Mamma put Sparrow's lunchbox into her schoolbag and folded her
wings around her Have a good day darling she said
Pay attention be polite Uff Mamma laughed Sparrow You say
the same thing every day And remember said Mamma Stay
away from Snake he's different Sparrow wished Mamma hadn't said
that Snake was her best friend But Mamma didn't approve
of Snake His people eat our people she always said
Sparrows and snakes can never be friends On the other
side of town Snake's Pappa was packing his lunchbox with
birds' eggs Today's special son he said proudly But I
hate eggs Pappa groaned Snake We've always eaten them in
this family said Pappa sternly Now off you go And
remember stay away from Sparrow Snake slithered away feeling angry
Sparrows are different Pappa called after him You can't be
friends with your food When Snake met Sparrow at school
they knew Your Mamma said asked Snake Sparrow nodded Your
Pappa too Snake nodded Our parents are wrong Sparrow said
Snake Let's show them that we are more same-same than
different Great idea said Sparrow Let's She pulled out a
sheet of paper and drew two circles on it like
this In the yellow part of the left circle said
Sparrow we put down Just Sparrow things In the blue
part of the right circle Just Snake things These are
all ways in which Snake and Sparrow are DIFFERENT Snake
was puzzled I thought we wanted to think of ways
in which we are SAME That's what the green part
in the middle is for smiled Sparrow First let's think
about how we look said Sparrow Same-same or different VERY
different sighed Snake I'm long hairless and thin You're small
plump and soft You're right said Sparrow I look like
a powder puff she drew a powder puff in the
yellow crescent and you look like a rope-so-rough She drew
a rope in the blue crescent Now she said How
do we move VERY differently Snake said looking even sadder
You fly through the air flap-flapping I slither along the
ground zig-zagging In other words said Sparrow I move like
a plane and you move like a train Snake sighed
Cheer up Snake said Sparrow briskly Let's see now what
do we eat VERY different things Snake's eyes filled with
tears But I don't eat birds' eggs I know said
Sparrow soothingly But now she looked glum too Seeds and
grass she muttered as she drew them in the yellow
crescent Frogs and rats she sputtered and drew them in
the blue crescent Harrrrrumph Snake and Sparrow jumped It was
Headmaster Elephant Why the long faces kids he asked kindly
Oh sir sobbed Snake My Pappa and Sparrow's Mamma say
we can't be friends because we are different We wanted
to show them we were more same-same than different sir
said Sparrow But it isn't working Headmaster Elephant looked at
the circles a long time Then he began to laugh
Snake and Sparrow stared at him What was so funny
Don't you see kids he said finally wiping his tears
You are doing this all wrong Let me help you
Headmaster Elephant settled down on a bench Now then Snake
he said what do you like doing best Playing and
chatting Sir said Snake ESPECIALLY with Sparrow And you Sparrow
Chatting and playing Sir said Sparrow ESPECIALLY with Snake Right
said Headmaster Elephant you like doing the SAME things And
he drew something in the green part Next said Headmaster
Elephant what makes you happy kids When Miss lets me
sit next to a friend Sir Snake began to smile
Same-same Sir clapped Sparrow A-ha said Headmaster Elephant You both
have the SAME happy place Green All right what makes
you sad Snake and Sparrow That Pappa says I should
stay away from Sparrow sir sighed Snake That Mamma says
I should stay away from Snake sir sighed Sparrow Headmaster
Elephant frowned You are both sad he said for the
SAME reason your parents don't let you choose your friends
Green again Now then said Headmaster Elephant who do you
think is the best kind of friend Someone who loves
you began Snake even though you are different finished Sparrow
So you both agree said Headmaster Elephant that a true
friend loves you no matter what That makes FOUR same-sames
and only THREE differents Same-sames win Hurray said Snake and
Sparrow Thank you Headmaster Elephant Harrrumph said Headmaster Elephant One
last thing Yes sir Tell your parents I want to
see them in my office First thing tomorrow morning And
Headmaster Elephant marched away looking very fierce indeed SORT IT
OUT Sorting and grouping are important skills in mathematics To
sort things you have to ask yourself logic questions like
1 What things are same What things are different 2
How are the same things same How are different things
different 3 Can the same things be sorted and grouped
in more than one way Think about the many ways
in which you can sort and group these toy animals
You can sort them According to their colour blue animals
in one circle yellow in another According to their size
small animals in one circle big ones in another According
to how they move animals that walk and animals that
fly Would the groups be different each time Try it
and see cloud link academy China xi'an Jerry Deng