He is a potato. He would like to be a superhero. Right now he is just… a potato. Read each direction, make the picture in your head, then draw it. Tick the box when you finish one.
Finished early? Give Spud a sidekick. It has to be a vegetable, and it has to look grumpy.
The drawing is the data. Lay the finished pages out and scan them — you can see who read what in about thirty seconds each.
| DIRECTION | SKILL BEING CHECKED | MISSED | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Two eyes and a smile | Decoding a simple sentence; will they start at all | |
| 2 | Cape on his back | Position word: on his back | |
| 3 | Hat on his head | Single-step direction, familiar words | |
| 4 | Four spots | Reading a number word and matching quantity | |
| 5 | Mask over his eyes | Position word: over; visualising placement | |
| 6 | Sock on his LEFT foot | Left vs right; and the limiter only one | |
| 7 | Bird above, holding a sandwich | Two-part direction; above; visualising a whole scene | |
| 8 | Name UNDER, in capitals | Under; capital letter formation | |
| 9 | Two things smaller than Spud | Comparative language; visualising relative size | |
| 10 | Speech bubble: seeing a french fry | Inference and humour; independent writing sample | |
| 11 | Colour cape, DO NOT colour hat | Negation — the one most children miss | |
| 12 | Banana, then circle it | Two-part direction; visualising, then acting on the image |
Good readers turn words into pictures in their heads. Here that step is visible: a child cannot draw the bird holding the sandwich unless they built the image first. Watch for children who decode every word aloud correctly but draw nothing, or draw something unrelated — that gap is a visualising problem, not a phonics one, and it is the single most useful thing this page tells you.
Directions that lean hardest on visualising: 5, 7, 9 and 12. If a child completes 1–4 neatly and then stalls, start your teaching there.
Reading and holding meaning independently. Give them the page 3 extension.
Decoding fine, losing multi-step and position words. Watch numbers 6, 7 and 11.
Sit with this child early in the week and do a running record. They may be guessing from pictures.
One caution. A blank page is not always a reading problem — some children freeze because they are afraid of drawing wrong. Ask before you conclude.
Meet Sergeant Sprout. Write four directions for a classmate, then swap pages and draw each other's.
Handy words: above ● under ● next to ● behind ● do not ● only ● three
The same pages again with the colour taken out — the same activity, ready for any photocopier.
THE LEARNING CONDITIONSHe is a potato. He would like to be a superhero. Right now he is just… a potato. Read each direction, make the picture in your head, then draw it. Tick the box when you finish one.
Finished early? Give Spud a sidekick. It has to be a vegetable, and it has to look grumpy.
The drawing is the data. Lay the finished pages out and scan them — you can see who read what in about thirty seconds each.
| DIRECTION | SKILL BEING CHECKED | MISSED | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Two eyes and a smile | Decoding a simple sentence; will they start at all | |
| 2 | Cape on his back | Position word: on his back | |
| 3 | Hat on his head | Single-step direction, familiar words | |
| 4 | Four spots | Reading a number word and matching quantity | |
| 5 | Mask over his eyes | Position word: over; visualising placement | |
| 6 | Sock on his LEFT foot | Left vs right; and the limiter only one | |
| 7 | Bird above, holding a sandwich | Two-part direction; above; visualising a whole scene | |
| 8 | Name UNDER, in capitals | Under; capital letter formation | |
| 9 | Two things smaller than Spud | Comparative language; visualising relative size | |
| 10 | Speech bubble: seeing a french fry | Inference and humour; independent writing sample | |
| 11 | Colour cape, DO NOT colour hat | Negation — the one most children miss | |
| 12 | Banana, then circle it | Two-part direction; visualising, then acting on the image |
Good readers turn words into pictures in their heads. Here that step is visible: a child cannot draw the bird holding the sandwich unless they built the image first. Watch for children who decode every word aloud correctly but draw nothing, or draw something unrelated — that gap is a visualising problem, not a phonics one, and it is the single most useful thing this page tells you.
Directions that lean hardest on visualising: 5, 7, 9 and 12. If a child completes 1–4 neatly and then stalls, start your teaching there.
Reading and holding meaning independently. Give them the page 3 extension.
Decoding fine, losing multi-step and position words. Watch numbers 6, 7 and 11.
Sit with this child early in the week and do a running record. They may be guessing from pictures.
One caution. A blank page is not always a reading problem — some children freeze because they are afraid of drawing wrong. Ask before you conclude.
Meet Sergeant Sprout. Write four directions for a classmate, then swap pages and draw each other's.
Handy words: above ● under ● next to ● behind ● do not ● only ● three