Oxford Level 4 Stories

The Play
Teaching Notes Author: Thelma Page
Comprehension strategies Decodable words
• Comprehension strategies are taught came, helped, her, him, home, man, time, too, wind, witch, with
throughout the Teaching Notes to enable
pupils to understand what they are reading Tricky words
in books that they can read independently. about, blew, children, class, couldn’t, flowers, girl, good, house,
In these Teaching Notes the following inside, Lion, little, outside, painted, put, Scarecrow, school, some,
strategies are taught: storm, story, there, were, what, Wizard
Prediction, Questioning, Clarifying,
Summarising, Imagining = Language comprehension

= Word recognition

Group or guided reading

Introducing the book
(Clarifying, Prediction) Read the title and look at the picture. Ask: Why are the children dressed up?
What do you think the story will be about? Read the blurb on the back cover.
Check that the children can read the words listed on the back cover.
(Clarifying) Look at page 5 and ask the children to find the title of the book that Mrs May is reading.
If they know the story, ask them to tell the class what it is about.

Strategy check
Remind the children to reread the words and use the pictures to check that sentences make sense.

Independent reading
• Ask the children to read the story aloud. Praise and encourage them while they read, and prompt
as necessary.
(Summarising) Ask the children to explain why the children did the play twice.
Check that children:
• recognise automatically familiar high frequency words
• apply phonic knowledge and skills as the prime approach to reading
• identify main events and characters in stories
• use syntax and context when reading for meaning.
Returning to the text
(Questioning) Ask the children: Who was the girl in The Wizard of Oz? What happened to her?
Who did she meet?
(Questioning) On page 22, ask: Why did they give Mrs May some flowers?
(Questioning, Summarising) Ask: Why did Chip say it was like the play at the end of the story?

1 © Oxford University Press 2014

 Group and independent reading activities
Find specific information in simple texts.
(Summarising) Write these question words on the board: ‘What’, ‘Where’, ‘Who’, ‘When’. Ask the
children to use the book to help them think of a question to ask about the story, e.g. ‘What was the
story called?’ ‘Who helped to make the house for the play?’ When a child has thought of a question,
they can name a person to answer it. Both children look in the book to check the answer. Give as
many children as possible the chance to ask and answer questions.
Notice whether children can form appropriate questions. Can they locate the answers in the book to
check that they are right?
Use syntax and context when reading for meaning.
(Summarising, Clarifying) On page 8, cover the word ‘scarecrow’ with a peelable sticker. Read the
rest of the page together. Look at the picture and identify Dorothy, the Tin Man and the Lion. What
might the other character be? Make a list of suggestions, then take away the sticker. Which of the
children’s suggestions matches the text? Together, work out ‘Scarecrow’ using syllables and phonics.
Repeat with ‘painted’ on page 18.
Could the children use the context and syntax to work out the hidden word?
Use knowledge of plurals.
Remind the children that ‘plural’ means more than one. Look for plurals on pages 20 and 22 (‘mums’,
‘dads’, ‘flowers’). Ask the children to say what the words would be if there were only one of each.
Explain that adding ‘s’ to each word makes it plural. Find ‘dog’ on page 5. Ask the children to read the
sentence as if the girl had more than one dog. Turn to page 7.
Ask the children to say the words for more than one boy, school, playtime, lion and house. Did the
children remember to add an ‘s’?

Speaking, listening and drama activities

Act out well-known stories using voices for characters.
(Questioning, Imagining) Discuss the names of stories the children know well, e.g. ‘The Three Bears’,
‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’. Ask the children to choose a story that they would like to act out and
decide who will play the parts.
• Give the children support when they act out the play by using prompts, e.g. ‘And then…’; ‘And he said…’
• Let other children act out the play. Praise children for making up appropriate dialogue.
Writing activities
Independently choose what to write about, plan and follow it through.
(Imagining) Remind the children of the wet playtime in the story. Ask them to think about a wet
playtime in their own classroom. What would they choose to do?
• Suggest that they begin the story: ‘It was a wet playtime.’ Ask them to list the characters who will be
in the story and to plan what will happen.
• How will the story end? Ask them to think of some possible last sentences. Write these on the board,
e.g. ‘Luckily the bell rang and it was time to tidy up.’
• Ask the children to write their stories, independently, using their plans.
Did they sequence the events in their story correctly?
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