Words

Ron, a five-year-old with an intellectual disability, faces challenges in expressing himself clearly, often struggling to recall the words he wants to use. Despite these difficulties, Ron perseveres and eventually communicates his message, reflecting resilience and determination. The illustrations in the book add humour, while also sensitively portraying Ron's experience. With direct speech and varied past-tense verbs, the text supports rich literacy learning. The story's layout encourages sustained reading with blocks of text and includes examples of both singular and plural possessives. Words provides a powerful platform for students to discuss themes of diversity and inclusion, and to practise their understanding of punctuation, verb tenses, and narrative structure. Through guided reading, students can also explore the interplay between text and illustrations, and use the book's visual features-such as charts and diagrams-as a springboard for writing.

Educational Benefits:

• Develops awareness and empathy through the theme of intellectual disability.
• Enhances understanding of punctuation and possessive forms.
• Reinforces use of past-tense verbs in context.
• Encourages sustained reading through longer blocks of text.

Classroom Ideas:

• Discuss how illustrations convey emotion and support the storyline.
• Practise writing dialogues using direct speech.
• Identify and sort singular vs plural possessives.
• Create a word chart showing verbs used in the past tense.

Information:

• Age Group: 5-7 years
• Reading Level: Level 17-18
• Book Dimensions: Standard guided reading size
• Text Features: Blocks of text, direct speech, illustrations with humour