How Smudge Came

Summary

Cindy, a lady with Down Syndrome, lives in a group home. She sees a puppy on a street and puts it in her bag. She knows the rules at the home, but she keeps the dog in her room anyway. She becomes best friends with her puppy. She saves part of her food from dinner to give to the puppy and the puppy sleeps with her in her bed. The next day she puts the puppy in her apron and takes him to work at the Hospice with her. A patient, Jan, hears the puppy whimper and asks Cindy what the noise was. Cindy shows him the puppy. Jan can only see the puppy as a "smudge" because his eyes are weak with disease. Cindy decides to name the puppy Smudge. After work Cindy goes home. She is in trouble because the puppy left a mess in her room last night. The people at the group home take the dog away and place him at SPCA, a place for homeless puppies. The next day at work Jan asks for the dog. Cindy tells him that Smudge was taken away from her and placed in SPCA. Jan helps Cindy get directions to SPCA and Cindy goes there. Smudge is laying on concrete floor and Cindy is upset. The lady at SPCA said Cindy can have the dog on Saturday. However, when Saturday comes, the dog is already sold. Cindy is upset and goes home. She gets a phone call from Hospice telling her to come in the next day. Cindy is scared that she is going to get yelled at, but she goes anyway. When she gets there Smudge is waiting for her. Smudge's new home is at the Hospice.

Creative Mathematical Questions

1. How many people would you estimate to live in Cindy's home, if she is carrying everyone's plate? (Standard 3, 5)
2. If puppies are full grown at one year, how old do you think Smudge is? (Standard 3, 4, 5)
3. If Cindy gets paid $5/hour for working at the Hospice, estimate how much money would she make in a week? (Standard 3, 4, 5)
4. Cindy has one sandwich for lunch and she shares it with Smudge. However, Smudge only eats a little of the bread. From the picture, what percentage of the sandwich would you estimate Cindy can eat? (Standard 3, 4, 5, 6)
5. In Cindy's home there are 17 stairs from the kitchen on the first floor to her bedroom on the second floor. How high do you think each stair is? (Standard 3, 5)
6. How many squares do you think there are on page 14? (Standard 5, 6)
7. Based upon the number of buildings in the picture, how big do you think the city is where Cindy works? (Standard 4, 5, 6)

Creative Mathematical Activities

1. Mrs. Watson found out about Smudge because he made a mess on the floor. Cindy needs help designing a schedule for Smudge so he won't make any more messes. Make sure and include time for Smudge to go outside, exercise, play, eat and sleep. (Standard 1, 4)
2. Have the class go on an imaginary bus ride with Cindy to find Smudge. Let them decide how much money they need to bring. Tell them to bring enough play money for a ticket and for lunch at McDonald's, without bringing too much money, because it might get pick-pocketed. Have a person in charge of collecting the money for the tickets and for the food. See which student estimated closest to the correct amount. (Standard 1, 4, 5)
3. Have the students make a list (either individually or as a group) of pet supplies Cindy will need to buy. Include items such as food, leash, dish, toys, treats, etc. Have the students estimate the prices of the individual items as well as the total price. After the list is complete take a field trip to a pet store and have the students find the items and get actual prices. (Standard 1, 3, 4, 5, 6)
4. Cindy needs help finding addresses in the phone book. Have the students create their own phone books with the addresses and phone numbers of their friends. Have students add together different phone numbers and compare their totals with others. (Standard 4, 6)
5. Bring in pictures of different breeds of dogs. Have the students classify the dogs into as many different categories as they can think of. (Standard 4, 6)

Poem

Cindy and her Dog

Cindy found a dog she named Smudge

However, the rules of the home won't budge

“Cindy, we’re going to take that dog away!”

Cindy cries because she wants Smudge to stay

Cindy works at a hospice where she cleans

However, it took a patient named Jan to intervene

Cindy heard that Smudge was at a new home

Cindy got on the bus to roam

Cindy found the dog's home and it wasn't very good

He was lying on a cold floor, not like a dog should

"Cindy, if you want the dog you'll have to come back"

"Cindy, come back at ten on Saturday to be exact"

Cindy came back like she was told

However, Smudge was already sold!

Cindy gets a call to come to the Hospice

And when she arrives Smudge gives her a big kiss!

Many students think math is just used in school

But we know that math is really cool

Because we learned you can find math anywhere

Even Cindy and Smudge care!

(Standard 4)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gregory, Nan. How Smuge Came. Illus. Ron Lightburn. New York: Walker and Company, 1995.

NCTM Standards. From Math Methods Syllabus: Dr. Sue Baker. 1998.