The Missing Fishing Net Reading guide

Phonics focus

Lesson 45: read -ed as /t/, /d/ and /id/

Practise past-tense -ed in these words: played, used, packed, asked, checked, looked, lifted, searched, pointed, walked, spotted, picked, helped, zipped, smiled, waved. Compare each practice word with its base and discuss how the meaning or spelling changes. 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 endings and word parts in context. Colours identify vowel and consonant letters, not their pronunciation. Compare each focus word with its base; the selected extra consonant is also bold where doubling occurs. Read the guide note for each 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. Preview and help with: Anna, Max, Mum, lake, small, net, water, plants, then, their, bag, where, there, find, before, going, home, bench, beside, no, we, stop, flat, rock, back, along, path, things, ducks. Review other words as needed. This is supported shared reading, not a fully decodable text.

Before reading

Read three practice words and compare their base words and endings. 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

Anna and Max discover that their small fishing net is missing as they pack up by the lake. Checking beside the bench does not help. Mum prompts them to retrace their route; they find the net beside a rock and pack it safely.

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.

Group endings by pronunciation: /t/ in packed, asked, checked, looked, searched, walked, picked, helped and zipped; /d/ in played, used, smiled and waved; /id/ in lifted and pointed. Spotted also has /id/. Say /id/ naturally as /ɪd/ or /əd/ locally. The last sound of the base determines the ending; do not say a separate syllable in every -ed word. Spot → spotted and zip → zipped double a consonant: the extra letter and -ed are highlighted. Smile → smiled and wave → waved already end in e; explain that adding d creates the written -ed ending. Mum supervises the children near water; the net is for observing plants, not harming wildlife.