Colorful Illustrations support decodable text, guiding beginning readers to identify, recognize, and use the short /a/ sound. Featuring high-frequency words, this authentic fictional narrative also gives emerging readers the opportunity to read with purpose and for meaning while reinforcing basic phonemic sounds. Readers will love reading this story about an unlikely friendship between a cat and a rat. This fiction phonics title is paired with the nonfiction phonics title Up at Bat: Practicing the Short A Sound. The instructional guide on the inside front and back covers provides: * Word List with carefully selected grade-appropriate words featuring the short /a/ sound found in the text * Teacher Talk that assists instructors in introducing the short /a/ sound * Group Activity that guides students to identify the short /a/ sound, decode the words that contain it, and use the words * Extended Activity that provides students with additional opportunities to think about, list, and use words containing the short /a/ sound

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