48. The Fox and the Ducks

The lesson, step by step

1. Warm up

   Have your child reread a few lines of Lesson XLVII, for example:

   Frosty is the morning;

   Praise smooth reading and help with any word that sticks.

2. New words

   Point to the new words at the top of the lesson:

   heed sight slyly stream drifting flock flight snaps hidden circling

   Say each word and have your child say it after you. Clap the parts of long words. Then point to words in any order and let your child read them.

3. Read it aloud

   Look at the picture together first, if there is one. Then your child reads the lesson aloud, one paragraph at a time. Help with any word by pointing to it in the word list.

   Here are a few lines from it:

   Soon a branch with leaves came drifting among them, and they all took wing.

   He looked up the stream, and spied a fox slyly watching the ducks.

   If it is long, stop at a good place and finish tomorrow.

4. Talk about it

   SayWhat did the ducks do when the first branch came drifting by?

   SayWhy did they stop flying away?

   SayWhere was the fox hiding?

   SayThe book calls the fox's work "cunning" and "patient". Why?

   Let your child look back at the page to find answers.

5. Tell it back

   Close the book.

   SayTell me how the fox caught the ducks.

   Let your child talk without stopping them. Afterward, help with anything left out by asking "What happened next?"

6. Copywork

   Write this line from the lesson for your child to copy, or let them copy it straight from the book:

   He looked up the stream, and spied a fox slyly watching the ducks.

   Check capital letters, commas and the mark at the end.

7. Spelling

   Say each word, use it in a short sentence, and have your child spell it aloud, then write it: flock, flight, sight, stream, heed.

   Check together and fix any mistakes right away.