Mr. Gumpy's Outing by John
Burmingham
Introduce the story to the whole group. Work with small groups to do the
activities.
Problem Solving
Every morning, Mr. Gumpy goes to the bank of the river and takes some
animals for a ride. Mr. Gumpy gives them clues so that they can figure out who
will be included on the ride that day.
Use animals (photocopied or manipulatives) to solve the problem on a boat
sheet (or a toy boat)
An example of a story:
It's a beautiful day and Mr. Gumpy gets to the bank of the river just as
the sun is coming up. There are pigs, dogs, cats, and rabbits (or whatever
animals you have available) waiting patiently.
Clue 1: Mr. Gumpy says,
"There can only be three animals in my boat today."
Clue 2: Mr. Gumpy then tells
them that there can't be any dogs or rabbits in the boat today.
Clue 3: He then says that
there are more pigs than cats.
Another example:
Clue 1: There are five
animals in the boat.
Clue 2: There are only dogs
and cats in the boat.
Clue 3: There are more cats
than dogs.
Clue 4: There is one more cat than there are dogs.
Submitted by Pat Opyr
