One More Draw
Chapter 1A Better Idea
Shmuel's team does not contain his best friend.
This seems a very poor way for the afternoon to begin.
The rebbi organizes a table quiz. Four teams, three boys on each. No prize except choosing the first question in the next round. Shmuel volunteers to draw the folded name slips from a bowl while Rebbi writes the teams on the board.
"We keep the teams that come out," Rebbi says. "If there is a problem, tell me."
On the board, Shmuel sits beneath Team Two. His friend Naftali sits beneath Team Four.
Shmuel turns the bowl in his hands.
"Shouldn't everyone get one friend?"
The suggestion sounds generous.
It would be especially generous to Shmuel.
Chapter 2A Kind Redraw
Rebbi asks what problem Shmuel sees.
"Some boys won't like their teams."
"Has anyone told you that?"
"They might."
Rebbi puts down the chalk.
"The teams will work together for this short quiz. If someone has a concern, he can speak to me."
Dov points at the board. "I want another draw."
Shmuel feels encouraged. Now the problem belongs to someone else too.
"See? We could let unhappy boys draw again."
"What happens to the boys on the teams they leave?" Rebbi asks.
Shmuel hasn't considered that part.
"They can draw again too."
"Until when?"
The bowl suddenly feels less useful.
Rebbi keeps the first teams. He speaks quietly with Dov, then sends the boys to their tables.
Shmuel walks toward Team Two with the air of someone accepting a deeply unfortunate arrangement.
Chapter 3Three Answers
His teammates are Eli and Nochum.
Shmuel likes them well enough. He simply doesn't think of them when he imagines a good afternoon.
The first question asks for something that can have a mouth but never eats.
"A river," Nochum says.
Shmuel is still looking at Naftali's table. He nearly writes a face, which seems wrong as soon as he thinks about it.
The second question gives them four words with one letter missing from each. Eli spots the pattern.
The third question is a little number puzzle. Shmuel solves that one.
Three answers. Three boys.
At Naftali's table, somebody drops a pencil. Naftali laughs. Shmuel wishes he is there for whatever makes the pencil funny.
He bends over the next question instead.
Chapter 4The New Bowl
Before the second round, Rebbi puts four folded slips in the bowl. They contain the team numbers. One team will choose which question to take first.
The bowl sits beside Shmuel from the first draw.
"May I choose?"
"Yes. Without looking."
Shmuel pulls out Team Three.
He knows because he opens the slip beneath the edge of the table. No one else sees it yet.
Team Three already leads by two answers.
A redraw would help everyone else.
He puts the slip back.
He can say it isn't folded properly. He can say it sticks to his thumb. He can say he wants to mix the bowl better.
His fingers move toward another slip.
Then he sees Nochum watching him.
"Which team?" Nochum asks.
Shmuel takes his hand out empty.
Chapter 5The Number He Sees
"Rebbi," Shmuel says. "I saw the number and put it back."
The room goes still.
"Which number?"
"Three. I want another one because they're ahead."
Team Three watches from the next table. One boy folds his arms.
Rebbi comes beside the bowl.
"Is there any other reason the slip can't count?"
"No."
Shmuel says it before he can improve the explanation.
Rebbi unfolds all four slips. Only one says Three. He places it beside the board and lets Team Three choose the question.
For later draws, he will handle the bowl himself.
Shmuel wants to say that he told the truth before taking a second slip. He did tell it. The bowl still leaves his table.
"I'm sorry," he says to Team Three.
The boy with folded arms nods. He doesn't uncross them immediately.
Chapter 6What Kind Looks Like
After the quiz, Shmuel helps put the question cards away.
"I thought the first redraw would be kind," he tells Rebbi.
"Would you have asked for it if Naftali was on your team?"
Shmuel sorts two cards very carefully.
"Probably not."
"And would you have put back Team Two?"
"No."
The second answer is easier because the first one opens the door.
Rebbi doesn't tell him that every random arrangement is fair in every situation. Sometimes a grownup needs to change a plan for a real reason.
"You can bring a concern to me," he says. "You can't quietly keep choosing until the result suits you, then call the result a draw."
Shmuel puts the last card in its envelope.
"Even if another team gets helped too."
"Even then."
Chapter 7After the Teams
Naftali waits for Shmuel at the coat hooks.
"Was your table terrible?"
"No. Nochum knew the river answer. Eli saw the missing letters."
"We argued about the river for ages."
Shmuel grins despite himself.
They walk out together.
At the door, Nochum asks Shmuel if he wants to see a different number puzzle tomorrow. Shmuel says yes.
The afternoon doesn't give him his preferred team. It gives him an unpleasant conversation, a bowl he no longer handles, and two teammates who turn out to know things worth knowing.
Tomorrow he can sit beside Naftali during the permitted break. There is no slip to draw for that.
He can want his friend and still keep the number he opens.
Put the story in order
Write 1-5 in the empty boxes to show the story order. Look back at the story if you need to.
Shown or assumed?
Write Fact or Guess beside each statement. Fact is shown in the story. Guess is an assumption or prediction.
| Statement | Fact / Guess |
|---|---|
| Rebbi says the first teams stand unless there is a problem to discuss. | |
| A redraw is kind just because Shmuel wants it. | |
| Shmuel reads Team Three beneath the table. | |
| A leading team loses its right to a valid draw. | |
| Rebbi handles later draws himself. | |
| Telling the truth means there can be no consequence. |
Choose one guess. What is still unknown?
Choose a next-step path
Choose the useful steps. Draw arrows between the boxes in an order you can explain. You do not need to choose every box or make every feeling disappear.
Shmuel dislikes the random result and wants a different team.
Wanting a different result does not authorize a hidden redraw.
Notice without a verdict
Use the character, an invented child, or a mild example. You may draw, skip private details, or ask a grown-up to help. A body clue is not proof of a feared event.
Shmuel sorts cards carefully when Rebbi asks whether he would want a redraw with Naftali on his team.
What feeling could fit? More than one may fit.
Which rule was stated? Which preference did Shmuel disguise?
Bring a real concern to Rebbi instead of quietly changing the draw.
Would I use this rule both ways?
An invented child draws a team number and dislikes it. Write the valid result, a concern they may bring to the teacher, and one question that checks whether their proposed rule would apply when it benefits someone else. Use an invented person. Write what the person can say, what they can do, and where adult help belongs. Then write one part they cannot control.
| Notice / meaning | Action / words | Help / limits |
|---|---|---|
Words to keep
Six reminders. Each square is 2 1/4 inches.
Circle a reminder for one scene. Tell why it fits.
Draw the turning point
Draw and color this scene: Shmuel tells Rebbi he read and returned the Team Three slip while the bowl stays on the table. Add a speech bubble or a sentence. Artistic skill is not scored.
Find the story words
Find the words across, down, or diagonally down-right. No words read backward.
| K | L | W | T | A | Z | R | M | X | K | M | Y |
| E | V | L | F | G | J | W | H | T | M | H | F |
| R | L | H | M | C | L | Q | N | L | P | Z | S |
| R | G | Q | E | L | X | S | L | I | P | O | K |
| D | U | T | E | A | M | X | D | R | P | H | Z |
| C | F | L | U | P | X | B | R | E | J | M | L |
| V | A | Z | E | X | L | O | A | R | E | H | D |
| U | I | P | D | D | B | W | W | M | B | O | V |
| V | R | A | X | I | V | L | H | P | A | C | E |
| F | C | C | F | K | O | Y | Z | I | A | E | A |
| D | N | S | S | L | U | S | E | A | W | E | T |
| W | C | Y | W | K | H | I | L | T | P | O | K |
Choose two words. How do they connect to the story?
Parent notes and answers
Discussion questions: Why does the first redraw sound generous to Shmuel?; What happens to others if boys keep changing teams?; Why can honesty and losing responsibility for later draws both occur?
Tool: Help children name a preference separately from a fairness claim. Listen to genuine concerns and keep adult discretion. Admit and repair a changed draw without promising that admission removes every consequence.
1. Listed order: 4, 1, 5, 2, 3. Turning-point explanation may vary but should name a change shown in the story.
2. Listed order: Fact, Guess, Fact, Guess, Fact, Guess. A feeling can be real without proving a prediction.
3. Useful route: Start to 1 to 3 to 5 to Finish. Other orders may be reasonable if explained; the story is not a rule that every child must copy.
4. Open response. Disappointment and embarrassment do not change the draw's result. Do not grade how calm a child feels or ask for private disclosures.
5. Open responses. Actual access or safety concerns may justify adult changes. This is not a claim that every random plan is always fair.
6. Open choices. A reminder offers support, not a promise that another person or a feeling will change.
7. Open drawing. Show accountability without a public humiliation scene.
8. TEAM: row 5, column 3, right; DRAW: row 5, column 8, down; BOWL: row 6, column 7, down; SLIP: row 4, column 7, right; FAIR: row 6, column 2, down; RULE: row 4, column 1, down_right