The Giant’s Smelly Feet

29 Feb 2008

Published in Literacy Time PLUS Ages 5 to 7 March 2008

By Alison Milford — Author and poet

This engaging and humorous story draws on the language of traditional tales, and and features characters and setttings typical of the fantasy genre

These teachers’ notes accompany the PRINT ONLY guided reading leaflet in Literacy Time PLUS for ages 5 to 7 March 2008

The simple structure of the story allows children to explore, and understand, cause and effect. There are a number of high and medium frequency words and words that include the suffixes -ed, -ing, -ly and -ful.

Before reading

Make links to a wider theme about giants. For example, have a themed role-play area or prop boxes with large clothes, or make a collection of giant stories and poems and read the story and poem on On-screen resource 1.
Talk about the characters often found in traditional tales and discuss whether each of these is typically good or bad – eg, kings, queens, princesses, princes, step-mothers, fairies and giants. Ask the children to talk about and tell each other their favourite traditional stories.
Revisit any approaches you have been using to work out unknown words. These could include:
Phonic strategies – model blending adjacent consonants; range of graphemes for long vowel phonemes in longer words – eg, ai (waiting), a-e (graceful), ea (meadows/breathing), ea (heavy), ar (sparkling), air (hairy);
Knowledge of suffixes and the effect they have on words – eg, giggle/giggling; tickle/ticklish.
Comprehension strategies – reading beyond an unknown word and using context. Read the title and first paragraph to the children. Ask them to follow as you read it again. Point out either kingdom, graceful or enchanted and model how to use the context of the paragraph to try to work out the meaning.

Previous learning

Familiarity with the characters, settings and themes typically found in traditional tales will increase the children’s enjoyment of the story. Most of the words used should be decoded fairly easily by children reading within Level 2.

Reading the text

As they read, ask the children to notice how the giant affects the kingdom.
Predict what might happen at various points – eg after “Wait and see,” smiled Gat. and after “Thank you! I can’t wait to show my mum. Bye!”
Support the children to use the approaches modelled to try to work out the meaning of new words as you listen to them read.
Encourage blending all through the word as their first strategy for decoding unknown words.
Ensure the children reread whole sentences when their reading fluency has been interrupted by difficulties with decoding.

Responding to the text

Point out to the children what they did well in their independent reading.
Discuss how the children’s predictions matched what really happened.
Ask the children to explain to each other how the giant affected the kingdom. Ensure they make links to smelly and sweet-smelling feet.
Go back through the story and help the children pick out any particularly effective vocabulary.

Key learning outcomes:

To use a variety of approaches to decode unfamiliar vocabulary;

To identify main events/characters in stories;

To make predictions;

To give some reasons why things happen or characters change.

Using the photocopiables

Use the Word Wizards photocopiable as a prompt for locating and explaining the meaning of new or interesting vocabulary.
Use The Giant’s Smelly Feet photocopiable to model how to deduce or infer information from the text.

Follow-up to guided reading

Retell the story using puppets or role play.
Compare the giant in this story to giants in other stories (eg, The Thunder Giant in on-screen resource 1, or Julia Donaldson’s The Smartest Giant in Town). Categorise the giants in different ways – eg, by mood or actions.
Make a story map to show the events in the story.

Word Wizards

Use this prompt sheet with The Giant’s Smelly Feet reading leaflet in Literacy Time PLUS Ages 5 to 7’s March issue to identify and explain new or interesting vocabulary