Short U: the sound, the words, the books

Bug, mug, sun, truck — the short U sound, from drums to mud camps. Five decodable stories and twenty flashcards, each child’s copy starring that child. This guide maps the pack onto the components of systematic, explicit early-literacy instruction (the ones Wisconsin’s 2023 Act 20 names: phonemic awareness, phonics and decoding, letter–sound knowledge, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension).

1. The sound

Target: Short U. Spellings tinted in the books: u. Say the sound in isolation, then in the twenty words, then find it in the captions.

2. The words

Sight words used in the captions: a, the, has, in, on, and, to, is.

3. Phonemic awareness (5 minutes)

• Blend: say the sounds of a pack word slowly; children say the word.
• Segment: say a word; children tap out its sounds.
• Swap: change one sound (cat → hat → hot) with the flashcards face down.

4. Decoding with the flashcards (5 minutes)

• Picture side up: name it, find the tinted sound, say the word.
• Word side up: sound out, blend, check with the picture.
• Speed round: the child reads the word side of ten cards as fast as accuracy allows.

5. The stories (10 minutes each)

1. “A Mug for Gran” — [NAME] carries a full mug across the garden to Gran, but a bouncy pup sends it flying into the mud. A rub in the tub, a refill from the jug, and Gran gets her mug after all, with a hug on top. (10 pages; uses hug, mug, tub, sun, run, jug, pup, mud, stump; with Gran)
2. “the child’s name's Truck is Stuck” — [NAME]'s big red truck bumps a stump and lands in the mud. Stuck! [NAME] tugs, the pup tugs [NAME], the cat tugs the pup, until, pop, the truck jumps free and everyone lands in a muddy hug. (10 pages; uses hug, sun, run, pup, mud, truck, stump, jump)
3. “the child’s name Has a Drum” — [NAME] bangs a new drum so loudly that the pup, the cat and even the bug on the rug run off. A soft brush and a gentle tap, tap, tap bring everyone back. (10 pages; uses bug, rug, tub, run, pup, drum, stump, brush)
4. “the child’s name's Box Bus” — [NAME] turns a big box into a bus. The pup and the cat jump in, snacks go on the dashboard, and off it goes, bump, bump, bump, until it tips on the rug and everyone plops out laughing. (10 pages; uses hug, rug, cup, run, bus, nut, pup, jump)
5. “the child’s name and the Bug” — A bug lands on the rug and [NAME] wants to keep it in a cup, but it hops to the mug, the jug, then the cat. When it finally settles on [NAME]'s nose, [NAME] carries it out to the sun and lets it go. (10 pages; uses bug, mug, rug, cup, sun, run, jug, jump)

First read: the child decodes every word; wait, do not rush in. Second read: fluency, with expression. Then talk about the pictures in any language the child has.

6. Checking progress

• Accuracy: words read correctly on the first pass of a story (aim for 95%+ before the next pack).
• Letter–sound knowledge: the tinted spellings named in isolation.
• Comprehension: retell the story in three sentences; the pictures are the prompt.
• Engagement: how many re-reads the child asks for. Personalised books are re-read more; count it.

7. Families

Send the flashcards home; the word side is a two-minute routine.

Story Petal books are generated by an image model from instructions we write, checked by a person, and never used to train anything beyond a child’s own order. What our art must get right.