Week 26, Guided Reading "A Bird in the Hand" - Phonics Phase 5 - Worksheet

The "A Bird in the Hand" guided reading session is part of the Phonics Phase 5 curriculum, which includes a worksheet designed to aid comprehension and storytelling skills. The session starts with prompting the students to identify the author's name, followed by questions aimed at understanding the roles of an author and an illustrator. Students are encouraged to predict the storyline and interpret visual cues, such as recognising the depiction of a singing bird in an illustration.

The comprehension questions delve deeper into the narrative, asking students to empathise with the bird's feelings and to recount its strategy for escaping from a cat. They are also asked to infer why the bird misled the cat about the presence of other birds in a cave. A critical thinking question invites students to interpret the moral lesson conveyed by the author through the phrase "Greed never pays". The session concludes with personal reflection, where students can express their favourite part of the story and why it resonated with them. Bonus questions offer further engagement by prompting students to consider alternative escape strategies for the bird and to reflect on their own experiences and perceptions regarding greed. The accompanying activities include a worksheet for illustrating key story stages and a quiet reading task, supporting the consolidation of the reading material and the students' understanding of the story's structure.