[electronic music]
- Mandy: Hi, Norby.
Whatcha doing?
- Norbert: Stamping on the table.
[stamps] Now I'm stamping on the floor.
These are the new pages for my stamp collection.
- Do those come in those big envelopes?
- Uh-huh.
Do you want something?
- Yeah, there's this word in my story.
Listen.
"Emma folded her letter and put it in the..."
El... En... that word.
What is it? - You already know it.
- Mandy: I do? - Sure.
Read the next sentence
and see if you can figure out what it means.
- "She took it downstairs to the mailbox.
Tomorrow, it would be on its way to the president."
So?
- So, when you don't understand something,
look for clues, remember?
- Well, I know it has something to do with the letter.
"Then she mailed the letter."
- What do you put a letter in before you mail it?
- One of these, an...
Elno... Eno...
- Wait a sec.
Remember the clues and try saying the word really slowly.
- En... ve... lop... ee? - Norbert: Again.
- En... ve... lop... ee... en...
Enve... Envelope! - Right!
- "Emma folded her letter and put it in the envelope."
Now I get it.
Thanks, Norby.
- Hey, don't go!
- My children, you must make haste to the land of Mojuste!
The evil Thorzuul is once again wreaking his horrible havoc.
He's being bad!
Hurry!
- Ready?
Let's go.
[eerie music]
- In unison: Thunder and lightning, trumpets and drums.
Readers rejoice!
A Storylord comes.
[Bike-O-Tron whirrs]
[shimmer]
- Hey, where'd he go? - He was right here.
- I'll go this way, you go that way.
[gentle music]
- There you are! - Please don't hurt me!
- Hurt you?
We're not gonna hurt you.
We're your friends.
- You mean you weren't sent by Thorzuul?
- No way.
We're apprentice Storylords sent to help you by Lexor.
My name is Mandy and my brother's name is Norby.
Who are you? - Zandro.
If you're Storylords, maybe you can help me.
Here, look at this.
It's from Thorzuul.
- Mandy: "I watch dand... Dan..."
We'll come back to that word.
"I watch somethings by the hour.
"Is it a weed or is it a flower?
"They grow in my lawn, gold as the sun.
Bring me a bunch or you'd better run!"
Hmm.
Danel... Dan...
Dan...hmm. - Hey, you found him.
- Yeah, and he needs our help.
What is it you were telling me
about how to figure out words you don't know?
- I was telling you exactly what Mrs. Framish said
in reading class last week.
- Today, we're going to learn what to do
when we read words that we don't know.
Sometimes, those words are new to us.
We've never heard them before.
Other times, we know what a word sounds like,
but not what it looks like.
Let's see if there's a word like that on the board.
Angie, will you read for us?
- "Hansel and Gretel were locked in a candy cage.
Its long, thin bars were made of..."
Like?
Leek?
Like?
I don't know that word.
- Does anyone recognize that word?
No?
Let's continue reading.
Let's see if we can find some clues that will help us
as to what it means.
- Angie: "Some were black and some were red.
They all tasted sweet and delicious."
- Good, Angie.
That was very good work.
Now, let's go back to that word we didn't know.
Let's be word detectives.
What clues can we find
to help us figure out what that word means?
Norbert?
- It says that Hansel and Gretel were put in a candy cage,
and that word is about the bars in the cage,
so it must be some sort of candy.
- Very good, Detective Norbert.
Can you tell us how you knew that the sentence about the bars
was about the bars in the candy cage?
- Because of the word its.
That refers to the candy cage in the first sentence.
- Good work.
You found an important clue.
Has anyone else found any more clues
that will help us figure out our mystery word?
Jason?
- Well, it says that the bars were long and thin,
and some were black and some were red.
So, it must be a long, thin candy that's black or red.
- Mrs. Framish: Another important clue.
Angie.
- It's something that tastes sweet and delicious too.
- Mrs. Framish: What clue tells you that, Angie?
- In the last sentence,
it says that they all tasted sweet and delicious.
The word "they" is about the bars.
- Good work, all of you.
Now, let's go back to that word
and let's think about all of our clues.
It's a candy.
It can be black or red, and it tastes sweet and delicious.
Jason, why don't you try for us?
- Like work... - A little slower.
- Like... or... ice.
- Good, that's the way it looks.
Now, try it again, and this time,
use short vowel sounds instead of long ones.
- Lick... or... is.
- A long, thin candy that can be either black or red.
- Lick... or... Licorice!
- Good, yes.
I'll bet you all know what licorice is, don't you?
You just didn't know what it looked like.
Let's go back and reread the passage now.
Angie, will you read for us?
- "Hansel and Gretel were locked in a candy cage.
"Its long, thin bars were made of licorice.
"Some were black and some were red.
They all tasted sweet and delicious."
Now I understand it.
- Remember, when you read a word you don't know,
you need to be a word detective.
Try to figure out what it means.
Look for clues in the sentences around the word.
Try saying it in different ways,
until it sounds like a real word,
until it makes sense to you.
You may discover it's a word you already know, like licorice.
If you're a good word detective, you'll be a good reader.
Now, take your reading books out.
We'll practice what we just learned.
Turn to page 31.
Let's see if you're good word detectives.
- If you're good word detectives,
you'll be good readers.
- So, let's check this note for clues.
[evil laughter in distance] - Uh-oh.
Here comes You-Know-Who.
I'll go try and keep him busy
while you figure out his message, but hurry, okay?
- "I watch... dan... damp..."
Whatever they ares by the hour.
"Is it a weed or is it a flower?"
- There's a clue!
It has a flower, but some people must think it's a weed.
- "They grow in my lawn." - Another clue!
They grow in lawns.
- "Gold as the sun." - Another clue!
- "Bring me a bunch, or you'd better run!"
- Hmm, we've got three clues.
It's a flower that some people think is a weed.
They grow in lawns and they're gold in color.
- Hmm.
Danel... Dal... Dan... - Norbert: Hurry!
He's coming around the bend!
- Mandy: Dandy... lee... ons...
Dandy... lee... ons...
Danda... lee... ons...
- In unison: Dandelions!
- Gold flowers that grow in the lawn.
- My dad says they're weeds!
- Hey, look!
[electronic music]
[motorcycle revvs]
- Well, where are my flowers?
Or couldn't you understand my note?
[evil laughter]
- Zandro: No, I couldn't. - Oh, no!
What a pity. [evil laughter]
- That is, until these two showed up.
- Thorzuul: I beg your pardon?
- Your dandelions.
- But...
But how did you figure out the word?
I knew you'd never seen it.
- Well, when I realized I didn't know it,
I read on and looked for clues
that would help me understand it.
Then I tried to figure out how to say the word,
remembering the clues, and I got it.
Thanks to you two.
- You two.
I've had just about enough of you two.
- Mandy, I think we'd better be going.
I hope you're not allergic to dandelions.
- Bye!
- In unison: Home. [shimmer]
- Me, allergic to dandelions? [sniffs]
Ridicul-- [sneezes]
- Bless you!
- Milkbreath, get me out of here!
[sneezes]
[electronic music] [continues sneezing]