Reading Box Blue
$870.00
Price: $865.00 (Excluding GST)
Author/Publisher: Teachers4Teachers
Format: Kit: Box with 150 full colour laminated cards plus Teacer's folder, Levelling Tests, Student progress chart and Answer cards
Suitable: Primary Years 2-4
Reading Box Blue
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Key Points |
1. Why did we create the Reading Box Blue?
John Walters, a primary school principal, noted that students were demonstrating improved decoding skills as a result of strong teaching and the implementation of the latest literacy strategies. He was keen to see that the students reading comprehension skills kept pace.
To support his teachers, John examined a wide variety of reading comprehension materials. He found that while many provided a general workout few were able to meet the specific needs or range of abilities found in both regular and multi-age classrooms. It was clear there was a need for a multi-levelled kit that provided all studentswith activities to develop skills in literal, interpretive, inferential and critical levels of reading comprehension. This kit also needed to be self-paced and self-marked, enhancing the operation of reading groups.
Design Attributes
? Experienced and well known team of authors.
? Every card in the box provides excellent practice for NAPLAN tests.
? Each card in the box has 20 or 25 questions that are self marking.
? A simple 9 minute levelling test is provided so students can be assigned to their appropriate starting level.
? The backs of each card offer a wide selection of language and reading activities.
? A list of recommendations for modelled writing is provided.
? Questioning tests the students comprehension proficiency at a literal, interpretive, inferential and critical level.
? Optional Challenges are provided on each card to extend students. These often use head or implied questions.
? A range of strategies and interesting topics have been employed to motivate and stimulate both boys and girls.
. Suitable for both boys and girls
? Boys and girls learn differently, and have different interests.
? Different strategies and topics are employed to grab the interest of both boys and girls.
? We have surveyed both boys and girls to find out what they like to read.
We are mindful of the fact that some boys are reluctant to read so we have designed high interest cards for them that include such topics as Zepplin airships, skateboarding and soccer. Typical boys' cards deal with technology, sport, action and adventure.
Girls are catered for also. Typical cards present moral dilemma situations and positive role models such as Lee's Pony and Girls Rule Again.
Having said that, all cards in Reading Box Blue have been designed to appeal toboth genders.
The 3H?s ? Here, Hidden, Head
The reading comprehension activities provide questions that give students practice in the 3H question types. The 3H strategy divides questions into three types: HERE, HIDDEN, and HEAD:
? HERE questions are obvious in the text ie. literal
? HIDDEN questions can be drawn from one or more parts of the text
? HEAD questions require the reader to bring their own knowledge or understanding to the information given in the text.
The questions have been graded with the HERE questions being presented first. The 3H strategy is based on the work of L Graham and B Wong 1993.
Literal, interpretive, inferential and critical levels
In keeping with the curriculum, every effort has been made to provide questions that test proficiency at a literal, interpretive, inferential and critical level.
Literal
? directly stated in the text
? stated in a label, diagram, title or heading
? linked in consecutive sentences
Interpretive
? a sequence of events
? the meaning of symbols in text, map or poster
? information in diagrams, pictures and other images
Inferential
? the main idea using key words
? word meanings from contextual clues
? implied information
? predicting using implied information
Critical
? understanding the purpose of the text, paragraph or section
? grasping the writer's point of view
? analysing the layout and text conventions
? Reading Box Blue is the perfect tool for multi-aged classrooms.
? It is multi-levelled and multi-staged and is extremely easy to use.
? All ability levels are supported by the 15 colour levels provided in the box.
? Although focussed on the 3rd, 4th and 5th years of schooling it can be used in other year levels for extension and remediation.
? Reading Box Blue provides high interest texts for both boys and girls.
? We have surveyed students in both city and country schools to find out what they like to read.
? Reading Box Blue provides a wide variety of text types and topics
? Catchy headings, stimulating texts and stunning graphics combine to capture and hold the interest of students.
? A team of trained reading professionals levelled this product into our double-band levels.
? For students to learn from a text they must be able to both read and understand the text.
? Reading Box Blue is the complete, junior primary comprehension kit in a box.
The box contains 150 carefully levelled cards that provide graded texts and related exercises. There are 10 cards in each of the 15 colour levels. Within each colour level a variety of text types are presented.
? Each text has been assessed by a team of trained reading professionals to ensure that students are working at the appropriate level. These teachers have used their expertise to place cards into colour levels commencing at reading levels 10-11 and moving through to the equivalent of level 30 and beyond.
? Reading Box Blue provides a wide range of reading comprehension activities that are drawn from the many text types outlined in the English Syllabus. If students are to improve their reading comprehension they need to know how to draw information from a wide range of text types.
To support students in this way, Reading Box Blue contains examples of the following:
? narratives
? recounts
? descriptions
? procedures
? information reports
? explanations
? expositions
? discussions
? poetry
? maps
? email messages
? letter of agreement
? telephone conversation
? magazine style articles
? advertisements
? posters
? a variety of visual texts
How It Works
How It Works
? A simple 9-minute levelling test provided with the kit enables teachers to assign students to their appropriate starting levels. Alternatively, teachers can use their own testing scores and judgement.
? Once a starting level has been established children work their way through the box at their own pace.
? After students have finished reading the source material on the card they undertake a set of comprehension questions that utilise the ?here, hidden and head? strategy.
Questions are also graded to match the appropriate reading level.
? The back page of each card devotes itself to building English skills that relate as much as possible to the reading text on the front of the card.
Students record their answers onto a photocopied answer sheet (master provided) or write answers straight into their exercise book.
? Once a card is completed, children mark their own work using the source card's respective answer card.
? Students successfully complete all cards in a colour level before moving up to the next colour level. Guidelines for promotion to next level are outlined in the Teacher's Manual.
The Levelling Test
? A set of 10 levelling tests is provided with the kit. The levelling test is four pages long and is limited to nine minutes. A copy of the test is also provided in the teacher's manual for photocopying.
? Once the levelling tests have been administered and marked teachers can refer to the Levelling Table found in the teacher's manual to determine each child's starting colour.
If teachers prefer, they can use their own testing procedures
and judgement to assign students their starting levels.
? Once students know their starting colour they may begin working through the cards at their own pace.
The Sample Practice Card
To familiarise students with the workings of the kit a sample practice card is included in the teacher's manual. The card is entitled "Dinner at Rover's Place".Both the front and back of this card are available for photocopying. There is also a corresponding sample answer card and a sample answer sheet. It is advised that these masters are copied onto overhead transparencies and worked through in a whole-class lesson.
3. In the classroom
There are numerous ways a teacher may choose to use Reading Box Blue in the classroom. Although with 150 different cards the kit is quite able to support the whole class at one time its optimum usage is seen as an independent activity within a rotational reading groups lesson.
Reading groups model
In this classroom model, Reading Box Blue is used as a separate activity in a group of three or four reading activities. Groups, determined by reading ability, rotate to a new activity each day. This model allows the Reading Box group to work independently, freeing up the teacher to work with other groups and individuals.
The shaded area on the table below indicates core year levels served
by Reading Box Blue.
Samples
1.Narrative
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2. Recount
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3. Report
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4. Procedure
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5. Explanation
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6. Exposition
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7. Poetry
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Code: RDBXB
