Stewed Bugs and Onions
Title
Phonics
Stewed Bugs and Onions
Recognise comparatives
About the Text
Vocabulary
Grandpa says some strange things.
His granddaughter tries to work
out what he really means.
Understand/explain idiomatic
expressions
Genre
Reflect on the text
Fiction
Comprehension
Fluency
Running Words
305
Use punctuation to convey
meaning
High-frequency Words
Writing
always, ask, green, pink, think,
too, while
Create fiction texts
Recognise and use nouns
Content Words
Online
raining cats and dogs, put hairs on
your chest, green fingers, freckle
Word Train (Letter blends)
Word Detective
Snappy Slide Show
Related ­Materials
­Texts
• Stewed Bugs & Onions
Online
• Stewed Bugs & Onions
Audio CDs
• Stewed Bugs & Onions
© 2011 Wendy Pye Publishing Ltd
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Session 1
Guided Reading of Stewed Bugs and Onions
read a fiction text
Activate Background
• Introduce the book. Look at the cover illustration.
– What do you see in the picture?
• Ask children to read the title on their own and to share the strategies they used
to work out the words. Read the title together and discuss its meaning.
– What is stew? Have you ever eaten it?
– What do you think stewed bugs and onions would taste like?
• Have children predict what might happen in the story.
• Share the information on the back cover.
• Ask children to scan the illustrations to get the main idea of the story.
– What do you think is happening on page 9?
– Why would the girl be looking at her fingers so carefully on page 13?
• Ask children to confirm or revise their initial predictions.
Target Reading Strategies
• Read page 2 aloud up to the word special. Ask children
to blend the beginning sounds of the word together and
then predict the word. Guide them to confirm it, using
the ending sound.
– Does it make sense?
Talk about the variant sound of the letter c. Read the
page together.
• Read page 4 up to the word freckle. Guide children to
use beginning sounds, context and ending sounds to
work out the word.
• Talk about what Grandpa means by “three hairs past a
freckle”.
– What might you see on your wrist if you pretend
to look at a watch?
– Why would Grandpa say that?
Read the page together.
– Do you agree that Grandpa is great at telling
the time?
Read the Book
After the Reading
• Read the story together to find out what other funny
things Grandpa says. As you come to unfamiliar words,
model the strategy of sounding out the word and then
checking to see if it makes sense.
• Talk about the animations. On some pages, ask
children which part of the illustration might be
animated, or which action from the text.
• After reading, discuss the main idea of the story.
– What is the story about?
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• Ask children to retell the important events in the
story. Talk about what sort of person the girl’s
grandfather might be.
• Read the story together or ask volunteers to read
selected pages.
• Children share how they worked out difficult words
(fr-eck-le, spa-ghetti, sand-wich-es, clev-er-est).
• Explore the text using the online version, talking about
the animations and how they add to the meaning.
Guided Learning
Phonics
Add -est
recognise superlatives
TEACH
• Display page 16 of Stewed Bugs and Onions. Ask a volunteer to find a word that Grandpa uses
to describe his granddaughter. Click on the paragraph to hear it read aloud. Discuss the
structure of cleverest.
– What base word (smaller word) do you see?
– What is the difference between clever and cleverest? (clever is a comparative, cleverest
is a superlative)
• Ask children to brainstorm other words that can have -est added to them (e.g. small, tall, short).
Record them on chart paper.
• Summarise the meaning of the suffix -est by saying that when it is added to the end of a word,
it means “the very most.”
APPLY
Children could
– write and illustrate phrases using -est words (e.g. the cleverest kid, the tallest tree);
– build and record words using cards with base words and the suffix -est;
– in groups of three compare who is taller and who is the tallest, or shorter and the shortest;
– draw and label a picture of their group of three.
Independent and Small Group Learning
Work on Word Train
recognize/match letter digraphs
Children work through the Word Train.
They drag and drop words that begin
with sh- from a selection onto a train
track. Then they type the words onto
carriages on the word train. The word
stack button reminds them of the words
and the correct spelling. They can print
out a ticket showing their results.
Find Digraphs in Text
recognise/match letter digraphs
Children scan the text to find words that
begin with wh-, sh-, th- and ch-. They
record the words and add others they
know or find to their lists.
Have a Telephone Conversation
develop telephone skills
In pairs, children role-play the girl making a phone call to
her grandpa. She calls, he answers, they talk about their
day and she thanks him. After the call, he writes down the
message to give to Grandma later.
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Session 2
Guided Reading of Stewed Bugs and Onions
• Reread the text using the book or the online version. Talk together about the sayings to
make sure children understand each one.
• Check the meanings and origins of some of the sayings on the internet with the class.
– What are the links between bugs and Stewed Bugs and Onions? (words, meaning)
Vocabulary
Understand Expressions
understand/explain the meaning of idiomatic expressions
TEACH
• Display pages 8–9 using the online version or book. Ask a volunteer to find the funny saying that Grandpa
uses, read it aloud and explain its meaning.
– Are there really cats and dogs falling from the sky?
– Why would Grandpa say that?
Talk about how the illustration contributes to the humour of Grandpa’s expression.
• Follow the same procedure for pages 10–11 and 12–13.
• Ask children to share any funny sayings their grandparents or parents use.
– Have your grandparents ever said anything you found funny or confusing?
What did they say?
APPLY
Children could retell the story by describing the sayings Grandpa uses in the order of the story.
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Guided Learning
Independent and Small Group Learning
Work on Word Detective
build vocabulary informally
through reading
Children work through the Word
Detective, looking at sentences from
the text and clicking on the word that
matches the definition read out by the
voice-over. The target words for this
activity are school, always and shed.
Find Contractions
identify contractions
Children find the contractions
used in the story, e.g. I’ll, it’s.
They record them, along with
the two words which have
been shortened to make each
contraction.
Write/Illustrate a Story
create narrative texts
Children write and illustrate a story about
a grandparent or another family member.
They look closely at the artwork in Stewed
Bugs and Onions and incorporate the ideas
in their own work (e.g. movement, eyes
showing surprise).
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Session 3
Guided Reading of Stewed Bugs and Onions
• Display pages 14–15 using the online version or book and read or listen to the end of the
story. Discuss the ending.
– What does the granddaughter say when she is called for dinner?
– Why does Grandma tell her granddaughter she has been spending too much
time with Grandpa?
– Why does Grandpa say his granddaughter is the cleverest kid he knows?
– How is the story ending connected to the title?
– Did you like the way the author ended the story? Say why or why not.
• Revisit the idiomatic sayings to make sure children fully understand them.
Comprehension Evaluate Author’s Style
judge a text by reflecting on it
TEACH
• Read page 4 of Stewed Bugs and Onions, omitting the second and third paragraphs when
the funny saying was used. Continue reading, following the initial question on pages 6–7
with the answer: “Spaghetti and salad,” he says.
• Ask children what they noticed about the version you read (there were no funny sayings).
Discuss the effect of the omission on the reader.
– How did leaving out the funny sayings change the meaning of the story?
– Which version of the story do you like better – the author’s or mine? Why?
– Why do you think the author used funny sayings?
APPLY
Children could rewrite another page of the text without the funny sayings. They read the two
versions to a partner and discuss the difference.
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Guided Learning
Independent and Small Group Learning
Find Nouns
recognise/use nouns
Children scan the text to find and record
nouns (naming words). They put the
singular nouns in one list and the plurals
in another. They can use the words in
sentences and illustrate some of them.
Talk About Family Events
compare experiences
In pairs, children take turns to talk about
a family event they recently attended
including, for example, who was there,
what they did, what they ate. They
compare their experiences and say what
was similar and what was different about
the events.
Illustrate a Saying
use a word-processing program
to prepare a creative work
Children choose either their favourite funny saying from the text or a
saying they know. They use a paint program to write the saying and
illustrate it in a literal way, as on pages 12–13 of the text. On a second
page they “translate” the saying, using a sentence beginning “What it
really means is…” They can use the drawing software to illustrate the true
meaning of the expression.
What it really means is...
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Session 4
Guided Reading of Stewed Bugs and Onions
Review Learning
• Recall Stewed Bugs and Onions.
• Children think about what they learned during the week. e.g. –est words (superlatives),
nouns, contractions, digraphs.
• Find an example of each in the story to share.
• Retell the story using the illustrations.
Fluency
Attend to Punctuation
use punctuation to convey meaning
TEACH
• Display pages 4–5 using the online version or book. Ask children to listen as you model reading, About time
for a cup of tea, with your voice going down as you pause at the comma. Ask children what they noticed.
Have children repeat it.
• Read, Don’t you think? with your voice going up at the end of the question.
– How did my voice change as I read the question?
Have children repeat it. Read the two parts together.
• Read, Time for a cup of tea! with appropriate expression and ask children how you changed your
voice. Draw attention to the words calls out and talk about what clue the words give about how the
sentence should be read. Have children read the sentence on their own.
• Ask children to read the whole section to a partner. The partner listens for appropriate voice changes
and says one thing the reader did especially well. Then they switch roles.
apply
Children could
– listen to the online reader read a section of text, then they repeat that section of text;
– read a page of text to a partner and have the partner give a positive comment.
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Guided Learning
Independent and Small Group Learning
Work on the Snappy Slide
Show
use software programs to enhance
learning experiences
Children create their own slide show,
using pictures from the text. They can add
labels, speech bubbles, animation, borders,
effects, captions and music.
Prepare a Presentation
choral-read a text by alternating
reading parts
Children work in small groups to prepare a
reading presentation of Stewed Bugs and
Onions. They decide who will read each page
and how they will show the illustrations.
They present their reading to the class or to
another class.
Role-play Working in
a Restaurant
express ideas through drama:
role-play
Children role-play being workers and
customers at a restaurant where strange
foods, such as stewed bugs and onions,
are served. They can create menus, adding
descriptions and prices.
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