The Lunchbox Mix-Up Reading guide

Phonics focus

Lessons 39–40: mixed digraph review and longer words

Practise mixed digraphs in longer words in these words: shell, chick, thing, whisk, sang, clock, lunch, thick, shock, wing; sunshine, dishcloth, lunchbox, handshake, thunder, whisker, chicken, backpack, fishpond, sandbox. 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: Charlotte, play, by, Mum, watches, from, then, it, is, time, for, they, open, their, backpacks, the, lunchboxes, are, mixed, up, this, not, mine, says, which, one, yours, asks, look, at, tags, each, has, a, name, checks, that, swap, boxes, sit, on, in, sunshine, her, grins, now, we, can, have. Help with names, later vowel spellings and plural endings; reread for meaning.

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

After playing in the park, Charlotte and Seth find their lunchboxes in the wrong backpacks. They check the name tags and exchange the boxes. They settle down with Mum to enjoy their picnic.

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.

Charlotte starts with /sh/, despite its ch spelling: its initial letters are deliberately not highlighted as regular ch. Read this name with adult help. Break compound words into meaningful parts: fish–pond, lunch–box and back–pack. Review the highlighted patterns within each part. Sunshine has a later i_e pattern; highlight only sh and provide vowel support. The guide practice words extend the review without adding unnatural story vocabulary.