Level 3b
3
stories inside!
For guided and shared reading
How to use this book This book contains six short stories with a phonic focus on long vowel sounds and vowel digraphs. The stories combine easily decodable words, essential high-frequency words and a few more tricky words to challenge your child. Step 1 - You may like to read the story out loud first. If your child lacks confidence it will help to become familiar with the contents of the story before they try to read any of the words themselves. Step 2 - Phonemic Awareness - Awareness that the words we speak and hear are made up of smaller units of sounds is a key skill for beginner readers. Focus on a particular sound or spelling pattern such as, ‘oo’ or ‘ue’, and emphasise it in words as you read the story together. Step 3 - Phonics - Children need to begin to decode words, developing knowledge of phonics, syllables, and word parts. When focusing on a particular vowel phoneme, break a word up into separate sounds, then blend the sounds together again, e.g. m-ee-t, p-oo-l, bl-ue. Step 4 - Vocabulary - Acquiring and using new vocabulary is a vital skill in learning to read. Talk about any words that might not be familiar. Look at the pictures to help describe new words like ‘bleak’ or ‘droop’. Step 5 - Fluency - Reading fluently is a skill which can be achieved through familiarity with text. Come back to the stories in this series later, with the new purpose of reading them with expression and flow. Note any difficult spots and practise them. Then re-read the pages one more time. The more expression the better! Step 6 - Comprehension - Children can be too busy decoding the words to fully understand what they are reading. Talk about the story and ask questions. Encourage your child to retell the story in their own words, but make sure they don’t feel tested.
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By the pool
By Sheila Blackburn
Zig Zag Zebra sat in the zoo. She sat in the cool and looked at all the people who came to the zoo. 2
There was a boy with balloons, and a lot of children from the school. 3
Zig Zag Zebra sat in the sun all afternoon. She soon began to droop. She soon began to snooze. 4
In the lighthouse
By Alison Hawes
It was a nice evening so Lucy Lamp Light and Clever Cat decided to go for a walk. 18
Lucy ...?
While they were out, Eddy Elephant arrived at Lucy’s lighthouse. He wanted to see Lucy. He knocked. He pushed the door. Then he decided to go inside. 19
Eddy Elephant went up to the top of the lighthouse. Then he saw the huge light. He saw it shine across the sea keeping the ships and boats safe. 20
New jeans
By Alison Hawes
One Tuesday afternoon, Max went to Nick’s house to play. Nick had on his new blue jeans. 34
Nick and Max went up to Nick’s room. “What do you want to do?” asked Nick. “You choose.” 35
First they drew some little pictures. Then they drew a huge picture of a rocket zooming into space. 36
“Now let’s make a rocket!” said Max. “I’ve got lots of boxes and tubes we can use and a new pot of glue,” said Nick. 37