Beth’s Lost Mask Reading guide

Phonics focus

Lessons 26–27: final sk and sp; final ft, lp and lt

Practise final sk, sp, ft, lp and lt in these words: desk, mask, tusk, risk, gasp, wasp, crisp; gift, left, soft, lift, help, yelp, belt, melt. 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: Beth, and, Jack, dress, up, in, the, park, has, a, soft, cloak, mask, puts, on, her, She, looks, for, It, is, not, bag, Can, you, help, asks, lifts, No, They, look, by, bench, spots, bit, of, red, Lift, your, he, says, under, put, their, masks, play. 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

Beth is ready for a costume game, but her mask has vanished. Beth and Jack search in and under the bag. Jack notices a red edge under the cloak, Beth lifts the fabric, and they find the mask and begin to play.

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.

In lifts, highlight ft as the focus, then help read the additional s. In masks, highlight sk, then help with plural s. The a in mask and gasp may be long in New Zealand English; focus on the ending, not a short-a claim. Wasp also needs vowel support. Practise sp and lt using guide words, since those endings do not fit naturally into this story. Beth includes th, which is taught later.