illustration of two students lookinh at a machine
ART BY DAVE WHEELER

The Great Fix-It Fiasco

Who will fix the school’s mysterious machine: Raina, Evan, or Nellie?

By Lisa Yee | Art by Dave Wheeler
From the October/November 2021 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will read a realistic fiction story about three special kids and identify how they each change throughout the story.

Lexiles: 500L-600L
Guided Reading Level: P
DRA Level: 34-38
Other Key Skills: text features, vocabulary, character, author’s craft, inference, character’s motivation, main idea, expressing an opinion, making predictions, narrative writing
Think and Read: How a Character Changes

As you read, think about how Raina, Evan, and Nellie change from the beginning of the story to the end.

It was no secret around Forest Elementary School: If something broke, Raina Shoe could fix it. She helped her art teacher focus the projector when the images wouldn’t appear. She was a pro at getting the smartboard to turn on. And she fixed the water filter in the classroom fish tank.

Yes, it seemed like there was nothing Raina couldn’t fix. That is, until the day she got called into the principal’s office.

As Raina waited, a boy walked in. “I’m Evan Shinn,” he said to Raina. “You might remember me from the Earth Day art contest. My poster won first place.”

Raina remembered. Just like everyone knew that Raina could fix anything, everyone knew Evan was super creative.

Then a girl walked in reading a dictionary. She turned to Raina. “I’m Nellie Perkins. Remember me? I beat you at the spelling bee last year.”

Raina sighed. She remembered that too. It was no secret that Nellie was one of the smartest students at their school.

Just then, the office door opened. Principal Moreno looked upset. “Something terrible has happened. Please come into my office.”

ART BY DAVE WHEELER

Let the Competition Begin

“Excuse me,” Evan said. “Principal Moreno asked me into his office.”

“No,” Nellie said. “He asked me.”

“I’m the one he wants to see,” Raina told them both.

“Hurry,” the principal called out.

The three squeezed through the doorway at the same time. Principal Moreno was staring at a giant lump hidden under a sheet.

“This is the Great TW Machine. The school spent a lot of money on it. But it’s broken,” he said sadly. “It will be a fiasco if it can’t be fixed by today’s assembly. So I’ll need assistance from the one student who can help.”

“Yes, Principal Moreno,” Raina, Evan, and Nellie said together.

They looked at each other with confusion.

“He was talking to me,” Evan whispered angrily.

“He was talking to me,” Nellie whispered back.

“He was talking to me,” Raina whispered to both of them.

Principal Moreno pulled off the sheet to reveal a mysterious machine. It looked sort of like a clock, and sort of like a water cooler, and sort of like a bicycle. It sparkled in the light and moved this way and that. Then it sputtered. Then it stopped.

“Everyone knows that Evan is very creative,” the principal said.

Evan stood taller.

“. . . and that Nellie is supersmart.”

Nellie nodded in agreement.

“. . . and that Raina is great at repairing things.”

Raina grinned.

“So,” Principal Moreno continued, “let’s have a contest. Whichever one of you can fix this machine will stand next to me at the assembly when we unveil it.” He checked the clock. “You have one hour. Let the competition begin!”

ART BY DAVE WHEELER

A Big Mess

Evan walked up to the machine right away. “I’ll find a creative way to fix it that no one has thought of before,” he said.

“Principal Moreno wanted me to fix it,” Nellie said. “There’s never been a problem I couldn’t solve.”

Raina interrupted them. “Why don’t we each get 15 minutes? So if one of us can’t fix it, someone else can try.”

“OK, but me first,” Evan said quickly.

“Fine, I’ll go second,” Nellie insisted.

“I guess I’ll go last,” Raina reluctantly agreed.

Evan began to take apart the pieces of the machine. Then he put the pieces in new places. But nothing worked. “There’s no fixing this thing,” he said.

Next up was Nellie. She read the labels on each part of the machine. Then she twisted and pulled the parts. Nothing she tried worked either. “It’s impossible to fix,” she said.

At last, it was Raina’s turn. She started plugging and unplugging this and that. Finally, she asked, “Do either of you know what it’s supposed to do?”

Evan and Nellie paused. Then they shook their heads.

“How can we be expected to fix it when we don’t even know what it is?” Raina asked. She looked at all the parts lying around. “We’ve sure made a mess.”

Nellie nodded, starting to giggle. “I think it looks worse than it did before.”

Evan smiled. “Well, at least that’s one thing we can agree on.”

“Wait—that’s it!” Raina said excitedly. “I have an idea. Maybe we can fix this machine together.”

Evan and Nellie looked unsure. “Isn’t it supposed to be a competition?” Nellie asked.

“Yes, but none of us could repair it by ourselves,” Raina reminded her.

“And we’ve got less than 15 minutes left,” Evan said slowly.

“OK, let’s give it a try!” Nellie said.

Congratulations!

Quickly, the three got to work. Evan found a new way to lift up the machine. This helped Nellie look under it and measure the machine’s parts. And then Raina began fixing the engine. Just when it looked like they were getting somewhere, the door opened.

“Time’s up!” Principal Moreno said loudly. “Does the Great TW Machine work?” He looked at the mess on the floor. “Who is responsible for this?”

“I’m sorry,” Raina said. “We couldn’t do it by ourselves. So we tried working on it . . . together. But we still couldn’t get it to work.”

“Are you saying that the three of you made this mess?” The principal raised an eyebrow. “Together?”

Raina, Evan, and Nellie nodded.

“Well then, I have something very serious to say,” Principal Moreno said. “CONGRATULATIONS! You did it! The Great TW Machine does work after all!”

“I don’t understand,” Raina said, confused.

The principal laughed. “The three of you came into my office as competitors. In less than an hour, you were helping each other. The Great TW Machine did exactly what it was supposed to do. It taught you how to work together—as a team!”

Raina, Evan, and Nellie stared up at him. Then they started to smile.

TW stands for ‘Team Work’ by the way,” Principal Moreno said with a wink. “Didn’t I mention that?”

ART BY DAVE WHEELER

All About Teamwork

“Welcome to our fall assembly,” Principal Moreno said that afternoon.  “Our school’s theme for this season is . . . teamwork! Raina, Evan, and Nellie, please join me up here.”

The students walked proudly onto the stage. “These students have been selected as co-team captains. They will be teaching you all about teamwork with the help of the Great TW Machine!”

With that, the principal unveiled the machine. “What does it do?” someone called out from the crowd.

“Should we show them together?” asked Raina. Evan and Nellie grinned. “Yes! Together,” they agreed. 

THINK AND WRITE 

Imagine you are writing an article for your school newspaper about the Great TW Machine. Explain what the machine does and what lesson it taught Raina, Evan, and Nellie.

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Can't Miss Teaching Extras
From the Storyworks 3 Archives

Read another story about unexpected friendship, “Enemy Pie” from our March/April 2020 issue, and ask your students to compare how the characters in each story changed.

Meet Lisa

Author Lisa Yee’s website is filled with interviews and videos that share her answers to questions about her favorite books, writing process, and background. 

For More Team-Building

If you’re looking for ways to build teamwork in your classroom but can’t find your TW Machine, head over to Scholastic’s list of great team-building exercises that will have your students working together in no time. Please note that a few of the exercises are more appropriate for older students. 

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan

Table of Contents

1. Preparing to Read

2. Close Reading

3. SEL Focus

4. Skill Building and Writing

5. Differentiate and Customize

Struggling Readers, Multilingual Learners, Advanced Readers, Independent Learning

1. Preparing to Read

Preview Text Features  (10 minutes)  

  • Instruct students to look at pages 10-11. Direct their attention to the title, subtitle, and illustration. Explain that the word fiasco in the title means “a complete disaster.” 

  • Then direct students to look at the illustration on page 11. Ask: What do you think the three students are looking at?

Introduce Vocabulary (15 minutes)

  • We have highlighted in bold five words that may be challenging and defined them on the page: fiasco, sputtered, unveil, reluctantly, and competitors.

  • Preview these terms by projecting or distributing our Vocabulary Skill Builder and completing it as a class. You may also play our Vocabulary Slideshow, with audio and images that help students with pronunciation and comprehension.

Set a Purpose for Reading (5 minutes)

  • Call on volunteers to read aloud the Think and Read and Think and Write boxes on pages 10 and 15. These prompts and the Skill Builders support the story’s featured skill, how characters change.

2. Close Reading

Reading and Unpacking the Text

  • First read: Read the story as a class or have students follow along as they listen to the Editor Read-Aloud.

  • Have students identify story details and vocabulary they don’t understand. 

  • Second read: Project, distribute, or assign the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions. Discuss them as a class, rereading sentences or passages as necessary. (Alternatively, assign all or part of the Learning Journey Slide Deck, which contains the questions as well as other activities from this lesson plan and a link to the story.)

  • Pair each student with a partner to discuss the Critical-Thinking Questions. Then ask pairs to share their answers with the class.

  • Follow up with the SEL Focus activity.

Close-Reading Questions (30 minutes)

  • Read the first section. What do you learn about Raina, Evan, and Nellie? (character) You learn that Raina is great at fixing things, Evan is very creative, and Nellie is very smart.
  • How does the last paragraph of this section make readers want to keep reading the story? (author’s craft) The last paragraph tells you that the principal is upset and that “something terrible has happened.” The author tells you something dramatic but doesn’t give you very many details about it. Readers will want to keep reading to find out what terrible thing has happened and how the three students are involved.
  • Read “Let the Competition Begin.” Why do Raina, Evan, and Nellie all say yes at the same time when Principal Moreno says that he needs help fixing the Great TW machine? (character/inference) The students say yes at the same time because each believes the principal is talking to him or her. Raina, Evan, and Nellie each consider themselves to be the one student in the school who can repair the machine. 
  • How does the picture on page 13 help you better understand what is happening on pages 12-13 of the story? (text features) Answers will vary and may include: The picture shows the Great TW Machine that is described in this part of the story. It helps readers see how strange-looking the mysterious machine is and how difficult it will be to fix. It also shows the big mess that the students created while working on the machine. Raina, Evan, and Nellie are apart from each other, not working together.
  • Read “A Big Mess.” What do Raina’s actions in this section show you about her character? (character/inference) Answers will vary and may include: Raina’s actions tell you that she is fair and a good problem-solver because she suggests that each person get the same amount of time to try to fix the machine. You can tell she’s smart because she asks, “How can we be expected to fix it when we don’t even know what it is?” And you can tell that she’s open-minded and willing to try new things when she suggests the three students work on the machine together.
  • Read “Congratulations!” How do Raina, Evan, and Nellie change in this section of the story? (how characters change) Instead of competing with each other, they work together as a team to try to  fix the machine.
  • Why does Principal Moreno congratulate the students, even though they didn’t fix the machine? (character’s motivation) Principal Moreno congratulates the students for working together. He doesn’t care that the machine wasn’t fixed. His goal all along is for the three students to learn the importance of teamwork. 
  • Read “All About Teamwork.” Why do you think that Raina, Evan, and Nellie walk proudly onto the stage when Principal Moreno calls their names? (character/inference)  They’re proud because they were chosen to teach other students about the importance of teamwork. .

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

  • Think about the title of this story. Do you believe the students’ attempt to fix the Great TW Machine was a fiasco? (main idea/expressing an opinion/vocabulary) Answers may vary. However, students will probably say that the students’ failed attempt to fix the mysterious machine wasn’t a fiasco after all. Instead, trying and failing to fix the machine separately showed them the importance of working together as a team.
  • What do you think Raina, Evan, and Nellie will teach the other students about teamwork? (making predictions) Answers will vary. Students will probably say that Raina, Evan, and Nellie will describe their experiences trying to fix the machine, first as competitors and then as a team. They will probably encourage other students to work as a team to solve problems in the future. Others might say that Raina, Evan, and Nellie will give students the same exercise Principal Moreno gave them: to try to fix the machine in one hour.

3. SEL Focus

Relationship Building

In the story, Raina, Evan, and Nellie start out as competitors who don’t know one another that well and end up as friendly teammates. Have a class discussion about how working on something together can help you get to know someone better—and maybe even make a new friend. Separate your class into pairs of students who don’t know one another well or don’t spend much time together. Have each student think of at least three questions they can ask their classmate that will let them learn something new about that person. Then have students share what they learned with the rest of the class.

4. Skill Building and Writing

Featured Skill: How a Character Changes

  • Distribute or digitally assign the How Characters Change Skill Builder and have students complete it in class or for homework.  

  • Ask students to write a response to the prompt in the Think and Write box on
    page 15.

 

Differentiate and Customize
For Struggling Readers

To help struggling readers understand the plot, play the audio of the story as students follow along in their magazines. Pause at the end of each section to discuss what happened, and together write a one- or two-sentence summary.

For Multilingual Learners

Review the strengths of each character with your students (Raina can fix anything; Evan is super creative; Nellie is one of the smartest students in the school). Then ask your students to think of their own strengths and special qualities. The class could brainstorm a list of words that describe a person's strengths, or you could provide some appropriate words for students to choose from. Invite students to share their strengths and special qualities  with the rest of the class.

For Advanced Readers

Invite students to imagine what happens next in the story. (Do Raina, Evan, and Nellie remain friends, or do they go back to being competitors? Does the Great TW Machine create any other teams of students?) Students should write one or two paragraphs that continue the story. Invite students to write in the third person (as in the story) or to pick one of the characters and write from their point of view.

For Independent Learning

Ask students to imagine that the story has been made into a movie and that they’re responsible for creating a poster for it. Ask: What phrases and images would you put on the poster? Students may either create the actual poster or write a detailed description of what it should look like.

Text-to-Speech