Marsha loves playing with her noodle friend. She had it for a long time so it is now a dark brown color. When her mom first made it, it was white. The night she met her noodle friend was spaghetti night. Marsha's favorite dinner was spaghetti, which happened to be every Tuesday night. On one Tuesday, a piece of spaghetti fell on the kitchen floor. To Marsha, it looked like a stick man so she kept him. She named her new noodle friend Joey and took him everywhere she went. Sometimes Joey gets a little dried out so Marsha's mom told her to soak him in water every few days. There were a couple times that the family dog, Mika, has tried to take Joey from Marsha and eat him! So from now on, Marsha takes extra special care to make sure Joey is safe and sound at all times. During the day she keeps him in a plastic bag in her pocket. At night, she puts him under her pillow. She loves Joey and wants to always be friends with him.

What looked like a stickman to Marsha?

Joe's parents are farmers and they have a huge farm with cows, chickens, and ducks. Joe loves the farm and all the things he gets to play around and play on. One day, Joe's father told him not to get near a tractor that was sitting in the field. His father was worried that Joe would climb on it and hurt himself. Joe went out to the field and was feeding the horses and cows. When he was done, he saw the tractor his father told him not to get near. He knew that climbing on the tractor wouldn't hurt anything, so he did. He climbed on to the seat and sat there. Then, he pretended he was his father and pretended that he was driving the tractor. Joe's father saw him playing on the tractor and called for him. Joe heard his father calling for him and got off the tractor really fast. When he did that, he fell off and hurt his arm. Joe was in pain and his father came running to check on him and picked him up and sat him on a bench and asked him why he did that. Joe looked at his father and said, "I wanted to be like you." Joe's father gave him a hug and asked him if he wanted to ride with him on the tractor. Joe did and after he got a bandage on his arm, he and his father rode in the field on the tractor.

What kinds of animals did Joe's father have on his farm?

I am very hungry. I look for my mother. When is dinner? I ask. Dinner is at six, my mother says. What can we eat? I ask. We can pick food from our garden, she says. I help her pick corn, beans, and peas. The corn is yellow and white. The beans are small and brown. The peas are green and round. I put the beans in a basket. I put the peas in a bowl. Mother brings the corn. We go inside. I have dirty hands. I wash my hands with soap and water. The water is warm. My hands are now clean. Mother lets me stir the beans. I fill a pot with water. Mother puts the corn into the pot. She puts the pot on the stove. The water boils. Mary is my sister. Mary puts four plates on the table. Each plate is blue. We each eat two pieces of meat. I eat more corn than Mary. Mary eats more beans than our mother. What did you learn today? Mary asks. I can spell ten new words, I say. Mary can only spell two words.
How many and what color are the plates that Mary puts on the table?