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LESSON 1
Find characters and actions
Identify who acts and use words from an original story as evidence.
Adult-supported lesson: read the linked source selection together when available. Read the linked Sparrow Family selection with an adult. Then practise on this different original story about a garden.
Read our new beginning
Original story, part 1: “Mina has an empty pot. Her cousin Arun brings soil. Mina puts a bean seed in the soil.”
Name the characters
The named characters are Mina and Arun. A pot is an object in this story, not a person who acts.
Match each action
Arun brings soil. Mina plants the seed. Point to the sentence that supports each answer.
Ask about an unknown
This part does not tell us Mina’s age or the colour of the pot. We can say that the story has not told us.
Worked example: Original solved example: Who brings soil? The story says that Arun brings soil, so the answer is Arun. We cannot answer the pot’s colour because no colour is given.
Watch for this: An answer should use the story’s information. A likely guess is not the same as a stated detail.
Discuss: After the official reading, name two characters and point to a page detail for one action. For our original story, draw Mina’s pot and label the seed.
LESSON 2
Retell a beginning, middle and end
Sequence four stated events without reversing cause and order.
Adult-supported lesson: read the linked source selection together when available. A retelling keeps the important events in their story order.
Read the next part
Original story, part 2: “Mina plants the seed. She waters the soil gently. Several days later a shoot appears. Mina and Arun make a label for the pot.”
Choose the beginning
The planting comes before watering in this account. It is the first event we will put on a card.
Keep the waiting event
The shoot appears several days later, not immediately. Put it after planting and watering.
Finish and retell
The children make a label last. Retell: plant, water, wait for a shoot, make a label. A retelling can use new words while keeping those events.
Worked example: Original solved example: Which event comes before the shoot appears? The children have already planted and watered the soil. The phrase “several days later” tells us time has passed.
Watch for this: A story sequence says what happened in that account. A shoot does not appear instantly just because the next picture shows it.
Discuss: Make four original story cards and explain their order to an adult. Then retell three events from the linked source story without copying its sentences.
LESSON 3
Explain with a story clue
Distinguish a stated fact from a reasonable idea supported by a clue.
Adult-supported lesson: read the linked source selection together when available. Good readers can say both what the story states and what a clue helps them think.
Read the ending
Original ending: “Two pots now stand together. Mina writes BEAN on one label so the children can tell her pot from the other pot.”
Find a stated reason
The story directly says the label helps them tell the pots apart. Use that reason before guessing another one.
Make one supported idea
A name label can help someone identify an object. In our story, the two pots together make that useful. This is a reasoned connection.
Transfer and check
A label on a pencil box could also help identify it. This is a new application, not an event that happened in the garden story.
Worked example: Original solved example: Why did Mina label the pot? Because two pots stood together and the label helped identify hers. “Because she wanted a loud noise” has no supporting clue.
Watch for this: A new example is not automatically part of the story. Say when you are making a connection beyond the given events.
Discuss: After the linked source story, ask one “why” question and identify a supporting detail. Then say which detail is stated and which idea you inferred.
