A Small Problem
Book Band Purple B
RR Level 20
Genre Fantasy fiction
Length 32pp (712 words)
Letters and Sounds Phase 6
NC Level 2C
APP Level 2, Low
Phonics Bug Up to Unit 30
Interest words destroy,
smugly, explode, fortress,
guard, weapons
Plot Summary
While in the form of Grey Matter, Ben gets captured by a baddie,
Howell, who sells him to an evil gang leader, Enoch. Gwen and
Grandpa track the kidnappers to Enoch’s huge, creepy house.
They climb in and find Grey Matter, who manages to blow up
both the house, and its collection of alien weapons.
Curr. Ref.
Objectives
7:2 (PNS)
ENG 1-19a (CfE)
RS7 (W)
R11 (NI)
Reading
Give some reasons
why things happen or
characters change
AF3: comments based on
textual clues ... (L2/bullet
2); comments/questions
about meaning of parts of
text (L1/bullet 2)
1:2 (PNS)
LIT 1-06a (CfE)
OS10 (W)
T&L 4 (NI)
Speaking and Listening
Tell real and imagined
stories using the
conventions of familiar
story language
AF2: make helpful
contributions when
speaking in turns, in pairs,
and in small groups
(L2/bullet 2); engage with
others through taking
turns in pairs and small
groups (L1/bullet 1)
10:1 (PNS)
LIT 1-25a (CfE)
WS9 (W)
W8 (NI)
Writing
Use planning to
establish clear sections
for writing
AF3: some basic
sequencing of ideas or
material, e.g. time related
words (L2/bullet 1); some
formulaic phrases indicate
start/end of text
(L1/bullet 1)
Key
AF = Assessment Focuses for APP in Reading, Speaking & Listening
and Writing
APP = Assessing Pupils’ Progress, QCA (2009)
CfE = The Curriculum for Excellence (2009)
APP Assessment Focus
NI = Northern Ireland Primary Curriculum Foundation Stage (2007)
PNS = Strand objectives from the Primary National Strategies (2006)
W = Foundation Phase Framework for children’s learning for 3 to
7-year-olds in Wales (2008)
PCM
Session 1 Reading
Before Reading
Phonics for Reading
Make cards for the following words: splashdown, Riptide,
meanwhile, hideaway, runaway, themselves, everything,
everybody. Show the cards to the children. Remind them what
a compound word is. Can they break up each word into their
root words? Use a pair of scissors to split up each word into its
components once a consensus has been reached.
Walkthrough
Talk about the front and back covers. Encourage predictions.
• Ask the children what the small problem might be. Talk about
which of Ben’s aliens is small (Grey Matter); might he be part
of the plot?
• Read the chapter headings and discuss any other ideas the
children have.
During Reading
While the children read, ask them to think about the main question.
Main question: How do the characters affect the plot? (AF3)
Additional prompts to help you sample the children’s reading:
Pages 4-5:
Why does Ben turn into Grey Matter? How does
Gwen react? Do you think Ben made a good
choice of alien? (AF3)
Pages 8-9:
Page 9:
Pages 16-20:
Page 20:
How would you describe Howell? What is his
reason for capturing Grey Matter? Does he care
what happens to Grey Matter after selling him?
(AF3)
Check that the children can use their decoding
skills to read collection. Explain that /tion/ says
‘shun’. (AF1)
How would you describe Gwen and Grandpa’s
behaviour? (AF3)
Can the children read the words weapon and
destroy? (AF1)
After Reading (collecting evidence for AF3)
Discuss the answer to the main question as a group. (Because
Gwen teases Ben, he changes into Grey Matter. Because Howell is
greedy, he sells Grey Matter to Enoch. Because Howell is flustered,
he drops his phone. Because Enoch collects alien technology, he
buys Ben. Because Gwen and Grandpa are brave and resourceful,
they are able to find Ben. Because Ben knows about the danger of
alien weapons and because Grey Matter is clever, Ben is able to
blow up Enoch’s house.)
Quick Finishers
Can you think of some words to describe
how it might feel to be tiny and trapped in
a jar!
Look at page 24: do you think Ben is
grateful? Has everything that’s happened to
him changed his behaviour?
Session 2 Speaking and Listening & Writing
Phonics for Writing
Look together at the contents page. Can the children spot any
words that include the long /a/ sound? Agree on Runaway,
Hideaway and Escape. Ask the children to look through the
book and note down as many words with the long /a/ sound
as possible. Compare lists and create a group list to look at
together. Circle the letters in the words that make the long /a/
sound. Draw the children’s attention to the fact that ‘ay’ is nearly
always at the end of a word. Challenge the children to find a
word where the long /a/ sound is made with ‘ey’ (e.g. Grey,
they).
Speaking and Listening
Retell the main points of the story as a group, starting the story
off yourself, for example, “One day Ben and Gwen were at the
water park.” Challenge each child to use connective language
from the text (e.g. meanwhile, when, on the other side of town,
not far away) when telling their part of the story. (AF2)
Writing
Give pairs of children a copy of the PCM. Ask them to work
together to draw a storymap for A Small Problem showing four
key events from the story. Remind them about the speaking
and listening activity above and ask them to use one of the
connectives provided on the PCM to create a sentence about
each event they have a drawn. (AF3)
Making Links
Provide materials for the
children to use to design their
own water park. What theme
might it have? What would it
be called? What rides would it
have?