Josh’s Shell Shop Reading guide

Phonics focus

Lessons 31–32: sh and ch at the beginning and end of words

Practise sh and ch in these words: ship, shop, shut, fish, dish, mash, rush; chat, chin, chop, much, rich, bench, lunch, chest. Review the consonant sounds needed for each word before reading. Use the programme lessons to introduce new sounds; the story is original.

Bold red vowel letters and bold blue consonant letters show the selected focus spellings. Read each digraph or trigraph together: two or three letters can represent one sound. Qu represents /k/ plus /w/. Colours identify letters, not the number of sounds; the u in qu and silent e in dge belong to the complete pattern. 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. Adult help: Charlie, beach, play, they, a, the, blows, cloth, off, says, puts, back, again, holds, down, let’s, use, this, tray, sits, low, stay, which, would, you, like, asks, one, their, open. Review the other short-vowel words together as needed.

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 scatters the shells in Josh and Charlie’s pretend beach shop. Replacing them does not work. The children put the shells in a tray on a low bench, and their shop game can continue.

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.

Read sh and ch as single consonant sounds. In beach, ch is the focus; ea is a later vowel spelling and needs adult support. Charlie also needs help beyond its initial ch. Review initial and final sh and ch using the guide words without inserting extra vowel sounds.