7

Decodable Decodable VOLUME

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Bothell, WA • Chicago, IL • Columbus, OH • New York, NY
A Great Race Day ............. 1
Long a: a, ea, eigh, ei, ey

Knotty Pine Park ............... 9

Silent Letters: wr, kn, gn, mb, sc
One Ghastly Plant ............ 17
Silent Letters: gh, lf, lk, st

Twiggy Steps Out ........... 25

Diphthong: ou, ow

Roy and Mr. Boy ............. 33

Diphthong: oi, oy
A
Gre
at R a c e D a y

by Robyn Saunders
illustrated by Kersti Frigell
1
It was time for Sprat Creek’s skating
contest. Trey and Ava planned to skate.
“I hope I win again,” Trey said.
“Hey, I think you will!” said Ava. “You
are eight years old now.”
2
They waited in line with their
neighbors. This year, Trey chose to
skate in the long race. Ava chose to
skate in the short race. They agreed
to obey the safety rules.

3
 Trey and Ava went down to the creek.
“I see the start line,” said Trey.
“Great!” said Ava. “I hope we both
win prizes this year.”
4
Trey thought about last year. He got
first prize then. He had been the best
in the short race. But this year he was
in the long race. Would he still win?

5
 “I hope I do well,” said Ava.
“I think you’ll win the short race!”
Trey told her as he tied his skates.
“And I think you will win the long
race!” Ava replied.
6
It was time for the skaters to
line up.
“This is going to be a great
race!” Trey said. “I’ll see you
at the finish line!”

7
 It had been a great race day! Both
Trey and Ava won first prize! They
hung their ribbons on their beds.
8
Knotty Pine Park

by Tatiana Segove
illustrated by Gary Undercuffler
9
 Wren and her pals met at Knotty Pine
Park.
“It’s fun to swing and climb,” said
Wren. “But let’s do something new.”
“Let’s make a parade!” said Knox.
“Yes!” cried Wren. “We can dress up.”
10
“I’ll wear my Dad’s funny hat,” Sasha
said. “Mom got it for him but it’s the
wrong size.”
“That’s great,” said Wren. “Our parade
will be lots of fun!”

11
 Wren wrapped an old sheet around
her. She knotted it on the side. She
got a drum and a cane. Then, she
marched to Knox’s house.

12
Knox wore a shiny black cape. He
pulled a paper bird from his top hat.
“You really have a knack for tricks!”
said Wren.
“Mom helped me use scissors to make
this bird,” Knox said.
13
 Sasha wore her dad’s funny hat.
“This is my cat, Lamb,” Sasha said.
“I designed this dress for her!”
“Your cat knows lots of tricks,”
said Knox.
14
Wren, Knox, and Sasha marched
down the street. Lamb danced in her
fancy dress. The three kids and Lamb
made quite a scene! People watched
the parade from their windows.

15
 At last, Wren, Knox, and Sasha
reached the park. Kids stopped
swinging. Kids stopped climbing. They
clapped and cheered. The Knotty Pine
Park Parade was a big hit!
16
 by Jennifer Malloy
illustrated by Dave Fischer
17
 A Venus flytrap is a strange plant.
Many folks think that it is a creepy
plant, too. Let’s see if they are right.
The Venus flytrap lives in wet places
like marshes.

18
Plants need to eat. But the Venus flytrap
can’t get food from soil. And it can’t walk to
find what it needs.
It has learned to adapt, or change,
to stay alive. How? The Venus flytrap
catches and eats bugs!
19
 This plant has leaves that form a trap.
Inside is sticky, sweet stuff. It makes
bugs want to go in to eat it. When a
bug gets in the trap, the leaves snap
shut! The bug can’t get out!

20
Seeing a Venus flytrap catch a bug
is a ghastly sight! This plant knows
the right size bug to catch. When
the leaves close, the plant makes an
airtight trap. This is a reliable way
to get food!
21
 Now the bug is the plant’s lunch!
Sticky acid glistens as it coats the
bug. Ugh!
The bug’s freshness makes it a
really yummy treat!
22
Venus flytraps often grow in the wild.
But they can be in danger when
land is cleared. Now it is not legal
to dig up these plants.

23
You can get a Venus flytrap at a plant
store. Fill a glass jar to the halfway
mark with soil. Keep the plant damp
and feed it with tasty bugs. This is one
ghastly plant that is creepy and fun!
24
 Twiggy
Steps Out

by Alex Vasquez
illustrated by John Edwards
25
 Some plants, like a Venus flytrap, act
like an animal. But this animal looks
like a plant. It is a stick insect.
We will call this one Twiggy. One
day, Twiggy came out of his house.
He wanted to take a look around.
26
Stick insects can be green or brown.
Being brown helps the insect blend in
with the ground.
Twiggy thought he found a rock. He
climbed up. He looked around.

27
Twiggy climbed to the top of the rock.
There he found a round brown thing.
Twiggy decided it was a tree. Stick
insects like to eat leaves. So Twiggy
climbed up to get some leaves.

28
Twiggy climbed and climbed. But there
were no leaves to be found. Then,
Twiggy landed on a soft, white object.
“I must be in the clouds. How will I
get down?” Twiggy asked himself. He
looked around. “Maybe I can blend in
with my surroundings,” he said.
29
 Stick insects can change color. This
helps them to blend with their
surroundings. But Twiggy could not
turn white like this cloud. So he
jumped down.
“I found a bridge!” Twiggy gasped.
But the bridge suddenly ended.
30
The bridge began to sway.
“No! No!” Twiggy shouted.
The bridge was rising up. Twiggy began
to panic. “Why did I ever come out of
my house to prowl?”

31
 Just then the bridge gently dropped
to the ground. Twiggy took a quick
look around. He found his way back
to his house.
The next time you see a twig on the
ground, it may be a stick insect like
Twiggy just out looking around!
32
 by Chrissie Blake
illustrated by Jan Pyk
33
Roy was a pig. He lived on a big farm.
He enjoyed eating a lot. He enjoyed rolling
in the mud even more.
35
 There was one thing Roy did not
enjoy. That was Mr. Boy, the cat.
Mr. Boy howled and howled. That
annoyed Roy and spoiled his day.

36
“Mr. Boy annoys us all,” said Ms. Joy
the cow.
Troy the dog said, “He makes too much
noise. We need to teach him a lesson.”
37
 Roy called a meeting of the animals.
“You can help me with my plan,”
said Roy. “We will join forces to teach
Mr. Boy to make good choices.”
38
In the morning, Floyd the rooster
woke the animals. Mr. Boy was still
asleep. All the animals started
howling. Mr. Boy was annoyed.

39
 Mr. Boy yelled, “Stop the noise!”
“I get the point!”
And he really did. Mr. Boy never
annoyed Roy again.
40
 Volume 7
Story 1 • A Great Race Day ...................page 1
Word Count: 208
Decodable Words
Target Phonics Elements: Long a: a, ea, ei, ey
Ava, eight, great, hey, neighbor, obey, Trey
High-Frequency Words
Review: again, about, been, down, said, their, to, was,
would, you
Story Words
thought

Story 2 • Knotty Pine Park ....................page 9

Word Count: 213
Decodable Words
Target Phonics Element: Silent Letters: wr, kn, gn,
mb, sc
climbing, designed, knack, knotty, knotted, Knox, lamb,
scene, scissors, wrapped, Wren, wrong
High-Frequency Words
Review: around, do, down, new, of, our, said,
something, was, your
Story Words
parade
Story 3 • One Ghastly Plant .............. page 17
Word Count: 244
Decodable Words
Target Phonics Elements: Silent Letters: gh, lf, lk, st
airtight, folks, ghastly, glistens, halfway, right,
sight, ugh
High-Frequency Words
Review: how, now, one, out, to, too, walk, what
Story Words
food, learned, soil

Story 4 • Twiggy Steps Out ................ page 25

Word Count: 267
Decodable Words
Target Phonics Elements: Diphthong: ou, ow
around, brown, clouds, down, found, ground, how,
prowl, round, shouted, surroundings
High-Frequency Words
Review: come, looked(s), one, of, their, to, was, you
Story Words
animal, color, thought, took
Story 5 • Roy and Mr. Boy................... page 33
Word Count: 150
Decodable Words
Target Phonics Element: Diphthong: oi, oy
annoyed, annoys, boy, choices, enjoy, enjoyed, Floyd,
join, Joy, point, Roy, spoiled, Troy
High-Frequency Words
Review: again, all, called, lived, of, one, said, to, too,
was, you
Story Words
animals, rooster
Decoding skills taught to date:
Phonics: Phonics: Short a; Short i; Short o; Short e, Short
u; l- Blends; r- Blends; s -Blends; End Blends; Long a: a_e;
Long i: i_e; Long o: o_e; Long u: u_e; Soft c, Soft g ,-dge;
Consonant Digraphs: th, sh, -ng; Consonant Digraphs:
ch, -tch, wh, ph; Three-Letter Blends; Long a: ai, ay; Long
i: i, igh, ie, y; Long o: o, ow, oa, oe; Long e: e_e, ee, ea, e, ie;
Long e: y, ey; Long u: u_e, ew, u, ue, /ûr/: er, ir, ur, or; /är/ ar;
/ôr/or, oar, ore; /îr/ eer, ere, ear;/âr/ are, air, ear, ere; Long a:
a, ea, ei, ey; Silent Letters: wr, kn, gn, mb, sc; Silent Letters:
rh, gh, bt, mn, lf, lk, st; Diphthongs: ou, ow; Diphthongs: oi,
oy

Structural Analysis: Plural Nouns -s; Inflectional

Ending -s; Plural Nouns -es; Inflectional Ending -es; Closed
Syllables; Inflectional Ending -ed; Inflectional Ending
-ing; Possessives (singular); Inflectional Endings -ed, -ing
(drop finale e); Inflectional Endings -ed, -ing (double final
consonant); CVCe syllables; Prefixes re-, un-, dis-; Suffixes
-ful, -less; Compound Words; Contractions with ’s, ’re, ’ll,
’ve; Open Syllables; Contractions with not (isn’t, aren’t,
wasn’t, weren’t, hasn’t, haven’t, can’t); Inflectional Endings
and Plurals (change y to i); Comparative Inflectional
endings -er, -est ; Irregular Plurals; Abbreviations;
r-Controlled Syllables; Plural Possessives; Prefixes pre-,
non-, mis-; Consonant +le Syllables (+le, +al, +el)
 7
Decodable Decodable VOLUME

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