Nora’s Animal Train

Reading together

Reading age 5–6 describes the audience for this adult-led Shared Reading book, not an independent reading-level assessment. This is a read-aloud story for Year 1 children aged 5–6, 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: engine, first, second, third, before. Invite a prediction about what might happen.

During reading

Use Talk Together for a prompt on each page. Talk about counting, matching, shapes, positions, quantities and patterns. Compare what the characters expected with what they noticed. Invite children to join in with repeated words or gestures.

After reading

Tell how Nora checked the order from the engine and found fox in the third wagon. Line up three toys behind an engine or marker. Name places from the marker, remove the middle toy and discuss the empty second place. 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

Numeracy idea

Use first, second, third and before with an explicit starting point, including when a place is empty.

Notice together

Use the pictures and story objects to explain and check each idea. Count each object once and describe what stays the same.

Try together

Line up three toys behind an engine or marker. Name places from the marker, remove the middle toy and discuss the empty second place.

Adult support

Read aloud and model the maths using large safe objects. Invite children to point, talk, gesture, sign or draw. Accept different ways of explaining.

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.