A Picnic in the Wind Reading guide

Phonics focus

Lessons 28–30: three-consonant initial blends; two closed syllables; mixed-blend review

Practise str, spr, scr, spl; two closed syllables; mixed blends in these words: strap, strip, sprint, scrap, scrub, split, splat, spring; sunset, catnap, picnic, rabbit, napkin, magnet, helmet, insect; stamp, blend, crisp, plant, drift, clump, trust, handstand, sandbox. Review the consonant sounds needed for each word before reading. Use the programme lessons to introduce new sounds; the story is original.

Bold red vowels and bold blue consonants show the focus sounds. Help children with other letters and patterns in the word when needed. A highlighted letter does not mean the whole word is independently decodable.

Adult supported words

An adult reads the title with the child. Review the story vocabulary and provide help wherever needed: Stan, and, Clare, stop, for, a, picnic, They, sit, on, rug, by, the, long, grass, gust, of, wind, lifts, napkin, It, flips, Their, cups, tip, over, holds, grabs, lands, plant, sprints, to, She, brings, back, Let’s, find, calm, spot, says, spread, big, rock, puts, basket, its, edge, Now, can, begin. Words containing later spellings, names and common words may be read together by an adult and child.

Before reading

Say the focus sounds. Blend three practice words. Look at the cover, name the setting and predict what might happen.

During reading

Read each sentence aloud together. Point to the highlighted letters, blend the focus words and reread naturally. Use Talk Together to discuss the character, problem, actions and ending.

Narrative structure

Wind disrupts Stan and Clare’s meadow picnic. They hold the rug, gather the cups and retrieve a napkin. They choose a sheltered spot and weight the rug with a basket, so they can enjoy their picnic.

After reading

Invite the child to retell what happened first, what went wrong, what the character tried and how the story ended. Reread the book to build confidence.

Keep all three initial consonant sounds in sprint and spread. Spread has an adult-supported ea spelling: only spr is highlighted. Clap and blend the two closed syllables pic–nic and nap–kin; the short vowels are red. Basket may have a long first vowel in New Zealand English, so read it with adult support rather than using it as the short-a model. Plant and find also need vowel support. In lands and sprints, help with the extra final s.