Before you start: this is Lesson 112. It uses only sounds already taught in Lessons 1–111. 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 chair fell down with a bang.”
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 the bear get a chair?
To get up to the pears, which were up in the air at the top of the tree.
2. How did the bear get the pears down in the end?
He hugged the tree and shook it hard. Point out that pear, bear and tear all rhyme.
3. Do you think the bear will try the chair again? Why?
Either answer is fine. You are listening for a reason, not the right answer.
Checked word by word: all 178 words in this
story use only sounds taught by Lesson 112, plus heart words already learned. Nothing here
needs guessing. The spelling ey, ou, ear 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 →
A brown bear sat under a pear tree. It was the best pear tree in the woods. The bear could see the pears up in the air. But all the best ones were at the top. He stood up tall on his back paws. He could not reach them at all. So he went to his den to get a chair. The chair was old and had a tear in it. He set it under the tree and stood on it. The chair fell down with a bang. The bear fell too, and sat on the grass. Now the chair had three legs, not four. He made a face at that old chair. Then he had a plan. He got up. He got both paws on the tree and hugged it. He shook that tree as hard as he could. Ten pears came down all at once. One of them landed on his head. The bear ate three and saved the rest. A small bird came by to share them. They sat and ate pears in the sun.
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.