a special pair of legs that can take that centipede almost anywhere it wishes to go. It has sharp claws for seizing and killing its prey. It could use those claws to grab your three cents - one at a time, of course. Who better than Cecil Centipede to help us?!!"
After getting directions from Cicely, Sue got on her special animal telephone and got Cecil Centipede to agree to meet them at Cicely's house. It was outside the city and way out in the country.
Exactly one hour later, that is where the four of them were gathered. Sue said, "All right, Cicely. Show us where you were when you dropped those three cents."
Cicely showed them the exact spot on her back deck. Cecil Centipede crawled in a circle around the place where Cicely had indicated. He peered and peered, looking this way and that. First he noticed a crevice between two boards. He crawled over and disappeared down this hole. Several minutes later, he nudged the first cent up the crevice and into Cicely's eager hands.
One penny down, two to go.
Next Cecil crawled over to a ceramic pot. Sliding underneath, he soon appeared with the second penny that had rolled underneath and gotten wedged in between the pot and the wooden deck.
Two pennies down, one to go.
Next, Cecil Centipede crawled over to the edge of the deck. He crawled down the post and onto the cement block below. After a few minutes, he appeared with the third and last cent. It had fallen behind this cement block.
The grateful Cicely put all three pennies back in her mother's box. Then she came back out and offered everyone some apple cider to celebrate. Even Cecil seemed to enjoy the taste of the cider.
Afterward, Sam and Sue drove back to their office. Cecil Centipede crawled back to his home under a cinder block.
As for Cicely, she ran in to wait for her mother to get home from work. She was very relieved that now she would not be punished. Phew!
Return to Lesson plan on soft C: Cecil Centipede helps find Cicily’s missing three Cents (Grades K-2)
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