{
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  "@id": "https://printablescholar.com/data/decodable-readers/jays-birthday-play.json",
  "name": "Jay's Birthday Play",
  "description": "Free printable decodable reader: \u201cJay's Birthday Play\u201d \u2014 a vowel team \u2014 ay phonics story for 1st-2nd. 2-page PDF with reading passage + coloring page illustration. Science of Reading aligned.",
  "url": "https://printablescholar.com/decodable-readers/jays-birthday-play/",
  "license": "https://printablescholar.com/methodology/",
  "isAccessibleForFree": true,
  "inLanguage": "en-US",
  "dateModified": "2026-06-26",
  "creator": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "@id": "https://printablescholar.com/#org",
    "name": "Printable Scholar",
    "url": "https://printablescholar.com"
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  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "@id": "https://printablescholar.com/about/#emma",
    "name": "Emma Reed",
    "jobTitle": "Editorial Lead"
  },
  "educationalLevel": [
    "Grade 1",
    "Grade 2"
  ],
  "learningResourceType": [
    "DecodableText",
    "Reader"
  ],
  "teaches": {
    "@type": "DefinedTerm",
    "name": "Vowel Team \u2014 AY",
    "description": "AY vowel team (long A sound, word-final)",
    "inDefinedTermSet": "Science of Reading \u2014 systematic phonics scope and sequence"
  },
  "educationalAlignment": [
    {
      "@type": "AlignmentObject",
      "alignmentType": "teaches",
      "educationalFramework": "Science of Reading (National Reading Panel, Reading Rockets, IDA)",
      "targetName": "Vowel Team \u2014 AY phonics pattern"
    }
  ],
  "variableMeasured": [
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  "reader": {
    "slug": "jays-birthday-play",
    "title": "Jay's Birthday Play",
    "skill_id": "vowel-team-ay",
    "skill_name": "Vowel Team \u2014 AY",
    "pattern": "AY vowel team (long A sound, word-final)",
    "phase": 4,
    "phase_label": "Vowel Teams & Advanced",
    "grade": "1st-2nd",
    "worksheet_url": "https://printablescholar.com/phonics-worksheets/vowel-team-ay/"
  },
  "decodable_passage": {
    "title": "Jay's Birthday Play",
    "text": "Today was Jay's birthday. All Jay wanted to do was play. He ran out to the grass with a big grin. Dad had a plan for the day. He set up a spot for new grass stuff and put down some hay.\n\nJay saw the hay and had a new way to play. He grabbed the hose. \"I will spray the hay!\" he yelled.\n\nBut then, Jay saw a small, gray cat. It was a stray. It sat in the hay and looked very sad.\n\n\"Oh no,\" said Jay. \"I will not spray you.\" He put the hose down. \"Will you stay with me?\"\n\nThe small cat did not run away. It just sat still. Jay asked his dad for help. Dad gave Jay a small dish of milk to lay by the cat. The stray cat had it all up.\n\nJay smiled. \"May he stay, Dad? This is the best birthday!\"",
    "highlight_instruction": "Circle or highlight all the AY vowel team words in the story above. How many did you find?",
    "comprehension": []
  },
  "target_words": [
    "bay",
    "day",
    "hay",
    "jay",
    "lay",
    "may",
    "pay",
    "ray",
    "say",
    "way",
    "gray",
    "pray",
    "stay",
    "tray",
    "clay",
    "play",
    "spray",
    "stray",
    "today",
    "birthday"
  ],
  "sight_words": [
    "the",
    "is",
    "a",
    "and",
    "to",
    "was",
    "it",
    "she",
    "he",
    "they",
    "said",
    "have",
    "with",
    "you",
    "are",
    "be"
  ]
}