George’s Moving Portrait

Reading together

Reading age 6–7 describes the audience for this adult-led Shared Reading book, not an independent reading-level assessment. This is a read-aloud story for Year 2 children aged 6–7, not an independent reading-level text. Read at the child’s pace. Children can listen, point, gesture, sign or join in with familiar words. Joining in is optional.

Before reading

Look at the title and cover. Introduce the characters and setting. Explore these five words with pictures, actions and familiar examples: portrait, cheek, detail, shadow, crease. Invite a prediction about what might happen.

During reading

Use Talk Together for a prompt on each page. Talk about the marks, colours, sounds, space, movement and materials the characters explore. Notice their choices and how the artwork or performance changes. Compare what the characters expected with what they noticed. Invite children to join in with repeated words or gestures.

After reading

With permission, draw someone making a gentle expression. Try a quick sketch and a slower one. Discuss which marks remind you of that person; neither drawing has to be perfect. Describe what the characters noticed and how their ideas changed. Invite different experiences and respect a child’s choice not to share.

Explore and play

Arts idea

Draw Grandad’s smile

Beginning

Grandad agrees to sit for a portrait. George puts his paper on the kitchen table and studies Grandad’s face. He wants to draw the smile that appears when Grandad tells a funny story.

Problem

Grandad moves and the first face looks stiff

Exploration

He watches the smile and draws quick marks

Review and response

He keeps overlapping lines and softens a shadow

Try together

With permission, draw someone making a gentle expression. Try a quick sketch and a slower one. Discuss which marks remind you of that person; neither drawing has to be perfect.

Adult support

Prepare age-appropriate materials and a comfortable space. Read aloud, invite noticing and accept different artistic responses. Children may speak, gesture, sign, draw, act or observe.

Activities with an adult

The eleven separate question cards include recall, word meaning, observation, “why”, inference and evidence questions and discussion. Read the questions and choices aloud and offer picture support. Explore five vocabulary words, build them from movable letters and order three story pictures. Model a vocabulary word for the child to copy; letter recognition and independent decoding are not required. Mouse dragging, finger dragging, tap controls and keyboard controls are available. Use the light green and red feedback as a chance to look at the story again.

Choose a few activities that suit the child’s interest. Offer pictures, drawings, gestures or spoken answers, and model word building when useful. Activities are optional.