Sue Gilbert

Oxford Reading CirclePRIMER

Teaching Guide

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INTRODUCTION

This new Teaching Guide has been written to help teachers to exploit fully all the learning opportunities presented in the Oxford Reading Circle series of reading books. It provides, on a chapter-by-chapter basis, suggestions for how the various points of reading covered can be taught. It also contains suggestions on how the illustrations and texts can be used to develop language by relating the content to the students’ own wider experiences and by encouraging them to predict outcomes in the light of what they can see or what they have already read. There are also some supplementary activities and games to reinforce the teaching in a less formal way. The Guide supplies answers for the Exercises sections of the student book where appropriate, recognising that there are not always ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers and any valid contribution from a student must be welcomed, and a variety of responses should be encouraged. There are also a number of photocopiable worksheets (answers supplied) that can be used to assess student’s learning and identify areas of weakness where further teacher input may be required, either for individuals or for the whole class. Each class is different and only the teacher will know which activities will work with his/her students. For this reason, although the Guide can be used as a step-by-step lesson plan, it is in no way prescriptive, and not all teaching steps have to be followed, but I hope that every teacher will find something that can be used to promote their students’ learning of English and in some way help with their lesson preparation.

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Contents

1. Let’s Say the Sounds: a, b, c, e, g, h, n, t, p _________________________ 1 2. Sounds for words _____________________________________________ 2 3. Read _______________________________________________________ 2 4. Capital Letters _______________________________________________ 3 5. Read Aloud _________________________________________________ 3 6. Look and Say a, the, is, has ____________________________________ 4 7. Let’s say the Sounds: d, f, i, l, m, o, r, s, u __________________________ 4 8. Sounds for Words ____________________________________________ 5 9. Read _______________________________________________________ 510. Read Aloud _________________________________________________ 611. Look and Say: He, She, This ___________________________________ 612. Pam and Boon-bon ___________________________________________ 713. Let’s say the Sounds: j, w, x, y __________________________________ 714. Read _______________________________________________________ 715. Read Aloud _________________________________________________ 816. Sing and Play: you, to, I, sing, play, come __________________________ 817. Look and Say ________________________________________________ 918. Let’s say the Sound: k, q, v, z ___________________________________ 919. Read _______________________________________________________ 920. Read Aloud _________________________________________________ 921. Rabbit ____________________________________________________ 1022. Pyramid: look, them, do, see __________________________________ 1023. More sounds _______________________________________________ 1024. Big Duck: where, have, no, my, her _____________________________ 1125. I Say: say, what, me, here, with _________________________________ 1126. Happy Birthday, Mum!: Please, Thank you, says, for, open ___________ 1227. More sounds _______________________________________________ 1228. Dad’s Van: saw, was, went, one, home ___________________________ 1229. Photocopiable Worksheets __________________________________13-2130. Notes ___________________________________________________22-24

* The staff of the educational institution has the right to photocopy the worksheets in this book provided that the number of copies does not exceed the number reasonably required by the institution to satisfy its teaching purposes.

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Oxford Reading Circle Primer

Teaching Guide

General note:A number of different strategies are given for teaching new words and for reading the texts. It is not necessary to use all of them; teachers should decide when students are ready to read the text without first hearing it read aloud by the teacher or by other students.No homework tasks are set, but it is valuable for students to read the texts to an adult at home whenever possible, after it has been studied in class. It may be possible to ask parents to initial, in pencil, the corner of a page after they have heard their child read it to them; at the same time, parents could also communicate to the teacher any difficulty their child may be having with a particular text.

Let’s Say the Sounds (Page 1)

1. One at a time, write the letters on the board or use large flashcards that can be stuck on the board with blu-tack or magnets and say the sound (phonic sound, NOT letter name) of the letter; students should repeat the sound. You may choose to write the more commonly used forms of a and g if this is how the children are taught to write them.

2. Repeat for all 9 letters.3. Point to or show letters in random order and ask the students to say the sound—this can be done first by

the class as a whole and then by individual students.4. Students open their books on page 1 and as a class, trace each letter with their finger and say its sound. It

may be necessary to explain that while there are different ways to write a and g, the sound is the same.5. Say one of the sounds and ask the students to point to the correct letter in their books. Ask students to

check to see if their partner has pointed to the correct letter.6. Look at the first picture; tell students that the word begins with the sound made by the letter, and

ask for the word, i.e. cap not hat. Ask the students if they can give you more words beginning with the same sound. At this stage it is the sound that is important, so they can give words in their first language, or words beginning with k if the sound is correct. Do not accept words where the c has the soft sound (as in ceiling).

7. Team game–matching sound with letter Write the letters or stick flashcards on the board at child height. Divide the class into teams. Ask a member of each team to come to the board and point to the letter matching the initial sound of a

word given by the teacher. It does not matter if they do not understand the word, the important thing is to identify the initial sound.

The first child to point to the correct letter wins a point for his/her team. Keep a record of the score on the board where the students can see how their team is doing.

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Repeat with different students and words until each child has taken at least one turn. Words could include: cat, call, can, cola, cave bat, big, belt, butter, top, tin, ten, table, talk, ant, angry, apple, and nail, no, nut, name, never pot, pen, people, pink, pat, purple, elephant, egg, empty, ever, example girl, good, goal, give, gold hen, hat, here, help, hand, hair

If it appears that any child is having difficulty, say the word again emphasizing the initial sound, and ask the child to repeat the word and then identify the first sound. This may help in determining whether the difficulty is in distinguishing the sound or in identifying the letter.

8. Play I Spy Teacher says ‘I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with….’ (give initial phonic sound of an object

in the classroom, using only the 9 sounds taught so far). Children put up hands in order to guess what the object is. The student who guesses correctly has the next turn to say ‘I Spy….’

Sounds for Words (Pages 2—3 )

1. Look at the pictures and explain that the objects shown all start with the sound of the letter written above them.

2. Tell the students what the objects are, emphasizing the initial sound in each case.3. Students should repeat each word after the teacher.4. Use a set of flashcards with the pictures, hold them up randomly and ask the students to say the name of

the object.5. Phonic game: Ask all students to stand up. Hold up a letter flashcard and ask the first student to give you a

word beginning with that sound. If a correct word is given, the student may sit down, if not, he/she remains standing until the second round. Continue until all students are sitting down. To avoid seated students becoming bored, invite them, individually, to be judges. If a child is having problems with this activity, to avoid embarrassment, you could give a picture clue, or ask ‘Does cat begin with c?’ or ‘Does hat begin with c?’ This should indicate whether there is a problem with hearing the initial sound.

Read (Page 3)

Use flashcards showing 7 consonant sounds and 2 vowels ‘a’ and ‘e’. The vowels should be in a different colour from the consonants or on different colour cards. Stick these on the board with Blu-tack or board magnets.

1. Show the students the a card and ask them to give its phonic sound.2. In turn, place the cards of each of the consonants next to it and tell them the sound that the two letters

together make: ba, ca, ta, ha, na, ga. 3. Repeat, with the children repeating the sounds.4. Repeat in random order.5. With all 7 consonants on the board, move the a card randomly and ask individual students to say the

sound.

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6. Repeat the process with the e card, so that students learn the sounds pe, ne, te, be, he, ge. (NB: Do not use ce since with this combination the c will be a soft sound as in ceiling.)7. Now repeat step 4 but using both vowels randomly and asking students, as a class or individually, to give

the sounds.8. Team game: (You will need a set of cards for each team either placed on a table, or on the board at child

height; board is better since other members of the class will see what is happening.) Ask a member of each team to come to the front of the class and select and hold up/stick on board the correct flashcards to make the sound that is given by the teacher (e.g. ha, be, etc.). This is not a race; a point is awarded for each child who gets it right without help.

9. CVC words: Write on board or make with flashcards, ba combination and then add the final t. Slowly pronounce the word bat, emphasizing the final letter. Ask students to repeat the word.

10. Change the final letter from t to g and pronounce the new word as above, with students echoing.11. Do the same for all the final consonants: ba bat bag ban12. Repeat with other initial consonants: ca cat can cap ta tat tag tan tap13. Write all words on the board (or use cards) and ask students—in class or individually, to read the words

as you point to them in a random order.14. If possible, give each student, or pair of students, a set of cards and dictate the above words in random

order for them to make. Walk around checking as you dictate. This will also enable you to identify children who may need extra help at this stage.

Capital letters (Page 4)

1. Explain that in English there are 2 ways to write each letter; usually we use the smaller letters, but for certain words, and in certain places, we have to use the larger, capital letters. Sometimes these are larger versions of the same shapes, such as Cc, Pp, and sometimes they are completely different as with Aa and Bb. Stress to the students that the SOUND the letters make is still the same, whichever case is used.

Explain that one of the uses of capital letters is at the start of a person’s name.2. Look at the letters at the bottom of page 4. Taking each pair in turn, ask the children to look at the small

letter and to tell you what sound it makes. Then explain that the other letter is the capital letter for that sound. You can talk about how the shapes are similar or different.

3. Write or put up cards of all 18 characters on the board in random order. Students close books and read sounds of the letters as you point to them. Students come to the board and make pairs of the letters.

4. GAME—Pellmanism. Photocopy the letters printed on the last two pages of this book and cut your copies to make sets of ‘cards’. Give pairs of students sets of 18 cards, each with one of the characters on it. (upper case, lower case). Students place the cards face down on their desks in rows. First student turns over two cards; if they are not a matching pair (lower and upper case of the same letter) the cards are turned back and the next student has a turn. If they are matching, the student keeps the set and has an extra turn. The winner is the student with most pairs when all the sets have been found. It is important to keep the cards in the same places so that the students can memorise the positions of the letters when the cards are face down.

Read Aloud (Page 4)

1. Look at the pictures of the children and the words below each. Ask the students why they begin with capital letters. (They are names.) Read the words. Explain that nn in Ann sounds the same as n.

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2. Look at the first column of words and ask what the vowel sound in the middle is. Read each word and ask students to repeat them as you do.

3. Write the words on the board and ask individual students to read words that you point to.4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 with the words in columns 2 and 3.5. You should now have 15 words on the board, preferably in an order different from that in the book in case

students are remembering them by place. Read through all the words together and then ask students to read the words as you point to them in a random order. If a student has difficulty, ask them to identify the vowel sound first and then blend it with the initial sound, and finally add the final sound.

6. Student can complete the worksheet-1 by matching words with pictures. Ask students to circle the a in red and the e in blue. Students can colour the pictures when the task is complete.

Look and Say (Page 5)

1. Make large flashcards of the 4 words.2. Students should be able to read a when shown the flashcard. If necessary, give the meaning of this word

and the other 3 in your local language.3. Show the is flashcard, say the word and ask students to repeat it.4. Do the same for the remaining two flashcards.5. Display all 4 cards and point randomly, asking students as a class or individuals to ‘read’ the words.6. Open books at page 5 and look at the pictures. Ask the students who/what they can see in each picture and

what each person/animal has.7. Read the first line aloud with students following, pointing at the words with their finger as you read. Ask

the students which picture the line refers to.8. Repeat for the other five lines.9. Explain that a full stop is used after we have written about one thing and are going to start another thing.

For example, we read about Pat and the cat, then we start a new topic—Ann and the net.10. Ask the students what they notice about the word that follows after a full stop—they should know that a

capital letter always follows a full stop; if they are unable to identify this, then point it out to them.11. If necessary, explain the difference between on and in by demonstrating using a pen or a book and a bag

or a box, putting the pen on the bag/box or in it. Ask students to say on or in as you move it.12. Ask the students to read the text together, and then ask individual students to read different lines. Repeat,

so that all students have a turn to read and note any students who are having problems or any common errors so that remedial work can be done at this stage.

Let’s Say the Sounds (Page 6)

1. Prepare a set of flashcards—one for each new letter.2. Look at the first picture and ask what it shows—socks. If children do not know the English word, tell them.

Ask the students what sound the word begins with. (s) 3. Elicit other words or students’ names that begin with the same sound e.g. school, start, sun, sand, sandwich,

Sam, Sara.4. Show them the s flashcard or write s on the board and explain that this shows the sound s.5. Ask the children to trace the s in their books with their finger, starting at the top.

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6. Repeat these 5 steps for each of the new letters, adding each flashcard to the display/letter to the board as you go through them. Possible other words are:

d – dog, door, day, date o – orange, on, off, odd, r – ring, rug, rat, run, ruler, f – foot, feet, fall, flower i – inn, is, ill, ink (but not words like ‘ice’ because this is the wrong sound). Talk about what an igloo is and how it is made. m – man, milk, men, mile, match l – light, lake, leaf, lollipop u – umpire, up, ugly 7. Point to the letters on the board and ask students to say the sounds (class and/or individuals).8. Say a word and ask students to point to the initial sounds in their books, with a partner checking. 9. Now use all 18 flashcards for phonic sounds introduced so far (or write all on the board), and ask students

to say the sounds.

Sounds for Words (Pages 7—8)

1. Look at the letter s above the first picture. Ask the class to say the sound.2. Look at the picture of the sun. Ask what the picture shows and reinforce the fact that the word sun begins

with the s sound.3. Repeat with other pictures.4. Team game. Place the flashcards or write the letters on the board at student height. Divide the class into

teams. Point to one of the letters; if the student gives the correct sound, award one point; if they can give a word beginning with that sound, award a second point. Alternatively, say a word and ask a member of a team to point to the letter for one point, and give a new word for the second point. Repeat until all students have had a go – try to get different words if letters are repeated; this will also reinforce listening skills.

Read (Pages 8—9)

1. Prepare flashcards for the additional vowel sounds—preferably writing each in a different colour or on different colour cards. You will also need a flashcard showing ll.

2. Follow the same method as used for page 3, using the additional vowel sounds. It is not necessary to explain the meanings of all the words, just to read them correctly. It may be necessary to explain the pronunciation of the blend nt and also that ll is often found at the end of words and makes the same sound as a single l.

3. Look at the pictures on the pages and ask what they are and their initial sounds.4. Read the sentence at the end of page 9.5. Extra activity: Using flashcards for all 18 letters, invite students to come to the board and make their own

cvc (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. Alternatively, give pairs of students sets of small cards and ask them to work in pairs to make words. See which pair makes most correctt words.

6. Game BINGO: On small cards, write each of the cvc words from pages 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9 and put them in a box or bag so they cannot be seen. If there are too many words, then select certain pages only. The range of words can be extended according to the students’ ability. Ask students to choose 6 or 10 words from these

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and write them in their own books or on a piece of paper. The teacher pulls a card from the bag/box and says the word very clearly. Do not let students see the word and do not put the card back into the bag/box; keep the card on the desk for checking purposes. If a student has that word on their list, he must put an x by it. Continue the game until a student has crossed all words on his/her list. This student should raise a hand or call ‘Bingo’ and if the words are checked against the drawn cards and are correct, this child is the winner. The game can be repeated with students drawing the cards and reading out the words.

7. ‘I Spy’ can be played again using the expanded series of initial sounds.

Read Aloud (Page 10)

1. Explain that the students are going to learn some more capital letters. Ask students when capital letters are used. (for names and after full stops)

2. Look at the small and capital letters at the bottom of the page and ask students to comment on which are the same as the small letters (S, O, U), which are similar (I, F, M), and which are different (D, R, L).

3. Look at the 3 names on page 10 and elicit that each begins with a capital letter. Ask students to say the sound of each of these three letters and if possible, to read the words.

4. Using flashcards of both forms of the letters, repeat steps 3 and 4 from page 4. When students are familiar with the new letters, incorporate the 18 upper and lower characters from page 4 into the activity.

5. Student can complete worksheet 2 by matching letters in upper and lower case with pictures. If necessary, talk about the pictures first.

Look and Say (Page 11)

1. Teach He and She as sight words.2. Explain that he is used to talk about males, boys etc. Ask students to give other examples e.g. father, uncle,

boy, cousin, brother, grandfather, a male animal.3. Explain that she is used for females and ask for examples e.g. mother, sister, aunty, grandmother, girl.4. Activity: use pictures taken from newspapers or magazines. Display pictures of different male and female

figures of different ages and occupations and nationalities, if possible. As you point to each, ask students to say he or she as appropriate.

5. Teach This as a sight word. Explain that we use this to indicate what we are talking about when it is something close to us. Demonstrate by picking up an object and saying ‘This is my pen, bag, etc.’ or ‘This is Ali’s pencil.’

6. Look at the first picture and talk about who or what the students see. Establish that the man is Dad. Explain that a small dog is called a puppy, or ‘Pup’ for short.

7. Read lines 1–4 as students follow and point. 8. Read each line in turn with students repeating after you.9. Students read all four lines as a class.10. Look at the second picture and identify the woman is Mum. Talk about what she has.11. Repeat steps 7–9 for the second picture.12. Read all 8 lines as a class and then ask individual students to read lines in turn.13. Comprehension: Ask questions such as ‘Where is the dog? Who has a dog? Who has a hen? Is the hen on

the tin? Is the dog in the tin? Has Dad got a hen? Has Mum got a pup?’ etc. Ask why they think Mum might need to run. (Pup may be chasing the hen.)

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14. If appropriate, draw ! on the board and explain what it is and that it shows somebody is shouting or surprised.

Pam and Bon-bon (Pages 12—13)

1. Write the word pet on the board. Ask the students to read the word and explain to them that a pet is an animal we keep in the home, such as a dog or a cat. Ask students to tell you about their own pets.

2. Open books to page 12 and ask who they can see. (a girl—Pam, and a dog—Bon-bon)3. Look at the words in blue and explain that it is a title that tells us what the story is about. Ask students to

read the title. Elicit that Bon-bon is the dog’s name. The use of capital letter is a clue. 4. Read the text—students follow and point.5. Read line by line with students repeating after you.6. Students read as a class and individually.7. Comprehension: Ask what Bon-bon can do. (run, sit, beg) If necessary, explain ‘beg’ – how a dog sits with

its front paws raised to ask for something. 8. Look at the pictures on page 13 and identify the cat, rat and tin. Ask the initial sound of each word.9. Read the text as for the previous page.10. If appropriate, draw a ? on the board and explain what it is and that it is used to show somebody is asking

a question.11. Read the text of both pages with the students as a class/individuals. 12. Students can read to each other in pairs, taking alternate lines. Teacher should move round, listening in

informally, to check for accuracy or to identify any problems. 13. Activity: Write the 3 words sit, run, beg on the board and explain that when you point to one of the words,

the students should do that action (sit, run on the spot, hold up hands as begging paws).

Let’s Say the Sounds (Page 14)

1. Teach j, w and y as for steps 1–8 on page 6. Other words could include: j – jam, jar, joke, jelly w – well, water, week, wash y – yellow, you, young, yo-yo2. x – explain that this letter is not usually found at the start of words in English, but is sometimes used as a

short way to write ‘Christ’ as in Christmas (Xmas). Its sound is like that at the end of box. Use the picture to explain that both ox and box have this sound at the end of the word.

Read (Page 15)

1. Using new flashcards for the four new letters, teach the cvc words as for pages 8–9. 2. Write the words ding and dong on the board and ask students to read the words, making the ng blend

sound.3. Look at the final two lines on page 15. Ask why a capital letter is used for Ding (first word in the sentence).

Ask why there is an ! (surprise)

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Read Aloud (Page 16)

1. Look at the 3 pictures and discuss whether they are girls or boys. Ask students to say which would use he and which she.

2. Using a set of name flashcards or writing on the board, ask students to supply all the names encountered so far. Pat, Ann, Ben, Pam, Dad, Mum, Jill, Janet, Jim, Pup, Bon-bon. Review idea of capital letters for names. Ask students to read the words in random order, as a class or individually.

3. Point to a name and ask students to say he or she as appropriate; they may choose either for Pup and Bon-bon since gender is not clear.

4. Ask the students to try reading the words to each other in pairs and then check by asking individual students to read the words aloud. If there are problems, do whole class work using the board or flashcards. Explain that yap is the noise a dog makes and yum means delicious.

5. Teach the capital letters as on page 10, steps 2 and 4 (these letters are almost identical in both cases), and then use all 22 letters for matching small case and capitals.

Sing and Play (Pages 17—18)

1. Students look at page 17. Remind them what a title is and that capital letters are used in titles, but not for and.

2. Look at the pictures. Explain that the first picture is of Sam and ask students if they can point to his name on the page. Talk about what he is doing and using the phonic sounds, ask if they can see something beginning with g (guitar) and c (cap).

3. Repeat with the second picture, asking students to find the name of Tim and something beginning with d (drum) or s (sock).

4. Teach the new sight words using flashcards or by writing them on the board.5. Write the words on the board in the same order as in the book and read through as a class. Identify (to

yourself only) any student who may need extra help.6. Say one of the words and ask students to point to that word in their books. Students should work in pairs

for checking. 7. Activity: Use flashcards or write on the board the words sing, play, come, sit, run and beg. Decide a mime

action for each word. Students mime the action as you point to the words. Anyone who makes a mistake sits down until only one person (or a small group) remains.

8. Read through the text as for previous chapters; the number of repetitions needed will depend upon the ability of the students. If necessary, explain that well used here means he is good at something.

9. Look at the text on page 18 and see if anybody can tell you what the ? sign means. 10. Read lines 1–3. Ask who is asking the questions. (Sam)11. Read the next 5 lines and ask who is answering the questions. (Tim)12. Read the final line and ask who is speaking. (Sam and Tim together.)13. Read through the entire text, asking students who is speaking at each stage.14. Read the text with boys reading Sam’s words and girls, those of Tim; read again exchanging roles.15. Students read the text in pairs, taking turns to be Sam and Tim. The teacher can move around the class to

identify any students who may require extra support at this stage.

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Look and Say (Page 19)

1. Review all sight words with flashcards or using the board. 2. Ask students to try to read the other words on the page to their partners. While they are doing this, in

random order, put flashcards for all 55 words from this page on the board or write them. If this is too many, break the activity down into two sections.

3. Team Game: Divide the class into teams. Say a word taken from the list at random and ask a member of one team to come and identify it on the board; repeat for the next team, until all words have been identified. Give points for correct identification.

4. Final consonant identification: If students are ready, ask them to look at the first line of words (cab—hip). Read each word, emphasizing the final sound.

5. Using the phonic sounds, ask students to identify a word from the line that ends in b or n etc.6. Next, ask students to give words that either end with a given sound or begin with one.7. Ask students to count how many words have a in the middle (3), e in the middle (2) or i in the middle (1).

Do not write the sound—only say it; this can help to identify students that cannot match the vowel sound to the letter.

8. Repeat this with other rows of words as appropriate. More able students can do this activity in pairs or groups.

Let’s Say the Sounds (Page 20)

1. Look at the letters on page 20 and explain that these are not used very often at the start of English words. 2. Teach as for steps 1–8 on page 6. k – explain that it makes the same sound as c and is often found before an e or i; other words beginning

with k are kite, kettle, keep and kangaroo. v – van, vegetable, village, very. Be very careful over pronunciation of this letter – it is not w and students

must put the top teeth over the lower lip in order to pronounce it correctly. Drill the pronunciation as a class and individually and correct it whenever it is mispronounced.

z – zip, zebra. The picture shows somebody sleeping and presumably making a zzz sound. q – queue, quick, quiet, quack. Explain that this letter is always followed by a u in English words.

Read (Page 21)

1. Use flashcards for the 4 new letters and proceed as for page 15. Explain that ss makes the same sound as s but is never found at the start of a word.

2. Talk about the pictures that illustrate kiss, zigzag and quill.

Read Aloud (Page 22)

1. Ask students to read the two sentences to themselves. If this is unlikely, ask for volunteers to read them aloud while others follow.

2. Ask students ‘Which animal can run?’ (fox), and ‘Can the ox run?’ (no) ‘Why not?’ (because it is big). 3. Put up flashcards of the new words or write them on the board. Ask individual students to read them. 4. Ask students to come to the board and point to the word that you say.

5. Look at the new capital letters and talk about which ones are the same/similar/different, from the lower case letters.

6. Activity: Using sets of cards with all upper and lower case letters on them, students can now play Pellmanism with all the letters of the alphabet, matching upper and lower case letters to win a turn. If 52 cards are too many, divide the cards into sets of 26 and play in two goes.

7. Activity: Students can play phonic Bingo. Teacher will need a set of 26 small cards, each showing one letter of the alphabet, placed in a box or bag. Students choose 10 letters and write them in their book or on a piece of paper. The teacher pulls one card out of the bag or box at random and says the sound on the card. If students have that sound as one of their chosen letters, they cross it out; continue until one student has crossed out all his/her chosen letters, and calls Bingo!

8. An alternative way to play is for students to write down a number of letters (5 or 6) of their choice. All students stand. When the teacher calls out a sound, any student with the corresponding letter must sit down; continue until only one child is left standing. When checked, this student’s list should contain none of the letters called by the teacher.

9. Game: Play ‘I Spy’ using all the letters of the alphabet.10. Students can complete the worksheet-3 matching capital and lower case letters and a picture. If necessary,

talk about the pictures first. Students who complete the worksheet quickly can either write the words next to the pictures or colour the

pictures, depending on ability. At this stage, teachers can identify those students who need extra support in matching the letters either to

the capitals or to their sounds.

Rabbit (Page 23)

1. Explain that bb makes the same sound as b and ask students to read the title.2. Ask them to look at the pictures and see if they can tell you what is going to happen in the story. Encourage

all their ideas.3. Revise why ! is used at the end of line 1. (shouting)4. Read the text in the most appropriate way to ensure that all students are confident with the text (teacher to

students, as a class, individuals etc.).

Pyramid (Page 24)

1. Teach the word pyramid and either ask students or explain what a pyramid is. Explain that a human pyramid is formed when people stand on each other’s shoulders.

2. Teach sight words, using flashcards or write them on the board. 3. Look at the picture and count how many people there are (5). Ask the students for the names of the people.

Ask if the children are happy. Ask if Dad is happy. Why not? 4. If necessary, explain top and bottom by pointing at, for example, the door. 5. Write the blend dr on the board and ask students to say the sound. Ask for other words beginning with this

blend. (draw, drink, drip, drive and drop)6. Read using an appropriate method, and students can answer the questions in the text.

More Sounds (Page 25)

1. Write ck on the board and explain that it makes the same sound as k and is often found at the end of words.

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2. Read the ck words as a class and individually, as appropriate. 3. Read the oo words.4. Read the rest of the words.5. Ask students to complete worksheet 4 by underlining the correct word for each picture.6. Activity: Give each student a card with one of the words from page 25 written on it. Cards should be at

least postcard size. Students stand or preferably sit, in a large circle with their cards held in front of them. Teacher calls out two words and the students with these words have to change places—this will involve reading the other students’ cards. After two or three practice turns, one chair is removed and a student stands in the centre (also with a card, but this word must not be called while the student is in the centre) and when the words are called, tries to take the place of one of the two students whose words are called and who are trying to change places. If successful, the student who failed to make the change takes the place in the centre. Depending on ability, this can also be played with 3 or 4 words at a time.

Big Duck (Pages 26—29)

1. Teach new sight words using flashcards or writing on the board. Explain that her is used for things belonging to girls, women, etc.

2. Look at page 26. Establish that Duck is crying and ask students to suggest why she is sad; encourage any ideas. Look at the lower picture and ask who Duck is with.

3. Read to sing on page 27 and ask some comprehension questions, e.g. ‘Why is Duck sad?’, ‘Who does she ask for help?’, ‘Does Dog have the egg?’, ‘What do Dog and the pup do?’, ‘Are they sad?’ etc.

4. Ask students to look at the remainder of page 27, to talk about what they can see and predict what is going to happen next.

5. Read to play on page 28.6. Look at the remainder of the story, talk about the pictures and ask the students to predict what is going to

happen.7. Read the remainder of the story. 8. Reread the story as a class, asking different students to read the parts of the story teller and the different

animals. 9. Ask the students to tell the story using their own words.10. Activity: Students can act out the story in small groups by either reading the words or using their own

words.

I Say (Page 30)

1. Teach the sight words. Explain that here, what can be used in expressions such as ‘What a good boy’, ‘What a nice day’, or ‘What a naughty dog’, i.e. when someone is giving an opinion.

2. Look at the pictures and ask whether the children are happy or sad. 3. Write the words say, day, play, may, and holiday, as a list on the board; either use a different colour or

underline the ay in each word. Ask the students what they notice about the words (the common ending), and ask the class to read them aloud so that they can hear that the words end with a common sound. Explain that we say such words rhyme. Ask if the students can think of any other words that rhyme with these words. Add to the list the words from the bottom of the page. If you want to test understanding, you can also add some words which do not rhyme (man, see, etc.), and ask students to say whether they rhyme or not.

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4. Read the text. 5. Revise the use of the ! for excitement or shouting (or both here) and also the ?

Happy Birthday, Mum! (Pages 31—33)

1. Teach the sight words, including Birthday from the title.2. Explain that Please and Thank you are both very important expressions in English and are used a lot; it is

considered very rude if people do not use them. Make sure that the th sound is correctly pronounced.3. Talk about birthdays and how they are celebrated.4. Look at the picture on page 31 and ask for the names of the children. (Tim, Pam, Ben) Ask what Pam has

got and ask children to guess what might be in the box. What would they give their mothers for birthday presents? You could write some of the ideas on the board and see if anybody guessed correctly.

5. Read the story. On page 33, point out the u that follows q in Quick.6. Activity: Students can act out the story, or their version of it, in small groups.

More Sounds (Page 34)

1. Ask the students to look at the first 11 words and strong and identify what they all have in common (ng ending). Read the words. Use flashcards or write the words on the board in random order to test students’ reading of them.

2. Look at each row of words in turn; ask students to identify what each group has in common and remind them that these will be rhyming words.

3. Explain that no, go, and so are separate from to and do because the sound changes; also explain that all the words in the third line rhyme although some have e and others have ee.

4. Ask students where the word star should be written.

Dad’s Van (Pages 35—36)

1. Practice saying v and correct any student who pronounces it as w. 2. Teach sight words using flashcards or writing them on the board.3. Teach the word school.4. Talk about the first picture of the van, who is in it and where they might be going, and establish that in the

second picture the van is empty and talk about where Dad might be. (in the house)5. Read page 35 and ask students to predict what might happen. 6. Look at page 36 and ask what Dad is doing, (sleeping) and ask who is in the van. 7. Read page 36.

Revision

1. Write words in lower/upper case letters on the board and ask students to rewrite them in their books using upper/lower case letters.

2. Ask students to complete worksheet 5 by underlining the correct word by each picture.

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Worksheet 1

bat bag

cat can

cap tap

hat egg

pan ant

net hen

peg pen

Worksheet 2

e C

a H

c N

i E

n A

h I

s P

b S

p B

d M

o F

f G

g O

m D

u T

l U

r L

t R

Worksheet 3

A d

B c

C a

D b

E k

F g

G e

H f

I h

J l

K j

L i

M s

N q

O r

P t

Q m

R n

S o

T p

U w

V y

W u

X z

Y v

Z x

box

Worksheet 5

cap/cat hat/has

pet/pen dog/dot

bag/bad cup/cap

box/fox tap/pat

man/mat tree/free pot/pat sits/six

tin/ten bat/bag

socks/six foot/food

lock/log

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Worksheet 4

rock/lock foot/sock

duck/deck cook/cock

foot/food neck/nick

tack/tick cook/cool

lock/lick moon/soon

P

a b c d e f

g h i j k l

m n o p q r

s t u v w x

y z

A B C D E F

G H I J K L

M N O P Q R

S T U V W X

Y Z

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