I had a quiet evening last night. I went to bed early and decided to watch a production of ‘Goodbye Mr Chips” starring the outstanding English actor Martin Clunes. It wasn’t the classic film but it was every bit as absorbing.

Set in a private school for boys in the 1900s,  including World War One, the attitude towards kids learning was so different from today.

Changing the culture of the school was an uphill battle for Mr Chipping and his wife who were appalled at the culture of physical punishment and bullying. The school meant well. It was getting boys ready for the world!

Unable to get the Headmaster to listen to her protests Mrs Chipping decided to tell him a story. At the end of which the Headmaster got her point.

The story she told was a traditional one – The Sun and the Wind. One I read when I was six from one of my school primers. It had 2 black and white illustrations.

Here it is. The text in the book is not split by the illustrations which are at the side of  2 pages. As you will see it is easy to read and gives a reader plenty of scope to practise phrased and fluent reading. I have typed it the way it is in the primer and you will see how phrasing has been considered. No illustrations break into the text to divert the reader’s concentration.

     The Sun and the Wind

Once the wind said to the sun,” I

am stronger than you. I can turn

a windmill.

You cannot do that.”

The sun said, “I

cannot turn a windmill,

but I am stronger than

you. I can make the

 flowers open, and ripen

the corn.”

Just then a man

came along. He wore

a long coat.

“I will show you that I am stronger than you,” said the wind. “I will blow that man’s coat off.”

He blew and he blew, but he could not

blow the coat off.

“Now,” said the sun, “it is my turn.”

He shone brightly, and made the man

feel hot. He kept on shining,

till the man felt too hot, and took off his coat.

“Yes,” said the wind. “You must be stronger

than I, for you have done what

I could not do.”

Story from: Third Progressive Primer. Whitcombe and Tombs Publishers around 1948.

Children respond to traditional stories. This one is easy to learn and would be a great one to tell to your child.

Reading a collection of Aesop’s Fables to your child at bedtime is a way of introducing these stories. There are many collections available.

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Posted in phonics for kids by Marilyn Martyn No Comments Yet