Paul Dawn and Dad sit on lawn sharing bread rolls with finished leaf raft and long net beside them.

The Raft Race

Phase 9 · Book 1
Focus au, aw and ea as in bread

Paul and Dawn tie four sticks into a toy raft on a low table beside Dad and a garden pond.

Paul and Dawn make a toy raft. They tie four sticks together with string. A leaf makes a sail. “Ready for the pond race?” asks Dawn.

Dad kneels on the broad dry pond bank with Paul and Dawn as the tiny raft turns in shallow water.

Dad sets the raft in the shallow water. It turns round and round. “It is dancing!” laughs Paul. “But it is not going ahead,” says Dawn.

Paul and Dawn look disappointed beside Dad as a raft with an oversized leaf sail leans sideways in shallow water.

Paul draws a bigger sail on a leaf. They try it on the raft. The raft leans to one side. “Oh dear! That is worse,” says Dawn.

Dad uses a small hand saw at a stable outdoor workbench to shorten one raft stick while children watch from a safe distance.

Dawn looks at the sticks. “One is much longer,” she says. Dad uses a saw to make it match the others. They put the small leaf sail back.

Paul and Dawn watch two toy vessels on a small pond with Dad beside them.

They launch the raft beside Dad’s toy boat. Dawn takes a breath. This time, the raft heads across the pond. “It is ahead!” calls Paul.

The raft reaches the bank first. Dad brings it back with a long net. They share bread rolls on the lawn. “Our dancing raft learned to race!” says Dawn.

The Raft Race

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