Nancy’s Lunch Invitation

Reading together

Reading age 13–18 describes the audience for this adult-led Shared Reading book, not an independent reading-level assessment. This is a read-aloud story for young people aged 13–18, not an independent reading-level text. Read at the learner’s pace. Learners 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: invitation, supervised, criticising, arrangement, option. Invite a prediction about what might happen.

During reading

Use Talk Together for a prompt on each page. Talk about what happens, how the characters feel and which support or choices help. Accept different experiences. Do not use the story to demand a particular behaviour. Invite learners to point, sign, gesture or join in if they want to.

After reading

Practise offering and declining an invitation without pressure. Check which spaces are genuinely available and supervised, and allow friends to make different choices. Describe what the characters noticed and how their ideas changed. Invite different experiences and respect a learner’s choice not to share.

Explore the situation

Everyday situation

Choose a lunch space that meets her needs while keeping friendships

Beginning

Nancy usually eats lunch with Peter at a small table. Today, Esther invites both of them to sit with a larger group. Peter agrees quickly. Nancy likes Esther, but several conversations at once can be hard to follow. She had been looking forward to a quieter lunch after a busy morning.

What feels difficult

Nancy wants a quieter lunch but worries that declining seems unfriendly

Support and choices

She explains her need and chooses the supervised courtyard

What changes

Peter meets her after lunch without asking her to defend the choice

Try together

Practise offering and declining an invitation without pressure. Check which spaces are genuinely available and supervised, and allow friends to make different choices.

Adult support

Read at the learner’s pace with a trusted adult when helpful. Accept speech, AAC, writing, gestures or listening. Respect privacy, sensory needs and the right to pause or decline. Discuss choices without judging personal feelings.

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. The feedback checks recall of this story, not whether the learner’s own feelings or needs are right or wrong. Explore five vocabulary words, build them from movable letters and order three story pictures. Model a vocabulary word for the learner 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 learner’s interest. Offer pictures, drawings, gestures or spoken answers, and model word building when useful. Activities are optional.