The Birthday Cake Mistake (Reading Comprehension)

This lesson plan provides guidance on delivering an English lesson based on the story 'The Birthday Cake Mistake'. The story teaches the children about the dangers of playing with lighters and matches which also links with the KS1 PSHE objectives. In this lesson the story is shared with the children and then they can use the finger puppets to retell the story, showing their understanding of the plot and the main safety message contained.

Learning about fire risks and the dangers of lighters and matches is important at an early age. This lesson is aimed at Early Years Foundation Stage and has cross-curricular links to literacy: speaking and listening and reading comprehension. It is based on the story of ‘The Birthday Cake Mistake’ which teaches the children that you should leave adults to use lighters and matches safely. Includes linked activities to further extend the learning. 'Resource 1' below is the story, 'Resource 2' is a black and white version of the finger puppet worksheet for the children to colour and use to retell the story.  'Resource 3' is a colour version of the finger puppets.