Before you start: this is Lesson 97. It uses only sounds already taught in Lessons 1–96. 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.
“The beans spilled out on the ground.”
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. What went wrong with the beans?
The cow bumped the pot with its head, and the beans spilled on the ground.
2. How did Nick get the cow to go back to the field?
He got a pail of oats and the cow went after it. Shouting did not work.
3. How do you think Nick felt at the end? Tell me why.
Any answer is fine. The frown and the bread both give clues.
Checked word by word: all 164 words in this
story use only sounds taught by Lesson 97, plus heart words already learned. Nothing here
needs guessing. The spelling ey, ou 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 →
Nick had a food stand by the road today. He wanted to sell hot beans and fresh bread. He had a new pot and dry beans. Dad lit the wood and set the pot down. The beans had to boil a long time. Nick set out cups and spoons on a tray. A brown cow ate grass in the next field. Soon a crowd sat down on the brown soil. Then the cow bumped the hot pot with its head! The beans spilled out on the ground. Nick shouted, but the cow did not go. It just ate the beans off the soil! Then Nick got a pail of oats from Dad. The cow went after the oats to the field. Nick had a frown. His beans were all gone. But the crowd still sat there, waiting for food. So he cut up his loaf of fresh bread. He gave bread and butter to the crowd. They ate it all up. All was good.
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.