Word family tales the pest in the nest est

Give a great holler, a cheer, a yellFor all of the words that we can spell With an E, S, and T that make the sound –est , You’ll find it in nest and vest and best.. Three little letters,

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SCHOLASTIC and WORD FAMILY TALES

and associated designs are trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

Illustrated by Matt Phillips.

Produced by Brown Publishing Network.

ISBN: 0-439-26249-6

Copyright © 2002 by Scholastic Inc.

All rights reserved Printed in the U.S.A.

To Ella and Sophie, the best in my nest

Susie lived alone

in a neat little nest

She was a very fine bird with a bright pink crest

One fine day, Susie invited a guest— and her bird-friend Stella flew in from the West

Stella wore sneakers and a polka-dot vest

She had curly green feathers and a pretty blue crest

Susie thought Stella was simply the best She didn’t know Stella would be such a pest

When Susie served salad and worms to her guest, Stella gobbled her snack and then finished the rest!

I hope you don’t mind if I finish this!

When Susie and Stella had a painting contest, Stella splattered purple all over the nest!

When Susie had to study for an arithmetic test, Stella decided

to tap dance with zest!

When Susie showed Stella her costume chest,

Stella scattered clothing north, east, south and west!

When Susie lay down

to take a short rest Stella woke her right up

by braiding her crest!

“Stella,” cried Susie,

“I have to protest!

You’ve brought nothing but trouble into my nest!”

Stella the bird hid her beak in her vest.

“I’m so very sorry I was such a pest

I just got so excited

’cause you are the best!”

Next Susie said,

“Stella, you aren’t a pest You’re a very fun friend—

I think YOU’RE the best!”

When the visit was over, before Stella flew West, she hugged her pal Susie

She then hugged the nest!

Listen to the riddle sentences Add the right letter

or letters to the -est sound to finish each one

1 A compass will help you to find north, south,

east, and est

2 I like all animals, but I like birds the est!

3 The little birds collected twigs to build themselves

a est

4 When you visit someone’s

home you are a _est

5 I need to study my spelling

words for tomorrow’s big est

-est W W ord ord F F amily amily R R iddles iddles

6 I can’t finish my sandwich Do you want the

est?

7 When I bother my brother, he calls me a est

8 A sweater without the sleeves is called a est

9 It would be really neat to find a treasure

_est!

10 I bet you’ll win first prize if you enter the

est

Now make up some new riddle sentences using - est

Give a great holler, a cheer, a yell

For all of the words that we can spell

With an E, S, and T that make the sound –est , You’ll find it in nest and vest and best.

Three little letters, that’s all that we need

To make a whole family of words to read!

Make a list

of other –est

words Then use them in the cheer!

C heer

-est

Here are some quick and fun ways to use this

story to help children learn the word family -est.

Explain to children that you are going to read a story that has many words with the -est sound,

made by the letters E, S, and T All these words belong to a group called a word family.

Ask children to find the -est word ending at the top of the front cover Review aloud with children

the sound these three letters make Can they find two words in the title with the -est sound?

Flip over the book and read the story summary on the back cover Ask children to point out the

words they hear with the -est sound Explain that the story you are about to read includes many

more words that end in -est Can they help you find them?

Read aloud the story once for pleasure and enjoy the whimsical illustrations Then reread the

book, emphasizing the -est word ending in the appropriate words Ask children to listen closely

and identify all the words that end in -est (they might raise their hand or clap when they hear one,

or you might choose a volunteer to point to the word on the page) As they do so, make a list on

chart paper of all the -est words

Write each of the words from your list on an unlined index card Use a different color for -est than

the rest of the word Read each word on the cards with children On another reading of the story,

distribute the cards to children and have them hold up their card as their word is read

Pages 14–15 of the book feature 10 riddles with

answers that require a word ending in -est Read

each riddle aloud and have children volunteer answers

Read aloud the cheer on page 16 several times, with

lots of energy and enthusiasm Invite children to join

you in reciting the cheer when they feel ready

(you might even choose a “cheerleader”)

-est

R eading T ips

Other words in the -est family:

jest quest arrest conquest

fun fest invest detest request