Ants!

Target phonemes/graphemes PINK A Isabel Thomas

s  a  t  i  p  n Reading Planet Level 1A

Phonics Phase 2

books
More eries
s
in the

Ants!
The ants sip, tap and pat!
Simple information book

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 Reading Planet Notes
Before reading
Before you begin, talk about the cover
and the title. Ask your child:
In this book
What do you think this book is about?
Your child will practise
Where in the word Ants is the /a/ sound?
these key sounds:
s (as in sun)
a (as in ant) While reading
t (as in tent) Show your child how to point and
i (as in in) track underneath the sounds in the
words to help keep their eyes focused
p (as in pan)
as they blend the letters and read.
n (as in net)
Give your child time to read each
word. If they hesitate or make a
Your child may need mistake, don’t jump in too quickly to
help with these words: correct them.
After reading pages 4–5, explain
the  no  go to your child that the small, yellow
bugs are aphids. Ants care for and
protect aphids so they can drink the
Ready-to-read activity honeydew sap produced by aphids.
Practise saying each sound in a word
(e.g. a-n-t) and blending the sounds together
to read the whole word (ant). Ask your child
to repeat after you. Repeat this for the
words pip, pats, sips, sap, nips. After reading, encourage your child
to talk about what they have read.
You’ll find ideas for questions and
activities at the back of this book.
9781398324473_Ants_CV_final3.indd 3-4
AFTER READING
Try these activities with your child: Ready-to-read tip
On a piece of paper, draw a grid with As your child becomes more
six boxes. Write a word in each box, e.g. confident with saying the sounds
ant, nip, pat, sap, sip, nap. Call out each to blend the word, encourage
word in a random order. When your child them to say the sounds in their
finds the word on their grid, they tick it off. head and then say the whole
word out loud.
Go on a minibeast hunt in your garden
or local park. Talk with your child about
where you might find ants and aphids.
Author: Isabel Thomas
ISBN: 978 1 3983 2447 3
Text, design, illustrations and layout © 2021 Hodder & Stoughton
Series Editor: Abigail Steel
Senior Publisher: Helen Parker
Limited
First published in 2021 by Hodder & Stoughton Limited (for its Rising
Development Editor: Sasha Morton
Illustrator: Michelle Breen / Bright Group International
Stars imprint, part of the Hodder Education Group),
Academic Consultant: Professor Clare Wood
An Hachette UK Company
Educational Consultants: Debbie Hepplewhite and Helen
Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0DZ Marron
www.risingstars-uk.com Brand design: Amparo Barrera, Kneath Associates
Impression number 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Design concept: Mo Choy Design
Year 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 Page layout: Lynda Murray
Editorial: Gaelle Lefevre, Jennie Clifford
With thanks to the schools that took part in the development of Reading Planet, including:
Fairway Primary School, Stockport; Irthlingborough Nursery & Infant School; Mile Oak School, Brighton; Salusbury Primary
School, London; St Augustine’s Catholic Primary School, Coventry; and St John’s Primary School, Kenilworth.
The publishers would like to thank the following for permission to reproduce copyright material.
Cover © Achkin / Shutterstock; p2 and p10 © Slatan / Shutterstock; p3, 5, 9, 11 © IB Photography / Adobe Stock; p3 ©
kingfisher / Shutterstock; p4 and p8 © Chris Rose / PropertyStock / Alamy Stock Photo; p5 © bjphotographs / Adobe Stock;
pp6-7 © blickwinkel / Alamy Stock Photo; p9 © Nigel Cattlin / Alamy Stock Photo; p11 © Naturepix / Alamy Stock Photo
All rights reserved. Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, no part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or held within any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or under licence from the Copyright
Licensing Agency Limited. Further details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright
Licensing Agency Limited: https://www.cla.co.uk/
A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
Printed in Dubai
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25/02/2021 10:01
 Ants!

Written by Isabel Thomas

Illustrated by Michelle Breen

9781398324473_Ants_pp_f.indd 1 07/01/2021 17:21

 It is an ant!

2 3

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 The ant pats it.

Pat!
Pat!
Pat!

4 5

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 The ant sips the sap.

Sip!
Sip!
Sip!

6 7

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 The ant nips it.

No!
No!
No!

8 9

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 The ants go in to nap.

Tap!
Tap!
Tap!

10 11

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 Talk about the book
Ask your child these questions:

1 What do ants look like?

2 What does the ant sip?

3 Where do the ants go to nap?

4 Why is it helpful to look at ants through a

magnifying glass?

5 Where have you seen ants?

6 What would you do if you were the size of

an ant?

12

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