Many of the activities are connected with other subjects the class is studying or interests the children share. As mentioned earlier, directions had been a topic in social studies. Mary had noticed that the children struggled with translating physical orientation of one's body to lines and arrows on a map. And the class is planning to go to a restaurant to celebrate the end of the school year, so each group will actually have to decide on their final choices for lunch. Mary also makes many other kinds of connections.
Some elements are unique to one book, some to the other, and some are common to both.
This clarifies the Venn diagram concept, and also turns into a brief but spirited review of a couple of books the kids enjoyed. Dierdre seems slightly worried, thinking she has cheated somehow, but the teacher's smile reassures her that there's nothing wrong with growing interested in something and doing it on your own. As children go to work at the stations, the teacher circulates around the room providing help. One group sorting the fish does fine, but the other needs reminding to stay with the task. Some children using the calculators are confused because these calculators leave off final zeros that occur to the right of the decimal point.