(Describer) A smiling blue star falls onto blank lined paper. It waves.

-[lighthearted music] -[children chattering]

(Describer) Titles: Let's get ready to learn! NINE presents.

(Describer) Pre-K

(Describer) Reading and Math.

(Describer) A boy runs beneath a colorful parachute.

[lighthearted music continues]

(Describer) Students and teachers share a smile.

(Describer) Title: Teaching in Room 9.

(Describer) Titles: Today's Objective. I will compare and contrast characters. I will practice basic addition and subtraction facts.

Good morning, boys and girls, and welcome back to "Room 9," the region's largest classroom. It is Dr. Sanders, and I am here to teach a little ELA and math to all of my pre-K students. But what do I always say? It doesn't matter if you're 2 or 102, we will have some fun! F-U-N, fun! We will have some fun while learning. I work at Adams Elementary in the St. Louis Public Schools, and let's get this day started.

(Describer) He removes his cap.

First, let's take the look at some of my friends' names. With my friends' names, we're going to count the letters. Here we go. Whose name is this?

(Describer) Amorie.

Amorie. Let's count her letters. One, two, three, four, five, six. Amorie has six letters in her name. Whose name is this?

(Describer) It says: Leonard.

Leonard. Let's count the letters in Leonard. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Hi, Leonard! And whose name is this? He has seven letters in his name. Whose name is this?

(Describer) It says: Theodore.

Yes, Theodore. Hi, Theodore. Let's count the letters in Theodore. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. He has eight letters in his name. And whose name is this?

(Describer) It says: Orion.

Orion. Hi, Orion. Let's count the letters in Orion's name. One, two, three, four, five. She has five letters in her name. And whose name is this?

(Describer) It says: Miguel.

Miguel. Hi, Miguel. Let's count the letters in Miguel's name. One, two, three, four, five, six. Miguel has six letters in his name. And whose name is this?

(Describer) It says: Lawrenzoe.

Lawrenzoe. Hi, Lawrenzoe. Let's count the letters in Lawrenzoe's name. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Lawrenzoe has nine letters in his name. And whose name is this?

(Describer) It says: Kaiden.

Kaiden. Let's count the letter in Kaiden's name. One, two, three, four, five, six. He has six letters in his name. Who had the most letters? Lawrenzoe with nine. Yes, yes, yes. All right, let's do some counting. First, you're going to count the bubbles, right? Let's see.

(Describer) He blows on a bubble wand. Several bubbles float up in the air.

Ooh, that was not a lot of bubbles. Let's try that again. Well, that's all we got. That was only seven bubbles. We are going to count from 71 to 100. Let me hear you. Let's go. 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80. Sing it.

♪ 81 ♪

♪ 82 ♪

♪ 83 ♪

♪ 84 ♪

♪ 85 ♪

♪ 86 ♪

♪ 87 ♪

♪ 88 ♪

♪ 89 [laughs] ♪

♪ 90 ♪

We're going to go low and then high. 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100!

(Describer) He points to us.

Now we will count from 0 to 100 by five. I'm going to let you start. Here we go.

(student) Zero. Five.

(student) 10. 15.

(student) 20. 25.

(student) 30. 35.

(student) 40. 45.

(student) 50. 55.

(student) 60. 65.

(student) 70. 75.

(student) 80. 85.

(student) 90. 95.

♪ 100! ♪

Now we're going to count from zero to 100 by 10s. Here we go. You start.

(student) Zero. 10.

(student) 20. 30.

(student) 40. 50.

(student) 60. 70.

(student) 80. 90.

♪ 100 ♪

Now we're going to count backwards from 10, and we're going to do popcorn. Here we go. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Popcorn! Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. I dropped my pointer. I wanted to do popcorn sure enough. Now we're going to come from zero to ten in sign language. Here we go.

[pointer tapping]

All right, boys and girls, now we're going to count from 0 to 30 by twos. I want you to mimic me. So I'll say it, and then you say it. Zero.

(student) Zero. Two.

(student) Two. Four.

(student) Four. Six.

(student) Six. Eight.

(student) Eight. 10.

(student) 10. 12.

(student) 12. 14.

(student) 14. 16.

(student) 16. 18.

(student) 18. 20.

(student) 20. All right, when we're counting by twos, it's like adding by twos. So like we start at zero, and then we add two, right? Zero plus two would be what? Two. And then two plus two would be four. And then four plus two would be six. And then six plus two would be eight. So that's like when we're counting by twos, it's like adding by twos. When we're counting by fives, it's like adding by fives. So we're on 5, and we say 5 plus 5 equals 10. And then 10 plus 5 equals 15. 15 plus five equals 20. So when you're adding by fives, it's like counting by five. And we also count by tens and ones. So 0 plus 1 is 1, 1 plus 2 is 2. Like one plus any number is the next number. I'll show you that in a minute. But by tens, you just go on a number chart, you go down a row, but 10 plus 10 equals 20. 20 plus 10 equals 30. 30 plus 10 equals 40. 40 plus 10 equals 50, and so on. So it's like adding by tens. So let me take my number chart down and let me show you something. Who likes lollipops? Who likes freeze pops or Popsicles? Okay, what if I had...

(Describer) He draws a circle on a whiteboard.

Don't laugh. This is my Popsicle.

(Describer) He adds a straight line, for a stick.

Or my lollipop, my sucker. [laughs] Okay? And...

(Describer) He draws another one.

how many suckers do I have? Two. Now what if I wanted to give two to Malia? I want to give two. I had some money to go to the store. I bought two more from the store, right? So I'm going to put...

(Describer) He draws two more.

two more up here.

(Describer) He writes a plus sign between them.

So I have... How many do I have to give away now?

(Describer) He writes an equals sign at the end.

How many do I have together? So that'll be what? Two plus two equals, one, two, three, four! Who wants the lollipops? Here you go. [clicks tongue]

(Describer) He pretends to throw one to us.

Catch it. No, don't eat it in class. And after you eat the lollipop, make sure you do what? Throw the stick in the trash. Brush your teeth. We don't want little cavities swimming on your teeth, ooh. Okay, now I have four lollipops, right? I have four lollipops. And I give... I'm giving, I'm subtracting, so I'm giving.... So I have four. I'm giving three of 'em 'cause I want one for myself. So I'm taking three away, so minus three lollipops. So four minus three equals... So I have four, and I take away...

(Describer) He starts to erase three lollipops.

Let me see. Hold on, let's do it this way.

(Describer) He draws them again. He marks a slash over three.

I have four, and I take away three, one, two, three. How many do I have left? One. Four minus three equals one. So that's subtraction. So adding is putting together. Subtracting is taking apart. And...

(Describer) He erases the board. He grabs red dot magnets.

so let's look at my dots. Three... plus two. How many do I have altogether? You can show me on your hands. Let's see, three plus two.

(Describer) He counts his fingers.

One, two, three. Yeah, oh, yes. Three plus two equals five. Or you can just add 'em up on the board. All right, boys and girls, you've been sitting long time. Please stand up. Jump up and down five times, go. One, two, three, four, five. Raise the roof for six, go. One, two, three, four, five, six. Ten jumping jacks, go. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. All right.

(Describer) He holds his arms straight out to the sides.

Arms out, arm circles forward for five. One, two, three, four, five. Arm circles backwards for five. One, two, three, four, five. Run in place for six, go. One, two, three, four, five, six. All right, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, stand on one foot for seven, go. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Stand on your other foot for seven, go. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. All right, let's sit down on three. One, two, three.

♪ Up, down, up, down ♪

♪ Sit right down on the ground ♪

♪ Or on the chair ♪

♪ Or on the floor in your seat ♪

♪ Or on the couch ♪

♪ But please ♪

♪ Don't jump on the couch ♪

All right, boys and girls, I'm going to read this book. And this book is called "Feast of Peas." "Feast of Peas." This is the what?

(Describer) He touches the front.

Front cover. This is the back cover.

(Describer) He touches the back.

This is the spine.

(Describer) He touches the skinny side.

And the author of this book is Kashmira Sheth. What does the author do? The author writes the words in the story. I like this sentence. And it's illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler. And what does the illustrator do? The illustrator draws the pictures. And I am reading this book with permission from Peachtree Publishing.

(Describer) He grins.

"Feast of Peas." As you listen, I want you to... It's two main, two characters in there that I really want you to think about.

[reading] Once upon a time, in the country of India,

lived a man named Jiva, or "Jayva." Every day, Jiva would work in his garden until the sun turned as red as a bride's sari. Jiva planted carrots and beans, potatoes and tomatoes, eggplants and okra. But he was most excited about his peas. As Jiva planted them, he sang,

♪ Plump peas, sweet peas ♪

♪ Line-up-in-the-shell peas ♪

♪ Peas to munch ♪

♪ Peas to crunch ♪

♪ I want to feast the peas for lunch ♪

(Describer) Under a red sky, a man pats the soil near his house. He wears a white shirt and pants, and a red turban. A river flows nearby.

Jiva hoed the rows and watered. I mean, Jiva hoed the rows, watered the seedlings, and waited. The peas were the first ones to sprout. In time, the plants were covered with delicate blossoms. Soon, the vines rambled over the soil. Jiva weeded and watered the garden and waited for some more.

(Describer) Jiva lies on his tummy next to a tiny green seedling. He dips a jar in water. He snoozes with a taller plant at his feet.

Birds flew overhead. Jiva scratched his head, wondering how to keep them away from his peas. Then Jiva snapped his fingers. [snaps fingers] Ah, he had an idea. He built the scarecrow out of sugarcane stalks and dressed it with an old dhoti, a shirt, and a red turban. Jiva waited for some more. The pea flowers turned into tiny peapods, and the tiny peapods turned into big pods. Soon it would be time for a feast of pods.

(Describer) Jiva adjusts the scarecrow's fierce purple mask, while balanced on a stack of jars.

Ruvji came by to visit. "Jiva, some of your peas look plump," he said, smacking his lips. "Mwah." "I'll pick them tomorrow," Jiva said, "and then I'll have a feast of peas." He sang,

♪ Plump peas, sweet peas ♪

♪ Lined-up-in-the-shell peas ♪

♪ Peas to munch ♪

♪ Peas to crunch ♪

♪ I want a feast of peas for lunch ♪

"Peas are delicious," Ruvji said. "I will enjoy a feast of peas."

(Describer) Ruvji eagerly leans forward on a very large jar. Jiva dances near thick green vines bursting with fat pods.

When Jiva came up the next morning, the sun was peeking over the horizon. He hurried to the garden to harvest the peas. Harvest means to gather 'em, right? They had vanished. Jiva examined the scarecrow. It still stood watch. Just then, Ruvji came by. "Who ate my peas?" Jiva said in a sad, soft voice. "Maybe rabbits ate them," Ruvji said. "Look, there are some tiny peapods. Soon you'll have more peas." Jiva scratched his head, wondering how to keep rabbits away. The scarecrow wouldn't help. Then Jiva snapped [snaps fingers] his fingers. He had an idea. Jiva put a fence up around the garden.

(Describer) Jiva crouches, staring sadly at a bare vine in his hands. Ruvji stands with a hand on Jiva's shoulder. Two rabbits sit nearby. One of them shrugs.

A few days later, there were more peas in Jiva's garden. Ruvji visited again. "Some of your peas look plump," he said, [slurps] "mm, ah," smacking his lips. "Yes," Jiva said, "I'll pick them tomorrow, and then I'll have a feast of peas." He sang,

♪ Plump peas, sweet peas ♪

♪ Lined-up-in-the-shell peas ♪

♪ Peas to munch ♪

♪ Peas to crunch ♪

♪ I want a feast of peas for lunch ♪

"Peas are delicious," Ruvji said. "I would enjoy a feast of peas."

(Describer) A fence encircles Jiva's garden. With a hammer in one hand, he leans against his scarecrow. He wipes his forehead with the other hand. Ruvji calls from an ox-pulled cart.

[Dr. Sanders chuckles]

When Jiva got up the next morning, the sun was peeking over the horizon. He hurried to the garden to harvest the peas. They had vanished. Jiva examined his scarecrow. It still stood watch. Jiva examined the fence. It was secure. Just then, Ruvji came by. "Who ate my peas?" Jiva asked. "Maybe a ghost ate the peas," Ruvji whispered. "Look, there are some tiny peapods. Soon you'll have more peas."

(Describer) Jiva angrily stomps on his empty harvest basket. Wide-eyed, Ruvji raises claw-like fingers like a ghost.

Who do you think is eating the peas? Ruvji, Ruvji? Jiva scratched his head, wondering how to keep the ghost away. The scarecrow wouldn't help. The fence wouldn't help. Then Jiva [snaps fingers] snapped his finger. He had an idea. A few days later, Ruvji visited again. "Jiva, some of your peas look plump." He said, "Mm, nom," smacking his lips. "I'll pick them tomorrow," Jiva said. He sang,

♪ Plump peas, sweet peas ♪

♪ Lined-up-in-the-shell peas ♪

♪ Peas to munch ♪

♪ Peas to crunch ♪

♪ I want a feast of peas for lunch ♪

"Peas are delicious," Ruvji said. "I would enjoy a feast of peas."

(Describer) Ruvji stands with his hands on his hips. Before him, Jiva stands with outstretched arms, palms turned upward.

The next morning, just before the sun came out, a ghost appeared in the garden. It stepped over Jiva's fence. It bowed to Jiva's scarecrow and asked, "May I have some peas, please?" Then the ghost answered in his own question. "Well, of course. You may have as many peas as you please." The ghost bowed again. "Why, thank you." Quickly, he picked all the peas and dropped them in a pouch.

(Describer) Big black eyes peer from the ghost's flat face. Its feathery white body swirls as it hops through the dark garden.

The ghost was about to leave when the scarecrow came alive. "May I take those, please, you have picked?" The ghost trembled. The scarecrow answered his own question, mimicking the ghost's voice. "Of course, you may take all the peas." The scarecrow extended his hands. The ghost dropped his pouch. And the scarecrow walked towards him. The ghost fled.

(Describer) The shadowy scarecrow reaches spiky fingers toward the ghost's back.

Down the street, the ghost fled. Down the street and up the alley, the scarecrow chased the ghost. They ran past the temple and through the market. The ghost ran all the way to the river. He dove into the river. He looked back to see if the scarecrow was following him. Instead, he saw a big crowd watching him from the shore. He had been tricked.

(Describer) The scarecrow sprints through a marketplace. A startled woman stumbles back, balancing a large pot on her head.

Ruvji took off his mask and he came out of the water. "Jiva, I'm sorry for stealing your peas." "And trying to fool me and scare me," Jiva said. "You must pay for what you have done." Ruvji looked at the ground. "What's my punishment?" Jiva scratched his head, wondering what to do. Then he [snaps fingers] snapped his fingers. "Ruvji, you can cook a feast for me," he said, [slurps] "mm, ah," smacking his lips.

(Describer) Jiva holds a finger to his chin. Ruvji looks up at him anxiously, clutching the ghost mask.

When Jiva sat down to eat... Oh. Later that day, Ruvji shelled and boiled the peas. He steamed and simmered the peas. He fried and spiced the peas. He made a feast of peas.

(Describer) A mountain of shelled peas fill a wide shallow bowl. Ruvji stirs a simmering pot over a fire. Jiva lifts a spoon to his mouth.

When Juvi sat down to eat, there were peas with rice and spice, peas wrapped in mashed potato pockets, and peas swimming in soup. Jiva tasted the soup.

[slurps] "Delicious!"

[slurps] "Mm, ah," he said, taking another spoonful.

Then he put it down and snapped his fingers. "You also love peas, Ruvji. Let's have a feast of peas together." The two friends sang

♪ Plump peas, sweet peas ♪

♪ Lined-up-in-the-shell peas ♪

♪ Peas to munch ♪

♪ Peas to crunch ♪

♪ We have a feast of peas for lunch ♪

(Describer) The friends sit on a blanket cluttered with dishes. They sing with grins. Jiva lifts a peapod to the sky.

[not reading] Boys and girls, did you like that story?

What was your favorite part of the story? The ghost. All righty. And what was... Jiva, he worked, what, hard. And Ruvji, he didn't want to work hard. He wanted to get around sneaky and taking the peas, right? So that's the difference between those two. But they both do what? Love peas. What's our favorite word? Nine, let's spell nine. Nine, N-I-N-E, nine! Thank you for being in "Room 9." Bye-bye.

[lighthearted music]

(Describer) Title: Teaching in Room 9.

Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

(Describer) Nine PBS in partnership with Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

♪

(Describer) On Screen Teacher: Albert Sanders, Saint Louis Public Schools, Adams Elementary.

[lighthearted music continues]

(Describer) Copyright 2022, Nine PBS.

(announcer) "Teaching in Room 9" is made possible with support of Bank of America, Dana Brown Charitable Trust, Emerson, and viewers like you.

[lighthearted music continues]

(Describer) If you would like to reach any member of Teaching in Room 9, please visit: ninepbs.org/tir9feedback

(Describer) Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.