Read and Do: Two-Step Instructions in One Sentence

Four long sentences instead of six short ones make up this 1st grade two-step read-and-do page. The picture row at the top holds eight farm animals — a bee, a cow, a chick, a second cow, two more bees, a lamb and a llama — and each sentence joins two pencil actions with and: Write how many cows there are and cross out the third bee. Underline all the cows and put a check mark under the llama. Underline the lamb and cross out the chick. Circle the second bee and put a check mark under the first picture. The first row also carries a small box for the number. The child reads to the period before touching the pencil, then does both halves and checks the box.

Two actions in one sentence is the step where reading becomes following directions. A child who begins after the first clause will underline the cows and stop, and the second half is never done; the instruction on the page says it plainly — read it to the end before you start. The sentences also mix the ways a picture can be named: by animal (the lamb), by count (the third bee, the second bee), by all (all the cows) and by place (the first picture). The teacher looks at the check box last: it should be ticked only when both marks are on the strip, and asking the child to point to the two things done is the fastest check.

The page prints on one sheet with generous row height, so there is room for a child to reread. Use it after the base read-and-do page, where every sentence has one action, and before the first-second-between page, which makes the position words the whole task. Children who rush can go back to the read-and-circle page for a few days, where the verb never changes and only the noun has to be found.