Before you start: this is Lesson 88. It uses only sounds already taught in Lessons 1–87. If they have not done those yet it will feel too hard — ask their teacher where to start.
1. Say the practice words on the words page, then the heart words. A heart word has one part that cannot be sounded out — the little heart marks the bit to just remember.
2. Read the story on the next page. If they get stuck, don’t say the word. Point under the letters and say: “Say each sound, then say them fast” — “mmm – aaa – p … map!”
3. Read it three times — they color a circle each time.
4. They draw what happened, on the top half of the next page. No picture to copy — their drawing is how you see what they understood.
5. They write one sentence, on the lines under their drawing. The sentence to read aloud is in the box below.
“A small snail sat in the road.”
Once at normal speed, once slowly, and have them say it back before they write. If they get stuck on a word, say its sounds together — don’t spell it letter by letter.
Practice, not a test — don’t mark it wrong. If a word is misspelled, read it back exactly as they wrote it and let them hear the difference.
A wrong word, or a guess? Don’t say “no” — point at the word: “Try that one again — say each sound.” Fixing it themselves is the win.
Sounded it out twice, still stuck? Tell them the word and carry on. A few told words do no harm.
Stuck on nearly every line, or fed up? Stop — that is fine. Try an easier lesson, or this one tomorrow. Five happy minutes beat twenty cross ones.
1. Why did Tim move the snail off the road?
It was slow and a truck might come.
2. What made the crow go away?
Tim held up his big red hat. The yell alone had not worked.
3. A yell did not move the crow, but a red hat did. What else might have worked?
Any idea. Lines nine to eleven hold both tries. Ask what makes a bird go off.
Checked word by word: all 98 words in this
story use only sounds taught by Lesson 88, plus heart words already learned. Nothing here
needs guessing. The spelling ea, ey, ow can say more than one sound in English; every word here uses only the one taught so far.
The story is on the next page →
Rain fell all day and made a big mess. Tim went to see the long wet road. A small snail sat in the road. It was slow, and a truck might come. Tim set it by a big green leaf. The snail slid up to reach the leaf. It went so slow that Tim fell asleep. A gray crow came to pick at the snail. Tim woke up and gave a big yell. The yell did not make the crow go. Then Tim held up his big red hat. The crow left, and the snail ate its leaf.
Read it again if you need to. Then draw what happened.
Your grown-up will say one sentence from the story. Say it back, then write it.