# Teacher-held shared texts and word cards

These passages are **original adult-read/shared texts**, not controlled decodables. Show them to discuss language and structure. Offer each child a separate school-selected reading text matched to what they have been taught; do not record understanding after adult reading as independent reading. Story places, names, garden layout and the stock card are invented. No character stands for a real community or cultural tradition.

## Story C · The arrow with two endings

At the classroom's paper garden, Nia placed a blue token on the entrance square. She had written a route for Sol: “Go past the board and stop near the green shape.” Nia thought it was easy. She had drawn a small arrow, too.

Sol moved the token past the notice board. Then Sol stopped. A green garden bed was on one side of the card and a green shade tree was on the other. The arrow pointed between them. “Which green shape?” Sol asked. Nia felt a hot rush in her cheeks. She had forgotten that Sol could not see the path she had imagined.

“Let's test it,” said Sol. Nia put the token back at the entrance and added two clues: “Move one square up on the printed page to the notice board. Turn right. Move one square right. Stop at the shade tree.” Sol followed the words without watching Nia's hand. This time the token reached the tree.

Nia crossed out the old arrow and drew a new one that ended at the tree. She wrote **shade tree** beside it. “You found the part I missed,” she told Sol. The card had become more useful because another reader had tried it.

**Teacher notes:** Nia's feeling is inferred from “hot rush in her cheeks”; ask whether the words prove embarrassment or merely suggest it. Sol's question is evidence of ambiguity, not a child's mistake. The revised words refer to a **printed page**; “right” does not mean a real-world walking instruction. There is no claim that one successful trial makes every direction clear. Read “notice board” as two words; adjust local vocabulary if needed. For expressive reading, leave a pause after “Then Sol stopped”, make Sol's question curious rather than mocking, and end in a calm voice. No sound effect or accent imitation is needed.

## Information text D · Make a tabletop route card

**What the card is for.** A route card helps another person move a token across a **printed model**. It is not a plan for walking through a real school, garden or public place.

**1. Name the start and finish.** Write the symbol and name of the start square. Write the exact finish. “Near a green thing” may fit more than one place.

**2. Give one action at a time.** A reader can test “move one square up on the page” or “turn right at the notice board”. If “right” depends on which way a person faces, say that. On a flat card, **up/down/left/right mean the printed page**, not compass directions.

**3. Test and revise.** Give the card to someone who has not watched you make the route. Ask them to move a token using the words alone. Notice where they pause. Ask what clue was missing, change the card, then test the new wording. Keep both drafts so you can say what changed and why.

**Teacher notes:** This is a practical text about a fictional classroom model, with no external travel or safety claim. It deliberately uses headings, numbered steps and precise action verbs. A pointing/auditory/tactile route can test the same idea. One peer test cannot establish universal accessibility; ask a second reader when time permits. The child can explain the value of a landmark without copying the example sentence.

## Information text E · One stock count, two labels

**The fictional card.** A class design game has **24 306 paper tags**. This is a made-up quantity; no school has to own or count that many tags. A stock card may show the total as 2 ten-thousands, 4 thousands, 3 hundreds, 0 tens and 6 ones.

**Make a different grouping.** Exchange one ten-thousand bundle for ten thousand bundles. The total has not changed. The new label is 1 ten-thousand, 14 thousands, 3 hundreds, 0 tens and 6 ones. The first and second labels name the same quantity.

**Explain the check.** A reader can add the value of each group: 20 000 + 4 000 + 300 + 6 = 24 306; 10 000 + 14 000 + 300 + 6 = 24 306. The zero tells us there are no separate tens bundles in either label. The explanation says **what changed** (the groups) and **what stayed** (the total). A diagram or physical place-value cards can make that relationship visible, but a drawing is not proof unless the groups and values match.

**Teacher notes:** This is an information/explanation text, not a report of real inventory. Its arithmetic was checked both ways. Do the number demonstration with the parallel maths teacher/model where possible. The English target is to make a precise, audience-ready explanation using a labelled example, a reason and a check. Do not infer that a child understands place value merely because they reread or copy this passage. You can swap in a smaller quantity to preserve the language goal and record the replacement.

## Reusable word and sentence cards

| Day | Model/read in guided practice | Teach explicitly | Do not claim |
| ---: | --- | --- | --- |
| 11 | `garden`, `tabletop`, `bookcase` | Clap spoken parts; find known letter patterns; `table` + `top` makes a compound | A compound split is not always the same as a syllable split. |
| 12 | `read` → `reader`; `help` → `helper` | A person who reads/helps; `-er` attaches to the base | Every `-er` at a word end means a person. |
| 13 | `pack` → `repack`; `check` → `recheck` | `re-` can mean again in these words | Every initial `re` is a prefix. |
| 14 | `move` → `moving`; `make` → `making` | Drop final silent `e` before `-ing` in these models | The pattern applies to every word. |
| 15 | `note`, `route`, `reader` | Quick supported retrieval before the fresh check | A whole-class chorus shows individual independent decoding. |
| 16 | `group` → `grouping`; `count` → `counting` | Keep base spelling before `-ing` in these models | Word parts prove number understanding. |
| 17 | `place` → `placing`; `use` → `using` | Final `e` drops before `-ing` in these models | Writing a word proves explanation quality. |
| 18 | `label`, `bundle`, `value` | Say, segment as useful, check known graphemes and meaning in the stock text | `label` is a two-part word just because it has two syllables. |
| 19 | `print` → `reprint`; `sort` → `resort` | Recheck whether `re-` really means again in context | A familiar part guarantees a known pronunciation. |
| 20 | `reader`, `grouping`, `value` | Guided retrieval; fresh items stay sealed in check B | A rehearsed item is a held-out transfer measure. |

**Sentence swaps:** “Go there” → “Move two squares up on the page and stop at the notice board.” “The stock is different” → “The groups are different, but the total is still 24 306.” “She was sad” → “The words *hot rush in her cheeks* suggest Nia felt uncomfortable when the route confused Sol.” These are teacher models; students should supply their own reasoning, not copy to pass.

**Day 18 cut-up sentence strips:** Cut or copy these three original lines onto separate scraps: “The fictional card begins at 24 306 tags.” “One ten-thousand group was exchanged for ten thousand groups.” “The groups now look different, but both labels total 24 306.” A child may order, group, revise or dictate new wording. These are worked example pieces, not an answer to the fresh Day 20 check.

**Original resource rights:** © NeuroForgeIO Pty Ltd 2026, SubjectNest, [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Credit, link and indicate changes. No outside fiction, photograph, map or diagram is reproduced.