ShortVowelWords

Garden Detectives · Case 22

The Black Flag Pattern

Short A · Level 6

Short A review with repeated patterns and testing a prediction

Illustration for The Black Flag Pattern

Before reading

Open the case file

Phonics focusShort A review with repeated patterns and testing a prediction
Heart wordsthe · every · when · there · would

Hear the focus words

Read and investigate

The Black Flag Pattern

Natural read-along narration · Amelia
Speed

Press Read with Amelia, or choose a sentence to begin.

A small black flag marked the start of the garden path. Every afternoon, the flag leaned at the same slant. Nan set it straight, but the next day it leaned again. There were no tracks beside the stand.

Sam noticed that the flag moved only after the sun reached a glass panel. The panel warmed the air inside a cold frame. A vent at the back then flipped open. The vent sent a brief blast across the path.

Sam hung a strand of grass from the flag stand. When the vent opened, the grass snapped toward the flag. The same blast made the light stand lean. Nan turned the vent away from the path.

The next afternoon, it opened without moving the flag. The repeated pattern had revealed the hidden gust.

Check the evidence

Can you solve the case?

Choose the answer that is supported by the story.

1When did the flag usually lean?

2How did Sam test the direction of the air?

3What created the brief blast?

4Why was the repeated time useful?

For adults

Use evidence, not guesses

Ask the learner to point to the sentence that proves each answer. If decoding is effortful, reread one paragraph at a time. A fluent second reading is more valuable than rushing to the next story.