Bella Bella was a cat. She was a stray cat. Bella didn t have a home. It started to rain. Bella sat under a bush. She still got wet. Bella sat under a bridge. She still got wet. Bella hid under a table. She was dry. She fell asleep. 1 Adapted from the story by Libby Brereton Box 1 200L Level 8
Bella woke up. She saw food. Bella ate it. Bella saw Dad and Dev. She ran away. 2 Dev took her inside. Now she had a home! Bella was a pet! Dad called her. Bella stopped. She came back. From BELL by Libby Brereton, illustrated by Karen Mounsey-Smith. Copyright 2018 by Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved.
Realistic Fiction Yellow, Level 8, 200L Summary: Bella was a stray cat. When it rained, she slept under a table on the veranda of a house. The people in the house gave her a new home. Bella? Focus Question: How is a stray cat different from a pet cat? PREPARE & READ Read the title and discuss who Bella might be. Ask students to look through the pictures. Discuss how many characters appear in the story. (three) Who is the main character? (the cat) Ask students to read the card. Themes: pets, cats, basic needs, families Text Features: title, illustrations, exclamations, clear beginning/middle/end Phonics/Spelling: st consonant blend: started, still, stopped ay digraph: stray, away dge trigraph: bridge -ed suffix: started, called Vocabulary/Grammar/ Punctuation: opposites: stray/pet, wet/ dry irregular verbs: sat, got, hid, fell, woke, saw, ran, took exclamation marks High-Frequency Words: a, and, back, came, had, have, her, it, now, ran, saw, she, to, took, up, was READ CLOSELY Words and Phrases in Context Read the first three sentences again. Which sentence explains what a stray cat is? (the third sentence Bella didn t have a home. ) 2 Key Ideas Bella hides under three different objects in the story. Name them. (a bush, a bridge, a table) 2 4 Make Inferences What did Bella do when she saw Dad and Dev? Why might she have done that? Why did she change her mind? 6 7... When Bella saw Dad and Dev, she ran away. She might have been scared of people. Maybe other people hadn t been good to her. When Dad called to her, she changed her mind and went back to Dad and Dev. Language Features: Past Tense This story has been written as if it already happened. Read the first three sentences on page 2. How you could tell this part of the story so that it sounds like it is happening now? 5... Bella wakes up. She sees food. Bella eats it. Phonics/Spelling The letters dge together make the sound j as in jam. Find a word with dge on page 1. (bridge) What does this word mean? 3 Make Connections/Vocabulary Bella s life changes from the beginning of the story to the end of the story. What is one word you could use to describe the type of cat she is in the beginning? (stray, wet) What kind of cat is Bella at the end of the story? (pet, dry) 2 8, 3 4 Punctuation Look at the last two sentences in the story. The author did not use full stops for these sentences. Why might the author have used these special marks? 8 18 Short Reads Fiction
Bella 1 Bella woke up. She saw food. Bella ate it. 5 Bella was a cat. She was a stray cat. 2 Bella didn t have a home. It started to rain. Bella sat under a bush. She still got wet. Bella saw Dad and Dev. She ran away. 6 1 Bella sat under a bridge. She still got wet. Bella hid under a table. She was dry. She fell asleep. Adapted from the story by Libby Brereton Box 1 200L Level 8 3 4 2 Dev took her inside. Now she had a home! Bella was a pet! 8 7 Dad called her. Bella stopped. She came back. From BELL by Libby Brereton, illustrated by Karen Mounsey-Smith. Copyright 2018 by Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. DISCUSS WRITE These questions can be used for paired discussion. Ask students to use the text to support their reasoning. Then, ask them to share their conclusions with the group. Pets need people to look after them. How did Dev look after Bella? (he fed her and gave her somewhere to sleep) How else might he look after Bella? (take her to the vet if sick; give her toys; play with her; put a collar/name-tag/bell on her) At the end of the story, Bella has a home. What does her new home have that she didn t have before? (shelter; food and drink; people who care) How might the story have been different if it hadn t started to rain? (Bella may not have hidden under the table; she may not have become Dev s pet) Have students choose either one of the following options for writing, or do both. Draw Bella in her new home, with some of the things she would have as a pet. Label the picture. (food, water, bed, toys) (Information/Explanation) Do you think Bella is a lucky cat? Why? Complete the following sentence. Bella (is/is not) a lucky cat because. (Opinion) Box 1 Teacher s Guide 19
Let s Bake 1 We bake. We bake bread. Yum. We bake. We bake pies. We bake two pies. Yum, yum. 2 Adapted from the story by Alex Ives Box 1 BR50L Level 1
3 4 We bake. We bake rolls. We bake lots of rolls. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum! Hello, Grandpa! We bake. We bake for you. TM & Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright 2018 by Scholastic Inc. Illustrations by Marqaux Lucas/MB Artists, Inc. for Scholastic Inc.
Realistic Fiction Magenta, Level 1, BR50L Summary: A family bakes food for Grandpa. Themes: families, cooking, food, grandparents Text Features: speech bubble, numbered illustrations Phonics/Spelling: a_e pattern (long a): bake number written as a word: two Vocabulary/Grammar/ Punctuation: sentence stem repetition: We bake word repetition greeting: Hello, Grandpa! exclamation marks High-Frequency Words: we, of, you, two Let s Bake? Focus Question: What does it mean to bake something? PREPARE & READ Discuss the pictures and ask who the characters in the story might be. Ask students how the title tells them that more than one person is cooking. Ask students to read the card. READ CLOSELY Setting The setting is where the story takes place. Where is the setting for this story? Does the setting change during the story? 1 4... The setting is a family kitchen for most of the story. It changes at the end of the story when the family take the food they made to Grandpa s house. Illustrations and Text Look at the pictures 1, 2 and 3. What are the family doing together? What clues from the pictures tell you what is happening? Which words tell you what is happening? 1 3... I think the family are baking bread, pies and rolls together. Some picture clues tell me this because I can see flour, eggs and a mixing bowl. I also see that the father is wearing a chef s hat. He uses oven gloves to pick up the bread. Oven gloves protect your hands from hot things in the kitchen. That tells me that the bread, pies and rolls are coming out of a hot oven. The words, We bake bread, We bake pies and We bake rolls tell me that the family bake together. Text Features: Speech Bubble Look at picture 4. There are two styles of text on this page. Who says Hello, Grandpa!? How do you know this person is speaking? 4 Make Inferences Look at the grandfather. How does he feel about the food the family have brought him? How can you tell? 4 Words and Phrases in Context Look again at the sentences. Which word that means delicious is repeated many times in the story? Why do you think this word was repeated so many times? Is there a group of words that was repeated in the story? How did the author expand on this basic sentence to make longer sentences? 1 4... The word yum was used many times in the story. I think the author did this for fun. We bake was repeated many times. The author used the same group of words again and again, but added different details into the story each time: what they baked, and how many of each. 40 Short Reads Fiction
Let s Bake 1 We bake. We bake bread. We bake. 3 1 Yum. We bake rolls. We bake lots of rolls. We bake. We bake pies. We bake two pies. Yum, yum. 2 2 Adapted from the story by Alex Ives Box 1 BR50L Level 1 3 4 Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum! Hello, Grandpa! 4 We bake. We bake for you. TM & Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright 2018 by Scholastic Inc. Illustrations by Marqaux Lucas/MB Artists, Inc. for Scholastic Inc. DISCUSS These questions can be used for paired discussion. Ask students to use the text to support their reasoning. Then, ask them to share their conclusions with the group. Why might the family have decided to bake some food for their grandfather? (they could be celebrating Grandpa s birthday; they could be giving a surprise to Grandpa) Do you think the family lives near the grandfather or far away from him? (near) What clues help you know this? (family wearing the same clothes; didn t bother covering the food to transport it) What if the story started each sentence with We fried or We stirred? What kind of food would they have made for Grandpa? WRITE Have students choose either one of the following options for writing, or do both. Draw a picture of the characters in the story. Label your picture. (dad, mum, brother, sister, grandpa) (Information/Explanation) Do you think the family was kind? Why/Why not? Complete the following sentence. I think the family (was/was not) kind because. (Opinion) Box 1 Teacher s Guide 41
DOGS IN OUR TOWN SHORT READS 3rd June, 2016 The Local News Dogs in Our Town by Dan Patel There are many dogs in our town. Some dogs have jobs! This is Max. He is a guide dog. Max helps his owner who can t see. He shows her where to walk. This is Darcy. He is a search and rescue dog. Darcy finds people who are lost or hurt. He smells and listens for them. Report, 150L Level 5
This is Jump. She is a therapy dog. Jump visits sick people. They pat her and it helps them feel better. This is Lucy. She is an assistance dog. Lucy can pick things up. She opens doors with a rope. Some dogs are pets. They don t have jobs. This is my dog Sandy. He plays with me. He makes me happy. I look after him. Our town has lots of dogs, but Sandy is my favourite. TM & Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. Photos: side 1ml: kao/shutterstock, tr: By DFID - UK Department for International Development; side 2bl: Elisabeth Hammerschmid/Shutterstock, br: Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock.
Newspaper Red, Level 5, 150L Text Type: Report Summary: This article from a town newspaper gives information about some of the ways dogs help people. Themes/Ideas: learn about ways dogs can help people who are sick or need help to do things; understand how dogs can help rescue people when they are in trouble Text Features: masthead, headline, photos High-Frequency Words: are, dog, have, helps, is, some, this, who Vocabulary: assistance dog: a dog trained to help a person with a disability to do the things the person can t do guide dog: a dog trained to lead or guide someone who can t see well job: a task, work pet: a tame animal kept for friendship or fun search and rescue dog: a dog trained to find and rescue people who are lost in the wild or in a disaster area therapy dog: a dog trained to give comfort and help to people who are unwell Dogs in Our Town? Focus Question: How can dogs living in a town help people? PREPARE & READ Discuss the difference between local and national newspapers/news. Discuss how dogs are sometimes used to help people. Ask students to read the card. READ CLOSELY Key Ideas and Details Look at the introduction to the article. Which sentence explains what the rest of the article will be about? 1 Photos and Text Look at the photo on the left side of page 1. You can see all of the dog but only the legs of the person holding the dog s harness. The author uses the text to tell you about the person and their relationship with the dog. What do you know about the person? 2 Make Predictions Look at the photo and text on the right side of page 1. What do you think might have happened before the photo was taken? What might the person and the dog be doing? 3... I think there was a disaster of some kind. It might have been an earthquake or something like that. A building looks like it has fallen down. Maybe some people are trapped underneath all the bricks and wood. The person and dog are trying to find them. Make Inferences The photo at the top of page 2 shows someone in a bed. Read the text again. Where might the photo have been taken? 4 Photos and Text Look at the dog at the bottom left of page 2. Which sentence in the text matches what is happening in the photo? 5 Key Ideas and Details The dogs in the article are all introduced in a similar way. Look at the sentences about each of the dogs. Describe these sentences, using one of the dogs as an example. What is different about the last dog? 2 6... For each dog, the first sentence introduces the dog by name: This is Max. The second sentence says what type of dog it is: Max is a guide dog. The remaining sentences say what the dog does: Max helps his owner who can t see. He shows her where to walk. The last dog is Sandy. Sandy is different because he is the author s dog. He doesn t have a job. 26 Short Reads Non-fiction
3rd June, 2016 The Local News 1 Dogs in Our Town by Dan Patel There are many dogs in our town. Some dogs have jobs! 4 This is Jump. She is a therapy dog. Jump visits sick people. They pat her and it helps them feel better. Some dogs are pets. They don t have jobs. This is my dog Sandy. He plays with me. He makes me happy. I look after him. 6 2 This is Max. He is a guide dog. Max helps his owner who can t see. He shows her where to walk. 3 This is Darcy. He is a search and rescue dog. Darcy finds people who are lost or hurt. He smells and listens for them. 5 This is Lucy. She is an assistance dog. Lucy can pick things up. She opens doors with a rope. Our town has lots of dogs, but Sandy is my favourite. DISCUSS WRITE These questions can be used for paired discussion. Ask students to use the text to support their reasoning. Then ask them to share their conclusions with the group. Can you think of other jobs that dogs do in the city? (police dog, guard dog, tracking dog) What do they do in their jobs? This article discussed some of the dogs in a town and the jobs they did. Were there any jobs that you hadn t heard of before? What did you learn from the article? Imagine a newspaper article about dogs in country areas, that is, not in a town. The article might be called Dogs on the Land. What kinds of jobs might the dogs have in this article? Have students choose either one of the following options for writing, or do both. Make a table with three columns. Label the columns Name, Job and What They Do. Add the first dog in the article to the table. It should look like this: Dog Job What the dog does Max guide dog helps someone who can t see Now add the other 4 dogs in the article to the table. Can you think of other dogs with jobs? You can add those, too. (Information/Explanation) The author s favourite dog is Sandy. They make each other happy. Which dog in the article is your favourite? Write two sentences about why you like that dog? (Opinion) BOX 1 Teacher s Guide 27
MY DAY AT THE AIRPORT SHORT READS My Day at the Airport The airport was GREAT! I saw lots of planes. These planes were all in a line. They were moving along the runway. They had just landed. This big plane was landing. It came down on the runway fast. It slowed down. It joined the end of the line. It moved along the runway. Recount, 150L Level 5
The plane went UP and UP. It went right UP into the sky! I watched it until it was gone. My auntie and uncle were on that plane. I hope they come back soon. I will come to meet them. The airport is GREAT! I saw this big plane taking off. It drove down the runway fast. Then it got faster and faster. Then it lifted U P in the air. TM & Scholastic Inc. All rights reserved. Photos: side 1ti: Monkey Business Images/Thinkstock, mr: Joy Brown/Shutterstock, bl: sewer11/thinkstock; side 2tl: BjÃrn Kindler/iStockphoto, mr: DigitalPress/Dreamstime.
Diary Red, Level 5, 150L Text Type: Recount Summary: In these diary pages, a boy describes visiting the airport to say goodbye to his aunt and uncle. Themes/Ideas: transport; illustrated words; airports Text Features: heading, illustrated words, photos, suffixes High-Frequency Words: into, it, saw, they, up, was Vocabulary: airport: a place where planes take off and land land (verb): to come down to the ground lift (verb): to move up from the ground runway: the part of an airport where the planes take off and land My Day at the Airport? Focus Question: What might you see when you go to the airport? PREPARE & READ Discuss what happens at an airport. Suggest reasons for visiting an airport. Ask students to read the card. READ CLOSELY Text Feature Look at the first sentence on the card. Why did the author decorate the word great? What effect does this have? 1 Words and Phrases in Context Look at the first photo of an aeroplane. How does the photo help you understand the meaning of the word runway? What is a runway? 1 Author s Language Choices Look at the second page of the diary. Find the picture of the plane leaving the airport. What is special about the way the words fast and up are printed? How does this change the way you think about the words? 3 5... The word fast is written in red and it has small lines coming from it. These lines make it look like the word is moving quickly. Each time the author uses the word faster they also write it a little bit bigger. It makes me think that the plane is getting quicker all the time. The word up has the letters moving upwards as you read it. The illustrated words make the diary more fun to read. Text Features Why did the boy cut the last photo into a different shape? Why did he choose this shape for the plane flying away? 4 Make Inferences How does the boy feel about the airport? What clues show that he enjoyed visiting the airport? 1 5... The boy said the airport was great. He described in a lot of detail what was happening, which shows he was interested. His diary also says that he watched the plane in the sky until it was gone. This shows he was really interested in the plane. 64 Short Reads Non-fiction
The airport was My Day at the Airport I saw lots of planes. These planes were all in a line. They were moving along the runway. GREAT! 1 3 I saw this big plane taking off. It drove down the runway fast. Then it got faster and faster. Then it lifted U P in the air. They had just landed. 2 This big plane was landing. It came down on the runway fast. It slowed down. It joined the end of the line. It moved along the runway. The plane went UP and UP. It went right UP into the sky! 4 I watched it until it was gone. My auntie and uncle were on that plane. I hope they come back soon. I will come to meet them. 5 The airport is GREAT! DISCUSS These questions can be used for paired discussion. Ask students to use the text to support their reasoning. Then ask them to share their conclusions with the group. Which words describe the plane or airport in the card? (plane: big, fast; airport: great) How do these words help you understand what the boy saw or how he feels about these things? Why might the boy have written this diary? How would a diary help him remember his day? The boy only writes about the planes. What other things does he see at the airport? What else could he write about in his diary? WRITE Have students choose either one of the following options for writing, or do both. How would the boy who wrote the diary finish these sentences? Use information from the card to finish these sentences: When I first arrived. One of the planes. Another plane. I think the airport. (Information/Explanation) The boy wrote, The airport was great! Write a sentence that tells what you think a day at the airport would be like and why. Complete the sentence below: I think a day at the airport would be because. (Opinion) BOX 1 Teacher s Guide 65