The Spare Shirt

Reading together

This original Level 13 reader is written for students aged 11–20 who benefit from accessible text and age-appropriate characters. It uses familiar vocabulary, a little more connected text than our Level 12 readers, clear dialogue, and opportunities to follow causes, clues and changes of plan. Each story has a problem, actions and a resolution. Level 13 is the intended difficulty, not a formal PM assessment. Reading age 5–6½ is an approximate guide to text difficulty; it does not describe the student’s age or maturity.

Before reading

Read the title and look at the cover. Introduce the characters shown there. Explore jug, spills, spare, private, pace using familiar examples. Invite a prediction about what might happen.

During reading

Introduce unfamiliar character names and useful topic words before reading. Help the student blend unfamiliar words using letter–sound patterns they have learned. Explain a word with an untaught pattern, then reread the sentence. Use illustrations to discuss meaning and check understanding; do not ask students to guess printed words from pictures. These School Readers are not a phonics-sequenced decodable programme.

Read at a comfortable pace. Help with unfamiliar words, then reread the whole sentence for meaning. Use Talk Together for a prompt on each page. Encourage students to look back at both the words and the pictures to support an answer.

After reading

How does the spill happen? Why stand away from the wet area? Why does Angela have no dry shirt with her? How does the teacher help? What is different at the water table? What two things will they remember?

Retell the accident, the missing spare and the help Angela receives. Explain how the table position changes. What could you pack for a sports day?

Reading-age guide

Levels 1–20 describe this library’s editorial progression. Reading-age ranges are approximate orientation guides, not tested scores or automatic equivalents to PM, Oxford Levels or Reading Recovery. Choose a book by listening to the student read and checking fluency and understanding. Match the characters and subject matter to the student’s age and interests separately from text difficulty.

Activities

Eleven separate question cards include recall, cause and effect, “why”, feelings and word meaning. Explore five vocabulary words, build them from movable letters, order three story pictures and retell the story. Students can drag with a mouse or finger, use tap controls, or use the keyboard. Personal discussion answers may vary.