Seedbed Sight Word Then: 4 Clever Steps in Order

Read the flower lines all the way through

I plant a seed, then water it.
Then a little flower grows.

Let an adult read these two then sentences while the child follows the print. Give the child a second turn in which they read as much as they can and get help with unfamiliar words. When they circle then, ask them to reread the sentence so it still sounds like something a person could say.

On a third turn, read the lines in reverse order and ask which one the child remembers by meaning. Look again at where then shows up. If finding it by sight was easy but making sense of the sentence was hard, return briefly to the opening situation before tracing again.

A slow rehearsal of the spelling then

The first two letters th make one sound at the start of then. See e next and finish with n. Them ends in m, when starts with wh, and than has a different vowel letter. Put the two endings side by side when the reader reaches the flower search. Notice the capital T at a sentence start.

Start the then tracing panel with an adult demonstration on the first pale model. Let the learner point at each letter and then write a single guided example. If the finished model is readable, use the independent space when the child has the letter order in mind. Point back to the large spelling after the new word is written.

Use the blank end of the line for one complete then. A child who leans very close to the dots can first write on a larger scrap of paper. Give them a moment to compare shapes and positions. Ask which letters are easy to identify and which need a fresh look at the larger model.

Four ways to check the seedbed reading

Which seedbed labels should get color?

The search choices on this sheet are than, when, then, them, then, then. Read across the top row and then the bottom. Have the child pause on than and them to explain something visible that makes each a different spelling from then. Color only once the group can show the exact match.

Let a partner cover one row of the Flower Word Adventure search, leaving the other row and the large reference in view. Check the labels with a finger before asking for any color. Reveal the covered row after the first row is settled. That keeps the child from counting pictures they already checked during a second pass.

Use the search as two separate jobs. One child reads the then candidate out loud and another compares it with the model from left to right. When the children agree, use a soft color so a later reader can still see the whole word inside the picture.

Try the seedbed conversation in two settings

At home. Put two paper pictures on the table, one of a seed and one of a watering can. Ask a learner to give the direction with then. If the listener waters the paper pot first, switch the order of the pictures back and try reading the instruction from the beginning.

With a class. Invite two children to act as seed planter and waterer while a third reads the instruction. In a replay, move the word card to the front of the line about the flower growing and ask what earlier event it is following.

A first grade reader around ages six or seven may need oral rehearsal for a then sentence but manage the spelling with little help. Keep a pencil turn brief in that situation. Have an adult point to a clause or phrase and let the child finish reading it before asking them to repeat a more difficult part.

Five signs of a stronger then reading turn

• Letter order. Ask the child to explain one difference between then and when.
• Sound and print. Listen together, then revisit the part of then covered in the spelling rehearsal.
• Controlled movement. Compare the spacing of one fresh then with the model above it.
• Attention to sentence details. Pick one statement from the seedbed lesson and have a partner act it out.
• Independent reading. Let a listener who missed the first seedbed turn read the new caption.

Give then a short place in tomorrow's reading too. Let the child find it once in the worksheet or in a new sentence you have written. End on a successful read and invite them to choose one seedbed task for the next visit.

Turn the garden directions into a rehearsal

Borrow the same pattern for a classroom routine: open the book, then find a page. Make two stage cards and ask the reader to lead a partner through the actions. Explain that then can keep its job even if no plant is present. Finish by having the partner create an order of their own and the reader check it on a spoken replay.

Make a planting desk with two safe pretend tools and invite one learner to be the actor. The actor carries out an action only after the reader has said the whole direction. If the reader leaves out then, let the group see whether pausing or joining short statements can also express an order. Compare that performance with the printed line using the target word.

Write a separate set of directions for watering a plant and putting the can away. Have a child read them aloud while another moves an arrow between two pictures. A third child can tell the group what comes after watering. On the worksheet, mark the word that does that work. Keep the extension on scratch paper so the original planting instruction can be revisited with a new partner.

More places to read after the seedbed lesson

When the then lesson is finished, choose a brief next turn with a short at word family activity, the separate practice sheet for eat, or a lesson with the ap word family. Ask what changed when the new task moved to a different word or sound.

Adults planning the next seedbed session can use UF Literacy Institute’s high-frequency word materials or Reading Rockets’ high-frequency word teaching guide.

Print and revisit worksheet 08

The original then PDF is the free download. An eligible membership also provides the clean Flower Word Adventure PDF. Print on US Letter in portrait. Check the line guides and word labels on a single sheet before making a classroom stack.

The $4 set places then on page 08 of the twenty-sheet PDF. Use the collection when you want a single download for the supplied words from of through know.