Swamp Hen

Swamp Hen explores the morning routine of an unusual bird, using procedural text to guide readers through its behaviours and activities. The book features close-up photography that reveals detailed body structures and postures of the swamp hen, making the bird's features clear and engaging. Pronouns such as œshe and œher are used consistently, helping young readers become familiar with personal pronouns. The text includes repeated œth blends in words like œthen, œwith, œthe, and œfeathers, as well as blends such as œch, œsw, and œcl, reinforcing phonics skills. High-frequency words œthe, œwith, œshe, œher, and œsome are prevalent, supporting early reading fluency. Swamp Hen is ideal for guided reading sessions that focus on using visual cues to monitor meaning, blending sounds to form words, planning narrative sequencing, and selecting key information for purposeful writing. This book supports foundational literacy skills with a focus on nature and animal life.

Educational benefits:

• Develops blending and segmenting of consonant blends like œth and œsw.
• Enhances use of personal pronouns in context.
• Encourages sequencing of events in procedural texts.
• Supports information selection for targeted writing tasks.

Classroom ideas:

• Use photographs to discuss bird anatomy and habits.
• Sequence the morning routine of the swamp hen in a chart.
• Practice reading with attention to blends and high-frequency words.
• Write a procedural text describing a different animal's routine.

Information:

• Ages: Early primary (approx. 6-8 years)
• Format: Printed book
• Reading level: Matches early guided reading stages