Meg and the Red Pen Reading guide

Phonics focus

Practise short e in these words: Meg, red, pen, desk, Ben, get, hen, ten, egg. 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. Introduce and help with these story words: sits, in, the, outdoor, classroom, she, has, a, rolls, off, cannot, see, it, her, bag, no, looks, under, here, thank, you, draws. See, here, she and her do not use the target short e sound.

Before reading

Say the focus vowel sound. 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

Meg’s pen rolls away. Her first search does not work, but Ben finds it beneath the desk. Meg thanks him and both children draw.

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.

Compare pen, hen and ten. Help with ck in checks. Contrast short e in red with the different sounds in see and here. Invite children to notice how asking and thanking help people play and learn together.