This story was written to be performed by children as young as kindergarten level. After the story there is an explanation of the literacy features used in writing the piece.
Finn and the Boys
This is Finn. / Finn is big. Finn is tall. Finn is big and tall.
Finn is big and strong. Finn wants to play. / Finn asks to play with the boys.
The boys will not play with Finn. / The boys are bad. The boys hit Finn with sticks.
Finn is sad. Finn is mad / Finn is sad and mad.
Finn still asks to play with the boys. / The boys still will not play with Finn.
Finn is still sad. Finn is still mad. / Finn is still sad and mad.
Finn asks to play with the boys three times. / Now the boys are not bad. Now the boys will play with Finn.
Finn and the boys play ball with the sticks. They play and play. / Finn wins!
Finn and the Fish
This is Finn. He is a boy. / This is Fingas. He is an old man.
Finn and Fingas are friends. / Fingas has a fish. It is a magic fish!
The fish will make Fingas smart. / Finn makes a fire. Finn cooks the fish for his friend.
Fingas says, “Do not eat the fish!” / Finn says, “I will not eat the fish.”
Ouch! Finn burns his finger on the hot fish. / It hurts! Finn puts his finger in his mouth. Uh-oh, there is fish on his finger.
Finn brings the fish to Fingas. / Fingas says, “Did you eat the fish?”
Finn is sad. Finn says, “No, I did not eat the fish. I got some on my finger and put it in my mouth.” / Fingas is sad, but he is not mad at his friend.
Fingas gives the magic fish to Finn. Finn eats the fish. / The magic fish makes Finn smart!
Finn and the King
Here is Finn again. He has grown up. / This is Conn. He is the king at Tara.
The king is having a feast. All his friends are there. / Finn walks in and sits down. He is not invited!
Conn is mad. He asks, “Who are you, and who is your father?” / Finn says, “I am Finn. My father was your captain. I will be in your army, too.”
Conn says, “Your father was my friend. You are welcome here, and you may be in my army. / Conn is sad. He says, “Tonight a monster will come and burn down Tara. His magic song makes us fall asleep, and we cannot fight.”
Finn says, “I will fight and save Tara from the monster. I can stay awake.” / The king tells Finn, “If you fight and save Tara, you will be the captain of my army.”
Finn has a magic spear. He waits for the monster. / The monster is there! His magic song makes them fall asleep.
Finn is not asleep. His magic spear makes him stay awake. / Finn chases the monster out of Tara. Finn runs all the way back to the monster’s cave.
Finn kills the monster with his magic spear. Finn saves Tara from the monster. / King Conn is happy. He makes Finn the captain of his army. Finn is a hero!
The End
Literacy Features of Part One:
–repeated practice on /short a/ and /short i/ phonemes (Language acquisition is easier when there is greater difference between phonemes practiced so children can feel the physical difference in how they are pronounced. Emergent readers need to see and pronounce a printed word between 15 and 20 times before it becomes automatically readable in any new context where they might encounter it.)
–introduces challenging diphthongs -ay, -oy, and -ow; introduces challenging initial consonant blends str- and thr-; includes one word with the /ô/ phoneme
–100% of the words are phonetically predictable and monosyllabic
–includes thirteen words (this, is, and, to, with, the, will, not, are, still, three, now, they) from the “frequent words list,” a list of about two hundred words that make up almost 60% of all English words in print
–simple syntax patterns are repeated throughout, making the text predictable, as well as reinforcing common English syntactical structures.
–125 words total; 29 different words
–Lexile 220 (Kdg-early 1st Grade)
Literacy features of Part Two:
–wider variety of vowel sounds: /short and long a/, /short and long e/, /short and long i/, /short and long o/, schwa, /short and long oo/, /ow/ sound made by ou, /ô/, r-restricted vowel sounds (ar and ur)
–consonant sound challenges: soft g and hard g, fr-
–three two-syllable words.
–phonetically unpredictable sight words: friend(s), gives, are, do, says, put(s), some (There are no English words that end in “v”. They all have a final silent “e” that usually does NOT lengthen the middle vowel.)
–addition of -s suffix to selected words (friend-friends, put-puts, eat-eats); irregular verb forms (do-did)
–more challenging syntax: less obvious patterns, interjections, dialog, one compound sentence
–151 words total; 59 different words; 28 words from the “frequent list”
–Lexile 290 (mid-1st Grade)
Literacy Features of Part Three
— wide variety of vowel sounds; challenge: -ight, -ing
–few pattern sentences, inclusion of compound predicates, compound sentences, and one complex sentence.
–increased numbers of prepositional phrases using a variety of prepositions
-inclusion of antonym pairs: can-cannot; asleep-awake
–226 words, 86 different words, 44 words from the “frequent” list
–Lexile: 320 (late 1st grade, early 2nd–right at one academic year’s growth between the first and third parts)
-bonus points for inclusion of the phrase “Finn again.” 🙂
