Greedy Cat

Greedy Cat
by Joy Cowley
illustrated by Robyn Belton by Joy Cowley
illustrated by
Robyn Belton

Shared reading plan. This humorous repetitive text invites enthusiastic

participation from readers. The illustrations are rich in
Shared reading provides students with opportunities to
humorous detail.
behave like readers and to engage in rich conversations
about texts that they are initially not able to read for Greedy Cat is the foundation text about Greedy Cat, and
themselves. The focus is on engagement, enjoyment, students will be able to enjoy his further adventures in
and comprehension. Shared reading involves multiple several guided texts.
readings of a text, led by the teacher, with increasing There is an audio version of the text as an MP3 file at
interaction and participation by students. After many readytoread.tki.org.nz
shared reading sessions, children become able to read
the small books (which accompany the big books) by Related texts
themselves with increasing independence and fluency.
• Shared books with a similar narrative structure
Overview (repeated events leading to a crisis or resolution):
A Good Idea; Dad’s Snore; Dragons! Dragons! Dragons!;
Greedy Cat loves food, and his name suits him well. I’m the King of the Mountain; Number One; The Hole in
In this story, every time Mum goes shopping for food, the King’s Sock
Greedy Cat manages to sneak and eat something from
the shopping bag. He gets his comeuppance when Mum • Humorous stories about food and/or Greedy Cat:
finally realises what he is doing and comes up with a Haere Atu! Monster’s Lunch, (shared); The New Cat
(Magenta); Greedy Cat Is Hungry (Red 2); Lunch for
Greedy Cat (Yellow 3); Greedy Cat’s Door (Blue 3)
Text characteristics
Key text characteristics as described in the reading standards
for after one year at school are shown in the boxes with a solid
outline. Other boxes show additional characteristics.

Most content explicitly stated but also some implicit content that provides
opportunities for students to make predictions and inferences (for example, why
Greedy Cat sneaks the food and why Mum doesn’t notice what he is doing)
The familiar settings of
home and the shops, Illustrations that
and the familiar context support and extend the
of having a mischievous meaning, for example,
family pet Mum went shopping the expressions on the
and got some potato chips.
characters’ faces and a
Along came Greedy Cat.
He looked in the shopping bag. humorous visual sub-plot
Some visual language showing the interaction
Gobble, gobble, gobble,
features, for example, and that was the end of that. between Greedy Cat and
the words “LOOK out Katie
mum” in the page 2
illustration and the
illustrated word “YOW!” A range of punctuation,
on page 15 including commas, full
7
6 stops, exclamation marks,
and a dash to support
Many high-frequency phrasing and meaning
words as a scaffold for Many sentences that run over more than one line but do not
independent reading split phrases, supporting phrasing and return sweep
attempts Generous spaces between
words supporting
Interest vocabulary (“bananas”, “chocolate”, “gobble”, “sausages”, “shopping”)
one-to-one matching
Highly repetitive including noun phrases (“a pot of pepper”, “Greedy Cat”, “potato chips”, “shopping
engaging language that bag”, “sticky buns”) that are likely to be in a reader’s oral vocabulary and that are
draws students into the strongly supported by the context, sentence structure, and illustrations
reading
Reading standard: After one year at school
The above spread:
Text copyright © Joy Cowley 1983 The Literacy Learning Progressions
Illustrations copyright © Crown 1983

Accessed from www.readytoread.tki.org.nz Teacher support material for Greedy Cat, Ready to Read, 2015 1
COPYRIGHT © CROWN 2015
Reading purposes and learning goals Introducing the text
(What opportunities does this text provide for students • Discuss the cover illustration. Why do you think the
to learn more about how to “read, respond to, and think cat is looking at the shopping bag like that? What can
critically” about texts?) you see in the bag?

Several reading purposes are suggested in this teacher • Read the title and discuss what it means to be
support material, each accompanied by learning goals. greedy. Encourage the students to predict why the
The learning goals are the sorts of reading behaviours cat might be called Greedy Cat.
you want your students to demonstrate after multiple
• Read the names of the author and the illustrator.
readings of this text and that will support them when
reading other texts. • Turn to the title page illustration. Expect the
students to notice the look on Greedy Cat’s face and
Often the first reading of a shared text will be with the
to make a connection to the cover. I wonder why he’s
whole class. Subsequent readings may be with a group
moving like that. What might he be up to?
for a specific purpose. The focus in the first reading is on
making meaning, with the teacher leading the reading • Use the illustrations on pages 2 and 3 to confirm the
and students encouraged to join in as they feel confident. predictions from the cover and title page that Greedy
This means the students can focus on responding to the Cat is after food.
story line and thinking critically about the theme or main
• Discuss the setting and the characters. Even though
idea. Exploration of word-level features should be left for
Katie isn’t mentioned in this story, you could tell the
subsequent readings.
students her name and that they will see her again in
English language learners who are just beginning to learn other stories about Greedy Cat. Draw their attention
English will benefit from some language work before you to what Mum and Katie are doing. Has Mum noticed
read the shared text with the whole group. For example, Greedy Cat? Do you think Katie knows what he is doing?
encourage them to look at the cover illustration and talk
• Some students may notice the words in the page 2
about it in their first language.
illustration. If not, avoid pointing this out. Give them
Select from and adapt the suggestions in this teacher the opportunity to make this discovery themselves.
support material according to your students’ strengths,
• Share the reading purpose and encourage the students
needs, and experiences.
to predict what Greedy Cat will do. Remind them to
think about their predictions as you read the story.
A suggested purpose for the initial readings
To find out what Greedy Cat does when Mum goes Reading and discussing the text
shopping • Ensure that the students follow the text as you read
aloud, using a pointer to help them with the words.
Possible learning goals
• Pages 2 and 3 – After reading page 3, discuss what
Over a number of sessions, the students can:
Greedy Cat did. What happened to the sausages?
• make connections to their experiences in order to Expect the students to infer from the lines “Gobble,
make predictions and inferences about gobble, gobble, and that was the end of that” that he
the characters ate them all. If necessary, clarify that “gobble” means
to eat fast.
• notice some of the ways the print
and illustrations work together to build meaning • Pages 4 to 13 – As you turn to each double-page
spread, encourage the students to examine the
• summarise the events in the story
illustrations, notice what’s in the shopping bag,
• listen for language patterns and the teacher’s and think about what’s going to happen. As you
intonation to know when to join in the reading read these pages, some students may start to join
in as they notice the repeated events and language.
• form an opinion about Greedy Cat. Encourage them to join in by pausing at strategic
points and using intonation.

• Enjoy the students’ responses to Greedy Cat’s

wickedness. Remind them to review their
predictions. Is this what you thought would happen?

Sounds and words

The Literacy Learning Progressions

Accessed from www.readytoread.tki.org.nz Teacher support material for Greedy Cat, Ready to Read, 2015 2
COPYRIGHT © CROWN 2015
• You could discuss particular aspects, for example: • As you reread the story, ask the students to look and
listen for what makes the story sound good to read
– – on page 6, draw their attention to Katie. What is
aloud. For example:
she trying to tell her mother? Why doesn’t Mum
listen? – – Focus on the phrase “Gobble, gobble, gobble”.
Draw out the idea that repeating a word can
– – check their ongoing understanding of the line,
make it sound special. Have the students choose
“... and that was the end of that.” What’s
a food item from the story (or think of their own
happened to the sticky buns/the potato chips?
favourite food) and create a chant that involves
What tells you Greedy Cat has eaten them?
repetition. For example: Potato chips, potato
• After reading page 13, discuss what Mum is doing chips, / Crunch, crunch, crunch.
and how she is looking at Greedy Cat. Check they
– – Practise rereading the story together, with
know what pepper is and encourage them to predict
emphasis on the line “… and that was the end of
what will happen. Reread page 13 and pause briefly
that.” The students could create their own refrain,
to build suspense before turning the page.
innovating on the language structure of the text.
• Pages 14 to 16 – Enjoy the climax to the story with For example:
the students. Leila went shopping and got some watermelon.
Slurp, slurp, slurp.
• Remind the students of the reading purpose. Ask
And that was the end of that!
them to recall (summarise) what happened each
time Mum went shopping. Is that what you thought – – Draw attention to punctuation or visual language
Greedy Cat would do? Did anything happen that you features that show how to read the words, for
didn’t expect? example, the dash for dramatic effect on page 14,
and the upper-case letters, large font, bright colour,
• Prompt the students to make inferences about
exclamation mark, and surrounding stars to
Greedy Cat. What are some other words that we could
support expressive reading of “YOW!” on page 15.
use to describe him? What makes you think that?
Record the students’ ideas. Later, they could paint a • Reread the story, prompting the students to find
picture of Greedy Cat and add a caption, for example, more information in the illustrations. How do the
“Greedy Cat is a sneaky cat.” illustrations help us know what Mum and Katie are
thinking about? You could focus on the contrast
• Encourage the students to think critically about the
between what Katie notices and what Mum doesn’t.
story. Did Mum do the right thing? Will Greedy Cat
If they haven’t already noticed, this is the time to
stop taking food out of her bag? Can you think of other
gently prompt the students to notice and enjoy the
ways to stop him from sneaking food?
words in the illustration on page 2.
Other aspects you could discuss include:
Suggested purposes for subsequent
readings – – on page 8 and 9: Do they know Greedy Cat is
following them? What are they doing?
You can return to this text many times with different
purposes. Subsequent readings of the big book may – – on page 11: Why do you think Greedy Cat and
be with a group of students who have similar learning Katie are smiling at each other?
needs rather than with the whole class. Select from and
– – on page 16: How is Greedy Cat feeling now? How
adapt the following suggestions.
does the illustration help you know that?

Suggested reading purposes • The students could think, pair, and share their
To enjoy some of the ways the writer has used language observations and inferences about the characters
in this story based on what they can see in the illustrations on
To use the illustrations to help us understand and enjoy a double-page spread from the story. This activity
this story supports both oral language and comprehension. It
is particularly helpful for English language learners
Learning goals because they have a chance to rehearse what they
say with their partner before they say it to the
Over a number of sessions, the students can: group. You could record the students’ observations
• recognise and enjoy the repetition on a chart for them to use as a basis for drawing
• identify and enjoy some key words and phrases and writing about the characters. For example, the
following chart could be useful:
• identify and discuss how the illustrations tell them
more about the story.

Choose one of the suggestions below for each session.

Accessed from www.readytoread.tki.org.nz Teacher support material for Greedy Cat, Ready to Read, 2015 3
COPYRIGHT © CROWN 2015
 When reading other stories with a similar structure,
What did Greedy What did Mum What did Katie
such as Dad’s Snore, prompt the students to identify
Cat do? do? do?
what happens at the beginning, the middle, and the end.
He stole the food out She went Katie saw
of the shopping bag. shopping. Greedy Cat Suggested reading purpose
eating the
He followed Mum She bought the To read with fluency and expression
sausages.
and Katie. food.
She tried to tell
He ate the sausages. She talked to the
Mum about the Learning goals
shopkeeper.
He gobbled up all potato chips. Over a number of sessions, the students can:
the food. She talked and
She ate some
talked. • read with appropriate phrasing and expression by
He was greedy and chocolate.
naughty. drawing on:

– – their developing reading vocabulary

Suggested reading purpose
– – their knowledge of the story and storybook
To think about the beginning, middle, and end of this story language

– – their knowledge of specific word meanings and

Learning goals
punctuation.
Over a number of sessions, the students can:
This reading purpose can be returned to many times, with
• summarise the events in the story the students building up their confidence and levels of
• identify the beginning, the middle, and the end of the independence. Your modelling of fluent, expressive reading
story will be a major support for achieving this learning goal.
• make connections to other stories that have a similar The students can also build up their comprehension and
structure. fluency by reading the story while listening to the MP3 file.

Choose one of the suggestions below for each session. Choose one of the suggestions below for each session.

• Reread Greedy Cat and ask the students to retell the • English language learners may benefit from
story. Tell the students you want them to think about opportunities to listen and practise with the MP3 file.
the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Discuss They could listen to short sections and then listen
the repeated events in the middle and the event that again to help them practise their pronunciation and
changes the story and ends it (when Mum buys the pot intonation. Offer the students guidance on particular
of pepper). sounds (for example, “t”,“d”, hard “c”, “l”, consonant
endings in general, and consonant clusters) or
• Draw a chart and record the students’ summary of the intonation patterns that are causing problems for
events. For example: them. Provide feedback to support them to improve
their pronunciation and intonation.
At the beginning In the middle of At the end of
of the story the story the story • Provide many opportunities for beginning readers to
reread the big book, using a pointer to practise reading
Greedy Cat took Greedy Cat Mum got some
left to right and return sweep.
their sausages and kept taking the pepper ...
ate them all up. food out of the • Reread the story, drawing attention to how the
shopping bag.
exclamation marks, the dash on page 14, and the large
He ate the sticky
buns, the potato upper-case “YOW!” on page 15 support expression.
chips ...
• The students could gather some props to go in a
shopping bag and take turns acting out Greedy Cat’s
Write each heading from the chart on a large card. actions as the others read aloud.
Each student could choose an event from the story
and write a sentence about and illustrate it. Have them • Ask individual students to locate high-frequency words
place their picture under the correct heading. Have the in the story. Can you find “and”? Can you find another
students work together to ensure that their pictures one? Ask them to read the sentence that includes the
of the middle of the story are placed in the correct target word. During writing sessions, prompt students
sequence. to draw on their knowledge of high-frequency words.

Greedy Cat
Accessed from www.readytoread.tki.org.nz Teacher support material for Greedy Cat, Ready to Read, 2015 4
COPYRIGHT © CROWN 2015 ISBN 978 0 478 16029 1 (ONLINE)