-le /ul/ miserable mickey 2. what word could be used ...€¦ · miserable mickey; 1. why was...

unit 7 -le /ul/ 77

Miserable Mickey

1. Why was Mickey miserable?

2. What word could be used instead of ‘miserable’ to describe how Mickey felt?

3. What three things did Mickey’s sister do to try and

stop Mickey being miserable?

4. Why do you think Mickey felt worse, not better, after his sister’s actions?

5. What does it mean when someone’s ‘hackles are

raised’?

6. What strategies could Mickey’s sister try next to help Mickey feel more cheerful?

7. What would you do to cheer Mickey up?

Suggestions: These questions could provide a starting point for discussing the text. Teachers can decide how best to develop oral and written comprehension and vocabulary development according to the learners’ age, stage and needs. The text level passages ‘I can read’ provide cumulative decodable text and a means to link words together with the same spelling and sound patterns. Some passages may also provide suitable staring points for developing storylines orally and/or through writing.

Copyright 2007 Debbie Hepplewhite

unit 7 -il /ul/ 78

Lentil Soup

1. Where and when does the story take place?

2. What was the main thing on Jack’s mind?

3. What is Mr. Weaver’s job and how do you know?

4. Why do you think the children call Mr. Weaver ‘Weevil’?

5. Do you think Jack is looking forward to his lunch or

dreading it?

6. Discuss two contrasting ways in which this story could be developed?



unit 7 -al /ul/ 79

Animals

1. List three animals which you consider are ‘very wild’ and three animals which you consider are ‘readily tamed’. Give reasons for your selection.

2. What is meant by ‘events can spiral downwards’

in the second paragraph. Can you describe a possible example of this.

3. Describe what is meant by keeping animals ‘which

are least likely to put you in hospital’.

4. Why do you think some people choose to keep animals which could be dangerous?



unit 7 -el /ul/ 80

The parcel

1. Can you think of any reasons why Mr. Marvel hid the jewellery in a towel?

2. Where did Mr. Marvel have to stop his car?

3. Why had the traffic come to a stand-still?

4. What type of animals were taking part in the

parade and what else do you think might have been included?

5. Why do you think some drivers watched the parade

whilst others protested at the parade?

6. Why do you think the thieves left the label from the parcel in Mr. Marvel’s car?



unit 7 or, aw /or/ 81

Strawberries

1. Where is the secret place?

2. What is special about the secret place?

3. Do you think the main character in the story is a girl or a boy? What information in the passage supports your conclusion?

4. How does netting sort out the problem of the

birds?

5. In the passage, who do you think had ownership of the strawberry patch?



unit 7 au /or/ 82

The audience

1. Do you think this is a true story? Give reasons for your answer.

2. What methods could Santa Claus and the astronaut

have used to invite an audience to a meeting?

3. Why do you think the mention of ‘flying machines’ caused the greatest excitement?

4. Why do you think people would attend a meeting

such as the one described?

5. Would you like to make up a story about a flying machine?



unit 7 -al /or/ 83

Walk tall

1. What possible relationship does the main character of this passage have to Peter?

2. Does Peter think that ‘walking tall’ makes you

grow taller? What does Peter really mean?

3. What does it mean to have a ‘big heart’?

4. What is the name of the teacher?

5. What do the teacher and the father think of the main character?

6. What type of message does the grandmother give

to the main character?

7. What do you think is more important than trying to please everyone?



unit 7 oar /or/ 84

Come aboard

1. What does it mean to ‘inherit’ something?

2. Whose house had Morag inherited? How do you know?

3. If someone ‘paces up and down’, what does this

usually indicate?

4. Why do you think Morag seemed to have a problem with inheriting the house?

5. Where did Morag’s grandfather hide his treasures?

6. What tells us that these treasures were very

important?

7. Suggest what range of items might have been hoarded in the box of treasures.

8. What do you think was the most important factor in

helping Morag to feel free?



unit 7 oor /or/ 85

Poor but rich

1. What message does the title of this passage give?

2. Do we really know whether Eddie and his father had plenty of money?

3. Why do you think it was a mistake for Eddie to

walk barefoot to get the post?

4. We know that Eddie was feeling poorly when he awoke. Do you think that this might have influenced his thoughts and feelings for the day?



unit 7 ore /or/ 86

Explore or chores?

1. What are the names of the sisters in the passage?

2. The two sisters ‘turned on each other’. What does this mean and why did it happen?

3. Do you think the sisters hated each other as they

were being mean to one another?

4. What did the sisters do to change the way that they treated one another?

5. Do we know whether the sisters actually explored

on the sea-shore?

6. When Mindy said to her sister, “You don’t really snore”, what does this tell us about her thoughts and feelings?

7. What is your overall impression about the

relationship between the two sisters?



unit 7 our /or/ 87

The downpour

1. What was Adam’s ambition?

2. Where is Wimbledon and how do we know from the information in the passage?

3. What tells us that Adam had travelled from another

country for the tennis tournament?

4. What does it mean to make an ‘understatement’?

5. What is meant by the last line, ‘This was a downpour like no other’?



unit 7 -tch /ch/ 88

No match

1. List the food and drink included in the family breakfast.

2. How many people do we know is in the family as a

minimum?

3. Could there have been more family members at the breakfast table? Give an explanation as to why they are not mentioned.

4. When you read the passage, did you think that the

person describing the breakfast scene was a girl or boy? Do we learn from the passage whether this person was a girl or boy?

5. What impression do we get about the role of the

mother in this family?



unit 7 -ch, - tch /ch/ 89

Kitchen riches

1. List the meals that are catered for as described in the passage.

2. Does the food mentioned in the passage help the

reader to imagine other activities in the scenes? If so, in what way is this achieved?

3. Write a similar passage but listing the food that

your family might typically eat during a day trip with a picnic.



unit 7 -ge, -dge /j/ 90

The passage of time

1. Why did handling her baggage make the lady think of her age?

2. Why was the lady worrying about taking a lodger?

3. What had reassured the lady about the new lodger?

4. What did the lady do when she arrived home?

5. In what way do you think the lady’s general mood

changed since she arrived at home and settled down?



unit 7 -x /ks/ 91

The expert

1. What was the name of Tessa’s favourite teacher?

2. How do you think Tessa encouraged her teacher to ‘expand on a subject’?

3. What do you think the teacher thought of Tessa?

Give reasons for your suggestion.

4. Do you have a favourite subject that you like to study? What do you enjoy in particular about it?



unit 7 -x /gz/ 92

Exams

1. What is an exam?

2. How do people approach taking exams differently?

3. What does it mean to find something ‘less daunting’?

4. Is being ‘stretched and challenged’ regarded as a

bad thing or a good thing?

5. What is the suggestion for making exams ‘less daunting’?

6. Describe two different ways in which taking exams

might affect someone’s sleep.



unit 7 kn /n/ 93

The gallant knight

1. What was Nelly doing when she heard a knock at her door?

2. Why did the knight arrive at Nelly’s house? Do you

think that he chose to go to Nelly’s house deliberately?

3. What had caused the knight’s wound and how did

Nelly treat the wound?

4. How do we know that the knight was not too badly injured?

5. How did the knight show his appreciation?

6. In addition to receiving payment for her assistance,

how else do you think that Nelly could have gained from this event?



unit 7 wr /r/ 94

A writer’s inspiration

1. List the things that you think provided inspiration for Irina’s next novel.

2. What is mentioned in the passage that might have

led Irina to ‘wrestle’ with the idea of taking a walk?

3. Why would it be considered a special event to see a wren?

4. How might an old wrecked vessel provide inspiration

for writing a novel?

5. Complete a ‘sensory experience chart’ of Irina’s walk.



unit 7 -mb /m/ 95

The plumber

1. Give an example of why Fernando was regarded as ‘a bit of a soft touch and a hero’.

2. What was Fernando like as a husband and a

father?

3. Only one word is used to describe Fernando’s wife - what is it? Does this give a favourable impression of her?

4. What is written in the passage to indicate that

Fernando’s wife had some good qualities?

5. What appeared to be the underlying cause of Fernando’s accidents?

6. Do you think that Fernando is likely to change his

ways?

7. How could Fernando and his wife work together to ease the work situation in future?



unit 7 sc /s/ 96

The home scene

1. We read how the scientist commits ‘these warm summer days’ to memory. Describe two different ways that we can interpret the word ‘warm’?

2. What atmosphere does the description of the home

scene bring to mind?

3. Create a ‘sensory experience chart’ of the scene we read about.

4. How could you develop this passage into a story by

contrasting the sensory descriptions in a new paragraph?



unit 7 gu /g/ 97

The guard

1. As the guard had been told to ‘look out for’ a ‘guy’, do you think it was understandable that he wondered whether a guest’s dark glasses and a beard could be a disguise?

2. Can you guess as to someone’s ‘guilt’ or ‘innocence’

based on their physical appearance?

3. The text describes the guard as ‘foolish’ to shrug and turn back into the hotel. Have we been given enough information to know whether this is really the case?

4. What actions could the guard realistically have

taken in such circumstances?



unit 7 bu /b/ 98

The builder and the buyer

1. What is meant by ‘buoyant feelings’ in the first paragraph?

2. Why do you think that the builder had buoyant

feelings?

3. What does ‘jubilant’ mean?

4. Why do you think the buyer felt ‘equally jubilant’ to the builder?

5. What factors do you think would make a building

‘magnificent’? Perhaps you would like to draw up a chart and/or design your own magnificent building.



unit 7 ch /k/ 99

Chaos

1. Why is life busy for some people prior to Christmas? What cultural and religious events are celebrated by your family that require organisation and preparation?

2. What is cholera and why would it cause chaos and

the abandonment of school activities?

3. Why do you think words like ‘to battle’ are chosen to describe the actions of the doctors, nurses and chemist?

4. What are ‘chronic ailments’?

5. Have you ever participated in a performance? Make

up a short play or perform a song with friends or family.



unit 7 rh /r/ 100

Rhubarb and rhumba

1. How many words in the passage do we have to read before we are confident that this is a nonsense story?

2. What did Ronnie Rhinoceros and Rita Rhebok both

love to eat?

3. What type of dance did they love to do?

4. What did Rita adore wearing?

5. Where did Rita and Ronnie dance in the moonlight and what kind of music did they dance to?

6. What is meant by ‘she was glittering and he was

glowing’?

7. What did Ronnie and Rita develop and what is meant by the ‘high-life’ coming to an end?

note: rhumba and rhebok can also be spelt rumba and rhebuck



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