In this long vowel reading passage, kids can practice silent e and the long vowel ee and ea sounds. Here is the free long vowel passage:
The story is about a lizard that steals other lizard’s bugs instead of catching her own. She’s decided stealing is an easier route to getting food. Little does she know, the other lizards know exactly where she stashes the stolen bugs. They all take their food back, and the narrator is left with nothing.
Long vowel passage questions
To prep your student you can ask, “In this story, the lizard steals food. Do you think the other lizards will let her get away with this? Will the other lizards get their food back?” Let him make predictions. Then, as he reads the story he’s likely to find the answers. Simple tactics like this can help struggling readers develop some reading comprehension skills.
Building vocabulary while on phonics books
What about vocabulary? Can you introduce vocabulary words when your struggling reader is on a long vowel passage? In “Bringing Words to Life,” authors Beck, McKeown and Kucan discuss that there is no such thing as grade-level vocabulary. Meaning, you can introduce seemingly college-level vocabulary words even when your student is reading phonics books.
What vocabulary words can you introduce? With emerging readers, try to stick to vocabulary words your student can easily relate to. These words are known as new label words, meaning they’re just new labels for concepts your student already knows. For example, your student knows what “steal” means. Thus, you can introduce a fancy word like “purloin” which is just a new label for “steal.”
Reading time in class
When young kids read, they need immediate feedback and leveled texts. Make sure your student is reading more than 9 out of every 10 words accurately. If she makes a mistake, highlight the phonics sound she missed. Ask her for the sound. Then, ask her to read “from the beginning” of the word.
To build fluency, you can have your student read the passage 3x. But, don’t have her read 3x in a row on the same day. That will encourage her to memorize the passage. Space out re-readings. Leave at least 24 hours in-between each reading, but 48 hours is best. Incorporate another phonics book in the long vowel lessons as well.
I hope your student enjoys the silly long vowel reading passage, “I Steal Bugs!”
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